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Moseley Chimes
March 2008
The first hint that something unusual was taking place was the plate labelled ‘Kosher biscuits’ — hmm, kosher biscuits in a United Reformed Church? On any other day that may have seemed strange but this was the first of a series of five lectures at Carrs Lane Church entitled ‘Dialogues in Faith’.
Carrs Lane has for a number of years run a series of lectures on radical Christianity in the autumn. However this year they decided to change the theme. Judging by the way the church was packed out each week with a mixture of Christians, Jews, Muslims and possibly those of no formal faith, it was a good decision.
All the lectures followed a set format: a presentation by the guest speaker followed by dialogue with the series Chair which opened into a question and answer session with the audience; and what a Chair we had. Dr Chris Hewer was formerly Advisor to the Bishop for Birmingham on Inter Faith Relations. His wide knowledge of Christian, Jewish and Muslim theology enabled him to ask some probing and profound questions of the speakers, expanding on their theme and at times challenging their statements.
The first evening was a lecture on ‘The Great Transformation’ by Karen Armstrong in which she gave an insight into the era in which the more primitive beliefs were transformed into more sophisticated religions between 900 and 200 BCE and during which time the so called Golden Rule was developed: not to do to others what your would not have done to you. She discussed what the teachers from those times have to teach us today.
The remaining lectures were on two themes, ‘Perceptions of God’ from both Jewish and Muslim perspectives and ‘Living as a Jew/Muslim in Twenty First Century Britain’. The two lectures on perceptions of God provided an insight into the Jewish and Muslim faiths and the reality of how the obligations of each faith are put into practice on a day to day basis. The lectures on living in Twenty First Century Britain proved to be more surprising in content for some of us. Rabbi Borts painted a rather bleak view of living in the modern world with anti-Semitism growing more apparent, she did acknowledge that on an individual level the situation is improving but from a community point of view she has noticed more instances of intolerance. Tariq Ramadan provided a slightly wider view as he lives in Europe. He spoke of the challenge of living as a believer in a consumerist society and the importance of letting your spiritual life nurture your public life.
All the speakers were adamant in expressing the need for continuing interfaith dialogue at all levels and the need to understand each others faiths for without understanding and seeing the human face of a religion we have only presumptions and stereotypes to inform us.
Whilst the lectures and conversations afterwards were fascinating, the lasting impression for me was strangely nothing to do with the lectures: during one question session a young Muslim lady came up to the microphones used for questions and told the audience about a small child who, days earlier, had been severely injured in an accident and was in intensive care at the Children’s Hospital; she asked the audience to pray for the child and her family as the outlook was not looking good. At the end of the final lecture we received an update on the child. She was out of intensive care and making steady progress. I have no idea how many people answered that young lady’s plea for prayer but it’s just possible that she enabled people of different faiths and backgrounds to come together in a way that a years worth of lectures could not even hope to.
The lecture series continues next autumn with the first lecture on 2nd October. Keep a watch at www.carrslane.co.uk for more details.