Recent events have reminded us of the palpable threat posed to our social cohesion by prejudice, hatred, Islamophobia, and violence towards minority ethnic and religious communities. The advance of far right populism and its malign use of Christian symbols and teachings continue to instil fear about the normalisation of ‘Othering’ and the marginalisation of minority groups in our public life and social discourse. Hate crime statistics published in October showed an increase in racist and religious hate crimes with anti-Muslim hate crime rising 19% on the previous year.
At an event co-hosted with the Islamic Cultural Centre in London, we gathered a group of Christians and Muslims to discuss the challenge posed by the far right and the role of the churches.
The keynote speech was delivered by Rev Dr Helen Paynter, Founding Director, Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence and co-editor of the book ‘The Church, The Far Right and the Claim to Christianity’. Fellow speakers included The Rt. Rev. Lusa Nsenga-Ngoy, Bishop of Willesden, Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Dr Ahmad Al Dubayan, Director, Islamic Cultural Centre and James Holland of Westminster Interfaith. Our Trustee, Jill Dhell, offered closing remarks.
