Movement 100

Jonathan tdle examines Faith and Power, a book which challenges the claims of a secularised,
multicultural British society
False Neutrality
FAITH AND POWER: CHRISTIANITY
AND ISLAM IN 'SECULAR'BRITAIN
Lesslie Newbigin, Lamin Sanneh and
Jenny Thylor
SPCK
e live in a Christian
society; a secular society;
a multicultural society; an
anti-Christian
society. These statements do
not necessarily contradict each
other, and Faith and Power is
valuable in tackling the implications
of this. What kind of
society do we really have
what place does religion have,
and what role should it have?
we have replaced a
dominant monoculture
of Christianity with a
tolerant multiculturalism.
The authors call
the latter secular humanism, and see it
as a new hegemony, all
the more insidious in that it's very basis
is in denying the dominance which it
exerts itself, becoming an orthodoxy
which we disobey at our peril.
The authors argue first that we must
recognise this, and second that society
should base its laws and customs on a
Christian world view. Not by returning
to a repressive state religion, but
moving forwards to a public life based
on the freedom and honesty of the
Gospel. This, the.authors feel, will bring
true tolerance, whereas secular
humanism, in spite of its claims to
achieve this, is seen as a system which
fears debate and as such is a false
neutrality.
The theme is restated several times
during the book powerfully, and in the
end passionately. lt is convincing
illustrated by semantics as well as
social comment-for examplq do we
realise that 'secular' can mean not only
that no one faith dominates, but also
the dominance of a view which does
not admit the value of faith?
The need to expose our false
secularism arises from observing the
public face of lslam in Britain, specifically
the contrast between a few
specific examples of the political
demands of Muslims and the comparative
reticence of Christians. But this
contrast is documented piecemeal and
smothered in generalisations, and at
times the themes don't quite hang
together in such a short
book. The
established
church, for
seen as
abandoning its
prophetic role;
but too many
generalisations
about what
'Christians' or
'Western society'
have done in fact
weaken the
tendency is to make
a point by showing
the implications of
public attitudes in
their most extreme form to make the
point. For example, with Human rights
the argument follows that if we believe
in human rights as existing in
themselves, rather than as the gift of a
holy and loving God, then they are
based on nothing. The individual has no
protection when democracy becomes
populism, and so ultimately those rights
can be swept away by totalitarianism.
There is no mention here of the
possibility of a written constitution for
Britain; that would be one solution to
some of the problems they identify.
With such in-depth analysis, it is a
shame not to have more discussion of
any solution other than public
acceptance on the Christian gospel as
the basis for public life and law
Another weak section is where they
raise the gap in urban regeneration
caused by ignoring the spiritual aspect
of society's problems. lt is indeed a
gap, but the implication that it is the
central component of modern urban
deprivation is wide of the mark, and it
movemsnt 16
would be better to leave the issue
alone rather than indulge in such
simplif ication.
There is thorough discussion of the
interface between a still-evolving and
diverse Muslim society in Britain and
secular British social policy. ln the worst
cases, officialdom has been fearful and
ignorant-often confusing religion with
ethnicity and reinforcing disadvantage
and segregation. But this too is
piecemeal, and there is no exploration of
the times and reasons we've got it right.
The significance of Shariah law is
explored-it is still unresolved how the
juxtaposition of British law and Shariah
law will work itself out in Muslims'
loyalties and in legal terms. The authors
see Shariah as raising the complex
issue of the neutrality of law They
point out the falseness of such
neutrality by contrasting judgements on
cases involving Sikhs, Rastafarians,
Jews and Muslims. Again they plead
that first we acknowledge that the law
cannot be neutral, and then we realise
that only a law rooted in Christian faith
can provide the true tolerance and
justice which we wrongly believe is
already here.
Shariah also stimulates debate on
the proximity of church and state. The
role of each must be distinct, overlapping
in order to inform each other but
not to confuse their roles as has often
happened in history. We need politicians
to be influenced by morality and
prophetic faith, but religious leaders
should not be able to compel either
belief or practice.
Overall it is a necessary discussion,
which will become more necessary as
the Muslim presence in Britain
evolves-and as public policy becomes
increasingly based on public opinion
rather than constitutional or institutionalised
common belief. lt is important
that the discussion is held, as here,
dispassionately as respectfully. The
authors convincingly bring into the open
some of the inconsistencies of public
life, and call on readers to acknowledge
these and to work for change. The
argument and its many components are
fascinating and underlie much of our
social policy. Faith and Power should
challenge us to take it further. E
Jonathan ldle is a Youth Worker in Hackney