Interfaith Alliance UK
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The Interfaith Alliance UK is a charitable interreligious organisation in the United Kingdom, which operates as, "A family of people united in friendship, from diverse progressive and liberal faith communities, working together to promote the love of the One Same God, witnessed in social justice and parity of esteem for all God's children, regardless of race, gender, creed, disability, orientation, social or economic status".
The Interfaith Alliance UK is independent of The Interfaith Alliance in the United States, but is founded on similar principles [1]. The Interfaith Alliance UK is governed by a Board of Trustees consisting of clergy and lay people drawn from diverse faith backgrounds, and the organisation is fundamentally defined by the binding principles which are expressed in its Covenant of Shared Beliefs:
We in the Alliance bear witness in the Name of God, who is Compassionate and Merciful, that:
1. The Eternal One is our God, the Eternal God is One, and we strive to love the Eternal One with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength. We strive to love our neighbour as ourself and to build between us bonds of friendship, care and mutual support.
2. We affirm resolutely and revere the shared truths and common ground that unite our diverse faiths, in deed as well as in word and thought.
3. We affirm unequivocally and honour the clear differences of belief and practice between us, which should not in any way be diminished or undermined; and we acknowledge the diverse views within our communities about the existence of many religions in our world.
4. We reject absolutely and entirely any doctrine whereby believers of other faiths and traditions among us are condemned to eternal loss.
5. We affirm the godly imperative and freedom to bear witness to our religious beliefs before others with gentleness and respect, and the right of a person freely to change or to challenge religion. However, we resolutely oppose any form of proselytisation or influence that is dishonest, coercive, psychologically manipulative, based on unfair advantage given to any particular religion, or insulting to other faith communities, or that targets members of any particular faith community for conversion.
6. We affirm that there is no compulsion in religion, and by reason of the paramount sanctity of human life, we entirely oppose the use of violence in the pursuit of religious ends, or under the pretext of religion.
7. We affirm that all people, created in the image of God, are absolutely equal in the sight of God, and we seek full protection of their due rights under the law, regardless of gender, ethnicity, national origin, religious belief, sexual orientation, disability, age, or social and economic status.
8. We affirm the sanctity of the family and marriage, wherein adults of consenting age, of the same sexes or of opposite sexes, freely commit themselves to one another in faithful and lifelong union, giving expression to that commitment in mutual care, sharing and comfort for one another, physical love, and if they choose, parenthood.
9. We affirm the commitment to social justice as an absolute religious duty, whereby a living faith must be witnessed in bold social action toward the elimination of poverty, injustice, prejudice and discrimination, and toward the fair and equitable distribution of resources, and access to education and healthcare, both at local and global level.
10. We affirm our humble stewardship and duty of care of the earth, its resources and environment, and in particular its holy places, and we bear clear witness that ownership ultimately belongs to none but God. In this regard, we cite the holy land of Israel-Palestine, sacred alike to Jews, Muslims and Christians, and we strive toward a just and lasting peace for all its people.'' [2] [3]
The Interfaith Alliance UK has been a firm advocate of progressive and liberal streams within the traditions of different faiths, and has founded the Scriptural Reasoning Society in Great Britain, to promote the shared study of sacred texts between people of different faiths to engender understanding and respect for differences, and to promote shared civic values in our common life as citizens [4] [5].
The Alliance has also made submissions to government and statutory non-governmental organisations in Great Britain, including the Home Office in regard to legislation on extremism in places of worship, and the General Medical Council in its development of ethical guidance for doctors [6].
The ideological position of the Interfaith Alliance (UK) has been to challenge extremism and fundamentalism in some forms of Christian Evangelicalism and Islam [7] [8] [9], and to promote the human rights of persecuted minorities, including traditional Christian minorities which continue to suffer discrimination and contraints on freedom of religion in some Muslim-majority states.
[edit] References
- ^ The Interfaith Alliance (United States) website
- ^ IAUK Covenant of Shared Beliefs
- ^ ReligiousTolerance.org
- ^ The Scriptural Reasoning Society
- ^ Scriptural Reasoning - An Islamic Fatwa
- ^ IAUK Submissions
- ^ Church of England Newspaper 9 December 2005
- ^ Church of England Newspaper 16 December 2005
- ^ The Guardian 23 January 2006
