Religion Media Centre Podcast

The US Vice President Kamala Harris will be formally nominated as the Democrat's presidential candidate at the party’s convention in Chicago this week. With a Hindu mother, Baptist father and Jewish husband, she embodies religious pluralism in a diverse country. But will this make her more or less appealing to constituencies of faith, or the non-religious?

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, the speakers considered how the Democrats, a party with 30 per cent non-religious and 60 per cent Christian, are finding common ground around values, as people decide how to vote, irrespective of faith. The briefing heard the view that the conservative white evangelical support of Donald Trump, with its particular take on Christianity, has pushed the Democrats towards greater clarity that religion and the state are separate and this is what binds their party in a big tent, including people of all faiths and none. Hosted by Rosie Dawson, the speakers were:

• Heidi Schlumpf, National Catholic Reporter senior correspondent, who is covering the Convention
• Richa Karmarkar, reporter at Religion News Service, primarily covering Hinduism
• Alan Cooperman, director of religion research at Pew Research Centre
• Dr Melissa Deckman, Chief Executive Officer, Public Religion Research Institute
• Hemant Mehta, American author, blogger, and atheist activist
• Senator Kim Jackson, Georgia
• Rev Canon Broderick Greer, Canon Precentor St John's Cathedral, Denver

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The resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury has left the Church of England reeling. There is consensus that he had no option after the publication of the Makin report which exposed the horrific abuse of young men and boys by the barrister, John Smyth, and a decades-long cover-up by the Church of England.

Smyth led Christian summer camps run by the Iwerne Trust which Justin Welby attended as a young man. From the mid-1970s, Smyth groomed boys and then took them back to his garden shed where they were beaten until they bled. The abuse was known about in the church from the early 1980s but was covered up. Smyth left the country and died in 2018, having never been brought to justice.

In a statement, Justin Welby said he was taking personal and institutional responsibility for the failure to act on the John Smyth abuse between 2013 and 2024 and had a profound sense of shame at the historic safeguarding failures of the Church of England. His resignation, which is without precedent, has been described as a seismic shock. Roger Bolton hosts this discussion with guests:

• Andrew Graystone, author of Bleeding for Jesus, an account of John Smyth's abuse
• Susie Leafe, Director of Anglican Futures
• Mark Stibbe, survivor, author and former vicar
• Frances Martin, reporter with the Church Times
• Professor Linda Woodhead, King's College, London
• Prof Helen King, member of the General Synod

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Fear and anxiety immediately followed the riots which spread across England last week, with Muslims in particular afraid to leave the house because of the hatred and violence on the streets. But in this Religion Media Centre briefing, faith leaders described how within 24 hours, faith and community leaders sought and found solidarity and support from their neighbours, other faith groups, police, councils and what has been seen as the vast majority of the British public, appalled at what they were witnessing.

Speakers made clear that these were race riots. No group has felt safe and communities of all kinds felt "triggered" by the fact that angry racist outbursts emerged so quickly and were so widespread. The contrast between violence and the overnight reversal to peace has left concerns and questions, which faith leaders addressed in this discussion. Questions about British identity, the need to call out and stop Islamophobia, the need for a government strategy for social cohesion, the essential work of continuing conversations in local communities, and the challenge for teachers dealing with the aftermath when schools return in September.

Many of the participants on this call took part in the Religion Media Centre's Creating Connections events, bringing together faith representatives and the media in towns and cities across England. The host is Leo Devine and the speakers include RE advisers and teachers Ed Pawson, Dr Kate Christopher and Manju Kaur; Muslim leaders Julie Siddiqi and Imam Musharraf Hussein; Community leaders Amrick Singh Ubhi and Rev Dr Israel Oluwole Olofinjana; and journalists Gary Newby, Content Editor at ITV News Central, and Alex Strangwayes-Booth, formerly BBC and now with CTVC.

For further information on RMC briefings: [email protected]

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Community and faith leaders from towns and cities across England have spoken of the importance of free and open discussion on the causes of the riots this summer. In a Religion Media Centre briefing, bringing together participants from our 11 Creating Connections events, they spoke of their local efforts to provide opportunities for dialogue between faith groups and their need for help in finding methods that work well.

There was agreement that superficial large meetings were not enough. Instead, deep conversations are needed to understand the anger, disenfranchisement and frustration which caused the unrest. In particular, the sense of injustice among young people needs to be addressed.

While welcoming signals from government that it is committed to working alongside faith groups on its five missions, such as safe streets or healthcare, they warned against being co-opted and said greater responsibility required proper resourcing.

Hosted by Leo Devine, speakers included Rev Ian Rutherford, Methodist minister in Manchester; Manjit Kaur of SACRE Coventry; Simon Phillips, Leeds Jewish community; Rev Joanne Thorns, Communities Together Durham; Professor Jagbir Jhutti Johal, Birmingham; Steve Botham, Birmingham.

For further information on RMC briefings: [email protected]

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A report by Prof Alexis Jay into safeguarding in the Church of England recommends two new charities should be set up to deliver and scrutinise safeguarding operations, and they should be entirely separate from the church. It says the current safeguarding system is “flawed and cannot be sufficiently improved whilst it remains within church oversight” and needs to fundamentally change to restore the confidence of victims, survivors and clergy.

In this Religion Media Centre briefing, our panel discuss the report’s tough criticism of the current safeguarding system on seven key issues including inconsistent systems across all 42 dioceses, failure to collect data and lack of independent scrutiny. They consider how this major change can be implemented when confidence and trust are at an all-time low. And they voice complaints that this is another structural change which will be forced through like those which failed before, and that the same people involved in the collapse of the last system have been assembled to oversee the setting up of the new charities, with an absence of survivors at the heart.

Ruth Peacock hosts, with guests: Julie Conalty, the Bishop of Birkenhead; Rev Dr Ian Paul, member of the Archbishops’ Council; Andrew Graystone, advocate for survivors of church abuse; Jane Chevous, co-founder of Survivors Voices; and Justin Humphries, CEO of Thirtyone Eight, a Christian organisation dealing with safeguarding.

Links

Website: https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/

X: https://twitter.com/RelMedCentre/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/religion-media-centre/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCthZf6RVTqJki6oTQTB6qmw

Contact Information

[email protected]
(+44) 0203 970 0709