more starkly than they have been presented to date.
According to the executive president of the SCA Group – a centre-right think tank spe- cialising in social enterprise – Brian Strevens: “What is the Christian relationship with Islam in the UK and do church leaders believe that civil servants, the police and security forces are sufficiently religiously and culturally lit- erate to be able to discern anger and youthful passion from a risk of a move to political vio- lence or terrorism? “And when the Catholic Church has been arguing so strongly for legal opt-outs from “muscularly liberal” legislation, are its leaders really relaxed with a fulsome denigration of multiculturalism and the imposition of values which are judged to be held in common even while significant minorities have doubts? “Do the bishops accept that Islamic extrem- ism is entirely unique when compared against other extremisms such as those that had to be managed in the Irish Troubles or via the British National Party? This debate seems well advanced within the Church of England but was almost absent from the Catholic bishops’ recent teaching document on inter- religious dialogue.” The bishops, it would seem, have not yet formulated their collective position. Meanwhile, in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph last year, Archbishop Vincent Nichols expressed some reservations about multiculturalism. Consequently, there would seem little chance that he will, as Professor Gearty hoped in last week’s Tablet, join Archbishop Rowan Williams in articulating nuanced reservations regarding any putative lurch to a “security” paradigm for dialogue with Islam.
n the week that Dame Helen Ghosh gave a paper at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford on “civil servants and conscience”, this could be a lost episcopal chance to influence the agenda, or shape its moral dimensions. The Catholic Dame Helen is, after all, the newly appointed Permanent Secretary at the Home Office who will have to lead the imple- mentation of the Prime Minister’s new approach. Whatever the final outcome of these debates within the Churches, the Prime Minister’s Munich speech presents a clear break with recent policy across Whitehall and signals an intensification of plans to target, for good or ill, certain parts of the Muslim community where simple delineations between religion, culture, Islam, politics, protest and violence may not be easily to hand. The culmination of an intense debate within the coalition, it may be only the beginning of a wider one as to how “God”, “security” and “tolerance” can be done in a post-9/11, post- Iraq-war age.
I
■Francis Davis is a fellow of the Young Foundation and a contributor to “In Defence of Welfare” (ed. Peter Taylor-Gooby) published this week by the Social Policy Association. He has advised both Labour and coalition ministers on religious matters.
Help build a lifeline this Lent
Amparo was forced from her home by violence in Colombia. With CAFOD’s support, she is now laying the foundations for her children’s future by seting up a metal furniture-making business.
A small business or cooperative can be a lifeline, a route out of poverty for millions of people.
Give, act and pray in your parish this Lent to help more people like Amparo transform their lives and begin again.
cafod.org.uk/giveitup “
I feel like a new person with a new life. I have work. I can provide what my family
needs – I have the power! Amparo Oyola, Furniture-maker, Colombia
R28883 Registered charity no.285776 Photograph: Paul Smith
19 February 2011 | THE TABLET | 7
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