Diocesan News20 Oct 10

Bishop Ken Good Calls for Public Discussion on Relationship Between Church, Society and the State

Bishop Good has highlighted the role that churches and faith communities can and must play in shaping society, especially in challenging times. He made the remarks in his Presidential Address to the Derry & Raphoe diocesan Synod, held in Clooney Hall in Londonderry on 21st October.

Bishop Good said that "Despite the best hopes and efforts of some of the 'new atheists', matters to do with religious faith, far from disappearing into the background of social consciousness, are very much to the fore in many people's minds, and, if anything, are gaining a more prominent place in social discourse rather than receding into the mists of oblivion". He quoted the Archbishop of Canterbury who once said that faith is not an eccentricity, practiced only by 'oddities, foreigners and minorities.' It is rather the case that, faith in God is much more mainstream.

Bishop Good stressed the positive contribution that religious communities had to make to our future wellbeing. He believes "that society would be very much the poorer if religious values and practices were to be sidelined and marginalised, whether by a misguided political correctness or by a mistaken attempt supposedly to 'not offend' anyone".

Bishop Good referred to the words of Baroness Warsi, herself a Muslim, Chair of the Conservative Party and a British government minister. She acknowledged that 'the political elite' in Britain had got things badly wrong in recent years by fostering a suspicion about the role and place of faith in society. Bishop Good quoted her words to a recent conference of Anglican bishops. 'The challenges of the late 20th century and early 21st century have revealed a world which is more religious than ever. It is a world where faith inspires, motivates and sustains - despite what the sociologists thought they could predict about the modern world. We need to get the relationship between state, religion and society in sync with this new reality.'

In his Presidential Address Bishop Good encouraged an ongoing public discussion about how this relationship between church, society and the state can best be worked out. The value of such a public discussion in both jurisdictions was something he highlighted.

Referring to the role Churches have in Northern Ireland, a society emerging from decades of division and violence he said "We must make a courageous contribution to help society face up to sectarianism, to find ways of overcoming community segregation, to rebuild trust and to help those whose lives have been sorely damaged by violence discover some measure of healing and comfort".

Bishop Good reflected on how, in a liberal society it can be more commonplace for some to assume that religion is now more a matter of optional, idiosyncratic, private and personal belief. He talked of how "this happens at the same time as the values of pluralism and the promotion of tolerance, diversity, freedom and equality are considered to be paramount. In the process it can happen that religious freedoms and religious rights can be 'trumped' by other freedoms and rights that appear to merit a higher priority". Bishop Good continued "Religious freedom has long been recognised as one of the most basic and important rights, and it cannot be automatically overridden when it clashes with other rights".

Reflecting on the journey that society is making to give freedoms and rights a higher priority Bishop Good observed "it will take some time for us to get the weighting between religious and other rights more wisely and more finely balanced. During this process, it is likely that the case for religious freedom and rights will need to be argued with considerable effectiveness".