This image shows the façade of a building. Nine windows can be seen and in the middle of the picture sits an artistic banner. The banner has a yellow background and dipicts Mary (in blue) holding a big teddy bear on a red blanket. Mary is surrounded by many toys. The building is used by the Camden Collective, Collective Temperance Hospital in London.Before we continue with the course, take a moment to consider the following questions: Activity 1What does ‘religious literacy’ mean to you? Why might it be a valuable skill to have? Jot down a few of your thoughts in this text box, then you will be able to reveal the discussion to find out more about religious literacy.There is no single definition of ‘religious literacy’. The term ‘religious literacy’ implies an appreciation the diversity of human religiosity. It also relates to having a set of tools to use when encountering others’ religion in everyday life. For some people, the idea of religious literacy is more related to the idea of understanding their own religious tradition better. However, in religious studies, we understand this idea much more broadly. Religious literacy has been described as a ‘civic endeavour … aimed at enabling people of all faiths and none to engage with the increasing plurality of religion and belief encountered by everyone as a result of migration and globalisation’ (Dinham and Francis, 2015, p. 16).It is the importance of religious literacy in this sense that we hope to promote with this course. We hope that you will come away from this short course with a greater appreciation of the variety and vibrancy of religion in contemporary Britain. We also hope you’ll have a growing appreciation of the diversity within any religious tradition: no single tradition is homogenous. Religious studies is an interdisciplinary subject. It draws particularly strongly on the disciplines of history, sociology and anthropology. Many of the skills developed – such as critical thinking, questioning common assumptions, and making evidence-based arguments – are also highly valued in employment and are useful in negotiating life more generally. Religious studies develops ways of understanding and relating to others whose deeply held positions are very different from your own. These skills can help you establish and maintain a dialogue with those you encounter, in many different situations. 1.1 Who is religious in Britain?Religion in contemporary Britain appears to be something of a contradiction. The percentage of the population who are active religious adherents is falling. The number of people identifying as ‘non-religious’ accounts, by some estimates, for nearly half of the British population (NatCen Social Research, 2016). Yet religion retains immense cultural influence, and the absolute numbers of religiously motivated people remain significant enough to require consideration in local and national policy decisions. A variety of religiously committed people are also regularly encountered on high streets and neighbourhoods throughout Britain. The figure below compares how the population of England and Wales defined their religious identity in the 2001 and 2011 censuses.
Figure 2 Change in religious affiliation, 2001– 2011, England and Wales, in 'Religion in England and Wales, 2011', Office for National Statistics, December 2012. This chart is licensed under the Open Government Licence 3.0, http://reference.data.gov.uk/id/open-government-licence
This is a stacked bar graph. The y axis shows the percentage of the population and the x axis shows the year. There are two bars, one for 2001 and one for 2011. There is a key at the bottom showing each categories colour. The categories are ‘No religion’, ‘Christian’, ‘Muslim’, ‘Other’, and ‘Not stated’. For 2001 the following percentages are shown: No religion: 14.8%, Christian: 71.7%, Muslim: 3%, Other: 2.8%, and Not stated: 7.7%. For 2011 the following percentages are shown: No religion: 25.1%, Christian: 59.3%, Muslim: 4.8%, Other: 3.6%, and Not stated: 7.2%.The largest section of the population is represented in orange, those who identify with the general label of ‘Christian’. This included 69% of the population of England and Wales in the 2011 census (White, 2012). In Scotland, 54% of the population identified as Christian (National Records of Scotland, 2013a). The most noticeable change between 2001 and 2011 is the increase in the blue ‘No religion’ identification. In 2011, nearly 25% of the population of England and Wales were happy to identify with this label (White, 2012). In Scotland, 37% of the population identified as non-believers in the 2011 census (National Records of Scotland, 2013b). Yet what exactly it means to self-identify as ‘non-religious’ is a subject that is not very well understood. Recent research suggests that being ‘non-religious’ does not usually equate to being a committed atheist or humanist. Rather identifying as ‘non-religious’ might signify a position of personal disinterest about matters relating to religion (Lee, 2016). Reinforcing the continuing cultural influence of Christianity, the Church of England has been established in law since 1534, and the national churches of Wales and Scotland still have significant political and popular influence in their respective areas. The Christian religion underpins much of Britain’s legal and cultural assumptions. The Church of England exerts influence on legislation through the ‘Lords Spiritual’, 26 bishops who sit in the House of Lords. Where religion ends and culture begins is not necessarily straightforward. This is one of many things the study of religion exposes. The unique history of Northern Ireland creates a very different religious landscape. Here 41% identified as Catholic and 42% identified with Presbyterian, Church of Ireland or other Protestant denominations. Those identified as non-religious made up less than 17% of the population in 2011 (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, 2012).Despite the continued legal and cultural significance of Christianity in Britain, it is also clear that only a small proportion of the British population attend church on Sunday. Recent counts put this number as less than 6% of the British population. Yet the absolute number of regular churchgoers still total over 3 million, a significant section of the population. (Brierley in McAndrew, 2016)
Figure 3 Church attendance in Great Britain, 1980 – 2015. Data from Religious Trends edited by Peter Brierley, http://www.brin.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Estimated-Church-Attendance-1980-2015-Brierley.xlsx
This is a line graph showing chuch attendance in Great Britain between 1980 and 2015. The y axis shows attendance in millions. The x axis shows the year in 5 year increments from 1980 to 2015. Attendance is plotted along a fairly straight line from 6.5 million in 1980 to 3 million in 2015.1.2 What is secularism?What secularism means has been interpreted differently in different national and legal contexts. For example, in France, the development of secularism (called laïcité) has led to the ownership of all religious buildings being transferred to civic authorities. Thus the state directly subsidises the upkeep of historical religious buildings.
This is an image of a light-coloured stone church with a large intricately decorated highly arched doorway. A door sits within the doorway and this has a flatter curve along the top, creating an almost triangular space where inscriptions have been made. At the top of the doorway in line with the high arch, the words ‘Republicque Française’ are inscribed. Below this, in line with the curved top of the wooden door, the words ‘Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité’ are inscribed.Since the 1960s, in particular, many individuals within European cultures have questioned established authorities and institutions. Adherence to church doctrine and moral or ethical expectations and attendance at Christian services fell in most of Europe (Brown, 2009 and McLeod, 2007). There is considerable disagreement amongst some scholars about how long and why Christianity has been in decline in Britain. Some have traced a decline in Christianity throughout the nineteenth century. However the 1960s do seem to have been a key decade, from which secularism appeared to be in the ascendant. Still, most of the world, and a significant minority of people in Britain continue to be deeply religious. In any large British city, many will have backgrounds from around the world. Many immigrants have brought their faiths with them and these often continue among second and subsequent generations.The numbers of any single minority religion are small relative to the general population. But a religion does not need many members to attract controversy. For many reasons, Muslims in Britain often find themselves discussed in the press. Yet in 2011, Muslims made up less than 5% of the population (White, 2012). However in some areas concentrations of minority religions are much higher; for example, Muslims make up 38% of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Tower Hamlets, 2015).British law enshrines a respect for religious freedom, balanced with other rights and restrictions. Increasingly, religious diversity impacts on employment practices and decisions about local buildings and community centres. 2 Variety and vibrancy of religion in LondonIn the 2011 England and Wales Census, 817,000 individuals (or 1.5% of the population) identified as Hindu (White, 2012). But Hindus are not distributed equally across England and Wales. In fact, over half the Hindu population of England lives in the greater London area, with a concentration in the north and west (GLA, 2012). Near the North Circular ring road around London is one of the largest Hindu temples to be found outside of India, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir. This impressive structure is popularly known as the ‘Neasden Temple’ and was built between 1992 and 1995 with materials and craftsmen imported from India. Activity 2For your next activity you will watch a video tour of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in London given by Yogendra Narendra Shah. As you watch, think about the reasons the Indian community made such an impressive temple at this location. What are they saying about their culture and beliefs? What kind of statement is this community making about their residence in Britain? This video activity has been filmed in Google 360 – it is best viewed in Chrome, Edge or Firefrox browsers. In these browsers you can change the camera angle to pan around the scene and explore the building more fully. In other browsers, you can still watch the video but it will look distorted and you will not be able to change the camera angle. Google 360 video of BAPS Shri Swaminarayan MandirRight click on the link and select ‘Open link in new tab’.What struck me most was the immense size of the building, as well as the intricacy and care of the artwork both inside and outside. The temple was built at great expense and using logistical ingenuity. This is a community that is making a statement about its permanence in Britain. These ethnic Indians are establishing their commitment to Britain, and to their own religious beliefs and culture, in a very visible way.Yet it is not an entirely inward-looking community. The Neasden Temple also goes out of its way to welcome thousands of school children and other visitors each year. It invests in making its world view more understandable and accessible to those outside of their community.How are we to read these big religious public spaces? What meaning do they hold for their associated believers and practitioners? And what messages do they give to those who are not part of their community? These are some of the issues you will be introduced to briefly in this short course. They are explored more fully in A227 Exploring religion: places, practices, texts and experiences. 2.1 St Paul’s: a national churchWe will now consider one of the most iconic symbols of Christianity in Britain – St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. This is also a place where the continuing, though changing, importance of religion in British society is evident. St Paul’s continues to hold a conspicuous place in the London skyline, despite there being a recent proliferation of much larger skyscrapers. One reason it continues to hold a central visual place is that it was built on the highest ground of the City, simply because it was there first.
This is a colour photo of St. Paul’s Cathedral, its surrounding buildings, Blackfriars Bridge and the river as seen from the south bank of the Thames. In the foreground is the river and the sky reflected in the water is blue. There is a boat plying the river. Blackfriars Bridge with its rail line running above it is on right of the photo. The bridge has several arches in red and white. There is a train running on the rail line. To the left of the photo is a wharf and behind it, several four or five storeyed white buildings. Behind these, the cathedral is dominant and visually impressive. To the right of the picture are several skyscraper buildings in the City of London. The sky in the background above the buildings is a bright blue with a few clouds.The first church on this site probably dates back to around 600. The medieval cathedral which replaced a series of smaller church buildings was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. This tragedy provided an opportunity for Sir Christopher Wren to design the present church. The current building was constructed between 1675 and 1708, when Christianity had an almost complete religious monopoly in Britain. St Paul’s Cathedral continues to be a strong visual statement of Christianity’s dominance and persistence.St Paul’s grandiose interior hosts regular Christian worship with the formal liturgy of the Church of England. The cathedral employs a professional choir, prioritising a long tradition of promoting high quality music within the established Church. But St Paul’s also hosts services to mark major national occasions. Some of these significant national events have ranged from celebrating the military victories of Queen Anne’s reign in the seventeenth century to Queen Elizabeth II’s diamond jubilee in 2012. In 1852, 12,000 people filled the building for the Duke of Wellington’s funeral (Keene et al., 2004). For Sir Winston Churchill’s funeral only about 3,000 mourners were allowed in the cathedral itself, but it is estimated that 350 million watched the St Paul’s service on television (Klein, 2015).
This is a painting of the interior of St. Paul’s Cathedral during the Duke of Wellington’s Funeral in 1852. It was painted by William Simpson (1823-1899).The painting depicts the many thousands of men and women attending the funeral service inside the cathedral. In the foreground, there are hundreds of people thronging the centre aisle and in the pews on either side. In the centre there are a few men visible wearing red and tartan as military colours. In the pews on the left side of the painting, there are hundreds of men and women dressed in seventeenth century western fashion in sombre black colours. The painting depicts thousands of attendees but only those in the foreground are given some detail. Also visible above the mourners are the large pillars on either side of the cathedral interior. Also visible is the rotunda and its large encircling pillars. The coffin appears to lie in state in this area, at the centre of the painting. Beyond the rotunda and moving towards the altar, there are many more people and behind them, at the back of the picture, the cathedral organ is visible. Most of the mourners are looking towards the funeral casket.Activity 3Now watch this Google 360 video of St Paul’s Cathedral as introduced by David Ison, the Dean of St Paul’s. As you watch this video, take some notes about the various reasons why people use the cathedral. What does Ison present as the most important purpose of St Paul’s today? As you will remember from exploring the Neasden Temple, by clicking on the video and moving your mouse, you can change the camera angle to pan around the scene and explore the building more fully. Google 360 videos are best viewed in Chrome, Edge or Firefox browsers. 2.2 St Paul’s: diverse visions
Figure 7 St Paul's Cathedral, London, 1675–1710, photograph c.1865–1885. A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library Accession Number: 15/5/3090.01143
This is a sepia photograph showing St Paul’s Cathedral c.1854–1885. St Paul’s sits against a cloudy sky, towering above the other, much smaller, surrounding buildings of the age.Because St Paul’s is a powerful national symbol, the meaning and role of St Paul’s are contested. Now read these three short extracts which offer different views. For each extract, try to summarise the article’s views about the cathedral in one sentence. Then reveal the discussion to reflect more on how each extract reveals a different understanding of St Paul’s as a significant cultural symbol. Activity 4 Extract 1 Who We AreThe vision and values of the Cathedral Church of St Paul in LondonOur VisionSt Paul’s Cathedral seeks to enable people in all their diversity to encounter the transforming presence of God in Jesus Christ.As a community of worshippers, staff and volunteers we work with care and imagination to be a centre for welcome, worship and learning which inspires successive generations to engage with the richness of the Christian faith and its heritage.We aim to do this with confidence, compassion and creativity, promoting dignity and justice for everyone.We work with the Bishop and Diocese of London and the wider church, as a spiritual focus for London, the nation and the world.Our ValuesLove, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control;To uphold integrity, honesty and openness in what we do;To aim for the highest possible standards in everything we do, acknowledging that we cannot do everything;To make our operations as just and as sustainable as we can;To foster and encourage diversity, being inclusive and challenging to ourselves as well as others.(St Paul’s Cathedral 2017 ‘Who We Are’ [Online]. Available at www.stpauls.co.uk/who-we-are (Accessed 01 August 2017)). This extract is from St Paul’s own website. It states that its primary purpose is to promote the Christian faith by enabling people ‘in all their diversity’ to ‘encounter the transforming presence of God in Jesus Christ’. In his interview on the video, Ison emphasised how he saw his role as to maintain St Paul’s mission ‘in a dignified and just manner’. This understanding pays less attention to the multiple meanings the church has for many in the nation. However, by maintaining the dignity of the church, and in emphasising the diversity of those who might enter its walls, one could argue that its place as a centre for the nation will be better preserved. Activity 5 Extract 2 Prince Harry pays tribute to bomb disposal heroes during service at St Paul’sPrince Harry comforted a bereaved family and met wounded military veterans today after attending a service at St Paul’s Cathedral marking 75 years of Bomb Disposal.In suit and medals, the fifth in line to the throne joined some of the bravest of the brave - the men and women from all three Armed Forces who run towards the bombs - among a 1,500-strong congregation inside Sir Christopher Wren’s architectural masterpiece.Second world sirens and a tannoy announcement from Afghanistan of the words ‘Op Minimise, Op Minimise, Op Minimise’ to signify casualties on the way into base with a Medical Emergency Response Team sounded out across the cathedral to evoke their sacrifice.Harry, a veteran of two tours of duty in Afghanistan, met the family of Corporal Jamie Kirkpatrick, a bomb disposal expert with 101 Engineer Regiment who was shot dead at the age of 32 in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province in June 2010.Kirkpatrick, an Edinburgh-born Royal Engineer who lived in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, was fondly remembered during the service, attended by his parents, brother, sister, and six-year-old daughter Holly.His father, Ian, spoke of their grief. ‘We recall many family celebrations and events that would, under normal circumstances, be a source of happiness, but which are now inevitably a source of sadness too,’ he said. […]As Harry, 31, met veterans after the service, he crouched down to chat to two ex-sappers in wheelchairs, Clive Smith, 30, and Jack Cummings, 27, who each lost both of their legs in bomb explosions in Afghanistan. Both knew him from his work with injured veterans. Mr Smith from Walsall, West Midlands, hopes to compete in cycling events at Harry’s Invictus Games for wounded veterans in Florida next year after coming fourth in two events in the inaugural games in London last year. ‘We were just chatting about my rehabilitation,’ he said. The former sapper, who lost his legs in an explosion in October 2010, found the service moving.‘It was quite emotional. It brought back memories from times I’d rather forget but it was a very good service,’ he added.(Palmer, R. (2015) ‘Prince Harry pays tribute to bomb disposal heroes during service at St Paul’s’, Daily Express, 22 October [Online]. Available at http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/613928/Prince-Harry-Bomb-disposal-service-St-Pauls-memorial (Accessed 1 August 2017))This extract is a reporting on a service attended by Prince Harry in 2015. It presents St Paul’s as a splendid setting for royal and military occasions. Here St Paul’s provides a suitable context for reflecting on patriotic sacrifice. The role of Christian belief and worship is de-emphasised in comparison to St Paul’s own presentation of its purpose. The testimony of the veterans and their families emphasises the importance of these public acknowledgements of loss and sacrifice for the nation.Activity 6Read the article ‘Occupy Protesters Chain Themselves to St Paul’s Pulpit’ which featured on the Guardian website in October 2012.The Occupy protesters argued that in order to be true to the teachings of Jesus, the founder of Christianity, St Paul’s should be doing more to help the poor and to challenge economic injustice. Emphasising Christian charity is sometimes at odds with representing the powers of the established, national church in Britain. In the video, you may remember Ison discussing the difficulties the cathedral leadership had in seeing themselves as having a duty to both the City of London and the protesters during this particular incident. Those representing Occupy clearly believe that St Paul’s should be doing more for those less fortunate. As you become more familiar with religion as a subject of study, you will discover many other examples of how a particular religious site, artefact, text, practice or experience can mean very different things to different people. St Paul’s is but one expression of an enormous diversity within historic and contemporary Christianity.2.3 The variety of Christianity in London
Figure 8 Eternal Sacred Order of The Cherubim and Seraphim march through Walworth, London during their annual thanksgiving service, 28 July 2013. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
In this photograph a group of people are marching from left to right. They are dressed in white robes with green sashes around their waists. They are also wearing white hats with a green trim. The woman in the centre of the picture is holding a large Union Jack. Ahead of her is a boy carrying a blue, white and yellow flag. In front of him is a man carrying a large cross atop a mace. He is dressed in white trousers and a white jacket. He is wearing a white hat with a green and yellow trim. The procession is marching under a walkway and past a series of bricked-in steps (daubed in graffiti), which lead to a block of flats.The Church of England is perhaps the most familiar expression of Christianity to many in Britain. However, the world population of Christians is changing. As recently as 1910, there were four times as many Christians in the ‘Global North’ as in the ‘Global South’. By 2011, more than 61% of Christians worldwide lived in the ‘Global South.’ It may come as a surprise that among the top 10 countries with the largest percentage of Christians are China, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria (Pew Research Centre, 2014).As scholar Philip Jenkins writes: ‘Over the last century, ... the centre of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably away from Europe, southward, to Africa and Latin America, and eastward, toward Asia. Today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in those regions.’ (Jenkins, 2002, pp. 1–2). The Christian tradition – its beliefs and practices – have been translated to new geographical settings. And these new forms of Christian worship are also making their mark in Britain (Catto, 2012). Global migration has had a huge impact on London’s religious life. By far the largest area of growth has been in the so-called ‘black majority churches’. These churches include a diverse range of traditions and spiritualities, but have congregations primarily of African and Caribbean heritage, though many of the members were born in Britain as the children and grandchildren of immigrants.
Figure 9 Members of a choir sing and dance during the Eternal Sacred Order of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church's annual Thanksgiving service, 2013, London. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The image shows a choir singing inside a church. Nine choristers are visible and they are dressed in white and blue. They are bent over from the waist and are clapping their hands together, along to the music. Decorative coloured cloth can be seen behind them, draped along the top of the walls.2.4 Pentecostal Christianity in LondonToday, Pentecostal churches may account for half of London’s Christian worshippers (Fesenmyer, 2016). Pentecostals emphasize the immediacy, power and present-day reality of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is recorded in the Acts of Apostles in the New Testament of the Bible and describes a great wind and tongues of fire descending during a gathering of Jesus’ followers, several weeks after his death and resurrection. The apostles began to speak in languages unknown to themselves, but recognised by listeners in the crowd (Acts 2: 1-13). On this occasion, Peter preached that those who repented and committed their lives towards the teachings of Jesus would receive the ‘gifts’ of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2: 38).
Figure 10 Faith healing at Elim Pentecostal Church, Kensington Temple, London. Photo: TravelStockCollection - Homer Sykes/Alamy
This image shows a group of people on the left of the image. They are all facing towards a preacher who is stood on a stage (to the top right of the image) and greeting a worshipper who has come up on stage. In the foreground a woman is lying supine on the floor with her arms by her side, whilst another woman crouches over her placing her outstretched hand on the supine woman’s forehead.Contemporary Pentecostals typically demonstrate these gifts by: testifying to the power of their faith describing how God works miracles in their lives speaking in tonguespracticing spiritual healingprophecy.There is a wide variety of Pentecostal groups and denominations.Jesus HouseJesus House is the main London centre of the Nigerian-headquartered Redeemed Christian Chuch of God. Founded in 1994 and located in an easily accessible part of north London Jesus House worships in a functional building that does not stand out from the commercial premises of the area. Despite its relatively recent origins, by 2014 Jesus House already had over 3,000 Sunday worshippers (Gledhill, 2014).Activity 7For your next activity, you will be watching a Google 360 video about Jesus House introduced by Ayobami Olunloyo. Remember that Google 360 videos are best viewed in Chrome, Edge or Firefox browsers. In these browsers, you can change the camera angle to pan around the scene and explore the building more fully by clicking on the video and moving your mouse. As you watch, consider what is different about this space compared to the space at St Paul’s? And what aspects are similar? Google 360 video about Jesus HouseWrite down one similarity and one difference between Jesus House and St Paul’s in the box below then reveal the discussion to read more.Jesus House does not look like a church in the same sense as most Church of England buildings. It looks like a conference centre. However, it is regularly filled with an enthusiastic congregation. The music is modern and most of the faces of the congregation are African in origin. Olunloyo, the narrator, emphasises the church’s plans for expansion and regular gifts to a variety of charitable causes. Here it is how the congregation worships, rather than the setting of worship, that is its essential element.Olunloyo also emphasises that the church attempts to make worship easy to attend. It is located at the centre of a major transportation hub, meaning many can attend Jesus House in person. But Jesus House also emphasises a variety of internet-based communication and modern social media. The church seeks to be engaged with the wider culture of its largely black congregation. In particular, it seeks to appeal to younger people. St Paul’s Cathedral was built with the purpose of impressing God’s greatness on those that see it. The current St Paul’s was built to host events of national significance. It emphasises dignity rather than youth engagement. As Ison notes, St Paul’s has a relatively small number of regular worshippers, especially considering its vast size.However, many visitors pass through the doors and Ison believes that many of these stay and use the space for prayer or quiet contemplation. St Paul’s is expensive to maintain and the Cathedral charges visitors to help maintain the building. But as Ison noted in the video, it is a priority of St Paul’s to be a place where people from any background can have ‘an experience of God’. It is the setting rather than the sermons that create this experience. St Paul’s and Jesus House are both Christian churches. Yet it is clear that they serve very different purposes and tend to attract different followers. Pentecostals make up a third of London’s active Christians. However as we saw with Jesus House, their buildings are inconspicuous compared to those of the longer-established denominations. Smaller and recently formed Pentecostal churches often meet for worship in any space they can find. New churches can be found even in residential settings and in spaces on industrial estates. Sometimes these new churches find themselves at odds with planning regulations.
This is a photo of a Pentecostal church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God in Croydon. The church building has no recognisable or traditional physical signs of being a church as such. It is located in a plain brick building next to a car park. The picture is of a car park with several cars in it and a large silver gate at the front. On the gate is a sign emblazoned in large letters announcing the name of the church.Historically this parallel’s the experience of Nonconformist churches, such as the Methodists and Unitarians, in the nineteenth century. They also initially had to improvise spaces for worship. Eventually, these denominations were able to gather enough resources to build permanent churches.
This is a photo of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Finsbury Park, north London. The church is housed in a former cinema built in the Art Deco style. The flat front of the cinema has a large billboard advertising ‘God Calling’ on a mobile phone. There are two flags flying on the walls. The one on the left of the picture is a Union Jack. On the right of the picture, a flag with a large drawn red heart is flying.The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) is a Brazilian Pentecostal church. It has acquired the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park as a house of worship. This building was erected in the 1930s as a cinema and, in the 1970s the Rainbow Theatre hosted rock concerts. Contrary to many assumptions about inevitable secularisation, churches remain relevant and even continue to use or negotiate more secular public spaces in some contexts. Recognition and understanding of diversity within as well as between major religious traditions is an essential part of the academic study of religion. Understanding the beliefs and practices of a new congregation can help local communities and policymakers more constructively dialogue with unfamiliar churches establishing themselves in their areas. A good example of the importance of this dialogue is can be demonstrated by some research conducted at the University of Roehampton on what they describe as ‘new Black Majority Churches’ in the London Borough of Southwark. Their report highlights continuing tension as these groups try to establish new churches in the area, but also encourages developing good practice in communication with local business and council planners, so that all local communities can benefit (Being Built Together, 2013). 2.5 Summary of Section 2
Figure 13 Private Paul Oglesby, 30th Infantry, standing in reverence before an altar in a damaged Catholic Church. 23 July 1943 in Acerno, Italy. Unknown photographer. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, (NAID) 531181, Public Domain
This is a black and white image of a bombed church. There are pews in the foreground and an altar in the background underneath a large archway. Behind the arch we can see that the roof has caved in and there is a large hole through which the sky is visible. A solider, carrying a helmet in his left hand and a gun in his right, stands before the altar facing away from us.Churches continue to be powerful and evocative images in British culture, even as their meanings are complex, church attendance is declining and immigration and global Evangelical and Pentecostal movements are changing the shape of popular Christian worship. Long-established religious buildings, like St Paul’s Cathedral, are an unquestioned part of the fabric of the city. They still evoke a power to move many, even those not formally identifying with Christianity or the idea of religion. The meaning and significance of such spaces is contested and deeply important to many. Newer and adapted religious buildings can be controversial. Sometimes this is primarily due to practical concerns around parking and noise, but often there are more ideological concerns, because a Pentecostal church, a temple, or mosque is seen to be ‘out of character’ and unwelcome to neighbours. If such potentially divisive issues are to be resolved in a mutually acceptable manner, it is essential that religion itself is more fully understood.3 Religion as livedBelieving is one of the things religious people do. People often cite religious texts and teachers as authoritative. However, attention to the lived realities of religious people reinforces an understanding that we are dealing with changeable and contested phenomena. This is part of what makes studying religion exciting. In this section, we will look more closely at the diversity of religious practices. We will be looking at religion as it is lived.
Figure 14 Whirling Dervishes of the Mevlevi Order, Sema ceremony, Saruhan Caravanserai, Sarihan, near Avanos, Cappadocia. Photo: Image Broker/Alamy
This is a photo of whirling dervishes of the Mevlevi Order in Cappadocia in Turkey. They are dancing in the Sema ceremony in Saruhan Caravanserai. The dervishes are all male. They are dressed in white robes with black cummerbunds around their waist and long skirts that billow as they spin and dance. They are wearing tall beige hats. In the photo, we see five dervishes dancing with their arms aloft. They are dancing on a wooden floor. In the background we can see the musicians playing their instruments. They are similarly dressed but with black robes on. Behind them and to the left of the photo, we see the seated audience of both men and women. The performance is being held in a very large hall with stone walls and ceilings with many arches in the ceilings.In religious studies, we apply methods that would be familiar to colleagues in disciplines like history, anthropology, folklore, literature, sociology and others. These aid us in understanding and discussing the varied phenomena of religion in its historical and contemporary, but always lived, contexts.3.1 The East London MosqueTo start this process, we will return to a specific place, but this time to consider how it is used by those who go there. Here we are going to look at the East London Mosque on Whitechapel Road. London’s Muslim population originated from the Muslim seamen who arrived in the nineteenth century. Often they were paid off from their ships and obliged to seek accommodation until they could find new employment or passage home. Sometimes they ended up remaining in London. Since then, there have been several other waves of Muslim immigration to Britain. In London, many immigrants settled in the East End and the first provisions for communal Muslim worship were in converted residential spaces in the area. Today’s purpose-built mosque was completed in 1985.
This is an aerial photo of the ‘new’ East London Mosque. It is situated on a main road. It is a large brick building and complex. On the side facing the main road there are many arched windows and the main entrance has a tall, arched doorway. This is flanked by two turrets. On the right hand side of the picture (and the building), the prominent minaret (almost 30m high) is visible. The mosque is capped with a large golden dome above the prayer hall. Its alignment with the rest of the building is skewed as it is oriented towards Mecca. To the right of the mosque is the large (six-storeyed) London Muslim Centre complex. There is an additional nine-storeyed building behind the main mosque building which is the Maryam Centre.Mosques are primarily a place where Muslim communities can gather for prayer. However, mosques are also used for a wide variety of religious instruction and other communal activities. As scholar Sophia Gilliat-Ray explains, mosques: Exist at the heart of the community and all the obligations associated with the five ‘pillars’ of Islam involve mosques in one way or another. … Mosques are spaces for discussion and debate, for the settlement of disputes, for the performance of rites of passage, for education and for social welfare. (Gilliat-Ray, 2010, p. 182f)The East London Mosque has sought to expand its ability to serve a variety of functions for its community. It added a building to host more community services, the London Muslim Centre, in 2004. It completed building the Maryam Centre, making specific provision for women, in 2013.The London Muslim Centre and the Maryam Centre
Figure 16 The position of the Maryam Centre in relation to the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre. Photo: Roshni Amin
This is a colour photograph of the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre and the Maryam Centre. There is an arrow at the top of the picture, pointing to the position of the Maryam Centre (which is itself circled in the picture), which is behind the Mosque. The mosque itself is a large brick building with three arches, one of which is the entrance. There are three minarets of differing heights. The tallest has a large crescent atop it. The Maryam Centre is a taller building of many storeys. It is also a brick building and has several windows on its front. There is a wide street in front of the mosque and a few pedestrians as well.The London Muslim Centre hosts a large range of community services, including education for children in supplementary schools and education in Islam and Arabic for all members of the community. There are also a number of culturally specific charities hosted by the Centre. These include the Somali Development Association (Al Shafie Institute) and the North African Community Association (NACA). The Centre offers pro bono legal advice for members of the community. It also includes a library and archives documenting its history and activities. Historically, Muslim women’s use of mosques has been significantly different from that of men (Katz, 2014, p. 7). Women are not required to attend collective prayers in mosques on Friday. There are also regulations regarding modesty, dress codes and the avoidance of sexual temptation by separating the genders, particularly during prayer time. Although the primary purpose of the Maryam Centre was to provide prayer facilities for women, it has come to hold a much broader role. Activity 8Take a moment to reflect upon your assumptions on the separation of women and men in religious contexts. Now, listen to this interview with Sufia Alam the manager of the Maryam Centre at the East London Mosque, who will explain how the Maryam Centre is used. As you listen, reflect on if your assumptions about women’s spaces – does Sufia Alam say anything that surprises you?
Figure 17 Sufia Alam, East London Mosque, October 2016. Photo: Roshni Amin
This is a colour photograph of Sufia Alam. Sufia is shown sitting in her office on a red office chair. There are files in front of her on a desk. In the background, behind her, are shelves of ringbinders and other office paraphernalia. On the left of the photo is a wall with many notices stuck on it. Sufia is in the centre of the picture. She is wearing a green headscarf that covers her hair and drapes down over her chest and shoulders. She is wearing a black top with long sleeves that covers her arms up to her wrists. She is wearing glasses and is smiling. She has a green lanyard around her neck with the word ‘Staff’ on it.Stefanie SinclairHello - I’m Stefanie Sinclair. I am a lecturer in Religious Studies at the Open University and I am sitting here with Sufia Alam, who is the Centre Manager at the Maryam Centre in the East London Mosque.Sufia, can you tell me what is the Maryam Centre?Sufia Alam Okay so the Maryam Centre was established in 2013 primarily to accommodate prayer facilities for women. My role in the Maryam Centre is to develop projects that meet the needs of women in the community um to provide a service that um supports women and women’s rights. Also to enhance um their learning pathways um and to really empower them you know through education, through social programmes, through um seminars and conferences that I hold on issues that relate to our community. SoWe have to look at the history of um migration in this area and of course we had men and women obviously the first generation had men who had come in and then they later brought their families um and when at last the – the community came um together it was the Seventies um and early Eighties where um there was a lot of racism in this area so a lot of the women stayed at home um there was a lot of the rag trade around this area so a lot of people were working especially women, they were working at home or they were um basically housewives because the men were primarily the bread winners so they'd go out but there were um at a time where there was a lot of tension so women kind of stayed indoors. But I think what happened in the late Eighties um coming up to the Nineties was I think through religious institutions like us the East London mosque where people um felt a bit more comfortable um to come because it was a religious obligation to find out about your religion and to educate your children as the children were growing up. Also in this particular area um their local authority worked really well with the communities to stamp out racism and fascism that existed so much in this area and I think that gave empowerment for women to come out of the houses and as a community worker I feel that you know this is what I've worked on for the last twenty years to get women out of the houses and empower them and I think um a setting like the Maryam Centre is that ideal hub where people can come together and they can thrash out their ideas and really the Maryam Centre could be whatever you wanted it to be so you knows if they’ve asked for counselling we've got a counsellor. We've got yoga. We've got a gymnasium you know keep fit classes to karate classes. Whatever people want it’s – I think why we are successful is because we've portrayed this mosque or the Maryam Centre as um theirs you know. It was the peoples. It didn’t belong to the trustees or it didn’t belong to the workers. It belonged to the community and I think that sense of belong, the sense of it’s our mosque um is really powerful and I think um that’s really helped in terms of empowerment.The Maryam Centre may be primarily a prayer space, but it also offers a variety of other services. It offers a women’s only gymnasium and exercise area, educational facilities specifically reserved for women and free counselling with professional female therapists. Although not mentioned in this short interview, Sufia Alam also works closely with the local council on issues of child welfare and domestic violence. She is able to make interventions within the community by communicating with the women in what is perceived by the community to be a safe space. The Maryam Centre allows the women of the community space to network and make decisions about their needs without involving the men of the community. 3.2 Judaism and kosher foodMany religions have rules about food or its avoidance. According to a phrase in widespread use, ‘you are what you eat’. Although this is most often used in reference to particular diets, it seems appropriate to the lives of many religious people. Some show that they are committed or observant members of particular religious groups by taking a lot of care about what they do and don’t eat on a daily basis. If you think of a religious festival or ritual you will almost certainly think of something to do with food. For example, for many people the following are almost synonymous: Christmas and turkeys, Easter and eggs, Pesach and matzah, Ramadan and iftar, puja and prasad. Of equal importance, most religions include practices to do with special ritual meals or fasts (periods of avoiding food).Even the most ‘spiritual’ person needs to eat. What they choose to eat, and the people they choose to eat with, can be central to understanding religions.Activity 9Take a moment to consider what you are happy to eat, or what you may not be willing to eat. What beliefs (not necessarily religious) may have lead you to make these decisions? Now watch this video with Rabbi Chaim Weiner who explains Jewish dietary restrictions, and how the requirements of a kosher diet affect his life. Then reveal the discussion below.[SPEAKING HEBREW] NARRATORJewish dietary law is laid out in the ancient texts of the Torah. One of the most important aspects of a rabbi's role is to use these rules to check whether food is kosher or not. [SPEAKING HEBREW] RABBI CHAIM WEINERWe work not so much with restaurants or with factories. We work mainly with the caterers. We would work with people who are preparing a bar mitzvah function or a wedding function and go into the kitchen. We would make sure that all the ingredients being used are kosher. We do something called 'koshering the kitchen', which is a very, very deep clean, and we would watch the caterer from the ordering of the food until the serving and making sure that everything complies with Jewish law. NARRATORSince childhood, Rabbi Weiner and his family have always been careful to ensure that the food they buy and eat is kosher. RABBI CHAIM WEINERI grew up as a child in Canada, in Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada. Our nearest source of kosher meat was over a thousand miles away, and that was never a problem for our family. In other words, there was always a strong commitment that we were a family that kept kosher. And if it meant ordering your meat from a thousand miles away, then we ordered the meat from a thousand miles away. Twice a year, a large shipment would come from Toronto. I think part of my identity and part of my understanding that kosher food is part of forming that identity comes from that formative experience. DAVID SALZMANKosher food is part of our religion. And if I would, for example, be very, very hungry and I'd go ... I'm walking down the road and see a delicious sandwich - a non-kosher sandwich - in the window and I don't eat it, that proves to me that I ... if something, that God will be very happy, that even though I'm extremely hungry, I will refrain from buying a non-kosher product. That is absolutely wonderful thing. If you refrain from eating non-kosher, it would be wonderful for yourself and for your soul and for your religion. RABBI CHAIM WEINERThe moment you decide I am eating this and I am not eating that because that's who I am is a very formative experience in a person developing their own identity. And I think the decisions we make, what seem like very, very small decisions - am I going into this restaurant, am I ordering that pizza or a different pizza - they seem like they are nothing, but the moment you make those decisions, you're actually really thinking about: who am I, and how do I live? There is a lot to observe in this video. In particular, how keeping kosher structured so much of Weiner’s life and experience. It involved enjoyment of what was permissible but David Salzman also talked about developing discipline and restraint when kosher food was unavailable. He believed that restraining himself in the face of temptation to break kosher restrictions was pleasing to God. I was particularly struck by Weiner’s questions. He reflects that choices about what to eat and what not to eat are central to answering the questions: ‘who am I?’ and ‘how do I live?’ These are some of the main questions addressed by religions, and questions that most humans reflect on from time to time.3.3 Islam and RamadanIf we think about the function of food-related practices, we can probably agree that eating with other people who share the same dietary practices creates, maintains and strengthens communities. Conversely, people often avoid others who they know or suspect of not abiding by the same dietary rules. In some extreme cases, they might avoid them altogether, in all social contexts, not just those involving food.In schools and businesses, in homes and religious venues, people from different religions (as well as those who consider themselves to be ‘not religious’) come together. It is a common human experience that people who eat together build friendships. They may gain mutual understanding more quickly than those who only talk with each other. Many rituals around food sharing in religious traditions are intended to serve just this function. In the film clip below, a group of Muslim friends talk as they eat in a small café in Brighton. They come from different countries (India, Pakistan, Turkey, Syria and Bangladesh) but now live and work or study in England. They also come from different Islamic traditions: Sunni, Shi’i, Ismaili and Alevi. They do not pretend to represent what all Muslims from those countries or communities think or do. Their conversation is about the similarities and difference between their own experiences, attitudes, preferences and practices. Much of the filmed conversation in the Brighton café is about the foods that the participants associate with the ‘breaking of the fast’, Iftar, that follows after the sun sets on each day of Ramadan. Activity 10Before you watch this film, consider what you might know about Ramadan practices. As you watch the film, listen carefully to the different views expressed. Consider if the opinions and practices expressed by the individuals are different from your expectations. Then reveal the discussion. NARRATOR:It's early evening on the English south coast and five Muslim friends are meeting for a meal at Tuntun's Cafe. The restaurant is Bangladeshi Muslim, and the food is halal with no alcohol. SERVER:You like chicken roast? FARIDA PANHWAR:Yeah.SERVER: You like spice a little bit? FARIDA PANHWAR: Yeah, of course. [LAUGHING] I love all the spices. [LAUGHING] HAYDAR KARAMAN:All right, yeah.NARRATOR: The friends are Muslims studying in Brighton. They're meeting to discuss the food and drink they eat during religious festivals, especially Ramadan. LAILA KADIAWAL:I see myself constantly evolving. So right from childhood, growing up in a small rural area of India, to then moving to England. Today I have very, very diverse groups of friends from many different religious backgrounds and ethnic backgrounds that has significantly had an impact on the way I see the world. So the extent to which I shape my drink or food choices, I think it has become more pluralistic. I was wondering in Syria, what kind of food is very popular in festivals among Muslims? RIAM ISMAEL:Chicken and rice are very important ingredients of the dish during the festivals. And that is the aubergine, and then they have stuff with some rice and meat. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:Yeah, really good meal. RIAM ISMAEL:And then they they boil it. Yeah, it's really nice. Sometimes it may affect my choice of food, being a Muslim, but it won't affect the all the way I eat but I just exclude something. I think, as a Muslim, as what people think, I should exclude like drinking, but sometimes I drink. HAYDAR KARAMAN: It's quite interesting we always called Turkey as a Muslim country, but we have the national drink - the alcoholic drink - you know, raki. FARIDA PANHWAR:Pakistan is an Islamic country ... HAYDAR KARAMAN:Oh, so it is.FARIDA PANHWAR:...but we have the factories of the [INAUDIBLE], a very expensive wine goes to mostly exported to other countries.LAILA KADIAWAL:And if you look at Muslim literature, literature in Muslim societies, art and architecture, a lot of imagery in poetry and in architecture, and artistic expression are of wine. FARIDA PANHWAR:I have not taken wine never, not because Islam says don't take it, because I don't like it - or maybe I'm hesitant, because I was born with the feeling that this is something which is not suitable for the human being. HAYDAR KARAMAN:Actually, I drink alcohol. My parents drink alcohol. But the problem with that you should control yourself, and if you harm other people, you're not a good human. If you're not a good human, you can't be a part of the Muslim society. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN: My country's experience is, in Ramadan Muslims, the whole day, don't eat anything. And before that if the whole streets are full of food, and all are mostly fried. They don't care about health. FARIDA PANHWAR: Yes, not at all. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:They don't care about anything. Lots of sweets available, lots of fried things available, and they start with fried things. To be true, I'm a liberal Muslim. I believe in the philosophies of Islam, rather than the practice that we do today. So in that sense, halal or haram is not very much a big issues to me. I practice healthy eating, whether it is halal or haram, whether it is vegan or non-vegan, whether it is vegetarian or non-vegetarian. LAILA KADIAWAL:In my country ... MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:True, our country ... yes. FARIDA PANHWAR: ...Ramadan means pakora or samosas. It's compulsory. Without pakoras and samosas, there isn't any Ramadan. LAILA KADIAWAL:Is it compulsory, you mean by religion, or as ...FARIDA PANHWAR: No, no, no ... MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:No.FARIDA PANHWAR:It's a tradition. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN: No, it's not that ... yes. FARIDA PANHWAR: You know, food is more related to tradition, rather than religion. So it's a culture, rather then the ... MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:Within our culture, yes. LAILA KADIAWAL:And with each other. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:[INAUDIBLE]. LAILA KADIAWAL:So has practice of Ramadan changed for you, Riam, after coming to Brighton? RIAM ISMAEL:Not the practice, but the feeling of Ramadan, because before I came here I didn't fast for like a few years. I used to fast when I was a child, because I lived in a different city. But the whole place would have that sense of Ramadan and that, in the time of it. And then here, I didn't know when it's start to ... FARIDA PANHWAR:I don't feel that majority of people are observing the Ramadan. Rather they come for the food, what I saw in Brighton, you know ... it's here at least. But in Pakistan, it's compulsory. You should be fasting. LAILA KADIAWAL: And how about for you? Like how is the Ramadan experience different for you from Turkey?HAYDAR KARAMAN:You know, in Turkey it's not compulsory. Ramadan is all about the feeling. RIAM ISMAEL:I stopped fasting, but I still like this feeling, or this time. Because, for me, it's related to my childhood. FARIDA PANHWAR: In my home, in Pakistan, everybody says why you are not praying? Why you are not fasting? It is something awkward, you know? And here, nobody asks that you are fasting or not. So although I fast, I go into the mosque, but not that much punctual, not that much as I was forced there in Pakistan to do it, whether I like it or I don't like it. But here, I'm more liberal to do it, or sometime I try to make the God happy, I fast. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:Whether you're agree or not, nowadays what I feel and what I think that the philosophical sides of the Ramadan has been omitted completely. FARIDA PANHWAR:Very ... yes. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN: Because Ramadan is not fasting, but it is controlling yourselves - all five senses should be controlled. So people have followed in these parts, and only have consented at all the eating kind of things. FARIDA PANHWAR:Yeah, emphasis is on the food. MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN: It's on food like this. So this Ramadan, now it is the question whether you're fasting or not. LAILA KADIAWAL:When I was in my country, living in the Muslim communities, the whole concept of we have to have halal, for we have to have ... that emphasis on the outer expressions of faith, wasn't as pronounced as I see here in the UK. The emphasis on externalities, like whether you wear a hijab, whether you fast, ... MOHAMMAD SAIDUR RAHMAN:I completely agree, yeah. LAILA KADIAWAL:... whether you have halal food is different from my lived experience of Muslim in, actually, in a country where there is high concentration of Muslims. We learn a lot about the food preferences of families and communities in different places. As the friends talk, we learn that they object to the idea that particular eating or fasting habits, or particular clothes, define who is or is not a Muslim or what a ‘good’ Muslim should or should not eat or wear. They agree that what the restraints of Ramadan is intended to teach has more to do with being a responsible, decent and moderate person than specific food habits. We gather hints about the influence of the diverse origins or backgrounds of the five friends. There are also some interesting comments about changes of diet and religious observance that took place when each of them moved to Britain. The fact that they are friends who happily share food together is, itself, worthy of note at a time when so much conflict seems to be generated by people from similar religious and national contexts.3.4 Summary of Section 3
Figure 18 US military personnel in Iraq join in with locals for an Iftar meal, breaking the fast of Ramadan in 2007. Photo: Spc. Alexis Harrison 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
The image shows a line of people stretching from the background left to the foreground right of the image. The people are indoors and Islamic script and images can be seen on the brick wall behind them. In the foreground five US military personnel wearing fatigues can be seen eating, smiling and conversing with Iraqis, dressed in military and local civilian attire, who are seated further down the line.Too often we are encouraged to think of religion as being distinct from – or even opposed to –everyday matters. In practice, however, religious texts and teachings devote considerable attention to how to handle our human bodies in everyday situations. In fact, it is often difficult to know where religion stops and culture starts. In religious studies we often find ourselves reflecting on beliefs and practices that other people take for granted, but may be strange to our own background. By doing this we gain a far richer sense of the world. We can also gain insights into our own habits and assumptions. By turning our attention to some of these habits of diet, we learn about everyday, physical, material and sensual practices that are key elements of many people’s religious lives. By looking at the diversity of religious practices, we have emphasised that there is no fixed or unassailable barrier between putatively ‘official’ rules and lived reality. There is, rather, a dynamic and fluid continuum between what people are taught and what they actually do. Similarly, what people do may shift as they choose to join in more or less with particular traditions. One reason for studying religious practices is that it can improve the chances of religious people getting a fair hearing in legal, political and media realms. In employment and educational contexts, the law requires respect and equal treatment for those who have religious obligations, such as fasting. When religions are imagined as ‘belief systems’ and thought to be defined by strict adherence to creeds or other official teachings, the actual living or doing of religion can be marginalised. Equally, when one person, group or text is taken to be definitive of how a religion should be lived, all other practices can be made difficult.4 The importance of understanding religionsActive religious groups continue to have a substantial presence, both in the United Kingdom and in the world more generally. Diversity is both enriching and challenging. In order to effectively appreciate and manage migrants to Britain and international relations, the religious dimensions of this diversity need to be understood.
Figure 19 Sign at Heathrow Airport directing passengers to its multi-faith prayer room. Photo: Marion Bowman