From the Guardian in London a reflection on Religion's place in the public square.
The Institute for Public Policy Research is one of the government's favourite thinktanks. Today it has launched what I judge to be a ground-breaking and important report entitled Faith In The Nation. It is a fascinating read that will unnerve many of those who, in one short grunt of contempt, lazily conflate secularisation, secularism, freedom and the dispatch from the public square of religious voices. Better than that, the report calls on us to rework liberalism so that people of faith are genuinely involved in public conversation in pursuit of a renewed British identity.
IPPR outlines what academic sociologists of religion have been observing for an age: the secularisation of societies does not necessarily go hand in hand with so-called "modernisation", and if secularisation theory ever worked it only did so in parts of Europe rather than internationally. The reality is that religion is experiencing growth globally, is deeply entangled with what it means to be British today and that Britian has found its own flexible means to incorporate religious habits into its culture, albeit often after great struggles. Faith today is also a dynamic and moving force, as new waves of migration change and renew religious communities of all kinds – and not just those of Muslim origin. These are good points when Anglican congregations are increasing in size and diversity in London while the UK Catholic community is internationlising at speed due to South American, south Asian, east Asian and eastern European migration.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2008/dec/08/religion-ippr-civil-society
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