The British government has rejected accusations of favoring Islam on Christianity, saying it is natural to focus on Muslims due to the threat of extremism and homegrown terrorism.
"If you have a situation where you need to build the resilience of young Muslim men and women to be able to withstand an extremist message then of course you do that kind of work," Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, told BBC Radio.
"It doesn't mean you do it exclusively."
A report commissioned by the Church of England has accused the government of favoring Islam over Christianity.
"The Government had consciously decided to focus…almost exclusively on minority religions," said the Moral, But No Compass report.
The hard-hitting report suggested the government was focusing "so intently" on Islam and minority beliefs while neglecting Christianity.
Secretary Blears denied any bias towards Islam, insisting it was "common sense" to spend more money and effort on programs for Muslim communities because of the threat from extremism.
Britain's two million Muslims have been in the eye of the storm since the terrorist attacks on London underground system in 2005.
The sizable minority has vehemently condemned all terrorist attacks and offered full cooperation with police.
A recent Populus survey found a whooping 98 percent of British Muslims would feel shame if a family member decided to join Al-Qaeda.
"Secular"
"She [Blears] said we live in a secular democracy. That comes as news to me," said Rev Lowe.
Secretary Blears stressed that Britain remains a secular country.
"We live in a secular democracy. That's a precious thing," she said.
"We don't live in a theocracy, but we've always accepted that hundreds of thousands of people are motivated by faith."
The Church of England officials criticized her remarks.
"She said we live in a secular democracy. That comes as news to me," said Rt Rev Stephen Lowe, bishop for Urban Life and Faith who was responsible for the report.
"We have an established Church, but the Government can't deal with Christianity."
Britain is home for the "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
The Queen is head of the Church of England - a position that all British monarchs have held since the country was founded.
"Britain's churches are literally at the centre of their communities," Greg Clark, spokesman of the Conservative charities, told the Daily Mail.
"It is madness, as well as grossly unjust, for the Government to have this sniffy attitude towards what the churches can do for society."
Andrew Copson, director of public affairs of the British Humanist Association, a rights group that supports secularism, believes the Church of England has more influence than it should.
"The time has come to disentangle the state from the Church and make Britain a modern open society with no privilege for any one religion and all citizens being treated equally regardless of their beliefs."
Source: Islam Online (English)
3 comments:
"The time has come to disentangle the state from the Church and make Britain a modern open society with no privilege for any one religion and all citizens being treated equally regardless of their beliefs."
England already IS a modern open society with all citizens treated equally. Or at least it was before it descended into craven dhimmitude before the Islamists who hav been dismantling British society and democracy before our very eyes. Now the only privileged citizens are Muslims. Why do humanists like Mr. Copson not understand that the threat to British society comes not from the democratic Church of England but from the supremacist, totalitarian ideology of Islam?
The Church of England should be upset if this is the result of the focus being given to Islam:
Grant for Muslim hate bloggers
Post a Comment