VIEWS SOUGHT ON PLAN FOR MULTI-FAITH CREMATORIUM

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Views sought on plan for multi-faith crematorium

A new multi-faith crematorium has been proposed for south Leicestershire.

Developers Westerleigh Group have not yet submitted plans to Blaby District Council, but will meet with residents tomorrow and on Friday to discuss the scheme.

The proposed site in Leicester Road, Countesthorpe, will include a ceremony room, memorial gardens and landscaping.

The £3 million development is being unveiled at two public consultations at Countesthorpe village hall, in Station Road.

The company's commercial director Adrian Britton said: "Leicestershire is the worst served county in the country for crematoria – there are just two which serve very large numbers and are being stretched."

The facade of the main building will include an interchangeable religious symbol which can be switched to represent the faith of the service.

There will also be wash rooms and a viewing area for Sikh ceremonies, which traditionally involve watching the coffin entering the furnace.

Mr Britton said: "The idea is to design the crematorium in a manner which will offer an atmosphere in which families can grieve in peaceful surroundings.

"We also want to make sure it is sensitively designed to complement the rural surroundings, and we are holding the exhibition to get feedback before submitting our plans."

The developers said the low-profile building would be screened from the road and the village would benefit from additional landscaping and trees.

A spokesman for Countesthorpe Parish Council said: "We're meeting with the developers tomorrow and talking about the plans then, but we don't know what's involved so don't have an opinion yet.

"We'll be listening to residents and will help anyway we can as part of the consultation process – but there hasn't been a planning application submitted yet so it's very early days."

There are two crematoria in the city and county – one at Gilroes cemetery, in Leicester, and the other in Loughborough.

Developers say the site has been chosen because it is accessible to people living in Blaby, south Leicester and neighbouring districts.They expect to hold four to five services a day.

All services will be coordinated with local funeral directors.Colin Moore, adviser at The Funeral Consultancy, in Bullhead Street, Wigston, welcomed the proposals for the crematorium.

Mr Moore, who arranges bespoke funerals as well as bereavement counselling, said: "I believe it's needed, from the funeral directors I talk to. Cremations are becoming much more popular than traditional burials."

The public exhibition will take place between 3pm and 6pm tomorrow , and 9am and 1pm on Friday.

MINDFULNESS & WISDOM 8: IN CONCLUSION

At Christchurch, Clarendon Park, for the final session in the course, "Mindfulness & Wisdom", offered by Christians Aware as part of their Faith Awareness programme. The eight-week course has been devised by Ian Grayling and Kevin Commons from the Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Part of this evening is devoted to considering similarities and differences between the presentations that we've had in previous weeks.

From the three introductory sessions

People may well be at different stages of faith where for some the principal locus of authority is external (teachers and scriptures) but for others the principal locus of authority is found within.  This is underpinned by a sense of progression through life from Dependence, though Independence to Interdependence.

Zen Buddhism Wisdom and Compassion are inextricably linked.

Islam Wisdom is expressed in your actions.

Judeo-Christian The scriptures provide insight in how to lead the good life.  In this regard is Jesus a window into Wisdom?

Humanist Wisdom is about deciding what is right to do at an individual, family and societal level. 

Similarities If wisdom is not manifested in daily life it is not wisdom. What you think, believe and say should be compatible with what you do.

Diffferences The Zen contribution made much more of the importance of direct personal experience that goes beyond rationality but is still relevant to daily life.

STAFF & VOLUNTEER BRIEFING AT INVOLVEMENT CENTRE, BRADGATE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT

At Bradgate Mental Health Unit, Glenfield Hospital this morning, promoting the NHS Staff Multi-Faith Resource that Leicester Council of Faiths has helped produce for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT).

I'm here with Abida Hussain, Equality and Human Rights Officer in the Integrated Equality Service for LPT and the city and county Primary Care Trust (PCT) cluster, as we continue the process of briefing those most likely to use this resource.

We’re here specifically to meet staff and volunteers at the Involvement Centre. We popped in here just to get a drink and a sit-down while we were on a visit to brief staff in the Belvoir Intensive Care Unit and fell into chatting with Grant Paton, one of the volunteers here, who suggested we come back and do a briefing (see blog entry for Wednesday 22 February). So here we are!

"MY PILGRIMAGE AROUND LEICESTER"

Cllr Sundip Meghani has today posted on his blog an entry entitled "My Pilgrimage Around Leicester". This recounts his visit in one day (the occasion of his 30th birthday) to a number of faith centres in the city:

• Leicester Progressive Jewish Synagogue, Avenue Road
• Holy Cross Priory Roman Catholic Church, Wellington Street
• Jain Centre, Oxford Street
• Guru Nanak Gurdwara, Holy Bones
• Nagarjuna Kadampa Buddhist Centre, Guildhall Lane
• Leicester Cathedral, Peacock Lane
• Shree Sanatan Mandir, Weymouth Street

Sundip did something similar shortly after his election as a City Councillor last year, tweeting as he went. I was in Glasgow on holiday at the time, but followed his progress that day via Twitter and made arrangements to meet him on my return to Leicester. You can read about our first meeting on my blog entry for Thursday 19 May 2011.

WRONG ABOUT SECULARISM

This letter appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Wrong about secularism

I've often wondered what it is Baroness Warsi does – and it strikes me that she must have wondered herself.

Hence how readily she embraced her chance to fly the flag for Cameron's UK vision all the way to the Vatican, where, in her Valentine's Day speech, she said militant secularism "demonstrates similar traits to totalitarian regimes."

This paranoid allying of secularism with totalitarianism was coupled with repeated reference to the Pope's state visit to Britain in 2010, and how successful and well received this was.

But she diplomatically avoided mention of the accompanying controversy and protest.

Moreover, she declined to pass judgment on instances of conflict between faith and public policy, genuflecting to someone who continues to evade the serious questions that she wouldn't dream of asking him.

It's not "aggressive secularism by stealth" the religious need fear, it's religious conservative authoritarians.

There were important matters to discuss with Vatican officials the following day: climate change, international aid, Somalia. This did yield a joint declaration calling for an "immediate end" to violence in Syria, which I imagine will make all the difference.

When Warsi says: "For me, one of the most worrying aspects about this militant secularisation is that at its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant", this exposes her ignorance of what secularism is.

She further misrepresents secularists as, "... the anti-religionists, the faith deniers... attempting to remove all trace of religion from culture, history and public discourse".

Secularism is not intolerant of any faith; but it rejects that privileged place, and automatic unqualified respect, that religious leaders and lobby groups carry in our political decision-making bodies.

Warsi has embarrassingly let down her country.

Lee Turnpenny, Southampton

HUNT FOR ARSONIST WHO TARGETED LEICESTER MOSQUE

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Hunt for arsonist who targeted Leicester mosque

Police are hunting an arsonist who set fire to a banner outside a Leicester mosque.

The large banner had been placed outside the Usmani mosque, in St Saviours Road, Spinney Hills, in honour of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed.

A man was caught on camera setting it alight shortly before 1am last Saturday.

The mosque's imam said yesterday that a passing motorist stopped to put out the fire – preventing the flames from spreading to the rest of the building.

Police yesterday issued a CCTV image and video footage of a man they want to trace. He is Asian and possibly in his 30s. He was wearing a dark puffa-style jacket and dark bottoms.

Moulana Khalid, head imam at the mosque, said the banner was alight for up to 12 minutes before the motorist pulled up and used what appeared to be a large piece of fabric to stifle the flames.

Mr Khalid said: "We are very grateful to this man because the fire could have spread. He may have saved our mosque and we would like to meet him to show how thankful we are.

"People are very upset that someone could set fire to a banner, which we had put on the building for our celebrations."

Suleman Nagdi, spokesman for the Leicestershire Federation of Muslim Organisations, said: "An incident of this type, at any place of worship, would cause great distress.

"We do not know the motivation for this, but the only way to settle disagreements is to sit down together around a table and talk to each other."

Inspector Bill Knopp, commander of Spinney Hill Park police station, said: "The banner was placed on the wall to celebrate the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed and the congregation has been deeply saddened by this malicious damage.

"We have been working closely with the mosque committee since the incident was reported and would urge the community to help us identify the person responsible.

"From inquiries we've conducted so far, we know a passing motorist stopped at the scene to put the fire out.

"We would urge this person to contact the police as he may be able to provide vital information which could assist with the inquiries.

"The mosque committee would also like to speak to him and thank him for his assistance during the incident.

"Any calls received will be treated in confidence."

Contact Pc Victoria Parker on 101.

THIS WEEK'S VISITORS (2,114)

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

1. United Kingdom 929
2. Germany 451
3. United States 337
4. Russia 115
5. France 106
6. India 68
7. Canada 31
8. Ukraine 31
9. Australia 29
10. Brazil 18

This week's total: 2,114 (last week: 1,855). 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" (i.e. in the last two hours), "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.

OUR HERITAGE IS SLOWLY BEING CHIPPED AWAY

Cllr Sundip Meghani's First Person column appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

Our heritage is slowly being chipped away

Councillor Sundip Meghani considers the controversial issue of public prayers

Earlier this month the High Court ruled that a town council in Devon had acted unlawfully by allowing prayers to be said at council meetings. These are the same kind of prayers incidentally that routinely take place in the council chamber here in Leicester and in the House of Commons.

As a lawyer I can see how this decision came about but as a councillor and as a person of faith I was disappointed with the judgment.

In terms of the legal aspects, I understand that Bideford Town Council is planning to appeal against the outcome of the judicial review, which had originally been brought by the National Secular Society.

I also understand the Government has fast-tracked a new statutory power to allow councils to circumvent the ruling in the interim.Whatever the end result it is fair to say that this case has certainly ignited a great deal of public debate, with Baroness Warsi, Richard Dawkins, the Queen and Polly Toynbee – to name but a few big hitters – all recently weighing in with their views on religion.

I can certainly appreciate the strength of feeling on both sides, particularly as we live in a country that is officially neither secular nor religious.

On the one hand our head of state is also the head of the Church of England and Bishops in the House of Lords influence the legislative process. On the other hand Parliament is supreme and the rule of law applies equally to all, irrespective of faith.

Since my election in 2011 I have attended every meeting of the Leicester City Council and I have observed prayers at the start of each of those meetings.

To his credit, every time the Lord Mayor has called upon his chaplain to lead the prayers, it has always felt to me as if the Lord Mayor was simply inviting councillors to participate, rather than insisting that they do so.

I believe that the rule of law should always take precedence over religion because that is the safest and fairest way to guarantee equality for all.

However, I also believe that expressions of faith in public life are a good thing, and that elected representatives should be free to publicly express a belief in God, and even ask for guidance in their work.

I cannot help but feel that this harmless tradition of prayers at council meetings has been hijacked, so as to try and open a new front in the on-going war of attrition between – and I'll choose my words carefully here – the "very religious" and the "very non-religious". Sadly that leaves those of us in the moderate majority stuck in the middle as yet another part of our nation's heritage is steadily chipped away.

Sundip Meghani is a Labour and Co-operative councillor for Beaumont Leys.

"PRIVILEGE" AS ARCHDEACON TO BE BISHOP

This article appears in today's Leicester Mercury:

"Privilege" as archdeacon to be Bishop

An archdeacon of Leicester is to become a Bishop.

Venerable Richard Atkinson, currently archdeacon at Leicester Cathedral, has been appointed as Bishop of Bedford, in the Diocese of St Alban's.

The archdeacon, who has worked in the city and east Leicestershire for 10 years, said: "I am very much looking forward to the new challenges and opportunities.

"It has been a great privilege to be part of such a good team in a city and county where God has shaped me in so many ways."

During his time in Leicester, he founded the St Philip's Centre, in Evington, set up to increase engagement with people of other faiths.He also helped organise the revamp of the former Leicester Grammar School building, to create St Martin's House, a conference venue and outreach centre for the Diocese and Cathedral of Leicester.

The Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Tim Stevens said he would be missed.

"I will personally be very sad to see Richard leave the Diocese of Leicester, as he has been an excellent colleague over many years, who has brought real creative energy to his Archdeaconry and the wider Diocese in so many ways," he said.

"I am, however, very happy to see Richard's talents and skills used by the Church in this new role in the Diocese of St Alban's, and know we will all want to wish Richard, Helen and their family well."

There will be a farewell service at Leicester Cathedral on Saturday, April 28, at 6pm.

BIG SOCIETY: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UNEQUAL

At the Midland Hotel, Bradford, today for Big Society: The Good,The Bad & The Unequal. This national conference is hosted by JUSTWest Yorkshire and is jointly sponsored by them, Runnymede Trust, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

We're welcomed by Ratna Lachman, Chief Exec of JUST West Yorkshire and Maureen Grant from Joseph Rowntree charitable Trust, who set the tone for the rest of the day. The conference focuses on four main areas:

• What does "fairness" mean in the context of Big Society?
• Can Big Society deliver racial justice?
• Does Big Society privilege the South over the North?
• Is Big Society a cover for big cuts?

This event also marks the publication of a new book (with the same title as the conference), to help inform discourse regarding Big Society, to interrogate Big Society agenda, particularly as it affects VCS organisations, practitioners and service users. The book provides systematic, intelligent critique, provides an alternate narrative rather than one of grudging acquiescence and makes no bones about the necessity of speaking truth to power.

There are three plenary presentations (all of which you can access, faithful reader, by clicking on the title below):

• Anna Coote (New Economics Foundation): Fairness and Equality in the Big Society
• Ed Cox (Institute of Public Policy Research): Two Geographies Divided by One Big Society
• Rob Berkeley (Runnymede Trust): The Colour of Big Society

After lunch, we also see a young people's video presentation on Big Society.

This is a very different affair from the conference I attended in London a month ago (see blog, Monday 30 January). That one was led by organisations who've obtained contracts and funding to deliver Big Society initiatives and projects, with speakers addressing many in the audience from organisations threatened by the Coalition's austerity regime - as well as by the plain and simple fact that those making decisions about development of the Voluntary and Community Sector just don't "get it". There was an undercurrent of anger and resentment at that event. It would be true to say that here, there's no undercurrent. Quite the opposite: it's more of a rallying cry. From a straw poll, I reckon I'm the only one who attended both conferences - and take it from me, there's quite a difference between the two!