Sikh right to display religious identity upheld

The High Court has ruled that Sikh pupil Sarika Singh was discriminated against by being excluded from Aberdare Girls' Grammar School for wearing the kara - a bangle which is one of the five distinctive signs of Sikh identity.

The school governors will need to examine their position very carefully, in the light of such a judgement against their action. Perhaps if they had read more carefully the school's own statement of principles, with its encouragement of respect for individuals regardless of background, they would have thought twice about their action. Or, is it possible that they were simply ignorant of the significance of the five 'k' s to the Sikh faithful?

Common Word follow through

The Archbishop of Canterbury has today issued a very positive and detailed response to the 'Common Word' document issued recently by Muslim scholars, affirming the initiative and the grounds on which further dialogue should be pursued. A .pdf for the document is available for download with the title 'A Common Word for the Common Good'

With the Lambeth Conference due to start on Wednesday faced with contention, strife and the beginnings of schism on the part of the more conservative Anglicans of the world, this document shows how profoundly and patiently +Rowan is committed to reconcilaition through dialogue on every religious and spiritual direction. Which is more than can be said for his detractors.

Welsh Archbishop takes a stand

Archbishop Barry Morgan declares that should a Welsh Electoral College knowing choose as the most suitable episcopal suitable candidate a gay person living in a committed partnership, he would have no problem about consecrating them. Read about it on the BBC news website and at Wales on-line

Apart from stating that he personally has no moral qualms about this, he is more importantly indicating that he would not use his 'apostolic' office to over-ride an electoral decision which was made with full knowledge and legality. Servant episcopate in place of the monarchical despotic kind with which the church is more familiar.

Groundbreaking Christian Muslim dialogue

The Archbishop of Canterbury has brought together an international and ecumenical group of Christian theologians to discuss ways in which engagement in dialogue between Christians and Muslims might be strengthend. Read about it here

This is response to an historic open letter issued last year by the most comprehensive international group of Muslim Theologians ever to have deliberated together inviting dialogue with Christians on the subject of the great twofold love commandments. This was a follow up to a letter written to Pope Benedict after he had made some contentious remarks in a lecutre about Christinity and Islam a year ago.

A Jordanian website : www.acommonword.com gives an account of the work of the Muslim theologians, and a list of contributors.

Blair Faith Foundation Launched

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is launching his own Faith Foundation whose goals are :-

• to promote respect and understanding between the major religions;


• to make the case for faith as a force for good; and


• to encourage inter-faith initiatives to tackle global poverty and conflict

Now that he is free of political office he is openly commiting himself to advocacy on behalf of Christianity's role in the public realm.

Information about this can be found on Blair's office website

Organised religion still needed in society

Archbishop Rowan follows Tony Blair into the pulpit of Westminster Cathedral in the series "Faith and Life in Britain", to argue that society still needs organised religion to embody the Spiritual Capital which faith practice generates. A summary is to be found here and the full transcript here

Anglicans fight shy of woman bishops

The Governing Body of the Church in Wales fails to agree the ordination of women as Bishops, failing to find a way to accommodate those who find this impossible to accept.

The BBC's report is here