Joel Edwards argued for a ‘ceasefire’ in the recent hostilities between people of faith and secularists over religious belief and the rule of law.
27 February 2008
Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, today argued for a ‘ceasefire’ in the recent hostilities between people of faith and secularists over religious belief and the rule of law.
Speaking at a debate on ‘Religion, belief and the rule of law’, where the Rt Hon David Cameron MP, leader of the Conservative Party, was the key speaker, Rev Edwards pointed out that a secular experiment to privatise faith had failed.
Mr Edwards, a commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said: “We need a cease-fire between faith and non-faith, between religion and non-religion, and an attitude of mutual humility and mutual respect.”
He added: “For religion, the problem is not the secular humanists’ quest for a better and more humane society. It’s the idea of doing it in the absence of God. We need to stop and think how our shared aspirations for a better world can be expressed in mutual respect which becomes a joint project in crafting a rule of law for post-Christendom Britain.
Speaking in response to David Cameron’s comments that the introduction of some parts of Sharia law in the UK would lead to a legal and cultural apartheid, Mr Edwards questioned how public discourse can work if conscience is disregarded.
“Conscience and conviction should not have special pleading, but it should have equal status in democratic discourse,” he said.
“Exemptions in law based on conscience and conviction should not be dismissed simply on the basis of being influenced by faith.”
The debate, organised by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (RSA) at the RSA building in London, was set up following the Archbishop of Canterbury’s remarks on Sharia law in the UK.
The discussion panel included Trevor Phillips, chair of the EHRC, and Commissioners Ziauddin Sardar, an expert on Islam and contemporary cultural issues, Francesca Klug, a member of both the Government's Commission for Equality and Human Rights Task Force and Steering Group and Joel Edwards.
Notes to editors:
The Evangelical Alliance, formed in 1846, is the largest body serving evangelical Christians in the UK, and has a membership including denominations, churches, organisations and individuals. The mission of the Evangelical Alliance is to unite evangelicals to present Christ credibly as good news for spiritual and social transformation. According to a Tearfund survey (Churchgoing in the UK, 2007), there are approximately 2 million evangelical Christians in the UK. For more information, go to www.eauk.org.
