The Bishop of Rochester and the Church Times

Just as I decide again not to extend my subscription to the Church Times ( I signed up again on the cheap rate at Greenbelt) as there have been some truly awful editions in recent weeks and the design layout continues to be a sad example of failed trendiness, then what do they do but produce a good couples of issues.

Last weeks edition had some excellent articles and three genuinely perceptive book reviews, and this weeks addresses the Rochester problem with perception and sensitivity.

There is the good coverage of the responses from other bishops and local clergy, and the equally predictable support from Patrick Sukdeho (who as another 1st generation arrival from a convert family seems to have the same blinkers as the Bishop).

But there is an excellent perceptive editorial which raises important questions about what the Bishop failed to say or understand - at risk of breaching copyright I include it here( if CT want to object then I'll happily replace this with a link)

"The Bishop of Rochester is uniquely placed in the House of Bishops to speak about the experience of Christians as a beleaguered minority in a hostile society, though not by virtue of his see in southern England. His continuing interest in Pakistan has shown him how Christians there are becoming increasingly anxious about the growth of intolerant strains of Islam. As a global observer, he is inclined to take the “clash of cultures” view of the relationship between Islam and the West, and the treatment of Christians in the Indian subcontinent and parts of the Middle East contributes to this view.

There are several surprising aspects about his attempt, in a newspaper article, to place the British situation in this context. It is perhaps unfair to criticise him for what he did not say: Dr Nazir-Ali tends to need a larger canvas to develop his views. None the less, there were three elements missing from his article which might have tempered the glee with which his comments about no-go areas were seized on in some quarters. The first was any reference to moderate Islam. Muslim adherence ranges from secularism to extremism, with a large clump of moderates in the middle. What they lack is a rhetoric with which to express their religious views, especially while the influx of imams from overseas continues.

Second, in his concentration on religion, Dr Nazir-Ali plays down other, more important factors that contribute to segegration. Traditionally, the clustering of immigrants has been based on ethnicity rather than religion. It is possible that the desire to be near a place of worship, mosque, temple, or synagogue has had a growing influence, but language remains the deciding factor in inhibiting the spread of first-generation immigrants. If non-Muslims feel uncomfortable in certain areas (the Bishop does not specify who shares this feeling), it is far more to do with language and appearance than with religious beliefs.

This leads on to the third omission. Dr Nazir-Ali does not feel the need to temper his praise of “the nation’s laws, values, customs, and culture”. The successful assimilation of newcomers depends on the readiness of the host nation to accept individuals from alien cultures. It is, moreover, a gospel imperative. He cites black-majority churches and Eastern European Roman Catholics as the salvation of certain cities; yet they, too, have struggled against British prejudice. It is this that most prevents immigrant communities’ absorbing British laws, values, customs, and culture. And it is this that, in most instances, feeds a fear of certain neighbourhoods when the balance of the population leans too heavily in one direction.

A final surprise in the Bishop’s article is the depressed view of British Christianity he puts forward. Evangelicalism generally encourages an optimistic, confident outlook. If Dr Nazir-Ali looked more closely at many of the church-mosque initiatives begun after 9/11, he might regain his cheerfulness. Instead of attempting to emulate John the Baptist, he might see that Britain was not yet a wilderness."

I think the penultimate paragraph is particularly telling. The existence of the black-led churches remains a telling commentary of the failure of British Christians to welcome their fellow Anglicans, Methodists and other denominations as they arrived from the Caribbean - and similar issues are already arising with RC arrivals from Eastern Europe.

The point being that the seperation is not religious - it is cultural whether expressed as rejection by the host communities or the desire of new arrivals to retain their national and cultural identity (as it seems with some Polish RC communities).

The article highlights two particular dilemnas for me : how do we come to common understanding about what is distinctiveness about inter-faith relations here in the UK, and secondly more mundanely is the Church Times really worth its subscription?

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Comments

[rhys]

Speaking personally - I get the Church Times - the vacancy pages - lots of pages this week - sadly nothing then ther's Giles Fraser columns - well sometimes - remember the criticism of rural ministry from the vicar of Putney!!!
and then Dave Walker Cartoons - always worth it

[Tom]

Rhys thanks for the comments - my comments of the Church Times were really a passing element of the post - but responding to your point - the vacancies are available on line (and not expecially releveant for me just at the moment good wishes for your search, Dave Walkers better cartoons tend to appear on line somewhere fairly soon and I tend to prefer to other material anyway such as ASBOJESUS, Giles can be read in all sorts of other places - which leads me to think that perhaps it is because the CT as printed media has been surpassed by the Net - I just wait somewhat nervously to see what they do to my beloved Third Way magazine!

[Gary Manders]

What about writing an article for the CT?

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