the next (and final?) Census

Meeting this afternoon at the Welcome Centre with Khudeja Amer-Sharif (photo above), 2011 Census Community Advisor. The next national Census will be held on Sunday 27 March 2011 - and there's talk that it might be the last of its kind. The Coalition Government has floated the prospect of killing off the Census and obtaining information it needs from existing agencies and databases, such as credit rating agencies. The first Census in this country was carried out in 1801 and since then has been held at regular ten-yearly (decennial) intervals. The only exception to this was in 1941, when it was abandoned due to World War II.

Khudeja has been commissioned to find ways of improving the response of the Indian community in Leicester and Leicestershire to the Census when it comes round again. In 2001, this community was one which didn't participate in the Census to its fullest extent (so much so that I've heard it said that one segment within the Indian community in the city might be as much as twice the size recorded in the Census).

For the Council of Faiths in general - and for my post in particular - accurate, up-to-date information about the size, distribution and status of faith communities is essential for many reasons that I'm sure need no explanation.

As well as helping find ways for the Indian community to participate in the Census, we can find other ways for it to have a positive impact locally. The Census has created 35,000 temporary jobs nationally. There was an under-representation among those who filled these posts in 2001 of Indian people, so Khudeja wants to find ways to encourage the Indian community to apply for some of these. So we're looking for ways to publicise the importance of the Census and the availability of these jobs that come with it. Khudeja is interested in getting the chance to speak to our members, as well as organising such activities as "Completion Events" (for those who might be having difficulties filling out their Census forms) in places of worship and community centres for a week or so after the date of the Census.

I provide Khudeja with some contacts, including: Highcross; Oadby & Wigston Hindu Community; Oadby & Wigston Muslim Association; Wesley Hall. What she'd really like is a public endorsement from Leicester Council of Faiths, which would look good in the Mercury with a photograph featuring a Hindu, Muslim and Sikh face. Sounds like the kind of thing we'd be glad to arrange - but after 9 October, as much of our normal work is pretty much on hold till then!

Khudeja is featured on "Faces of the Census":
http://2011mc.census.gov.uk/Faces_of_the_Census.pdf

Leicester Speaks (6)

Short but productive meeting this afternoon at the Welcome Centre with John Coster of Citizens' Eye Community News Agency, regarding Leicester Speaks (AKA Local Democracy Week). John and I have been appointed Joint Chairs of this week-long event. He wasn't able to attend either of the recent planning meetings where we've discussed the launch event and the roles of the Joint Chairs. We talk about this now and come up with a joint plan of action - which largely amounts to "Roll with it"!

not backward at coming forward

During the Sacred Spaces training event in Church House, we decamp nest door to the Cathedral, with the intention of experiencing a little bit of what's offered to school parties when they come on a planned visit there. Just after we've gone in, I see Ben Jackson, from BBC Radio Leicester, walk in behind us.  I peel away from the main group and see Ben walk up to the pledge, which is on prominent display. He has a digital roving mic and is recording something as he looks over the pledge. I sidle over to him, wait till he's finished and tell him that if he wants to interview anyone about the pledge, I'm one of those who signed it. So he does, and I get the chance to speak about what it is, why it's there and why I signed it. I also make the point that no matter what's going on this coming weekend, the group at work in the cathedral is the real face of our communities working together and the kind of thing ghat goes on all the time.

After we're done, Ben thanks me and head back to the BBC. I start to make my way back to rejoin the Sacred Spaces group, when a man walks up to me , takes me by the arm and asks if he can have a word. He's a perfectly respectable looking fellow, in his early 70s, clean cut and calm. We walk just outside the cathedral where he proceeds to tell me that he disagrees with the idea of the pledge and that the church shouldn't be doing such a thing. He says that the church should keep out of politics and that it shouldn't be trying to tell people what to think. We talk for a quarter of an hour or so and end up agreeing to disagree. I'm glad that I look approachable.

SACRED SPACES TRAINING: 1

At Church House, next to Leicester Cathedral this morning, for the first of two "Sacred Spaces" training sessions. This has been organised by Leicester SACRE (Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education) and by Leicester Diocese, to help improve the quality of school visits to local places of worship, community centres or any other venues in the city considered to be "Sacred Spaces".

The session is led by Jill Carr (RE Adviser to Leicester City Council and Secretary of SACRE) and Janet Ingram (Religious Education Officer, Leicester Diocese). Before the session proper gets underway, Jill asks me to introduce myself, the Council of Faiths and our relevant services. Ajay Aggarwal (our Co-ordinator) is also here today, as is Smita Shah, President of Jain Samaj Europe (and our Treasurer). I'm always glad when members of the Council of Faiths (especially officers or directors) are able to join in an activity like this.

All eight religions on Leicester Council of Faiths are represented here today. Leicester Secular Society is also represented. Secular Hall (the first - and oldest continuously used - such meeting place in the world) should be more frequently visited by school parties. There are two dozen people attending (not including Jill and Janet) in a fairly small room together. Some are experienced hosts for visitors to their communities' sacred spaces; others are newcomers to this sort of thing. Some feel comfortable with this sort of work, others feel daunted by the idea of addressing groups of children. The session focuses on practical matters, emphasising good two-way communication: Janet talks about effective planning and organisation for schools visiting sacred spaces; Jill speaks on what the hosts at sacred spaces need to know from visiting schools before they come.

After an hour, we take a short step to the Cathedral. The photo above shows Janet speaking to the group before we enter the Cathedral, the one below when everyone is gathered in one of the chapels. In the Cathedral, Janet presents a couple of activities of the kind that would be done with children visiting in a school party. One of these activities is "Godly Play", telling the story of the Israelites' captivity in Egypt and their escape from bondage. This is played out on the floor before the font, using a blanket full of sand, wooden figures and two blue cloths to represent the sea. Although I found much of this captivating (as I tried to imagine how my eight-year old daughter would take to it) there were points which troubled some of the attendees: the appropriateness for young children of recounting the slaying of the firstborn in each Egyptian household by the Angel of Death; likewise, the smearing of blood on the doorposts by the Israelite families; the use of the phrase, "People of God"; and the celebration of the "People of God" after they had crossed the Red Sea (Jews don't follow this historical example in full as they don't wish to glory in the death of anyone, which is how that can come across). For some not born and brought up in the Abrahamic tradition, it may be hard to understand why, in a Christian setting, they're being told a story about Jews; and this may be even more confusing for children.

Two unexpected thing happen to me while we're in the Cathedral. I've written about these in a separate blog entry as they're out of keeping with what's being described here.

As we walk back to Church House, I enjoy a chat with David Hurwich from the Leicester Orthodox Jewish Congregation, who has some Scots family history. And for those who haven't seen it before, we pass by the recently opened Nagarjuna Makpada Buddhist Centre (the next day, I'm told that a load of the people from our training session went over there for lunch!)

This is a very useful session: fairly low-key, positive, non-stressful. As it ends, Ajay and I hand out our set of introductory leaflets to those who don't already have a copy. We get to keep our "generic" banner up in the reception area of Church House till I come back to help out at the second session tomorrow.

on protesting and marching

In the midst of increasingly heated and anxious discussion about the impending events of Saturday 9 October in Leicester, here's a piece I like by Zoe Williams in today's Guardian. It gives an opportunity for those of us in the thick of it right now to stand back and look at the bigger picture, take in the longer view.

Politics has changed but our urge to protest is undimmed

Demonstrations may not achieve much, but from the Iraq war to the G20, taking to the streets has an inimitable energy 

I used to enjoy disagreeing with Theresa May as a reflex, but that's one of many pleasures to have disappeared under the coalition. She's home secretary now, you may have noticed. The sheer breadth of her decision canvas means that she will, unavoidably, sometimes be right – as she is this week, in turning down a request from the English Defence League to march in Leicester. A request from Unite Against Fascism was also rejected.

Peace in the centre of Leicester this Saturday is expected by almost no one, however: the EDL is rarely given permission for a march. It just goes ahead anyway, with a "static demonstration", which entails less marching but approximately the same amount of unpleasantness. (It's never the walking that's the problem, is it?) You need no permission for a static demo, though expect the infamous "kettling" – where protesters are penned in, for however long it takes for them to be clearly bored and ready to go home: a bit like being arrested, without the washroom facilities. It is so annoying when it happens to you, but when you see it happening to someone else, you have to concede it's effective.

Earlier this year, clashes between the EDL, UAF and police in Bolton led to 74 arrests and several injuries. The spectacle is depressing: however much legislation there is against incitement to racial hatred, there is apparently no way to halt a gathering of people who chant "Muslims off our streets" and, in their Welsh incarnation, are openly Nazi to the point of doing the decreasingly funny walk.

UAF has to demonstrate in order to refute the far-right agenda since, as its spokesman Anindya Bhattacharyya points out, there is a symbolic aspect: these gatherings recall the 70s idea of "strutting" as a kind of ethnic cleansing, turning the streets white. You have to reject a message like that as a community; you can't just shrug and leave it to the police. And yet, at the foreground of all the symbolism is a lot of real, unmetaphorical violence. Bhattacharyya says, with gusto, that the National Front demos were ultimately faced down not by a police presence, but by the people who lived in the streets the NF was trying to ethnically refashion. While that's true, here they are again – civilised people having to skirmish for the protection of ideals enshrined in law for a generation.

The left will always feel a responsibility to answer demonstrations by the far-right: those on the right don't feel the same when the far-left has a demo, believing themselves (I'm guessing) already represented in the form of the police. Try to imagine a gang of Tories counter-marching against a G20 protest.

The business of protest is transfixing. So much has changed over 30 years in the rest of politics; the left and right have collapsed into each other, and what's left of a class war is muted and euphemistic – we've had our third way, and are now settling into a fourth (the same, only without the money).

And yet protest looks like it always has: there are large, legitimate gatherings that are genuinely peaceful and yet have no impact. If they did have an impact, it would be totally undemocratic. However large a demo is – and those against the Iraq war were as big as they come – that's never going to be a majority of the nation's adults: they're just the people with the most motivation. You can't have a government-of-people-who-can-be-arsed. (Or maybe that's what the "big society" is going to look like?)

There is a good argument for these demonstrations: that, even while proving your citizenly impotence, they paradoxically give you a sense of power and optimism. And that's borne out, in the long term, by the idea that they incrementally change the temperature of a debate – so, for example, a person like Nick Clegg would probably never discuss axing Trident were it not for CND marches. Sometimes you also meet nice people.

The alternative is the unauthorised march, the May Day protests, the EDL versus the UAF, the G20 demo. They create a genuine confusion for the police since, being unauthorised, they are almost already illegal before the fourth person arrives: and yet, as the EDL plans this weekend demonstrate, they are not illegal, whether mischievous, riotous or poisonous, or not until some ancillary crime has also taken place.

Add to that the hovering threat that some riots will, with hindsight, turn out to have been a civil rights movement and you have a lot of ambiguity, which the police deal with no better today than they ever did. The officer who assaulted Ian Tomlinson shortly before he died is up for dismissal before Christmas: that incident – not just the violence but the subsequent evasiveness – could have happened in any decade between now and the 60s.

There are new themes – anti-globalisation is one, though it's not the great mobiliser it was five years ago; hating Muslims is now the public face of racism – but this landscape hasn't changed. There's always a danger, when you talk about activism, to invest every act of protest with the dignity of Martin Luther King, and brush away the racist and the reactionary. There is nothing inherently good about taking to the streets in furtherance of a belief. But it has a stubborn and inimitable energy.

Access this article online and see the large number of readers' comments on it (maybe even add a few of your own):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/06/politics-changed-urge-protest-undimmed

PHILOSOPHY PANEL AT ST PAUL'S CATHOLIC SCHOOL

To St Paul's Catholic School, Spencefield Lane, Evington, this morning, where the Council of Faiths has been asked to facilitate a "Philosophy Panel" for Year 9 pupils. I took a call a fortnight or so ago from Seamus O'Looskan, who is Chaplain there. He asked us initially to provide two people who could represent Islam and Hinduism respectively on a panel to be quizzed by pupils from this year group on some of the big questions of life. A few days later, he sent me another message asking if we could provide a few more participants to help make a balance between people who would speak from a faith background and others who would not. I failed to get a Muslim speaker to come along; nor was I able to obtain the services of a Buddhist (well, I did make the approaches at rather short notice). In the event, an interesting and varied line up of speakers attend:

• Leon Charikar (Chair of Neve Shalom, Leicester’s Progressive Jewish Congregation)
• Ramesh Majithia (Hindu community)
• Kishor Gohel (who took over from Ramesh as the Hindu representative for the second session)
• Fr Peter Hunter O.P. (Holy Cross Priory)
• Harry Perry ( Leicester Secular Society)
• Clare Carr (Global Education LeicesterShire, also a member of the Secular Society)
• Jan MacDonald (Secretary of the Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Leicester and member of Leicester Council of Faiths)

I should say that the school invited Peter and Harry on their own; the others I drummed up. We're taken into a fairly large hall just after 0900. The pupils are spaced around the hall in six groups, about a dozen of them per group. There's a seat for each of the representatives, facing the group. Each speaker spends ten minutes or so answering the group's questions, then a bell is rung and they move on to the next group. This whole process is done twice, with the first session ending about 1000, then restarting with a new hall full of pupils a few minutes later. This means that all the pupils get to spend more time listening to each speaker than if we were to follow the conventional "Question Time" format of running a panel. Better for the pupils, but more tiring for the speakers, who are "on" virtually all the time, rather than taking it in turns to contribute, then sit back and listen to their colleagues. This activity is being offered to the pupils as something additional to the curriculum, which gives them greater freedom to ask what they want, rather than just stick to topics on which they'll be examined.

I'm in attendance just in case any of the speakers want to bow out at any time, so I can step in and take their place, but that doesn't happen. I take the opportunity then to speak to several teachers, raising the possibility of other opportunities when they could join in appropriate activities arranged by the Council of Faiths - such as during the "Leicester Speaks" week-long event later this month or during National Inter Faith Week next month. Both sessions with the panel conclude with the recitiation of the school prayer, is taken from Micah, 6:

This is what the Lord asks of you: to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.

Those of us who stay on for tea and a chat are taken on a tour of the school by Seamus and Krysia Foster. We're introduced to some of the staff and pupils as we go round. It's all very impressive and we're made to feel very welcome. Props to Mr Gillespie, Head of Design, for having the cover artwork for Weasels Ripped My Flesh by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention on his classroom wall. "Rzzzzz!"

Here's what Clare had to say about her involvement:

I  have to admit that I was surprised, as a person with no religious belief, to have the opportunity to enter into a genuine dialogue with the young people at St Paul's School.  Their questions were well prepared and they showed great respect for a person with a different viewpoint by listening carefully and building on my responses with new and relevant questions.  The morning provided a fantastic learning opportunity for all the people involved and it was heartening to see everyone make the most of that opportunity.  I shall look forward to meeting with the RE staff to evaluate this new philosophy module, drawing on my experience as a Philosophy for Children/Communities (P4C) practitioner.

The morning finished with a tour of St Paul's School.  The building is in need of refurbishment and updating and, thankfully, the planned remodelling under the Building Schools for the Future initiative will be going ahead next summer.  Walking around the school, it was clear that this is a very happy School Community where young people make the most of the very good education on offer.  Personally I do not support the idea of faith schools, but I recognise a good school when I see one.  I don't believe that St Paul's is a good school because it is a faith school.  It is simply a good school, and I wish more schools around the country were as good.

Harry offered the following comments about the experience:

My impressions of the event at St Paul’s were also positive. The Year 9 pupils (13 year-olds) were much better behaved than the 16 year-olds that, thirty years ago, made me realise that teaching wasn’t my vocation! Having said that I also have to say that the presence of crucifixes everywhere did unsettle me a bit!

I was surprised at the make-up of the school, having expected to find a largely white populace of Irish and Polish descent, but in fact finding in addition to these around 40% (roughly speaking) of non-white origin from the Far East, Asia, Middle East and Africa. In a quick briefing beforehand Seamus reported a relatively large number of kids of Filipino extraction.

I was unaware that Clare was going to be there but I had been told there’d be a "Humanist" so I concentrated on the basic atheist position and the pupils’ questions also focused on this area, eg: existence of gods, origin of the Universe and Earth, evolution by natural selection, what happens after death and why I don’t believe in miracles, visions, prayers, etc. Although advised to prepare beforehand for questions on "moral’" issues I wasn’t faced with any and if invited to a similar event in future I think I’ll have to try to bring in the implications of non-belief on those fronts. The sessions were fast-paced and there was no time for detailed argument but that was an inevitable consequence of the format. Perhaps in future the school might consider an alternative format where individual speakers have more time to explain their views in more detail and respond to questions with more depth.

But full marks for the RE staff at St Paul’s – they had no obligation to put on this session and they made it clear their objective was to encourage independent thought, not simply engage in indoctrination.

Here's Jan's reflection on having taken part in the panel:

It was an enjoyable morning meeting with the teachers and students. I think that it was beneficial for us who were there to answer questions because it gave us the opportunity of coming in contact with the students and understanding the kind of information that they want to know. It certainly showed the changes that are taking place and that we are moving into a tolerant society where there are people who are ready to listen to other people’s views. I was very impressed with the school.

Peter's thoughts about the Philosophy Panel were as follows:

I very much enjoyed the morning at St Paul's. Obviously, we couldn't talk at any great length with any one group, but the format had the great advantage of meaning that the students heard from a wide range of voices in a manageable time-frame. The questions were well-prepared and intelligent, and some were very testing! The students were polite, friendly and really engaged, which made the whole experience very much worthwhile. Well done to St Paul's for organising this, and hopefully other schools will follow suit.

Leon offered the following:

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the young people at St Paul’s School to discuss issues of faith and religion. They asked some probing and intelligent questions on issues such as personal experience of God, life after death and why God would allow suffering. I was impressed with the care they had put into their questions and their willingness to listen and engage in dialogue with people from a variety of faith perspectives. I’d welcome the opportunity to contribute to similar discussions with young people and congratulate the school on this initiative.

UK RELIGIOUS LEADERS CALL FOR RELEASE OF BAHÁ’Í LEADERS IN IRAN

It's being widely reported in the religious media today that the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and the Chief Rabbi are amongst the British religious leaders who have called for the release of the seven Bahá'í leaders currently serving prison sentences in Iran.

In a recently issued statement, the religious leaders say they view the imprisonment of Iran’s Bahá'í leaders as a gross violation of the fundamental human right to freedom of religion. They urge governments to call on the Iranian authorities to review the decision to imprison the Baha’i leaders and to cease harassing the Bahá'í community.

“We are deeply touched by the sympathy and solidarity expressed by the UK’s significant religious leaders for our beleaguered brethren in Iran,” said Dr Kishan Manocha, the UK Bahá'í community’s Secretary of External Affairs. “Bahá'ís across the UK, especially those with family members in Iran, will be encouraged and empowered by this statement.” The text of the statement is as follows:

“We have been informed that following two years of arrest during which the international community has pressed the Iranian authorities to follow humanitarian and legal norms, seven leaders of the Bahá’í community in Iran have each been sentenced to twenty years imprisonment for reasons which in the view of all independent observers are solely based on their faith. These sentences form part of a wider picture over many years of severe harassment of the Bahá’í community

We view this act as a gross violation of the fundamental human right to freedom of religion and call on the Iranian government to fulfil their obligations under article 18 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to review the case and to ensure that the treatment of these “prisoners” accords with justice and due process as defined in the Iranian constitution and law.

We call upon all governments and people of good will to call upon the the Iranian authorities to review this decision and to cease harassment of the Bahá’í community.

We extend our sympathies to the Bahá’í community at this difficult time and hope that the widespread and growing international concern over this matter will cause the Iranian authorities to correct this flagrant injustice.”

The statement is signed by the following religious luminaries:

• The Most Revd Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury
• The Most Revd Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
• Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks
• Jay Lakhani, Hindu Academy
• Arjan Vekaria JP, President, Hindu Forum of Britain
• Dr Indarjit Singh CBE, Network of Sikh Organisations
• Dr Natubhai Shah MBBS PhD, Network of Jain Organisations, Council of Dharmic Faiths
• Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Chair, Religions for Peace UK.

Leicester Speaks (5)

At Leicester City Council New Walk Centre, A Block, this morning. Meeting with Parmjit Basra (Project Officer, Leicester Adult Skills and Learning Service) and Max Boden (Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce) to iron out details of the Big Launch of Leicester Speaks (AKA Local Democracy Week). It's just seven days away!

Clare questions the wisdom of appointing me (Joint) Chair of Leicester Speaks, since after 25 years in this city, I still have trouble making myself understood to shop assistants in bakeries and newsagents and to bus drivers. She reckons the best thing they could do at the launch event in Humberston Gate is to have me beamed up onto the big telly screen, with subtitles. Otherwise we run the risk of having the event renamed "Leicester Speaks - Double Dutch!"

Visit the Leicester Speaks website for details of events in the week beginning Mon 11 Oct:
http://www.leicesterspeaks.org/

Together

A bit of a mad dash from the city centre after leaving our young visitors from Blackpool at the Jain Centre. With our generic banner in tow, clutching a bunch of our leaflets on the eight communities represented on the Council of Faiths, I'm off to Beauchamp College, Oadby, this afternoon, to take part in its annual inter-faith event for students, parents, staff and members of the wider local community. This year it's all going on under the title, "Together". The college has an enviable record in promoting a broad, inclusive and welcoming outlook among its students and staff. It's probably the leading educational institution in the county in terms of inculcating a global perspective in all aspects of its life. I first learned about their good work in this field through our mutual involvement with the East Midlands Network on Global Perspectives in Schools (EMNGPS) and Global Education LeicesterShire (GELS). There are active, vibrant cultural and faith societies among the student body and I spend time talking with some of their members here. I also take the opportunity today to make positive contact with Oadby & Wigston Hindu Community and Oadby & Wigston Muslim Association, both of which are exhibiting here today. I can see no reason why members of these groups shouldn't be invited to join in the public activities of Leicester Council of Faiths, such as our Leicester Speaks dialogue events or the exhibition in Highcross during National Inter Faith Week. After all, several members of the Council of Faiths itself live in this part of the county, rather than in the city, and many members of these groups live or study in the city - giving them all a stake in the promotion of good relations among the faith communities in both places.

This event has been organised by Chris Swann, who played the major part in having Oadby recognised as a Fairtrade town. She has created a website for Oadby, which you can access here:
http://www.oadbyweb.org.uk/

Find out more about Beauchamp College:
http://www.beauchamp.leics.sch.uk/

BIFFY (2)

I meet up with our visitors from Blackpool Inter-Faith Forum for Youth (BIFFY) at the Jain Centre this morning. We are received with courtesy and kindness (as is always the case there) and given a tour of the Centre by Satesh. Our visitors know next to nothing about Jainism and have many questions, that Satesh answers eloquently. We spend about 90 minutes here then it's time for them to head back to the hotel and return to Blackpool. When I take my leave of the group, they're kind enough to give me a few gifts (some lovely candles, a box of fudge) as well as leaving me a copy of a DVD they've produced, entitled "Dare to be Different". I've enjoyed playing host to them. It's a pity they're not staying a little longer, as I'm sure they'd enjoy the event at Beauchamp College later today.