Last week,? the LSE Students? Union Islamic Society hosted a student-led interfaith seminar, putting together a panel of students from the three monotheistic traditions as well as an atheist contributor.? Titled ?Religious freedom in Britain today: The Boundaries Between Freedom of Conscience in Religion and Secularism,? the aim of the event was to confront forms of religious intolerance in Britain.
The talk started with a prologue by Mehri Niknam OBE of the Joseph Interfaith Foundation, who highlighted the work her organisation has been doing regarding interfaith dialogue particularly between Muslim and Jewish students. With that concluded, the first of the speakers made his ten minute pitch. Frederick Laker of the Catholic Society focused on the ?paradoxical nature? of religious freedom in Britain. He acknowledged the free platform for dialogue that people had but emphasised the institutional discrimination facing Catholics particularly the? ?archaic? law prohibiting a Catholic Prime Minister. Frederick also pointed out the fact that the church and state are still intertwined in Britain and how this should not be a reason to give preferences to certain Christian denominations. He finished by highlighting the pervasiveness of ?boutique religion? in modern day Britain- people defining themselves as a ?Christian nation? when opposing Islam but then being against Christian?s rights of religious expression.
Following Frederick, Abhishek Phadnis of the Atheist, Secularist and Humanist Society spoke predominantly of the threat religion posed to freedom of conscious in Britain today. He stressed the need for religion to be a personal matter and at the same time called for the maintaining of religious diversity. After answering several questions on his views, he ended with a sobering note: 72 per cent of people are concerned by new faith schools which is enough to vindicate the need for dialogue with faith groups.
After that, the Jewish representative Hannah Geis gave her frank portrayal of freedom of conscious in her appropriation of Judaism.? In what was seemingly congruent to the orthodox school of thought, she mentioned the lack of rigidity in faith being due to the ?unreliability? of human consciousness. Following her personal view, Geis gave a broader depiction of the freedom of consciousness in Judaism through the example of ?God?s conversation with Abraham.?
Anneessa Mahmood from the LSE Islamic Society focused on the rich tradition in Islam of contemplation and the fact that ?intelligent questioning is half good knowledge.? She mentioned the importance of intention and why Muslims consider the effects of their actions. After her opening statement she answered several questions on Islam?s opinion on apostasy and several other contentious issues. Anneessa mentioned several examples of Islam?s promotion of freedom of choice and freedom of religion.
After almost an hour of fervent debate and counter-debate, Tasif Zaman, organiser of the event had to draw the event to an end. Despite the polarity of people?s views, those attended all agreed that it ended too soon, which was made evident by the continuation of the debate after the event.
One attendee commented, ?The speakers all from different religions and beliefs not only shed light into their religions, they showed the eagerness of the LSE campus to engage in dialogue. Despite the tentative start to the night, the over-politeness shed away and sensitive issues were touched upon in a dignified and controlled manner.?
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- A perspective on all matters religious
- Being LGBT in modern Britain
Source: http://thebeaveronline.co.uk/2012/12/04/is-there-religious-freedom-in-todays-britain/
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