This talk was the first in the series of Faith in Public Realm given by fellows of the Faiths and Civil Society Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London. For more information on forthcoming lectures, click here
Debates over the Muslim veil seem to be very much in fashion at the moment. First, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone brought forward a motion in parliament to ban the veil. Then there was the story of a judge refusing to allow a defendant to wear a veil while presenting evidence (although permitting her to remain behind a screen when she did) because it would prevent him and the jury from evaluating her testimony. Then there was the Birmingham college that got into the national press for banning the veil, a story that led to opinions being voiced by David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Now a Liberal Democrat minister, Jeremy Browne, has called for a national debate on whether the veil should be allowed at all.
In case you were on holiday in some far-off land where Twitter doesn’t reach (increasingly unlikely) last week, Richard Dawkins has been making headlines again.
INTRODUCTION
The potential to upset people in a talk about religion and welfare is almost limitless. You certainly don’t need a remarkable view to get a remarkable headline.
It didn't used to be like this. 50 years ago, in most parts of the country, you not only knew your neighbours but there was a reasonable chance that they were pretty much like you. You were involved in common local activities and institutions. Religiously, you probably behaved, believed and belonged in the same way as everyone else.
James Cary’s book is the exemplification of why you really should never judge a book by its cover. Or in this case why you shouldn’t trust publishers and their PR blurbs. The press release and introduction set you up to expect a highly developed argument, and it sounds an interesting one: the particular type of civilisation that is ruining our “perfectly decent society” is our institutions. “Why” he asks “are we so convinced that institutions will save us, when they are more likely to enslave us?” He will, we are told, desmonstrate this through five major institutions, the media/culture, the economy/banks, the state/politics and the church/religion.
The Bible is not interested in science in two different ways. First, it shows no awareness of the scientific process of hypothesis, observation, experimentation, verification/ falsification, review, publication, etc. for the obvious reason. Second, more frustratingly, it shows precious little curiosity about those subjects that we normally group under the rubric of science, such as the origin, age, size, structure, processes, and diversity of the physical world.