Muslims call for Anglican bishop to resign
Pastor Dale Morgan
Muslims call for Anglican bishop to resign*
By Caroline Gammell
Last Updated: 1:29am GMT 07/01/2008
Religious groups have demanded the resignation of the Anglican Bishop of
Rochester after he claimed that Islamic radicals had turned parts of
Britain into "no-go" areas for non-Muslims.
The Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali wrote in The Sunday Telegraph that
fundamentalism had made some communities hostile to Christians and those
from other faiths.
Crowds of people in London's Whitechapel High Street
Supporters say Bishop Nazir-Ali’s comments have raised valid questions
about multiculturalism in Britain
But Mohammed Shafiq, from the Ramadhan Foundation, said: "Mr Nazir-Ali
is promoting hatred towards Muslims and should resign."
Ajmal Masroor, of the Islamic Society of Great Britain, said: "It's a
distortion of reality. Our communities are far more integrated than they
were 10 years ago.
"If the Church of England had an iota of fairness they would take
serious action."
But senior figures from the Church of England have backed the Bishop of
Rochester's remarks about faith and said Christians in predominantly
Muslim areas could feel isolated and nervous about how to express their
belief.
The Bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, said his colleague had
raised serious questions about the role of faith, race and culture in
British society.
The Bishop of Blackburn, the Rt Rev Nicholas Reade, said it was becoming
difficult for Christians to share their faith in areas where there was a
high proportion of other faiths.
William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "I don't think that
view is factually correct. I'm not sure where these no-go areas are, I
don't recognise that description."
But Bishop Goddard said that Christians, who are outnumbered in many
parts of Blackburn, were frightened that their ideas could be
misinterpreted by other faiths and seen as a form of oppression.
"It is not fear that there is going to be retaliation but it is a fear
that you get it badly wrong and cause hurt to others of integrity of
other faith you did not intend," he told The Daily Telegraph.
"When you engage in proclaiming the Christian faith in an area dominated
by another religion, I and others tread very carefully so that the
message is heard and not seen as some sort of oppression."
Bishop Goddard said Christians in northern towns such as Blackburn and
Burnley, where 95 per cent of the Asian population is Muslim, could find
life difficult.
"I think they sometimes feel as though they are strangers," he said. "It
is a question of how people of different beliefs work together. Of
course, the vast majority of Muslims are peace loving."
Endorsing Bishop Nazir-Ali's comments, he said: "Bishop Michael has
raised these issues as a start of a debate which has serious connotations.
"The seriousness is how do you enable people of different cultures,
races and faiths to live together as one nation, that seems to be at the
back of what he is saying."
Bishop Goddard said the increased wearing of the hijab in parts of
Britain was a cultural rather than religious phenomenon.
He added: "So many tensions are driven by culture rather than faith. My
hope is that we can work effectively across the boundaries of other
people then faith can be used as a means to understand each other."