Table Of ContentREPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON RELIGION
THE WOOLF INSTITUTE AND BELIEF IN BRITISH PUBLIC LIFE
12–14 Grange Road
Cambridge
CB3 9DU
LIVING WITH DIFFERENCE
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 741048
www.woolf.cam.ac.uk
REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON RELIGION
AND BELIEF IN BRITISH PUBLIC LIFE
LIVING WITH DIFFERENCE
community, diversity and the common good
Chair: The Rt Hon Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss GBE
Published by The Woolf Institute, Cambridge
7 December 2015
PATRONS AND COMMISSIONERS
Patrons
Professor Lord Parekh of Kingston upon Hull
Sir Iqbal Sacranie OBE
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Lord Williams of Oystermouth
The Rt Hon Lord Woolf CH
Commissioners
Chair : The Rt Hon Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss of Marsh Green GBE
Vice-chair and convenor: Dr Edward Kessler MBE
Bishop Dr Joe Aldred
The Very Revd Dr Ian Bradley
Dr Shana Cohen
Andrew Copson
Shaunaka Rishi Das
Professor Gwen Griffth-Dickson
Professor Mark Hammond
The Rt Revd Professor Lord Harries of Pentregarth
Dr Jagbir Jhutti-Johal
Professor Francesca Klug OBE
Professor Maleiha Malik
Professor Tariq Modood MBE
Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra
Professor Lord Parekh of Kingston upon Hull
Brian Pearce OBE
The Revd Canon Dr Angus Ritchie
Rabbi Dr Norman Solomon
The Revd Dr Robert Tosh
CONTENTS
Preface 6
Executive summary 7
CONTEXT
1. Journey 10
– the creation of this report
2. Landscape 13
– meanings and changes
CONVERSATIONS
3. Vision 21
– standing at a crossroads
4. Education 31
– how we learn and think
5. Media 41
– reporting and representation
6. Dialogue 50
– the quality of relationship
7. Action 61
– ordinary people of good will
8. Law 70
– to help us live with our differences
WHAT NEXT?
9. Ways forward 81
– checklist of next steps
APPENDICES
A. Additional statistics 87
B. The consultation process 99
C. Works cited 105
D. Membership of the commission 118
LIST OF FIGURES
1. Changes in religious affliation and identity 17
– British Social Attitudes Survey, 1983 and 2014
2. Values, beliefs and self-descriptions 17
– YouGov / Westminster Faith Debates, 2013
3. Priorities and preferences amongst certain values 18
– Eurobarometer, 2014
4. Beliefs about God 18
– British Cohort Study, 2012
5. Religious affliation in England and Wales 87
– Offce for National Statistics, 2011
6. Changes in religious affliation in England and Wales 87
– Offce for National Statistics, 2001 and 2011
7. Religious affliation in Northern Ireland 88
– Northern Ireland Census, 2011
8. Changes in religious affliation in Northern Ireland 88
– Northern Ireland Census, 2001 and 2011
9. Religious affliation in Scotland 89
– Scotland Census, 2011
10. Changes in religious affliation in Scotland 89
– Scotland Census, 2001 and 2011
11. Religious attendance in Britain, 1990 – 2010 90
– British Social Attitudes Survey
12. Humanist beliefs 90
– Ipsos MORI / British Humanist Association, 2006
13. Religious affliation in Britain each year since 1983 91
– British Social Attitudes Survey, 1983 – 2014
14. Affliation with non-Christian religions in England and Wales 91
– Offce for National Statistics, 2011
LIST OF FIGURES 5
15. Affliation with non-Christian religions in Northern Ireland 92
– Northern Ireland Census, 2011
16. Affliation with non-Christian religions in Scotland 92
– Scotland Census, 2011
17. Percentage of white respondents reporting a religious affliation 93
– British Social Attitudes Survey, 1983 – 2008
18. Affliation with Christianity and no religion by age 93
– YouGov / Westminster Faith Debates, 2013
19. Religious affliation among different generations of ethnic minorities 94
– Ethnic Minority British Election Study, 2010
20. The difference between religious affliation and religiosity 94
– YouGov / British Humanist Association, 2011
21. The difference between religious affliation and religiosity 95
– YouGov / British Humanist Association, 2011
22. Ideas about right and wrong 95
– Ipsos MORI / British Humanist Association, 2006
23. ‘Which, if any of the below, do you believe can be infuenced by spiritual forces?’ 96
– ComRes / Theos, 2013
24. Spiritual and Religious 96
– YouGov / Westminster Faith Debates, 2013
25. Independently reading the Bible 97
– Ipsos MORI / Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (UK), 2011
26. Attendance of Christian services or meetings excluding special occasions 97
– Ipsos MORI / Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science (UK), 2011
27. English church attendance on a Sunday 98
– English Church Census, 1979 – 2005
6 LIVING WITH DIFFERENCE
PREFACE
Religion and belief are driving forces today. Society is not about to return to the past when religion and
religious authorities dominated. It is clear, though, that they raise issues that have urgently to be addressed.
The religious landscape in this country has been transformed in the last few decades and now includes a
large proportion of people who identify themselves as not religious, and censuses and surveys suggest this
proportion is increasing rapidly. At the same time there is a growth in religions other than Christianity, and in
branches of Christianity such as the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches.
The picture is made more complicated by the growth of fanaticism, by a suspicion amongst many that religion
is a signifcant source of the world’s ills, and by a blanket denial by others of the legitimacy of non-religious
approaches to life. Forms of hatred such as Islamophobia and antisemitism are also pressing societal issues, not
only in the UK but also in many other countries throughout Europe and the wider world.
For these reasons, in September 2013 the Woolf Institute convened an independent commission to undertake
over a two-year period the frst systematic review of the role of religion and belief in the UK today and to make
policy recommendations. Twenty commissioners from across Great Britain and Northern Ireland accepted our
invitation to take part and they have been well supported by a hard-working secretariat. Additionally, we have
received tremendous support and guidance from our patrons and are deeply grateful for their contributions.
We thank all who have given so much time to this endeavour.
The Woolf Institute has been generous in its support but we would also like to acknowledge the fnancial
support of the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, Open Society, Davis Foundation and Dominion Trust.
During the two-year period we have been encouraged by the extent of interest the commission generated at
local hearings across the country and would like to express our gratitude to those who attended, and to those
who sent or emailed more than 200, often lengthy, submissions during the public consultation process. Our
gratitude also extends to the organisations across the UK which hosted meetings and public hearings for us.
There has been general agreement that in today’s society it is essential not only to understand religion and
belief but also to refect on how they interact with each other at local and national levels. Indeed, it is only
with such an understanding that communities can be sustained, and that people can live with difference and
contribute to the common good.
We believe this is an important report and ask that its fndings be widely considered across the political
spectrum by policy makers, government offcials, religious leaders and the wider public. We have taken into
account an extensive range of different views, and now we commend this report to you.
Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss GBE, PC Dr Ed Kessler MBE
Chair Vice-chair
Commission on Religion and Belief Commission on Religion and Belief
in British Public Life in British Public Life
JOURNEY 7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public life was convened in 2013 by the Woolf Institute,
which promotes the multidisciplinary study of relationships between Christians, Jews and Muslims.
The commission’s purpose is to consider the place and role of religion and belief in contemporary Britain, to
consider the signifcance of emerging trends and identities, and to make recommendations for public life and
policy. Its premise is that in a rapidly changing diverse society everyone is affected, whatever their private views
on religion and belief, by how public policy and public institutions respond to social change.
Under the leadership of Baroness Butler-Sloss the 20 commissioners – incorporating adherents of the main
religious and belief traditions within the UK, including humanism – have met frequently. They have taken
evidence from a wide range of people, and have journeyed around the UK and through its social and economic,
religious and cultural, legal and political, academic and educational landscapes. Their report sets out their main
conclusions and recommendations.
The changing landscape
Over the past half century, Britain’s landscape in terms of religion and belief has been transformed beyond
recognition. There are three striking trends:
• The frst is the increase in the number of people with non-religious beliefs and identities.
Almost a half of the population today describes itself as non-religious, as compared with an eighth in
England and a third in Scotland in 2001.
• The second is the general decline in Christian affliation, belief and practice. Thirty years ago,
two-thirds of the population would have identifed as Christians. Today, that fgure is four in ten, and at
the same time there has been a shift away from mainstream denominations and a growth in evangelical
and Pentecostal churches.
• The third is the increased diversity amongst people who have a religious faith. Fifty years ago
Judaism – at one in 150 – was the largest non-Christian tradition in the UK. Now it is the fourth largest
behind Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism. Although still comprising less than one in ten of the population,
faith traditions other than Christian have younger age profles and are therefore growing faster.
Furthermore, intra- and inter-faith disputes are inextricably linked to today’s geopolitical crises across the
Middle East, and in many parts of Africa and Asia. Many of these disputes are refected back into UK society,
creating or exacerbating tensions between different communities.
So twenty-frst century ethno-religious issues and identities here in the UK and globally are reshaping society
in ways inconceivable just a few decades ago, and how we respond to such changes will have a profound
impact on public life.
8 LIVING WITH DIFFERENCE
Learning to live with difference
The resulting uncertainties about national identity, cohesion and community can lead to over-simplistic
conclusions about the negative impact of such changes on society. These, in turn, may feed the very anxieties
about immigration and the fear of ‘the other’ that need to be addressed. Certainly the development of public
policy related to religion and belief has too often been piecemeal and kneejerk.
The report is intended to be an alternative to such approaches: systematic, consistent and rational, looking at
the areas of education, the media, law, dialogue and social action. It seeks to provide a basis for deliberation and
policy-making based on research and evidence, the needs of society and the daily experiences of increasingly
diverse communities.
Learning to understand and live with differences is the recurring theme throughout the report. It
argues that religion and belief are a combination both of conscious choice and of the circumstances of
birth, community and public perception. Whether or not we might want to, we cannot ignore or escape the
differences that religious traditions make to our sense of personal identity, narrative, relationships and isolation.
Religious and belief identities, the report points out, can serve as forces both for good and for ill.
And so the challenge for policy-makers is to create an environment in which differences enrich society rather
than cause anxiety, and in which they contribute to its common good.
Vision
The commission’s vision is of a society at ease with itself in which all individuals, groups and communities feel
at home, and in whose fourishing all wish to take part. In such a society all:
• feel a positive part of an ongoing national story – what it means to be British is not fxed and fnal,
for people in the past understood the concept differently from the way it is seen today and all must be
able to participate in shaping its meaning for the future
• are treated with equal respect and concern by the law, the state and public authorities
• know that their culture, religion and beliefs are embraced as part of a continuing process of
mutual enrichment, and that their contributions to the texture of the nation’s common life are valued
• are free to express and practise their beliefs, religious or otherwise, providing they do not
constrict the rights and freedoms of others
• are confdent in helping to shape public policy
• feel challenged to respond to the many manifest ills in wider society.
Recommendations
The implications of such a vision for public policy are of many kinds, and are highlighted throughout this report.
Prominent amongst them are those which are briefy summarised below. Each is discussed and explained in
much fuller detail in the main body of the report.
• A national conversation should be launched across the UK by leaders of faith communities
and ethical traditions to create a shared understanding of the fundamental values underlying
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 9
public life. It would take place at all levels and in all regions. The outcome might be a statement of the
principles and values which foster the common good, and which should underpin and guide public life.
• Much greater religion and belief literacy is needed in every section of society, and at all
levels. The potential for misunderstanding, stereotyping and oversimplifcation based on ignorance is
huge. The commission therefore calls on educational and professional bodies to draw up religion and
belief literacy programmes and projects, including an annual awards scheme to recognise and celebrate
best practice in the media.
• The pluralist character of modern society should be refected in national and civic events so
that they are more refective of the UK’s increasing diversity, and in national forums such as the House
of Lords, so that they include a wider range of worldviews and religious traditions, and of Christian
denominations other than the Church of England.
• All pupils in state-funded schools should have a statutory entitlement to a curriculum about
religion, philosophy and ethics that is relevant to today’s society, and the broad framework of such
a curriculum should be nationally agreed. The legal requirement for schools to hold acts of collective
worship should be repealed, and replaced by a requirement to hold inclusive times for refection.
• Bodies responsible for admissions and employment policies in schools with a religious character
(‘faith schools’) should take measures to reduce selection of pupils and staff on grounds of religion.
• The BBC Charter renewal should mandate the Corporation to refect the range of religion
and belief of modern society, for example by extending contributions to Radio 4’s daily religious
fagship Thought for the Day to include speakers from non-religious perspectives such as humanists.
• A panel of experts on religion and belief should be established to advise the Independent Press
Standards Organisation (IPSO) when there are complaints about the media coverage in this feld.
• Relevant public bodies and voluntary organisations should promote opportunities for
interreligious and inter-worldview encounter and dialogue. Such dialogue should involve
Dharmic as well as Abrahamic traditions, young people as well as older, women as well as men, and
local groups as well as national and regional ones. Clergy and other opinion leaders should have a
sound understanding of the traditions of religion and belief in modern society.
• Where a religious organisation is best placed to deliver a social good, it should not be
disadvantaged when applying for funding to do so, so long as its services are not aimed at seeking
converts.
• The Ministry of Justice should issue guidance on compliance with UK standards of gender
equality and judicial independence by religious and cultural tribunals such as ecclesiastical courts,
Beit Din and Shari’a councils.
• The Ministry of Justice should instruct the Law Commission to review the anomalies in
how the legal defnitions of race, ethnicity and religion interact in practice and make
recommendations to ensure all religious traditions are treated equally.
• In framing counter-terrorism legislation, the Government should seek to promote, not limit,
freedom of enquiry, speech and expression, and should engage with a wide range of affected
groups, including those with which it disagrees, and also with academic research. It should lead public
opinion by challenging negative stereotyping and by speaking out in support of groups that may
otherwise feel vulnerable and excluded.
