I wonder if any of you have found any of the copies of Building a Better World travelling around? I left a copy up in Leeds last week while I was there doing some teaching - I'm looking forward to finding out where it got to.... Something I have been thinking about this week, particularly given the current controversy in the press, is also something I wrote on page 49:
Yet there is still a need for a better understanding of what Christian faith contributes to our communities and our world. It is not enough to read the words of pop stars and politicians - we need to know how Christian faith builds a better world. We need to understand some of the positive principles that underpin Christian faith if we are to understand what it can contribute to our lives and to the world.... Christian faith must understand its own unique contribution to building a better world, but it must also understand how others can contribute to making the world a better place.
As we read about the debate around Muslim women and the right to wear a veil, I wonder what our first reactions are? I wonder particularly why it is so easy for us as followers of Christ to view everything about other faiths as "wrong" - do you think it might be a lack of confidence in our own faith, or is it something? How good are we at articulating the things that we actually believe in rather than just the things that we oppose? And a question that I spend time with my colleagues at Faithworks thinking about is how do we work in partnerships with people of other faiths and people of none, without losing our own sense of identity?
I would love to engage in debate with you around these sorts of issues - comment now and tell me what you think!
Comments