Canon Ian Ellis: ​Faith is a key resource and a force for good, finds review of religion

Against such a background, the recent publication of the Bloom Review on relations between government and religion is timely.

In 2019, the government appointed Colin Bloom as independent faith engagement adviser with the task of providing recommendations on how government should engage with faith groups.

Mr Bloom previously had served as executive director of the Conservative Christian Fellowship and director of the organisation, Christians in Politics.

In his team and circle of political supporters, there was what Mr Bloom describes as a desire to “reset” relations between government and people of faith.

The Bloom Review is entitled 'Does government do God?', echoing a much quoted 2003 comment of Alastair Campbell, aide to Tony Blair when the latter was prime minister, that “we don't do God”.

Mr Bloom says that while that phrase has been misused ever since, “for many people of faith it has become a cultural reference point, confirming their suspicions that government neither understands faith and crucially, nor does it particularly want to”.

Religion is indeed a complex matter and for politicians, who naturally look for votes from every quarter, it can be tricky ground.

However, it certainly seems not to be particularly disadvantageous for politicians to have personal religious faith. One can think of many who do.

Nonetheless, for them to get involved in religious debate or to push one version of faith, is another matter.

The decision to instigate a review of the way government relates to faith communities suggests a realisation of how powerful a force in the world religion actually is, a realisation that seems gradually to have come to the fore in politicians' minds as a result of the 9/11 attacks by extreme militant Islamists in the United States.

The 159-page Bloom Review draws on over 21,000 responses to a call for evidence, and examines how government should engage with faith groups both in England and in the UK as a whole.

For example, it emphasises the importance of protecting religious freedom within the UK, recommending that government “should be equally vigilant regarding the protections and freedoms of religion, belief and faith at home as it is overseas”.

Writing in the magazine, Premier Christianity, Andrea Williams, chief executive of the London-based Christian Legal Centre and the organisation Christian Concern, says that “as I’ve stood with countless Christians in court hearings, and met many others day in and day out at Christian Concern, I’ve consistently seen genuine faith in Christ, and the beliefs that spring from that, marginalised at best, punished at worst”.

Ms Williams noted that the call for evidence in the Bloom Review found that 68 percent of Christians believe that freedom of religion or belief is under threat in the UK, many of whom said they no longer feel able to be who they are in public or at work, after experiencing the dismissal of traditional religious beliefs and practices.

The recommendations of the Bloom Review also include

• ensuring that everyone on the public payroll – and that's a lot of people - is provided with “consistent, quality faith literacy training”;
• the government appointing an Independent Faith Champion with a well-resourced team of civil servants and advisers;
• investigating why Religious Education has become a “Cinderella subject”;
• the redoubling of government efforts to reinforce the distinctions between extremist Islamism and Islam, and between Islamist extremists and Muslims;
• cracking down on extremists who use religion to promote hateful ideology; and
• increasing awareness and taking action in respect of religion-based financial exploitation and forced marriages.

There is an immense agenda here and the Bloom Review certainly makes it clear that there is much catching up to be done in terms of creating a better environment for religious life.

One significant observation in the document is that a common theme emphasised by respondents to the call for evidence was the unique “convening power” of faith and places of worship.

It is pointed out that in many ways, faith and religion act as a powerful “social glue”, bringing together people from all backgrounds and also creating “strong bonds and generating close-knit support”, all of which was felt to enable people to overcome “some of the toughest challenges, including anxiety, depression and loneliness”.

The review quotes a 2012 study by US academic Harold Koenig supporting the view that people regularly involved in activities related to faith and religion, in places of worship or the broader community, are likely to be happier, more satisfied with life and less likely to suffer from depressive symptoms.

Colin Bloom concludes that “without faith, places of worship and people of faith, this country would be poorer, blander and less dynamic”. He says that faith is a force for good, and that government should do more to both understand and release the potential of “this fantastic resource”.

Indeed, when one considers such issues as religiously motivated forced marriages, financial exploitation and violence even, as compared with religiously motivated care for others both near and far, one is reminded how people of faith must, in the biblical phrase, do all they can to keep their religion “pure and undefiled”.

• Canon Ian Ellis is a former editor of The Church of Ireland Gazette