A Discussion Paper which draws upon an earlier paper by The Labour Christian-Muslim Forum
This paper is preparatory to the discussion to be held on May 15th 2008 and hosted by Newham CSM. The discussion will embrace socialists from different faith traditions including Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu. The discussion will seek ways in which people of faith can work together to create a Common Agenda. It is not about creating an ambiguous fallacy that we are all the same. It is about learning from one another and at how our faith traditions can enrich the life of our communities
Religious faith and progressive politics should not be in conflict. All of the major faiths contain the calls for social justice, fair treatment, caring for the dispossessed and whilst it would be a misrepresentation to suggest that religion is all about social justice, it would equally be a misrepresentation to suggest that religion is entirely personal.
All of our faith traditions stress the duty of the believer in the service of others.
Whilst there are many religious traditions, there are also many different interpretations of those traditions. There will rarely be ONE answer to a question that is held by all members of a religious community it is equally unlikely that there will be a single answer held by a multiplicity of believers from a variety of faiths.
The object of this paper is to seek ways in which to serve others in a way that is compatible with our own faiths.
Some suggestions as to what a Shared Agenda might include:
1) Ending poverty in the UK. We must not be content only with tackling absolute poverty, but must also reduce the gap between rich and poor in our society. It is certainly a question of material resources but the faith communities in particular understand that there is a poverty of the soul that can be even more oppressive.
2) We live in a global society in which we are connected by cheap air travel, television, email and the web. We are increasingly aware of what is going on around us. Traditionally the response of the wealthy nations has been to provide aid, but does this need to be supplemented by support of good governance and/or democratic systems? To what extent should we, or could we use our collective energies to support fairer trade with the developing world?
3) Climate change might have disastrous consequences for the world’s most vulnerable people today and for future generations. People of faith can bring traditions of stewardship rather than ownership of the world. At a local level a coalition of churches, mosques, temples and gurdwaras could create an imposing movement to change the ways in which we use transport or buy our energy.
4) We tend to value education and can affect the futures of our own children and the children of our neighbours. We tend to encourage aspiration, but see this as much more than material prosperity.
5) We can model a community that is diverse, is different and does not always agree; but a community that values the humanity of everyone and the cohesion of the wider community.
6) Immigrants and asylum seekers should be treated with respect and dignity; they will often be amongst the poorest in the community.
7) We value human life and look for policy to reflect that in all respects. Human life has great dignity from beginning to end. How we treat the elderly and the sick is a reflection of how committed we are to equality.
8) The most basic expression of community is the family. While recognising that families come in different forms in a modern Britain, we will not neglect the value of the traditional family unit, but I wonder how open we are to different forms of family unit.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it might provide the basis of a discussion. Comments can be posted on the Newham CSM website at www.newhamcsm.org
I don’t know if we are allowed to quote Marx anymore, but he famously wrote that the "The purpose of philosophy is not to understand the world but to change it." Having identified the agenda for change we must then be committed to making that change happen.
I would welcome comments from readers that will then be fed into the discussion in May.