The British Humanist Association has today reacted to the start of Interfaith Week 2009. The week is being run by the Department of Communities and Local Government in partnership with the Inter Faith Network for the UK and is designed to “to strengthen good inter faith relations at all levels.” The week was officially launched last week at an event attended by Communities Secretary John Denham and is running from the 15th to the 21st of November.
Pepper Harow, Campaigns Officer, commented, “The BHA is concerned that the Government is taking the wrong route to community cohesion by focussing exclusively on the ‘faith’ element of people’s identities and giving funding and support to ‘faith groups’ over and above other groups in the voluntary and community sector. They are also helping to promote the fallacy of distinctive ‘faith communities’ that somehow stand apart from wider civil society and need specific attention from policy makers.”
“However, the BHA also notes that one of the aims of the week is to increase understanding between religious and non-religious people, so we have decided that to bow out of the week’s activities entirely would leave our members and supporters unrepresented in important debates. We have therefore agreed that, where activities are inclusive and relevant, we will add our support. To that end we had a stand about our dialogue and community work at the official launch of the week and we have also organised our own event.”
She continued, “We would much rather see the government take a more inclusive approach that celebrates the wider impact of the voluntary and community sector on community cohesion. To celebrate such work, we will be releasing 5 case studies over the course of the week that focus on projects or events which aim to include all individuals of both religious and non-religious backgrounds.”
Notes
For further comment or information, contact Pepper Harow on 020 7462 4992.
Read about our work on government and faith communities, interfaith week and local dialogue work.
The case studies will be available on our website throughout interfaith week.
The British Humanist Association is the national charity representing and supporting the interests of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. It is the largest organisation in the UK campaigning for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief, and for a secular state.