An Oxford academic has been chosen to lead a controversial religious advisory panel to the government.
Francis Davis, of Blackfriars Hall, will lead the panel of religious experts in acting as key policy advisers. Davis is a prominent force in the Catholic Church in Great Britain.
The panel is being launched this week alongside a number of other interfaith initiatives designed to increase social cohesion. Communities Secretary, John Denham, who announced the plans, claimed that Christians and Muslims in particular could contribute meaningful insights into many areas of policy making, such as the economy, parenting and climate change, and could help to advise the government on “how to inform the rest of society about these issues.”
The decision to give faith a role in shaping government policy has sparked criticism from many groups, both from secular and religious communities. Many in Oxford were surprised by the decision to include a University academic who is also outspoken in his religious views.
Janette Mill, of the Oxford Atheist Society (OxAth), said that she did not feel that a panel composed entirely of religious representatives such as Davis would sufficiently consider the secular perspective: “Part of the duty of a politician is to lay aside their personal views to represent the people they have been elected by. In previous years, the ‘wisdom’ that some religious leaders have brought on issues such as homosexuality and parenting has, at least in some cases, been divisive and intolerant.
“I am still not sure why the views of religious leaders are deemed somehow more valid or ‘wise’ than the views of elected individuals, whatever their faith or lack of it. I do not feel that a panel entirely composed of religious leaders is going to reflect non-religious views, especially on the issues above. It is important to ascertain the views of religious groups on policy, but obtaining only religious viewpoints is not inclusive and cannot be called representative of the general population as long as secular and atheist voices are ignored.”
The co-Chair of Oxford University Labour Club, Ben Lyons, commented, “Millions of British people follow religions and faith can inspire individuals to positive action. But I do not think that this means that Mr Davis is better placed to advise on economic policy than a trained economist or on tackling climate change than an environmental activist. We should be consulting religious leaders on issues of religion, but I think when they are influencing broader political debate it gives them an undue influence.”
Emily Baxter, President-Elect of the Oxford Liberal Democrat Society, agreed, adding, “Many people in modern Britain are agnostic or atheist. It is therefore hard to see how the members of this panel will be able to represent the views of their own religion, let alone the population as a whole. It is wrong to give so much influence to panel that is unelected, unaccountable and unrepresentative.
“It is not the place of the state to promote religion or indeed any way of life. The government’s decisions should not be based on any particular group’s beliefs about right and wrong; that is a matter of individual conscience. Faith is a personal matter, let’s keep it that way.”
Denham explained the move saying, “Anyone wanting to build a more progressive society would ignore the powerful role of faith at their peril.” He added that the government had been wrong not to listen to the advice of religious groups in the past, and criticised those calling for religion to be kept separate from national politics and public life, stating “I don’t like the strand of secularism that says that faith is inherently a bad thing to have and should be kept out of public life.”
He added, “We should continually seek ways of encouraging and enhancing the contribution faith communities make on the central issues of our time. Faith is a strong and powerful source of honesty, solidarity, generosity – the very values which are essential to politics, to our economy and our society.”
Cherish Shirley, of the Oxford Christian Union agreed, and congratulated Mr Davis on his appointment. She said, “It is nice to see a leader from a University synonymous with Atheism in such a major public role.
“Religious citizens live under God’s law but also under the law of the country; it only makes sense for the two to intertwine. I believe that religious leaders can help shed light on the reasons why our country has the values it does. I do not know how this notion that politics and religion should be kept separate and that religious wisdom is not valuable came about, but it seems a ridiculous notion to have in a Christian country.”
