HISTORIC BUILDING IS SET TO BECOME PLACE OF WORSHIP

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

Historic building is set to become place of worship 

By Dan Martin 

One of Leicester's landmark historic buildings has been bought by Hare Krishna devotees, who plan to turn it into a place of worship. 

The Victorian former bank, in Granby Street, in the city centre, has been acquired by the Leicester members of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). 

The group has been seeking a permanent base since its previous temple, in Thoresby Street, North Evington, Leicester, was destroyed by an explosion in September last year. 

Members have been worshipping in rented spaces since then, and said they were looking forward to moving into the 1870s-built, Grade II-listed property. 

The building has lain empty for three years since HSBC quit the premises, and has recently been added to English Heritage's list of significant buildings at risk of falling into disrepair. 

President of ISKCON, Pradyumna Das, said the building would be open to the public. 

He said: "This is a great opportunity for us to bring back into use a fantastic building right at the heart of the city. 

"As well as a focus on spirituality and self-realisation, we want to invite the people of our county to come and learn about the heritage of the place and celebrate its wonderful architecture." The society intends to restore the building to its former glory and bring it back into use as a place of worship with a range of community activities, eventually providing a restaurant, yoga and meditation studio, and self-development workshops. 

The amount paid for the property has not been revealed. 

But the purchase has been made possible thanks to the financial support of an unnamed family based in London and Leicester. 

A spokesman for the family said: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be able to offer not only a place of worship but also a place of spiritual learning for all the people of Leicester." 

ISKCON spokesman Pradip Gajjar said: "We are very excited, but it could be some time before we are able to move in." 

Stuart Bailey, chairman of Leicester Civic Society, has described the building as "an outstanding example of Victorian Gothic architecture – probably the finest in the city". 

He said of the purchase: "This is great news because there were fears the building would fall into disrepair. 

"There are already some problems with the roof and I imagine they will want to get in there quickly because the longer they leave it the more repairs they will have to make. 

"This building is a real stunner and when they built it, it was way ahead of its time. I think its massive banking hall will make a wonderful place of worship."

NO CHRISTMAS BREAK FOR "OCCUPATION" CAMPAIGN IN LEICESTER

This article is published in today's Leicester Mercury:

No Christmas break for "Occupation" campaign in Leicester

It started with just one tent – but five weeks on, more than 40 people are taking it in turns to camp in Leicester's High Street in protest against corporate greed.

Anti-capitalist protesters say the Occupy Leicester camp will get bigger as we approach Christmas and New Year.

The camp appeared in the city after similar protests in New York and London, which began in September and October respectively.

The Leicester camp is growing and its supporters don't plan to break off for Christmas.

Dane Smith, 23, from Leicester, has been part of the group since it started.

Dane, an unemployed film studies graduate, believes the movement so far has been "a terrific success".

He said: "This weekend will be five weeks since we came here which is a massive achievement.

"What we're looking at now is the future and how we can carry on."

Dane was reluctant to discuss future plans further, but said "new tactics" would allow more of its members to stay at the camp for a prolonged period of time.

About 40 people are now sleeping at the camp on a regular basis, with about a quarter of that number staying there most nights.

Dane said they also had big plans for a protest today, but would not give any more details.

He said: "We've got new tactics which are secret at the moment but should help us keep going."

Dane plans to spend just four or five hours with his family on Christmas Day before returning to the camp.

He said: "They're pretty used to my protesting and activism, so there's no real surprise."

The group has regular contact with similar movements in London and Nottingham.

One Nottingham member has transferred to spend most of their time in Leicester, while one from the London camp spends most weekends here.

Warehouse worker Mark Smith, from Leicester, joined the protest after its first week.

He sleeps at the High Street base and only leaves the camp to work his shifts.

Mark, 41, from Leicester, is unfazed by sleeping in the cold weather because, as a keen angler, he has already been doing it for 32 years.

He believes the camp's message is gaining momentum.

He said: "There are more people supporting us because they understand why we're here.

"We want to end Government corruption and force the banks to stop throwing our money away."

Away from the camp, Mark says he has received support from his 14-year-old son as well as a work colleague.

He said: "I've only mentioned it to one person at work and they were supportive of us.

"My son's been a couple of times but he's not going to sleep down here."

The group said most passers-by were friendly and happy to debate but they still encounter trouble with drunks on Friday and Saturday nights.

Mark said: "The police and council have been great with us."I'm just hoping it gets us as far as it can, because the longer we stay here the better chance we have of making a difference."

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (1,360)

Regular update on the number of pageviews received from different parts of the world in the week just ending.

1. United Kingdom 695
2. United States 345
3. Germany 86
4. Russia 62
5. India 52
6. France 47
7. Ukraine 36
8. Indonesia 14
9. UAE 12
10. Japan 11

This week's total: 1,360 (last week's: 1,247). 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 that 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 them.

PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH RE KING JAMES BIBLE

Here's the full text of a speech given by Prime Minister David Cameron Oxford's Christ Church Cathedral today, commemorating the version's 400th anniversary.

This text is taken from the official site of the British Prime Minister's Office. I've fiddled with the punctuation a little, without changing the meaning of course. On the No. 10 website the text is laid out in a very bitty style (e.g. with pauses indicated) which makes it a little harder to read on screen.

I've collected a few of the responses to the speech which have been published online at the foot of this entry, after the speech itself.

It’s great to be here and to have this opportunity to come together today to mark the end of this very special 400th anniversary year for the King James Bible.

I know there are some who will question why I am giving this speech.

And if they happen to know that I’m setting out my views today in a former home of the current Archbishop of Canterbury and in front of many great theologians and church leaders they really will think I have entered the lions’ den.

But I am proud to stand here and celebrate the achievements of the King James Bible.

Not as some great Christian on a mission to convert the world.

But because, as Prime Minister, it is right to recognise the impact of a translation that is, I believe, one of this country’s greatest achievements. 

The Bible is a book that has not just shaped our country, but shaped the world.

And with three Bibles sold or given away every second, a book that is not just important in understanding our past, but which will continue to have a profound impact in shaping our collective future.

In making this speech I claim no religious authority whatsoever.

I am a committed – but I have to say vaguely practising – Church of England Christian, who will stand up for the values and principles of my faith but who is full of doubts and, like many, constantly grappling with the difficult questions when it comes to some of the big theological issues.

But what I do believe is this.

The King James Bible is as relevant today as at any point in its 400 year history.

And none of us should be frightened of recognising this.

Why?

Put simply, three reasons.

First, the King James Bible has bequeathed a body of language that permeates every aspect of our culture and heritage from everyday phrases to our greatest works of literature, music and art.

We live and breathe the language of the King James Bible, sometimes without even realising it.

And it is right that we should acknowledge this – particularly in this anniversary year.

Second, just as our language and culture is steeped in the Bible, so too is our politics.

From human rights and equality to our constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy from the role of the church in the first forms of welfare provision, to the many modern day faith-led social action projects the Bible has been a spur to action for people of faith throughout history, and it remains so today. 

Third, we are a Christian country.  

And we should not be afraid to say so.

Let me be clear: I am not in any way saying that to have another faith – or no faith – is somehow wrong.

I know and fully respect that many people in this country do not have a religion. 

And I am also incredibly proud that Britain is home to many different faith communities, who do so much to make our country stronger.

But what I am saying is that the Bible has helped to give Britain a set of values and morals which make Britain what it is today.

Values and morals we should actively stand up and defend.

The alternative of moral neutrality should not be an option.

You can’t fight something with nothing. 

Because if we don’t stand for something, we can’t stand against anything. 

Let me take each of these points in turn.

First, language and culture.

Powerful language is incredibly evocative. 

It crystallises profound, sometimes complex, thoughts and suggests a depth of meaning far beyond the words on the page giving us something to share, to cherish, to celebrate.

Part of the glue that can help to bind us together.

Along with Shakespeare, the King James Bible is a high point of the English language creating arresting phrases that move, challenge and inspire.

One of my favourites is the line “For now we see through a glass, darkly.” 

It is a brilliant summation of the profound sense that there is more to life, that we are imperfect, that we get things wrong, that we should strive to see beyond our own perspective. 

The key word is darkly – profoundly loaded, with many shades of meaning.

I feel the power is lost in some more literal translations.

The New International Version says: “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror”

The Good News Bible: “What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror”

They feel not just a bit less special but dry and cold, and don’t quite have the same magic and meaning. 

Like Shakespeare, the King James translation dates from a period when the written word was intended to be read aloud.

And this helps to give it a poetic power and sheer resonance that in my view is not matched by any subsequent translation.

It has also contributed immensely to the spread of spoken English around the world.

Indeed, the language of the King James Bible is very much alive today.

I’ve already mentioned the lions’ den.

Just think about some of the other things we all say. 

Phrases like strength to strength… how the mighty are fallen… the skin of my teeth… the salt of the earth… nothing new under the sun.

According to one recent study there are 257 of these phrases and idioms that come from the Bible.

These phrases are all around us from court cases to TV sitcoms and from recipe books to pop music lyrics.

Of course, there is a healthy debate about the extent to which it was the King James version that originated the many phrases in our language today.

And it’s right to recognise the impact of earlier versions like Tyndale, Wycliffe, Douai-Rheims, the Bishops and Geneva Bibles too.

The King James Bible does exactly that setting out with the stated aim of making a good translation better, or out of many good ones, to make “one principall good one”.

But what is clear is that the King James version gave the Bible’s many expressions a much more widespread public presence.

Much of that dissemination has come through our literature, through the great speeches we remember and the art and music we still enjoy today.

From Milton to Morrison and Coleridge to Cormac McCarthy the Bible supports the plot, context, language and sometimes even the characters in some of our greatest literature.

Tennyson makes over 400 Biblical references in his poems and makes allusions to 42 different books of the Bible.

The Bible has infused some of the greatest speeches from Martin Luther King’s dream that Isaiah’s prophecy would be fulfilled and that one day “every valley shall be exalted” to Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg address which employed not just Biblical words but cadence and rhythms borrowed from the King James Bible as well.
When Lincoln said that his forefathers “brought forth” a new nation, he was imitating the way in which the Bible announced the birth of Jesus.

The Bible also runs through our art.

From Giotto to El Greco and Michelangelo to Stanley Spencer.

The paintings in Sandham Memorial Chapel in Berkshire are some of my favourite works of art.

Those who died in Salonika rising to heaven is religious art in the modern age and, in my view, as powerful as some of what has come before.

And the Bible runs through our music too. From the great oratorios like J S Bach’s Matthew and John Passions and Handel’s Messiah to the wealth of music written across the ages for mass and evensong in great cathedrals like this one.

The Biblical settings of composers from Tallis to Taverner are regularly celebrated here in this great cathedral and will sustain our great British tradition of choral music for generations to come.

It’s impossible to do justice in a short speech to the full scale of the cultural impact of the King James Bible.

But what is clear is that four hundred years on, this book is still absolutely pivotal to our language and culture.

And that’s one very good reason for us all to recognise it today.

A second reason is this.

Just as our language and culture is steeped in the Bible, so too is our politics.

The Bible runs through our political history in a way that is often not properly recognised. 

The history and existence of a constitutional monarchy owes much to a Bible in which Kings were anointed and sanctified with the authority of God and in which there was a clear emphasis on the respect for Royal Power and the need to maintain political order.

Jesus said: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

And yet at the same time, the Judeo-Christian roots of the Bible also provide the foundations for protest and for the evolution of our freedom and democracy.

The Torah placed the first limits on Royal Power.

And the knowledge that God created man in his own image was, if you like, a game changer for the cause of human dignity and equality.

In the ancient world this equity was inconceivable.

In Athens for example, full and equal rights were the preserve of adult, free born men.

But when each and every individual is related to a power above all of us and when every human being is of equal and infinite importance, created in the very image of God we get the irrepressible foundation for equality and human rights, a foundation that has seen the Bible at the forefront of the emergence of democracy, the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of women – even if not every church has always got the point!

Crucially the translation of the Bible into English made all this accessible to many who had previously been unable to comprehend the Latin versions. 

And this created an unrelenting desire for change.

The Putney debates in the Church of St Mary the Virgin in 1647 saw the first call for One Man, One vote and the demand that authority be invested in the House of Commons rather than the King.

Reading the Bible in English gave people equality with each other through God.

And this led them to seek equality with each other through government. 

In a similar way, the Bible provides a defining influence on the formation of the first welfare state.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says that whatever people have done “unto one of the least of these my brethren” they have done unto him.

Just as in the past it was the influence of the church that enabled hospitals to be built, charities created, the hungry fed, the sick nursed and the poor given shelter so today faith based groups are at the heart of modern social action.

Organisations like the Church Urban Fund which has supported over 5,000 faith based projects in England’s poorest communities including the Near Neighbours Programme which Eric Pickles helped to launch last month.

And St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in London’s Bishopsgate a building once destroyed by an IRA bomb but now a centre where people divided by conflict, culture or religion can meet and listen to each other’s perspective.

In total, there are almost 30,000 faith based charities in this country not to mention the thousands of people who step forward as individuals, as families, as communities, as organisations and yes, as churches and do extraordinary things to help build a bigger, richer, stronger, more prosperous and more generous society.

And when it comes to the great humanitarian crises – like the famine in Horn of Africa – again you can count on faith-based organisations like Christian Aid, Tearfund, CAFOD, Jewish Care, Islamic Relief, and Muslim Aid to be at the forefront of the action to save lives.

So it’s right to recognise the huge contribution our faith communities make to our politics. and to recognise the role of the Bible in inspiring many of their works.

People often say that politicians shouldn’t “do God.”

If by that they mean we shouldn’t try to claim a direct line to God for one particular political party they could not be more right. 

But we shouldn’t let our caution about that stand in the way of recognising both what our faith communities bring to our country and also just how incredibly important faith is to so many people in Britain. 

The Economist may have published the obituary of God in their Millennium issue.

But in the past century, the proportion of people in the world who adhere to the four biggest religions has actually increased from around two-thirds to nearly three quarters and is forecast to continue rising.

For example, it is now thought there are at least 65 million protestants in China and 12 million Catholics – more Christians than there are members of the communist party. 

Official numbers indicate China has about 20 million Muslims – almost as many as in Saudi Arabia – and nearly twice as many as in the whole of the EU.

And by 2050, some people think China could well be both the world’s biggest Christian nation and its biggest Muslim one too.

Here in Britain we only have to look at the reaction to the Pope’s visit last year this year’s Royal Wedding or of course the festival of Christmas next week, to see that Christianity is alive and well in our country. 

The key point is this.

Societies do not necessarily become more secular with modernity but rather more plural, with a wider range of beliefs and commitments.

And that brings me to my third point.

The Bible has helped to shape the values which define our country.

Indeed, as Margaret Thatcher once said, “we are a nation whose ideals are founded on the Bible.”

Responsibility, hard work, charity, compassion, humility, self-sacrifice, love, pride in working for the common good and honouring the social obligations we have to one another, to our families and our communities … these are the values we treasure. 

Yes, they are Christian values.

And we should not be afraid to acknowledge that.

But they are also values that speak to us all – to people of every faith and none. 

And I believe we should all stand up and defend them.

Those who oppose this usually make the case for secular neutrality.

They argue that by saying we are a Christian country and standing up for Christian values we are somehow doing down other faiths.

And that the only way not to offend people is not to pass judgement on their behaviour.

I think these arguments are profoundly wrong.

And being clear on this is absolutely fundamental to who we are as a people, what we stand for and the kind of society we want to build. 

First, those who say being a Christian country is doing down other faiths simply don’t understand that it is easier for people to believe and practise other faiths when Britain has confidence in its Christian identity.

Many people tell me it is much easier to be Jewish or Muslim here in Britain than it is in a secular country like France.

Why?

Because the tolerance that Christianity demands of our society provides greater space for other religious faiths too. 

And because many of the values of a Christian country are shared by people of all faiths and indeed by people of no faith at all.

Second, those who advocate secular neutrality in order to avoid passing judgement on the behaviour of others fail to grasp the consequences of that neutrality or the role that faith can play in helping people to have a moral code.

Let’s be clear.

Faith is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for morality.

There are Christians who don’t live by a moral code.

And there are atheists and agnostics who do.

But for people who do have a faith, their faith can be a helpful prod in the right direction.

And whether inspired by faith or not – that direction, that moral code, matters.

Whether you look at the riots last summer, the financial crash and the expenses scandal or the on-going terrorist threat from Islamist extremists around the world, one thing is clear: moral neutrality or passive tolerance just isn’t going to cut it any more.

Shying away from speaking the truth about behaviour, about morality has actually helped to cause some of the social problems that lie at the heart of the lawlessness we saw with the riots.

The absence of any real accountability, or moral code allowed some bankers and politicians to behave with scant regard for the rest of society.

And when it comes to fighting violent extremism, the almost fearful passive tolerance of religious extremism that has allowed segregated communities to behave in ways that run completely counter to our values has not contained that extremism but allowed it to grow and prosper in the process blackening the good name of the great religions that these extremists abuse for their own purposes.

Put simply, for too long we have been unwilling to distinguish right from wrong.

“Live and let live” has too often become “do what you please”.

Bad choices have too often been defended as just different lifestyles.

To be confident in saying something is wrong is not a sign of weakness, it’s a strength.

But we can’t fight something with nothing. 

As I’ve said if we don’t stand for something, we can’t stand against anything. 

One of the biggest lessons of the riots last Summer is that we’ve got stand up for our values if we are to confront the slow-motion moral collapse that has taken place in parts of our country these past few generations.

The same is true of religious extremism.

As President Obama wrote in the Audacity of Hope: “in reaction to religious overreach we equate tolerance with secularism, and forfeit the moral language that would help infuse our politics with larger meaning.”

Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and a much more active, muscular liberalism.

A passively tolerant society says to its citizens, as long as you obey the law we will just leave you alone.

It stands neutral between different values. 

But I believe a genuinely liberal country does much more; it believes in certain values and actively promotes them.

We need to stand up for these values.

To have the confidence to say to people – this is what defines us as a society and that to belong here is to believe in these things.

I believe the church – and indeed all our religious leaders and their communities in Britain – have a vital role to play in helping to achieve this.

I have never really understood the argument some people make about the church not getting involved in politics.

To me, Christianity, faith, religion, the Church and the Bible are all inherently involved in politics because so many political questions are moral questions.

So I don’t think we should be shy or frightened of this.

I certainly don’t object to the Archbishop of Canterbury expressing his views on politics.

Religion has a moral basis and if he doesn’t agree with something he’s right to say so.

But just as it is legitimate for religious leaders to make political comments, he shouldn’t be surprised when I respond.

Also it’s legitimate for political leaders to say something about religious institutions as they see them affecting our society, not least in the vital areas of equality and tolerance.

I believe the Church of England has a unique opportunity to help shape the future of our communities.

But to do so it must keep on the agenda that speaks to the whole country.

The future of our country is at a pivotal moment. 

The values we draw from the Bible go to the heart of what it means to belong in this country and you, as the Church of England, can help ensure that it stays that way. 

Some responses to the Prime Minster's speech (tehre are loads more - you'll be able to find them yourself without too much trouble, faithful reader):

• Matthew Harris (Vice-Chairman of the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel)
• Christian Post
• Christian Today
• The Daily Organ
• echurchwebsites
• eurasia review
• The Guardian

FAITH AND REFLECTION ROOM AT RNIB COLLEGE LOUGHBOROUGH

 

I've  accepted an invitation by the RNIB College Loughborough to take part in the official opening of their new Faith and Reflection Room today, during the College's Winter Festival.

The RNIB College Loughborough is a national specialist college, supporting people aged 16 and upwards who are blind, partially sighted and/or have other disabilities, through day and residential places.

I'm met at reception by Norma Curtis, Quality Improvement Manager (with responsibility for Equalities and Staff Development - in the pink top in the photo above), who shows me a space among the tables offering tombola, raffles, crafts and games where I can display our pop-up banner and leaflets (as well as literature from the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership – REDP).

Once I’ve got that set up, Norma takes me to the Faith and Reflection Room ahead of its official opening, so she can show me what’s there and tell me how it has been developed. The room has been designed by learners for everyone's use: fellow learners, staff and visitors. It's reserved for use by Muslims exclusively every week day, 1310-1330.

Given its particular setting, those designing the room have addressed needs and sensitivities that are not often considered: high colour contrast between objects; soft furnishings; appealing to different sensory experiences than might be found in other such rooms (a fragrance diffuser, a basket of stones of varying textures, a speaking clock); use of braille and large type.

There’s a small chest of drawers with space for resources for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Humanism, Judaism, Sikhism (and for Islam, stored in a separate box, as one of the Muslim learners has particular access difficulties). Some of these are less full than the others; hopefully, we can encourage the relevant communities to donate some appropriate material.

Copies of the 2011 Directory of Places of Prayer, Meditation and Worship in Loughborough in large print and in braille are mounted on the wall (and copies to take away).as well as the "Find a Church" directory.

Improving quotations have been printed out and mounted on the wall, amongst which are the following:

"He who sows courtesy reaps friendships, and he who plants kindness sows love." (St Basil) 

"It is easy to do what is harmful to ourselves. What is helpful and good is hard to do." (from the Dhammapada) 

"Life is a progress and not a station" (Ralph Waldo Emerson) "Wonder is the beginning of wisdom." (Socrates)

Leicester Council of Faiths doesn't have any specially adapted material for people with sight loss, but we have tried to bear in mind best practice in terms of layout, typography etc for print and display materials to promote better accessibility (thanks for this advice and guidance to Eric Day, Access Officer at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living). We’ve tried to do the same for our online presence (e.g. website, blog).

We gather for the official opening shortly after 1100. Following a brief introduction by Tony Warren, Principal of the College (centre, in the photo above), a blessing is delivered by Father Joe Mullan, Roman Catholic Chaplain at Loughborough University (left of Mr Warren in the photo above). Next, I’m asked to say a few words about the multi-faith nature of the room and its resources.

Among the small party a the official opening of the Faith and Reflection Room is Lesley Ansari (far right in the photo) whom I know from Human Rights and Equalities Charnwood and as being involved with Loughborough Council of Faiths. What I didn’t know until today is that she’s also a member of the College's Board of Governors

Above and beyond the particular Protected Characteristic of Religion or Belief represented by opening of the Faith and Reflection Room, it's gratifying to see how the College is dedicated to equality and diversity in their fullest forms.

A statement of the college's Code of Practice on Equality and Diversity is on public display, not only in the Faith and Reflection Room, but throughout the building. There are also names and photos of the college's Equality and Diversity Champions, one for each of the following Protected Characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Marriage / Civil Partnership
• Pregnancy / Maternity
• Race
• Religion, Belief & Non-Belief [sic]
• Sexual orientation
• Transgender / Gender Identity / Sex

I speak with Norma about REDP and the possibility of the college’s involvement in our activities. We agree that I should come back out to discuss this specifically, early in the New Year.

After the official opening of the Faith and Reflection Room, we're all ushered into the Arts Centre for a performance by learners of their Christmas show, "The Thief of Christmas". This is tremendous fun to watch (and to perform, by the looks of it). Parts of it are presented as a pre-recorded video, which can be seen on the college's YouTube channel (and I bought a copy of it on DVD as well).

From a personal perspective, I’m interested in visiting the college and learning something about its work. I have several issues related to my sight: diabetes (though thankfully, no sign of retinopathy from my regular scans) narrow-angle glaucoma (treated with a combination of drops each morning and evening – though I had unsuccessful laser surgery to try and correct it a few years ago); I also had a cataract removed and replace earlier this year. So although I’ve had no personal contact or involvement with the RNIB College before this event, I find it reassuring that it’s there and doing what it does for those who need it most.

The College mentions the Faith and Reflection Room on its website.

FEAST OF QUESTIONS

I'm with the local Bahá'í friends this evening, celebrating the Feast of Masá'il (Questions).

I think it appropriate to provide a short extract from the Bahá'í writings here, relevant to the name and theme of this Feast and of the month in the Bahá'í calendar that it begins:

“It is an axiomatic fact that while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put questions to your own spirit and your spirit answers: the light breaks forth and the reality is revealed.” ('Abdu'l-Bahá)

As is always the case when Bahá'ís in any part of the world gather together, we remember the plight of our co-religionists in Iran, who are suffering under the current regime. We also spend time discussing the condition of members of the Roma community in the region, whom some local Bahá'ís have befriended.

I'm able to report on Inter Faith Week just gone by and we also discuss ways to inspire some inter faith engagement at Leicester and De Montfort Universities with some of the friends who have recently started studying there.

If you'd like to know more about the Bahá'í calendar and its pattern of Feasts and Holy Days, faithful reader, then check out the excellent article on Wikipedia.

CREATIVECOFFEE CLUB

At Phoenix Square Film and Digital Media Centre this morning for the fortnightly meeting of CreativeCoffee Club. There are a dozen or so around the tables this morning; that’s good compared to the last two scheduled meetings.

This morning we meet Patrick Welsh, recently appointed Marketing Manager at Phoenix Square. He introduces himself to us collectively, seeks our opinions on what made CreativeCoffee Club work, why it appears not to be working now, and what might be done to revivify it (that's what's going on in the photo above). After doing this for a quarter of an hour or so, Patrick spends the rest of the morning going round the table and speaking with each of us individually.

It could be said that the CreativeCoffee Club experience on offer for the past few months has been the decaff version. Whatever it was that gave it its zing is missing now. Rebecca Harvey, who was in overall charge of things now that CreativeCoffee Club has been taken over wholly by Phoenix Square, was staring to do a nice job, but barely had the chance to get her teeth into it before moving on to pastures new. Of the half-dozen or so people who came forward several months ago to make up the new management group which would work alongside Rebecca, only Jed Spittle and I appear to remain. So, short of begging Jayne Childs to come back, what can be done to inject some life back into CreativeCoffee Club?

With Patrick taking a hand-on role now, CreativeCoffee Club will probably be the subject of a new marketing push, with various media and methods being explored for the first time (can we have CreativeCoffee Club mugs? Wouldn't that be a nice marketing tool? How come no one has thought of that one before?) 

Below is a list of today's attendees. These are live links, so click on them to go straight through to the relevant website or Twitter account.

• Lee Allen Lee Allen Art @leeallenarts 
• Matthew Clark arxproject @arx_project 
• George Horne Proof @George_Horne 
• Dave Johnson Silver Leaf Studio @Silver_DJ78 
• Richard Kennedy October House Imaging 
• Ruth Page Digital Narratives @ruthtweetpage 
• Edd Smith Purple Claw @purple_claw 
• Jed Spittle Manic Music Productions @manicmusic 
• Mohan Subramaniam Subra Designs 
• Maryann & Michael Tedstone Manike Music @manikemusic 
• Rosemary Winsor The House of Winsor @houseofwinsor

US CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER JESSE JACKSON HONOURED WITH DEGREE AT DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY

From today's Leicester Mercury:

US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson honoured with degree at De Montfort University 

Civil rights campaigner the Rev Jesse Jackson received an honorary degree yesterday. 

He was a key speaker at De Montfort University's conference on terrorism and radicalism, organised by the Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.  

Mr Jackson said other cities could look to Leicester for tips on multicultural and racial harmony. 

He said: "This is a multicultural city and it shows that when people work alongside each other, together as a team, things can work.  

"Here is Leicester there are many races and many faces from many places."
Mr Jackson marched with Martin Luther King Jr in Selma, Alabama, in the 1960s and, in 1979, visited South Africa, where he spoke out against apartheid.  

He also won praise for negotiating the release of American soldiers and civilians held around the world and, in the 1980s, became a leading national spokesman for African Americans and twice stood for the Democrats nomination for president.  

When asked what Leicester could do to further fight terrorism, he said: "We must be radical but radical in a loving and caring and peaceful way, fighting together to change our world.  

"We must think about the way we interpret the word 'radical' and remember that Jesus was a radical – but in this peaceful sense I talk about.  

"We must all fight to coexist in peace."  

Mr Jackson spoke at the conference about the lessons to be learned from the US experience of tackling radicalisation and said that we must address the disparity in wealth between the rich and poor in order to achieve peace.  

Other speakers at the conference included Ian Paisley Jr MP, who discussed his experiences in Northern Ireland, as well as Home Office security minister James Brokenshire and Dr Dipu Moni, the foreign minister of Bangladesh.  

At the conference, Mr Vaz announced he would today ask parliament to honour Mr Jackson by nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize.

REDP CORE PARTNERS MEETING

This morning I’m attending the monthly meeting of the Core Partners of the Regional Equality and Diversity Partnership (REDP). Leicester Council of Faiths is one of these four Core Partners, along with:

• Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living
• Leicester LGBT Centre
• The Race Equality Centre

We meet at Leicestershire Centre for Integrated Living, which is the accountable body for this project.

Today we're joined by members of our Working Group, bringing them up to speed with our exit strategy as REDP approaches the end of its initial funding period and on our plans and prospects for sustainability in the medium and long term. This is following up on the meeting of Core Partners last Wednesday morning (see blog entry for 7 December).

This isn't our only topic today, of course. We discuss the remaining three regional conferences that we plan to hold in the first half of 2012, the topics for which are:

• Human Rights (led by The Race Equality Centre)
• Hate Crime (led by Leicester LGBT Centre)
• Localism (led by Leicester Council of Faiths)

These will be spaced about eight weeks apart and each one will be preceded by a short series of seminars in six different parts of the East Midlands.

We also discuss how to set a consistent tone for the public projection of REDP. As well as adhering to a list of inappropriate words and phrases that we hope would never pass the lips of anyone doing anything, anywhere, on behalf of REDP, we'd like to do something that would help define our values. My part in this will be to draft a brief statement regarding the positive dimensions of identifying with one or more of the Protected Characteristics enumerated in the Equality Act 2010. More often than not, identification with a Protected Characteristic is presented as having a negative impact on individual, family and community life - as if being rid of this, that or the other Protected Characteristic would only beneficial. As if (say) a black person's life would be made better if they had been born white; as if a gay person (for instance) would invariably be happier if they were straight; as if giving up one's culture, heritage and identity as a Sikh (for example) would lead to more success in this world. This is ridiculous and patently so. No doubt that belonging to any identifiable group can lead to discrimination, harassment, persecution or victimisation - and we would never deny that that's the unfortunate and unacceptable reality of life for many. However, the solution is not to aspire to some bland, featureless, flavourless "norm" of being British. What on earth would that be like - and who on earth would say that is them, or wish to be like that? This would help differentiate our approach to diversity (after all, it's in our name) as well as affirming our commitment to equality.

UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF RELIGIOUS CONFLICT

This is Manzoor Moghal's First Person column in today's Leicester Mercury:

Understanding the history of religious conflict 

A lack of knowledge will hinder peace efforts, believes Manzoor Moghal 

The extremists in the world of Islam spring from the school of thought that emerged in India after the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857 known to Indian Nationalists as the first war of Indian Independence. 

The Mughal Emperors of India who ruled for over 300 years mostly treated Hindus as equal partners in their governance of the country, which evolved a strong bond between their Hindu and Muslim subjects in their loyalty to the Emperors. 

The British systematically destroyed this pluralism and successfully used the strategy of divide and rule by pitching Muslims against Hindus and Sikhs and vice versa. 

After putting down the uprising they slaughtered thousands of Indian Muslims. As a consequence the Muslims became disillusioned with the whole concept of Pluralism and broadly divided into two groups. 

The Anglophile Sir Syed Ahmed Khan believed that the best way for the advancement of Muslims in India was for them to acquire Western education, and founded the Aligarh Anglo Mohammedan Oriental College later known as Aligarh Muslim University. 

The other group who were the followers of Shah Waliullah, a Wahabist founded the Deobandi school of thought in 1866 in Deoband. 

Their principle ethos was to create a pure Islamic society unadulterated by any Hindu and Western practices. They believed that it was the dilution of Islam with Hindu and Western values that had resulted in the demise of Muslim rule in India. 

It is from Deoband that Madrasahs across Pakistan and Afghanistan sprang up, teaching their extremist brand of Islam. From this erupted the repressive regime of the Taliban in 1996. Afghanistan then became the crucible for Al Qaeda who unleashed a most ferocious attack against the West in retaliation of their invasion of Muslim countries. 

Historically Islam and the West have been locked in conflict for centuries. The West continues its aggression by attacking and invading Muslim countries and treating Muslims as fiends because of the violent extremism from the likes of Al Qaida. Western foreign policy towards Muslim countries provides fertile breeding ground for violent Muslim extremism. American and European foreign policies in dealing with Muslim countries are seen by Muslims as deliberately provocative and anti-Islam. Unfortunately, Western actions backfire and continue to aggravate matters between the two opposing camps. 

Unless the phenomena of extremism is fully understood in its true historical contacts and genuine efforts are made for rapprochement between the two sides, there seems to be little hope of any solution.