Religion and belief in the public space

Last weekend was an odd affair. The Radio 4 Sunday programme were in touch wanting to run items on the latest report (see https://www.secularism.org.uk/uploads/ahrc-network-report-collective-worship-religious-observance-law-and-policy.pdf) recommending changes in the law on Collective Worship and on the debate about GCSE choices in Roman Catholic schools. These were to be the major items until the news about the attack in Paris. After that, and rightly, the item on Collective Worship was cut and the debate on GCSE downsized to accommodate discussion of the religious dimension of the terrorist attacks.

What’s interesting is the way the three issues are linked by a single debate about the place of religion in public life. By chance, and perhaps good fortune, two reports to be released in the next few weeks will focus directly on these issues.

The REforReal project (http://www.gold.ac.uk/faithsunit/reforreal/) funded by Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, led by Adam Dinham and based in the Goldsmiths College will release its report exploring the “the role of schools in equipping young people with the knowledge and skills to engage effectively with religion and belief diversity, in schools, in their communities, in future workplaces and in wider social contexts”. This work has been carried out as part of the work of the Faiths and Civil Society Unit.

At the same time we are expecting publication of the report of the Woolf Commission’s report on Religion and Belief in British Public Life http://www.corab.org.uk/ which is likely to include recommendations about RE.

So what’s the connection between Paris, collective worship reform and GCSE in faith schools? All three issues touch on the crucial question:

What is the place of religion in the public space and political policy?

One of the debates arising from the Paris attacks is whether French policy in relation to religion is one factor in the mix in trying to understand what is happening. France operates a very strong policy of secularisation in its public life. As one commentator has written, “France is not the only Western country to insist on the separation of church and state – but it does so more militantly than any other. Secularism is the closest thing the French have to a state religion. It underpinned the French Revolution and has been a basic tenet of the country’s progressive thought since the 18th Century” Henri Astier: The deep roots of French secularism.

French secularity (laïcité) is the absence of religious involvement in government affairs especially the prohibition of religious influence in the determination of state policies. This ‘militant’ secularism is reflected in the controversial policies around public display of religious symbols and, many argue, has alienated and marginalised religious minorities fuelling discontent and a sense of alienation.

In the main in the UK the state is neutral on matters of religion or belief, and guarantees the maximum freedom for all, including religious believers. On the whole, the view is that no one should be privileged or disadvantaged on grounds of their religious or non-religious beliefs.

Public policy towards religion and belief in the UK has been more fudged and ambiguous. It is arguable that the UK is largely committed to secularism – to the principle that, in a plural, open society where people follow many different religious and non-religious ways of life, the state-funded communal institutions should provide a neutral public space where we meet on equal terms.

However there are key ways we do not operate as a secular society. We still have an established church with the monarch as its Head; bishops in the Lords; prayers in public life; opt outs for religious groups from some areas of legislation (e.g. some employment policies and same sex marriage) etc.

AND, from our perspective:

The place of RE in the curriculum, a state funded network of faith schools, and a requirement for ‘broadly’ Christian worship on the statute book. These features of our UK education system reflect our very particular and ambiguous approach to the place of religion and belief in public life.

The Clarke/Woodhead report on A New Settlement began to open up the debate about whether changes in the landscape of religious life since 1944 mean we need to re-examine this issue of the place of religion in public education.

As RE practitioners we need to remain in touch with these discussions. By Christmas, or even before Hannukah, we should see two important new reports make a significant contribution to the debate: so we need to look out for them:

REforReal Project report and Woolf Commission’s report on Religion and Belief in British Public Life