| Universal credit 'will be fairer' The work and pensions promises to restore "fairness and simplicity" to the welfare system by consolidating payments into a single credit. bbc.co.uk |
7/7 inquest: audio from emergency calls released Audio from the control rooms at the time of the July 7 bombings conveys the confusion and uncertainty surrounding blasts on the London Underground. telegraph.co.uk |
Atheists and believers can get along | Julian Baggini My atheist 'sermon' in Westminster Abbey seems incongruous, but it shows good faith is more important than the right beliefsLast Monday, I delivered an atheist "sermon" from the pulpit of Westminster Abbey. It was surprising enough that the chaplain of Westminster School had invited me to give a "thought for the day" to the assembled students, even more so when he suggested I talked about why I was an atheist.The fact that this sounds strange, shocking even, tells us something important about how atheism is now perceived, and its relationship to faith. The problem is that while the word atheist itself means nothing more than "not-theist", it seems that for many, "a" stands for anti.Of course, in one sense, anyone who believes anything can be described as being anti what they don't believe. But, for instance, we would not usually call a Christian an anti-Jew, or a Muslim an anti-Hindu. Why not? Because being anti suggests more than just disagreement; it suggests hostility, active dislike, the desire to eliminate the thing one is against. That's why anti-capitalists are rightly called, because they don't just disagree with capitalism, they want to destroy it.If being an atheist meant being anti-theist, then I would not be one. I am an anti-dogmatist, an anti-fundamentalist, yes. But I have no hostility to theism as such, and have no desire to strip all theists of their faith. Of course I think theists are mistaken, but no one should be automatically hostile to everyone they disagree with. Hostility should be reserved for the pernicious, the wicked and the harmful.Of course, there are plenty of atheists who do think that all religion is harmful, and that every person who believes in God is being hampered by a terrible illusion. Plenty of atheists are anti-theists. What is more, this breed of atheist tends to attract more attention, so for many, this is just what atheism seems to be.But there are also lots of atheists like me. We simply do not believe in God because we see no good reason to do so. To invite us into the citadels of faith and ask us to explain what we believe is therefore not to bring the enemy though the gate, simply because we are not the enemy.I would suggest that a far greater enemy to the kind of liberal Anglicanism that has prevailed in the Church of England, custodian of Westminster Abbey, would be a biblical literalist. But I do not imagine that the decision to allow such a person to talk in Westminster Abbey would raise as many eyebrows as the decision to let an atheist do so. Somehow, it has become received wisdom that the most important division is between people of faith and people of none. This is not only false, it is unchristian. Time and again in the gospels, Jesus argues that it is better to be a good gentile than a bad Jew. The Samaritan is more of a friend to the Christian that the Pharisee who walks by on the other side. What matters more than having the right faith is acting in good faith.Dividing the world up into believers and non-believers, while accurate in many ways, doesn't draw the distinction between friends and foes. I see my allies as being the community of the reasonable, and my enemies as the community of blind faith and dogmatism. Any religion that is not unreasonable and not dogmatic should likewise recognise that it has a kinship with atheists who hold those same values. And it should realise that it has more to fear from other people of faith who deny those values than it does from reasonable atheists like myself.So my time in the pulpit is not so incongruous after all. That it seems that way to many simply reflects two sad facts: that atheism has come to be seen as anti-theism, and that, perhaps partly in response, we expect people of faith to forge not-that-holy alliances with each other rather than far better unholy alliances with kindred non-believers. We should challenge both those assumptions, for the sake of values that good believers and good atheists alike hold dear.AtheismReligionJulian Bagginiguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Council apology over abuse case A couple are angry their autistic son spent eight months away from the family home while claims of physical abuse were investigated. bbc.co.uk |
Tony Blair's sister-in-law converts to Islam Iran trip prompted journalist Lauren Booth to become a Muslim and wear a hijabTony Blair's sister-in-law has converted to Islam after having what she describes as a "holy experience" during a visit to Iran.Journalist and broadcaster Lauren Booth, 43 – Cherie Blair's sister – now wears a hijab whenever she leaves her home, prays five times a day and visits her local mosque whenever she can.She decided to become a Muslim six weeks ago after visiting the shrine of Fatima al-Masumeh in the city of Qom."It was a Tuesday evening and I sat down and felt this shot of spiritual morphine, just absolute bliss and joy," she said in an interview today.When she returned to Britain, she decided to convert immediately.Booth – who works for Press TV, the English-language Iranian news channel – has stopped eating pork and reads the Qur'an every day. She is currently on page 60.Booth has stopped drinking alcohol and says she has not wanted to drink since converting.Before her spiritual awakening in Iran, she had been "sympathetic" to Islam and has spent considerable time working in Palestine, she said, adding that she hoped her conversion would help Blair change his presumptions about Islam.Tony BlairIslamReligionIranMiddle EastTelevision industryHelen Carterguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |