TO SEE OURSELS AS OTHERS SEE US!

My friend Catriona Robertson, who tweets as @multifaith, has been taking photographs today at the Scottish Parliament and tweeting them. She sent the photo above out on twitter with the following message:

And one for @counciloffaiths (Scots poetry & quotations inscribed all around the Parliament building)

It's much appreciated - and it's nice to be remembered in such an auspicious setting. And on an auspicious day when the first elected Mayor of Leicester reminds us that "we have the eyes of the country upon us and what we do" it seems highly appropriate.

FIRST ELECTED MAYOR OF LEICESTER ANNOUNCES CABINET

Newly elected City Mayor Peter Soulsby (front, centre in photo above) announced his Cabinet this afternoon. the team will consist of a Deputy Mayor (Councillor Rory Palmer - front, left) and six "Assistant Mayors": Councillors Ted Cassidy (front, right), (back, left to right) Sarah Russell, Manjula Sood, Mohammed Dawood, Vi Dempster and Piara Singh Clair.

Mayor Soulsby said, "I am delighted to announce the new Cabinet, which is a team with a wealth and depth of experience, skills and ability - a talented team that will help lead Leicester into a new era.

"Top of our agenda is jobs, investment, public transport, health, housing, green spaces and fair deal for the city's workforce.

"This is the first time in the city's history that there has been an elected mayor and because of this, we have the eyes of the country upon us and what we do. We face significant challenges and my new team and I are looking forward to making real progress over the next few years making Leicester a strong, proud and self-confident city.

"For the next few weeks Cabinet members will not have portfolios or specific departmental responsibilities - instead they will work together as team addressing the issues and challenges facing the city."

Now, everyone who knows Leicester (and anyone following this blog) knows that Councillor Manjula Sood is Chair of Leicester Council of Faiths and enjoys the distinction of being the first Asian woman Lord Mayor of any English city (2008-09). It will undoubtedly do our city the power of good that someone whom I've long thought of as the "poster girl" for community cohesion and inter faith relations has been appointed to this influential position. What's more, it testifies to the diversity of Leicester that out of six members of the Mayor's cabinet, one is a Hindu, one a Muslim and one Sikh.

Photo courtesy of Citizens' Eye Community News Agency

BELIEVING IN BBC'S ETHOS IS EQUIVALENT TO A FAITH

This article appears in today's Daily Mail:

Believing in BBC's ethos is equivalent to a faith, job tribunal rules 

By Steve Doughty & Claire Ellicot

Rules to prevent religious discrimination can now also be used to protect a belief in the BBC’s ethos of public service broadcasting, a tribunal has ruled.

Its extraordinary decision elevates the BBC’s core principle to a place in the law equivalent to Christianity.

And the move leaves the way clear for long-serving employee Devan Maistry to sue the Corporation for wrongful dismissal.

South African-born Mr Maistry, who worked for the BBC Asian Network, says he suffered discrimination for six years until he was dismissed last year.

He has filed a claim for ‘religious or belief discrimination’, which allegedly took place against his philosophical view that ‘public service broadcasting has the higher purpose of promoting cultural interchange and social cohesion’.

Birmingham employment tribunal chairman Pam Hughes decided Mr Maistry has a worthy case, and gave him the right to a full hearing later this year.

In doing so, the tribunal chairman established the principle that Mr Maistry’s love of public service broadcasting amounted to a belief which should have the same protection from discrimination that the law gives to followers of religious faiths.

In doing so, the tribunal chairman established the principle that Mr Maistry’s love of public service broadcasting amounted to a belief which should have the same protection from discrimination that the law gives to followers of religious faiths.

It is not clear exactly how the broadcaster is accused of treating him unfairly. Mr Maistry would not comment when asked about the basis of his case.

A lawyer for the BBC said it had not even been explained to the Corporation how it had allegedly discriminated against the producer’s philosophical beliefs.

Laws defending workers from discrimination over faith were passed in 2003.

But in the past two years they have been extended by the courts to cover political and fringe interests including views on climate change and animal rights activism.

At the same time, a series of cases have dismissed the importance of Christian beliefs.

Most recently, a couple were told they were unfit to foster children because they could not in conscience tell a child that it was OK to be homosexual.

At the tribunal, the BBC said the idea that belief in public sector broadcasting was the same as a religion was ‘absurd’.

Its lawyer, Tariq Sadiq, said if Mr Maistry’s claim succeeded, then belief in the aims of any public sector organisation – or even a private sector firm’s mission statement – would count as philosophical beliefs.

Mr Sadiq said: ‘A belief that the aim of the NHS should first and foremost be to look after the health and welfare of its patients could, if the claimant were correct, amount to belief for the purposes of the 2003 regulations, but it would be absurd for that to be the case.’

But in her ruling, Miss Hughes said: ‘The claimant had a genuine and strongly held belief in what I will describe in short as the higher purpose of public service broadcasting. It is clearly of great personal significance to him.’

Devan Maistry’s case is the latest in a string of decisions to rule that everyday opinions should have the same status as religious beliefs.

Two years ago, a tribunal found that company executive Tim Nicholson, a firm believer in climate change, was wrongly dismissed after objecting to his company’s use of flights and cars.

That case set a precedent and, this year, animal rights activist Joe Hashman successfully argued that he was wrongly sacked from his garden centre job after his activities were discovered. He said his beliefs should be protected by his employer.

CHALLENGE OF CREATING A NEW VISION FOR CITY

The Bishop of Leicester's First Person column appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Challenge of creating a new vision for city

The Bishop of Leicester considers what the election of a mayor will bring to our community

By the time this article is published we shall know the results of Thursday's elections for Mayor of Leicester. Several months ago I wrote in this column that whoever is elected will need and deserve the prayerful support of the Christian communities in the city. I am sure we will all want to support the new mayor, not only with our prayers but with our active engagement to build a better city.

In a democracy it is all too easy both to withhold participation and at the same time to grumble. If we failed to cast a vote on Thursday we can hardly complain if the mayor does not meet our expectations. And if we did vote, whether or not our candidate was chosen, we surely have a responsibility now to work together so that the past animosities and competitiveness no longer stand in the way of building a new vision.

My hope is that people of faith will want to work with the new mayor's office more actively than ever. For the Christian community, this is a special responsibility because we believe that all earthly authority stands in the end under the authority of God.

This truth is acted out at the coronation of a new monarch when the Sword of State is placed on the altar of Westminster Abbey. It signifies that the Queen in Parliament and all who hold elected authority in this country stand under a higher authority. Even in a secular age this is crucial for our understanding of our national identity.

Those whom we have elected are given authority not to oppress but to serve. Not to disempower but to empower all the citizens to make their unique contribution to the common good.

I hope that our city council under its new leadership will not seek to take power into the hands of a small clique but rather to work with all people of goodwill to release all the energies, vision and creativity which are available in abundance in the communities of Leicester.

This may be a new opportunity for us all. I hope and pray that it will be and that the new mayor will rise to the challenge.

At the heart of this challenge will lie the creation of a vision in which we can all share. Surely a good city is one in which all can reap the benefits of increasing prosperity. One in which those who are better off are ready to bear the burdens for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

One in which the philanthropy and generosity of those who have the private means to contribute to the common good is welcomed. And one in which the city as a whole serves to feed the spirit and soul of its people as well as to expand the economy.

This week's visitors

Here's the update on the number of pageviews the blog has received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 240
2. United States 128
3. Russia 44
4. Germany 34
5. France 26 
6. India 21
7. Latvia 19
8. Canada 12
9. Iran 12
10. Norway 12

This week's total: 548  (last week's: 669) These are aggregates of figures from the top ten countries only. Blogger's stats software doesn't show me numbers of pageviews below the tenth-ranking country.

The world map at the top of this post is the graphic that I see on the stats page. The darker the green, the more pageviews from that country. I can see different versions of this map for "now" (whenever that is), today, this week, this month and "all time" (which seems to mean the last 12 months). They're updated each time I look at that them.

Vox popped by Rupal

Around 1700 this afternoon I leave the Welcome Centre, where for the past couple of hours I'd been listening to the local election results on BBC Radio Leicester. Walking down Every Street, by the side of Town Hall Square, I'm buttonholed by Rupal Rajani, who's out with a roving microphone, recording some vox pop about the election results.

She approaches me with, "Your face is familiar." I've seen Rupal at various events, functions and occasions locally although we've never been introduced. So when I do introduce myself properly she asks me to say a few words in response to the Labour landslide. I express the hope that elected members will be able to serve the whole city, rather than just those who are seen to have supported them. I say that, working for the Council of Faiths has shown me the need for social cohesion in Leicester and hope that takes pride of place rather than some sectional interest.

My older son Alastair is with me. I introduce him to Rupal as a musician, and she records a few words with him too. He says he hopes that the Mayor and councillors can give the proper attention to the development of the arts in the city.

A quick wave

At the Welcome Centre this afternoon, I get a call from Sam Newton, editor of the Leicester Wave, the young people's paper that's distributed free with the Leicester Mercury once a month. They gave us a great front page feature during National Inter Faith Week in November last year.

Sam tells me that they're intending to do a feature on young Muslim women and the burka; would the Council of Faiths be interested in lending them a hand with this? Of course we would. I offer a few suggestions how we might approach the subject. We seem in general agreement and make arrangements to start moving this potential feature on at the start of next week.

Why religion shouldn't enjoy special favour

Today's Leicester Mercury carries the final "First Person" column by Allan Haye, in his capacity as Humanist Chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Leicester.

I've enjoyed his contributions to the ongoing conversation of the city through these columns - indeed, I've posted most of them here. I can't say I've agreed with everything he's said in his columns, but I've tried to represent him uncensored here - and largely without making intrusive comments of my own, either in the blog or the printed or online editions of the Leicester Mercury.

On the occasions when Allan and I have discussed the merits of him having his own blog, he's said that he doesn't really see the point when I'm doing such a good job of representing his views in mine!

Maybe I should say that I've agreed with him more often than not - and that I agree with virtually everything he has to say in this final piece.

I'm sure it's not the last we'll hear from Allan (who is a director of Leicester Secular Society) in the pages of the Mercury. I look forward to meeting him again at the various places and events where our paths tend to cross: Amplifed Leicester; SACRE; Christians Aware Faith Awareness courses at Christchurch, Clarendon Park Road; and at Philosophy in the Pub at the Swan and Rushes.

Why religion shouldn't enjoy special favour 

Allan Hayes reflects on his year as humanist chaplain to the Lord Mayor of Leicester 

My year as Chaplain to the Lord Mayor has been an interesting and rewarding experience; meeting people from different communities has been a particular pleasure. The year started with some tension over the Civic Service in the cathedral. It proved impossible to agree on a way that I as a humanist could give a short address in what was a Christian service. As a consequence the Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress and I felt unable to attend the event. 

The same problem could arise for any other non-Christian chaplain. This raises the obvious question: in a diverse city with people from a variety of religions and with many who do not belong to a religion, shouldn't a civic event be one in which we can all feel part and to which we can all contribute – a celebration of today's Leicester for all by all? I think so. 

I have tried to encourage dialogue and improve understanding by my letters and other activities. I am grateful to the Mercury for carrying these and to individuals and organisations that have helped. 

During the year there have been repeated attempts to pin words like "aggressive", "extreme" and "militant" on secularists and atheists and accuse them of trying to exclude religion from the public space: this is a dangerous tactic, but fortunately, we have largely avoided it in Leicester.

Secularists recognise that religions are important to many and should contribute to the public debate, but insist that this must be done openly and through the normal democratic process: religions should not be embedded in the state structure or specially privileged. We are joined in this view by many within the religions who favour a secular state.

However, while pursuing dialogue and understanding, we should not overlook the facts that are being created on the ground.

The urgent issue now to my mind is whether our schools will help our children grow up together or will separate them by religion. The new free schools can be proposed by a local group or an outside body and be approved by the Secretary of State with very little local consultation. For a start, a Hindu free school, eventually to take 420 pupils, is opening in Evington in September next to St Paul's Roman Catholic school. I am told that other free faith schools are being proposed in the city. Change could come quickly and could damage both community schools and social cohesion. My experience as humanist representative on the Leicester Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) shows me that most families are very happy with how our community schools deal with religion. I would ask that if they hear of proposals for faith schools they get in touch with local head teachers and discuss the situation.

 Read this article on the Leicester Mercury website, along with reader comments: http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/religion-shouldn-t-enjoy-special-favour/article-3525744-detail/article.html

MEETING AT ST JOHN'S HOUSE

Meeting this morning at St John's House, East Street, with Abida Hussain, Equality and Human Rights Officer at Leicestership Partnership NHS Trust.


I'm accompanied by Rosemarie Fitton, who's shadowing me as part of a 30 hour placement required on her MA course in interreligious relations with De Montfort University (through St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi Faith Society). Rosemarie and I meet at Coast Coffee in London Road half an hour before the appointment at St John's House, so I can brief her on relations between Leicester Council of Faiths and the NHS locally. Briefly, we have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the local NHS which requires us to do certain pieces of work for them each year. The meeting today is to review progress on that work.


The main thing we're looking at today is the text of a booklet entitled, "Health Care in a Multi-Cultural Multi-Faith Society". This was given to me in the form of a small ring binder with laminated pages, with "Draft - field trial" printed on the fist page. No one seemed to know where this booklet originated or if it's been trialled anywhere except here. It seemed a good practical piece of work for us to do in the context of our SLA. With the help of contacts within the faith communities and some original research, I've been amending the text of this booklet, making it more specific to the needs of Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (which coves the city of Leicester, the county of Leicestershire and Rutland Unitary Authority).


I emailed Abida the text of a revised version of this booklet in advance of today's meeting (not very far in advance, but all the same ...). I think it's in a reasonable state in terms of the eight member communities on Leicester Council of Faiths, but still I need to finalise copy for other groups included in the original booklet (e.g. Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Rastafarians, Seventh Day Adventists, Spiritualists).  The original has three entries for Agnosticism, Atheism and Humanism, which I'll roll into one (under the title of the last of these three). There are another couple of groups that I'd like to include (Pagans, Zoroastrians). The original booklet has sections on groups that don't stand out as being faith communities (Chinese, New Age Travellers). If I can find ways to make them fit, I will.


The draft booklet opens by stating that it contains "Simplified guidelines to help medical and nursing staff in the care of patients from many different parts of the world". I don't think that gets it off to a very good start, making it sound like everyone who presents for treatment in local hospitals comes from another country. It doesn't acknowledge or recognise that settled communities, established for generations are part and parcel of our society. Furthermore, the guidelines seem more about avoiding the negative - trying not to upset patients and their families - than on celebrating the positive aspects of diversity. So my work on this booklet is not only checking facts, ensuring equality and consistency of treatment, but also changing the tone.


Abida's going to circulate the text among her team and ask for their feedback. I'l take whatever they have to say about it and see how that reflects on our own sources - and whether that can help me improve them. I'm hoping we can establish a virtuous circle!


We discuss how to make progress on the Faith Community Health Champions initiative, which we've been mulling over for a number of months now. We both come up with ideas for this that leave us positive and excited.


Other work fitting in with our SLA is discussed. If you'd like to know what they involve, faithful reader, then I have to say, "Watch this space!"


Hang on in there Rosemarie: only 26 hours to go!

May the fourth be with you

From time to time, this blog mentions special days in the calendars of the various religions, or notes particular occasions throughout the year when something special brings different faiths together – World Religion Day, Earth Day etc.

Today has become known as Star Wars day, for obvious reasons. You can check it out on Wookieepedia: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars_Day

Those who entered "Jedi Knight" in the religion section of the 2001 Census were consigned en masse to the "No religion" category. Back then, an internet campaign encouraged people to write in “Jedi” as their religion. An email supporting the campaign urged people to declare themselves as Jedi knights, “because you love Star Wars ... or just to annoy people.” This was included in a feature on the BBC national news, the night before the 2001 Census. That probably bumped up the number a bit: 390,000 people in England and Wales did so (0.7% of population). That’s greater than national figures for these recognised faiths:

·         Baha’i 5,000 (>0.01% of population)

·         Buddhist 144,453 (0.3% of population)

·         Jain 15,000 (0.03% of population)

·         Jewish 259,927 (0.5% of population)

·         Sikh 329,358 (0.6% of population)

In Leicester 2,371 people wrote in “Jedi” as their religion in the 2001 Census. that was 0.8% of the city's population.

Now: whenever I meet someone who states proudly that they’re one of those who put their religion as “Jedi” in the 2001 Census, I tell them that if they can show me a Jedi trick, I’ll convert to it – in fact, I’ll do better than that, I’ll become their Padawan learner. Hasn’t happened – yet.

Mind you, I don’t see the point in giving people the right to declare their religious affiliation, even giving them the freedom to write in the religion of their choice, but then the government gets to say, “No, we’re not having that.”

It will be interesting to see how many people identifed themselves as Jedi in the 2011 Census. I'd predict that the number will have dropped considerably but we'll have to wait and see to what extent it was a jok or a fad - and how many have stuck with it.

There's a myth that if enough people write in something (just about anything) in the "other" section of that religion question, then the government would be compelled to classify it as a religion. There was a fiarly low key campaign this time to get Manchester United fans to put that as their religion.

Here’s a link to one of the first widespread stories about the Jedi as a religion in this country, published in the free daily paper. I searched it out on the Metro website, where the date isn’t displayed, but I recall it being some time in the summer of 2008. I’m unable to copy the text from the website but here’s the link: http://www.metro.co.uk/news/84822-brothers-build-jedi-church-in-wales

It’s not so much the article itself that I liked, so much as a reader’s response in the letters page a couple of days later. The text of that letter isn’t available online and I didn’t keep a copy. But it said something along the following lines: the writer was sorry to see the disparaging attitude that the paper appeared to be taking toward the establishment of the first Jedi church, objecting that it was male dominated, hierarchical, celebrated violence and based on a work of fiction. The writer asked, “Aren’t they all?”

Here’s an article I did manage to keep though, which was published in The Guardian, Saturday 19 September 2009.

Jedi religion founder accuses Tesco of discrimination over rules on hoods

Daniel Jones says he was humiliated and victimised for his beliefs following incident at store in Wales

By Helen Carter

Tesco has been accused of religious discrimination after the company ordered the founder of a Jedi religion to remove his hood or leave a branch of the supermarket in north Wales.

Daniel Jones, founder of the religion inspired by the Star Wars films, says he was humiliated and victimised for his beliefs following the incident at a Tesco store in Bangor.

The 23-year-old, who founded the International Church of Jediism, which has 500,000 followers worldwide, was told the hood flouted store rules.

But the grocery empire struck back, claiming that the three best known Jedi Knights in the Star Wars movies – Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker– all appeared in public without their hoods. Jones, from Holyhead, who is known by the Jedi name Morda Hehol, said his religion dictated that he should wear the hood in public places and is considering legal action against the chain.

"It states in our Jedi doctrination that I can wear headwear. It just covers the back of my head," he said.

"You have a choice of wearing headwear in your home or at work but you have to wear a cover for your head when you are in public."

He said he'd gone to the store to buy something to eat during his lunch break when staff approached him and ordered him to the checkout where they explained he would have to remove the offending hood or leave the store.

"They said: 'Take it off'', and I said: 'No, it’s part of my religion. It's part of my religious right.' I gave them a Jedi church business card.

"They weren't listening to me and were rude. They had three people around me. It was intimidating." Jones, who has made an official complaint to Tesco, is considering a boycott of the store and is seeking legal advice.

Tesco said: "He hasn't been banned. Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores although we would ask them to remove their hoods.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda and Luke Skywalker all appeared hoodless without ever going over to the Dark Side and we are only aware of the Emperor as one who never removed his hood.

"If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they'll miss lots of special offers."

Read this article on The Guardian website, along with reader comments: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/18/jedi-religion-tesco-hood-jones