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News archive 2006
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News archive 2004

Theos think tank ‘gives hope to humanists’

-07/11/06

The Bible Societyís new religious think tank Theos has ‘shot itself in the foot’ according to the British Humanist Association (BHA).

The think tank Theos, which launched today with a new report, also published a poll which made national headlines.

Asked if faith was ëone of the worldís great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eliminateí, the public split 50:50. (The poll gave 42% agreeing, 44% disagreeing: the 2% difference is within the margin of error for a sample size of 1000.)

“We are very encouraged,” said Hanne Stinson , BHA chief executive, “You could scarcely have a stronger statement of disillusion with religion but that nearly half the population agrees that religious faith is a ‘great evil’. Even the British Humanist Association would not agree with that statement without qualification!

“Contrary to what the two Archbishops [Rowan Williams and Cormac Murphy-OíConnor] say, those who want a secular society are not ìguilty of an intolerant faith positionî: we simply want a level playing field. The churches are attacking a straw man of hostility to religion in order to defend their huge privileges and the Governmentís policy of giving them a bigger and bigger role in public services – like probation yesterday.

“In the Theos think tank poll, 4 out of 10 people think religion is not a force for good in society (43%) and that Christianity does not have an important role to play in public life (39%). These must be record high figures – but maybe unsurprising given that religious observance is down to well under 1 in 10 of the population.”

‘Theos’ is the Greek word for ‘God’. Funded by the Bible Society, the Theos think tank is run by Paul Woolley, a former director of the Conservative Christian Fellowship – the grouping of Christians in the Conservative Party.

It is the latest religious think tank seeking to address the role of religion in public life, following Ekklesia’s formation in 2002.

Theos may find itself open to further criticism, which has been levelled at a number of other think tanks, in that it is not independently funded. Critics such as Ralph Nader have suggested that because of the nature of the funding of many think tanks their results are biased to a varying degree.

The alignment of Theos during the launch of its first report today, with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, may also bring questions about how closely it is linked to specific Christian denominations and institutions, and how healthy that is for independent thinking about religion.

Among the reportís targets, reports the Times newspaper, are ìthe annual rash of winterval storiesî about councils that try to rename Christmas as part of a trend towards politically correct public symbolism that ends up as ìinsipid and uninspiringî.

The report has raised fears amongst humanists and some Christians that the Theos think tank will continue to forge a ‘Christendom’ approach, which looks to privilege the Christian faith in public life, rather than seeking to create a level playing field based around issues of justice.

Jonathan Bartley, director of the Ekklesia think tank said; “We would like to extend a warm welcome to Theos into an area of public debate in which there are now many different protagonists.

“Although the rationale and approach behind Theos is very different to that of Ekklesia, we look forward to entering into constructive dialogue with them.”

The Bible Society’s new religious think tank Theos has ‘shot itself in the foot’ according to the British Humanist Association (BHA).

The think tank Theos, which launched today with a new report, also published a poll which made national headlines.

Asked if faith was ëone of the worldís great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eliminateí, the public split 50:50. (The poll gave 42% agreeing, 44% disagreeing: the 2% difference is within the margin of error for a sample size of 1000.)

“We are very encouraged,” said Hanne Stinson , BHA chief executive, “You could scarcely have a stronger statement of disillusion with religion but that nearly half the population agrees that religious faith is a ‘great evil’. Even the British Humanist Association would not agree with that statement without qualification!

“Contrary to what the two Archbishops [Rowan Williams and Cormac Murphy-OíConnor] say, those who want a secular society are not ìguilty of an intolerant faith positionî: we simply want a level playing field. The churches are attacking a straw man of hostility to religion in order to defend their huge privileges and the Governmentís policy of giving them a bigger and bigger role in public services – like probation yesterday.

“In the Theos think tank poll, 4 out of 10 people think religion is not a force for good in society (43%) and that Christianity does not have an important role to play in public life (39%). These must be record high figures – but maybe unsurprising given that religious observance is down to well under 1 in 10 of the population.”

‘Theos’ is the Greek word for ‘God’. Funded by the Bible Society, the Theos think tank is run by Paul Woolley, a former director of the Conservative Christian Fellowship – the grouping of Christians in the Conservative Party.

It is the latest religious think tank seeking to address the role of religion in public life, following Ekklesia’s formation in 2002.

Theos may find itself open to further criticism, which has been levelled at a number of other think tanks, in that it is not independently funded. Critics such as Ralph Nader have suggested that because of the nature of the funding of many think tanks their results are biased to a varying degree.

The alignment of Theos during the launch of its first report today, with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Catholic Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, may also bring questions about how closely it is linked to specific Christian denominations and institutions, and how healthy that is for independent thinking about religion.

Among the reportís targets, reports the Times newspaper, are ìthe annual rash of winterval storiesî about councils that try to rename Christmas as part of a trend towards politically correct public symbolism that ends up as ìinsipid and uninspiringî.

The report has raised fears amongst humanists and some Christians that the Theos think tank will continue to forge a ‘Christendom’ approach, which looks to privilege the Christian faith in public life, rather than seeking to create a level playing field based around issues of justice.

Jonathan Bartley, director of the Ekklesia think tank said; “We would like to extend a warm welcome to Theos into an area of public debate in which there are now many different protagonists.

“Although the rationale and approach behind Theos is very different to that of Ekklesia, we look forward to entering into constructive dialogue with them.”