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[Image] This issue of The Tablet featured pieces by Linda and Charles (see below)

WESTMINSTER FAITH DEBATES

08 February 12

8th February - 2nd May, on Wednesdays, 61 Whitehall (RUSI)

Press Release

“Let’s Talk About Faith”: The Westminster Faith Debates

Westminster Faith Debates Launched in London, Monday 23 January  

It’s easier to talk about sex than religion in Britain today. Mention your recent sexual exploits at a party and you’ll have an interested audience; tell them about your vision of the Virgin Mary and they’ll be reaching for their car keys.

It’s not just personal, it’s political too. Religion hasn’t gone away, but we’ve lost the ability to think seriously and critically about it without resorting to cliché and polemic.

God isn’t Dead. That hardly needs pointing out at a global level – from the US elections to the Arab Spring. But it is also true in the UK where 77% described themselves as religious in the last census (2001), and where religion continues to shape our institutions, values and landscape.

Religion should be discussed as intelligently as politics. When religion’s not being caricatured or over-simplified, it’s simply ignored. Given its complexity and its importance in the world, it’s just as important to be well-informed about religion as about politics, but opinion and polemic too often substitute for serious engagement.

The Westminster Faith Debates are launched to address the problem. These open debates between academics and public figures offer an opportunity to get up to speed on the latest findings and think again about the place of religion in our public life. They are the initiative of Professor Linda Woodhead and the Rt Hon Charles Clarke,* in partnership with the think tank ‘Theos’.** 

The Debates will:

  • showcase research from the largest ever research initiative on religion in the UK, the ‘Religion and Society Programme’ (directed by Professor Linda Woodhead), which involved 240 academics from 38 UK universities carrying out new research between 2007-12.***
  • address the most pressing controversies about religion in public life
  • show how much religion in the UK has changed in the past thirty years
  • give influential public figures the opportunity to respond to the latest research
  • provide space for open public debate with an audience which will include senior civil servants, parliamentarians, policy professionals, media, faith communities and the voluntary sector.
  • stimulate wider debate, opinion and media coverage

Speaking at the launch event Charles Clarke said:"Modern politics and government need to understand religion better than they now do. The up-to-date research challenges lazy assumptions and these debates enable us to discuss what it means for our public life."

Linda Woodhead said:   “The recent explosion of research on religion shows how much religion has changed – even though we often talk as if it’s still the 1950s. It’s time to update our ideas and refresh our debates.”

Welcoming the debates, the Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks added “this series couldn’t come at a more crucial time”.

The Debates will be held at RUSI, 61 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET, Wednesdays 5.30-7pm.

  • Religious Identity in ‘Superdiverse’ Societies: 8th Feb Trevor Phillips, Dominic Grieve, Kim Knott, Therese O’Toole 
  • What’s the Place of Faith in Schools?: 22nd Feb Richard Dawkins, John Pritchard, Jim Conroy, Bob Jackson 
  • What have we Learned about Radicalisation? : 7th March Mehdi Hasan, Ed Husain, Mark Sedgwick, Marat Shterin, Matthew Francis 
  • What role for Religious Organisations in an era of Shrinking Welfare?: 21st March David Blunkett, Peter Smith, Adam Dinham, Sarah Johnsen
  • What Limits to Religious Freedom?: 18th April Lisa Appignanesi, Julia Neuberger, Maleiha Malik, Peter Jones
  • What are the main Trends in Religion and Values in Britain?: 2nd May Aaqil Ahmed, Cole Moreton,  Grace Davie, Linda Woodhead 

For more information go to www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates.

To register please reply to p.ainsworth@lancs.ac.uk  stating which debate(s) you would like to attend.  

Clippings

The Evening Standard featured a comment piece by Charles Clarke on Monday 23rd January. Read it here.

On Friday 27th January Charles Clarke spoke about the debates on LBC radio with Iain Dale, who then led a 'phone-in on religion in people's everyday life. Listen from here.

The Tablet published on 28th January featured articles by Linda Woodhead and Charles Clarke. Read Linda's article here.

______________________________

*The Rt Hon Charles Clarke, Visiting Professor, Dept of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster University    www.charlesclarke.org

Professor Linda Woodhead, Dept of Politics, Philosophy and Religion, Lancaster University http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/faculty/profiles/Linda-Woodhead

**Theos exists to ‘promote clear thinking on religion and society’. More information at www.theosthinktank.co.uk

***Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council. More information at www.religionandsociety.org.uk

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