Joy and Jerusalem

Leaving Ramallah by way of a jolly but rather solitary red volkswagen beetle, we cut and run to avoid the major queues at major checkpoints, taking an easy rural route through the wall, manned by nice cheerful kids with who waved their ouzis in a mostly welcoming way, and seemed as mellow as you can be when your office window is riddled with bullet holes. This brought us down to the Holy City of Peace, and the Western Wall, where Mondays are a good day for Bar Mitzvahs. This has been amazingly developed in the past 27 years.







For me the highlight was to be swept up in the song and dance around one boy’s Bar MItzvah. With joy and freedom in the air, a very proud family seemed relaxed and generous about sweeping up a C of E bishop into the fun. Raucous Hebrew singing and dancing is a great stress reliever and could, perhaps, be turned into a marketable fitness concept like step aerobics. Video snip of the moment of reading the scroll follows — Vicars who experience anxiety about people taking photos during family ceremonies take note — Never in the field of human initiation has a lens that large been that close to a small boy.


Afterwards, back in the non gender-segregated section at the back, we swept together a circle of people near this holiest of sites for Jews, and prayed for peace and justice for all — Shalom and Tsedeq — simply, holding hands, in French, English and Hebrew. Why not?

Heaven 10 in Milton Keynes

Saturday morning at Heaven 10, a Music and Arts Festival organised by Ernesto Lozada-Uzuriaga-Steele artist adn priest, at the Church of Christ the Cornerstone in Milton Keynes. Anouar Kassim put together a celebration of Islamic Arts heritge and culture, incuding fascinating and beautiful stuff from Iran and Somalia, as well as work by a remarkable Muslim Caligrapher, Haji Noor Deen. He combines Arabic and Chinese writing in ingenious and thought-provoking ways, at all shapes and sizes including some giant originals that would test most caligraphers’ art to destruction.

I was also fascinated by an installation by Air-MK, which produces multimedia sensory zones to stimulate prayer and reflection. Howard Williams and friends transformed the small chapel at Cornerstone into a remarkable reflective space, with a screen on which people could react to questions about themselves and God, in their own time. There’s a great vibrancy and creativity in the air in MK, and the way the city is sucking in people from all over the world in interesting ways is becoming very apparent...

How papers feed bigotry about Islam

At the last census, High Wycombe’s population was 92,300, of whom 10,838 were Muslim (11·7 %). If you prick them, do they not bleed? Like the rest of us, Muslims die. Therefore it can come as no surprise that there is a demand for Muslim burials in High Wycombe. The Local Authority has to meet this. Population is growing, and room running out. It would suit Hysterical Islamophobics to be able to say space had been clawed back from consecrated ground in the local graveyard; but that would be barmy because the other 88% of the population also continue to die, so there's absolutely no sense in not extending the graveyard, and land is available.

Enter the Bucks Free Press with a story called “High Wycombe Cemetery Extension agreed for Muslim Burials.” This downpedals the fact that a cemetery extension was needed anyway, and points out Muslims like be buried facing Mecca whilst omitting, curiously, to point out

1. It doesn't cost any more to bury people in new ground facing any particular direction
   
   
2. The site in question snakes round a hillside in all directions, and where the majority orientation has been East, Mecca is basically East of High Wycombe anyway
   
   
3. Since 11·3% of the town’s ratepayers are Muslim, they surely have the same right to be buried according to their wishes, if possible, as everybody else.
   

Next, as is the way with Flat Earth News, this scoop (that Muslims in High Wycombe die like everybody else — Shock! Horror!) is routed, via This is Local London, to the Daily Telegraph.

The Telegraph spins the story, by adding an anonymous local resident saying “Yet again many thousands of pounds [are] being spent pandering to the local Muslim community.” Apparently burying the dead is pandering to them.
I disagree. I don’t think High Wycombe is ready for Sky Burials quite yet.

The Telegraph also carries, final killer element, a quotation from the Bishop of Buckingham — oh, that’s me! — pointing out that people of all faiths and none are regularly buried in consecrated ground. This is hardly news, since it’s an obligation laid on the Church since time immemorial and legislated in the Burials Act 1880. The established church is delighted, of course, to fufil this basic civic obligation.

But, final link in the chain, the Telegraph story fulfils its purpose. On Saturday evening I receive a furious email from a gentleman in the North West. He had the character and decency to give his name, but can’t have expected me to use it publicly, so I won’t. I believe my correspondent is a good and decent man. This is his reding of the Telegraph:

Having just read an article where it states you are delighted to serve the Muslim community in allowing an extension of Muslim graves facing Mecca into the main graveyard in High Wycombe, Bucks. I would like to express my disgust at your support of such an action given how Christians throughout the world have and are still being persecuted by Muslims on the instruction of Islam.

I would ask you Sir, where was your support for Christians when Muslims desecrated the graveyard in St. Johns Church, Longsight, Manchester by destroying all the gravestones to make way for a mosque car park. The silence of the media and the Church on this issue, has been absolutely deafening.

By your appeasement and support for Islam you are feeding a hungry lion and when there is no more food to give it, it will turn on you, as can be seen in how Coptics are treated in their own cities in Egypt, a once Christian country. Not only are Muslims taken over our Churches they now want to invade our graveyards and the Church is sitting back and not only saying nothing but encouraging such actions.

It is an absolute disgrace and a very sad day for Christians in this once Christian country

I have to point out to him that I didn’t actually say what he thinks I did. This isn’t a churchyard so it’s none of my business who is buried there. But then my eye is caught by his tale of St John’s Longsight, which I had never heard of before, not being a recipient of Manchester BNP publicity. A video has been posted on the Internet of what I believe is called hard nogging being used as substrate for a carpark, with the strong implication that it is made up of Christian gravestones. This is the message my friend in the north West received, that Muslims have been “destroying all the gravestones to make way for a Mosque car park.”

Trouble is, the gravestones are still there. Indeed, you can see them here. The basic answer to my friend’s question (“where was my support for Christians...?) is that the whole story was a canard, a fiction designed to whip up inter-religious hatred. My correspondent, good and decent man that he is, bought the lie. The Daily Telegraph story in its sexed up form catalysed a response in him, and so the panjandrum of fear, suspicion and hatred gathers momentum.

I had to remind him, as the Christian he professes to be, that the Ninth Commandment is a Christian value. He does not care to admit that he bore false witness, although he patently did, and he goes on to suggest “the bottom line is not about this or any other story put out by the British press.” Really?

Evangelism between Muslims and Christians

One interesting document of which I hadn’t heard fell out of an interfaith learning day at St Philip’s Centre Leicester, yesterday. The UK Christian Muslim Forum has produced Ethical guidelines for Christian Muslim Witness in Britain. Both faiths teach firm friendship with those outside the faith, but (here comes the twist) are, inherently, missionary faiths — Christian Evangelism parallels Muslim Da’wah. People respond to this fact variously, of which Alan Race, Vicar of St Philip’s Leicester logged three characteristic pragmatic ways, mirrored among both Christians and Muslims:

1. Simple competition/ slugging it out: As Annie Oakeley put it “anything you can do I can do better.” English people, Christian and Muslim, have a strong cultural resistance to being strident and competitive about anything, least of all religion.
   Positively, this default position does avoid the bother of using your brain or taking your own faith tradition seriously. Its the easy “thumb in bum and mind in neutral” option.
   Negatively, it makes friendship very difficult, denies first principles of the faiths concerned, and pushed to its logical extreme, as it almost never is in the UK, you’d end up in a Telegraph fantasy world of “No Go areas” and suchlike.
   
   
2. Acceptance that it is God’s providence that both faith communities exist — a theology of “people of the book” or providence, in which believers feel secure enough about their faith to leave it to God to sort things out in the end.
   Positively, this does engage with reality and express tolerance in a way which is attractive to English people. It’s probably where most English people of all faiths and none actually are.
   Negatively, it seems to require pure relativism, and requires work to engage with one’s own religion more seriously in its own terms rather than just as cultural identity.
   
   
3. Acceptance of (2), supplemented by feeling OK about conversions (either way). This raises the stakes on (2) and feels edgier.
   Positively, it’s arguable this makes a virtue out of a theological and practical necessity in a free society.
   Negatively, Conversions of this sort are surprisingly uncommon, and can inspire fear and backlash in people taking View (1).
   

So here are the Christian Musim Forum Ethical Guidelines, observing which probably would enhance fruitful dialogue between any faith group and any other — but what are their limits?

The Christian Muslim Forum offers the following suggestions that, we hope, will equip Christians and Muslims (and others) to share their faith with integrity and compassion for those they meet.

1) We bear witness to, and proclaim our faith not only through words but through our attitudes, actions and lifestyles.

2) We cannot convert people, only God can do that. In our language and methods we should recognise that people’s choice of faith is primarily a matter between themselves and God.

3) Sharing our faith should never be coercive; this is especially important when working with children, young people and vulnerable adults. Everyone should have the choice to accept or reject the message we proclaim and we will accept people’s choices without resentment.

4) Whilst we might care for people in need or who are facing personal crises, we should never manipulate these situations in order to gain a convert.

5) An invitation to convert should never be linked with financial, material or other inducements. It should be a decision of the heart and mind alone.

6) We will speak of our faith without demeaning or ridiculing the faiths of others.

7) We will speak clearly and honestly about our faith, even when that is uncomfortable or controversial.

8) We will be honest about our motivations for activities and we will inform people when events will include the sharing of faith.

9) Whilst recognising that either community will naturally rejoice with and support those who have chosen to join them, we will be sensitive to the loss that others may feel.

10) Whilst we may feel hurt when someone we know and love chooses to leave our faith, we will respect their decision and will not force them to stay or harass them afterwards.

Interfaith Dialogue in Slough

Great to be part of the Festival of Dialogue at St Mary’s Slough on Saturday afternoon, organised by Art Beyond Belief, and funded by the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Representatives of all faith traditions in Slough gathered for an afternmoon of structured dialogue and panel discussion, ending with a meal together.

David Sparrow is a photographer by background, who uses computers and art to unlock understanding, not only between faith groups, but as self awareness for autistic young people and victims of domestic violence. People who don’t know Slough are sometimes snooty about it, (and The Office didn’t help) but it is fantastically inclusive, with its long tradition of hospitality, energy and rich diversity.

Among other events during the preceding months has been a joint project with Slough Libraries, “Borrow a Person.”

If you have ever wondered what someone of another faith thinks about something that’s important to you, or why anyone would want to be part of a religion at all, come along to Slough Library and, instead of borrowing a book, borrow a person instead! The idea of ‘Living Libraries’ was introduced in 2000 by the Danish Youth organisation ‘Stop the Violence’. It has been developed in a number of countries and has been gaining popularity in English libraries. This is the first time that sessions have been offered in Slough. The ‘living books’ to be borrowed will be ordinary members of local faith communities, who will be happy to discuss their religion and traditions, faith and spirituality, beliefs and experiences and any other subject besides.

This was an occasion for hard mutual questioning as well as good intentions. From my own table, I was struck by two hard truths:

• Some UK politicians take a line that ring fences foreign policy (Iraq/Afghanstan, Israel/Palestine) from issues of community cohesion in the UK. Pile lots of money into the latter and maybe people won’t mind about the former. This is an illusion.
  
  
• This event was locally initiated and organised, growing from work going on anyway, but earnest Government attempts to promote community cohesion, especially those that seem to be targeted at Muslims, are not appreciated for the lovely things they doubtless are. People don't like being having money thrown at them on the premise that they are somehow the problem, and especially not if the sauce it’s served up with tastes of secularised religious illiteracy.
  

‘Why dialogue, apart from as a tool for government social control?’ I was asked. The Christian answer is simple. God teaches that our highest duty is to love him, and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Love grows from respect, justice and active goodwill to understand. Without intentionally giving other people your attention and your respect, you cannot do this.