Faith, Politics and Escaping
Categories: practical-theology
Date: 14 April 2009 08:32:11
We all know that New Labour have been known to mix faith and politics;
This was Gordon Brown, (pictured with Third Party + Tractor Girl), at the 2005 Make Poverty History Christian Aid event, where he gave an interesting talk .
We also know that former heads of state with faith have in the past decided to put their faith and political experience together in their post-premiership career. The best example being Jimmy Carter, who set up the Carter Center to promote human rights and world peace. (Again somebody I have been priviledged to hear and blog on). He turned himself from being one of those presidents people think about with an "oh well" type of sigh to being a world statesman admired for his contribution to humanitarian causes and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
Anyway it appears that Tony Blair is taking the Jimmy Carter approach. He has founded the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and is, it appears, getting involved in inter-faith practical theology. According to this article about it on BBC News there is a Radio Four programme on at 10pm this evening where he explains about it all.
Whilst I am normally naturally cynical about this type of thing I find myself quite excited by this. I am passionate about the role of practical theology as a bridge between the academy and the "real world". I am also committed to the role of inter-faith dialogue in helping us understand an ever changing world and to counter the fear based irrationality of fundamentalism and extremism (in all religions including Christianity). Thus when I read about the course Blair is developing with Yale Divinity College on Faith and Globalisation I start smiling, although I wonder about ways it could be offered to those who don't make up the elite and how the discussions can take place with those who might be more attracted to fundamentalist ideals due to issues of poverty or status frustration.
The most encouraging thing for me though was this quote which sums up for me what studying Practical Theology academically is all about:
"For the faith and globalisation initiative to be most relevant, it must look beyond the classroom. We are working with religious leaders, politicians, policy makers, business leaders, and civil society in order both to inform the lessons of the academy and to take the lessons of the academy into the wider world."
My only worries are that (i) this may be seen as another way to extend / promote the free trade agenda and (ii) that this will still be based around elite networks. As somebody who is constantly struggling with the realities of not being able to get funding for my study and not having gained that "first", which would be mark me out as worth investing in, I hope that initiatives like this one widen their horizons to find ways for all who have the ability to be able to engage with the academy on equal terms.
Oh and in other news I'm off for a sojourn into "real life" or something less online based. Ok, perhaps I exaggerate. I'm off to a Sociology conference in the Land of Torchwood (where I will in my spare time be meeting a couple of "online friends") and then going on to meet a bunch of wonderful peeps, whom I also got to know via my computer screen.