Does Interfaith Pave Way For More Integrated UK?

Posted: 30/08/2013 10:30
Jemimah Steinfeld

One positive story to come out of the tragedy of Woolwich in May took place at the East London mosque, in Tower Hamlets, when leaders of the Christian, Jewish and Buddhist faiths joined approximately 6,000 Muslims for Friday prayers. It was a shining example of interfaith, but it was not unique. Rather examples of interfaith have been becoming more visible and frequent in the UK over the past decade. On the surface all of these initiatives seem positive, a step in the right direction towards a more integrated UK. But are they enough to foster genuine dialogue and counter prejudice?

"The human condition is to box people and we are trying to destroy that box," says Stephen Shashoua, director of Three Faiths Forum (3FF), a UK organisation dedicated to building understanding between people of all faiths and beliefs. Shashoua points to recent research that states that, the more you meet someone, the more your anxiety of that person (and their co-religionists) will lessen.

3FF, which was founded in 1997 by Sir Sigmund Sternberg, the late Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi and Revd Dr Marcus Braybrooke, arrange a variety of activities that bring people of different faiths together. Back in 1997 it was one of the first of its kind in the UK. While examples of interfaith have been around for as long as faiths have, organising interfaith in a more formal, structured way was a relatively new phenomenon. The only other national organisation in existence at the time solely devoted to interfaith was The Council of Christians and Jews (CCJ), which had been operating since 1942.

Now the landscape is much more varied. Interfaith blossomed during the Labour government, who promoted it as part of their bigger plans for a more cohesive society. Under the coalition government austerity measures have provoked faith organisations to become increasingly involved in civil society, in order to fill the void left by government. For example, in Barnet, Jewish and Muslim communities have come together on several occasions to form soup kitchens.

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