Muslims are integrating into British society better than many Christians, according to the head of the Government's equality watchdog.
9:00PM BST 18 Jun 2011
Trevor
Phillips warned that "an old time religion incompatible with modern
society" is driving the revival in the Anglican and Catholic Churches
and clashing with mainstream views, especially on homosexuality.
He
accused Christians, particularly evangelicals, of being more militant
than Muslims in complaining about discrimination, arguing that many of
the claims are motivated by a desire for greater political influence.
However
the chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission expressed
concern that people of faith are "under siege" from atheists whom he
accused of attempting to "drive religion underground".
In
an interview with the Sunday Telegraph ahead of a landmark report on
religious discrimination in Britain, he said the Commission wants to
protect Christians and Muslims from discrimination, admitting his body
had not been seen to stand up for the people discriminated against
because of their faith in the past.
In a wide-ranging intervention into the debate over the role of religion in modern Britain, Mr Phillips:
* warned it had become "fashionable" to attack and mock religion, singling out atheist polemicist Richard Dawkins for his views;
*
said faith groups should be free from interference in their own
affairs, meaning churches should be allowed to block women and
homosexuals from being priests and bishops;
*
attacked hardline Christian groups which he said were picking fights -
particularly on the issue of homosexuality - for their own political
ends;
*
told churches and religious institutions they had to comply with
equality legislation when they delivered services to the public as a
whole.
The
report, published by the Commission tomorrow, says that some religious
groups have been the victims of rising discrimination over the last
decade.
It
shows that in the course of the last decade, the number of employment
tribunal cases on religion or belief brought each year has risen from 70
to 1000 - although only a fraction of cases were upheld.
Mr
Phillips spoke after a series of high-profile cases which have featured
Christians claiming they have been discriminated against because of
their beliefs, with a doctor currently fighting a reprimand from the
General Medical Council for sharing his faith with a patient.
While
the equalities boss promised to fight for the rights of Christians, he
expressed concern that many cases were driven by fundamentalist
Christians who are holding increasing sway over the mainstream churches
because of the influence of African and Caribbean immigrants with
"intolerant" views.
In contrast, Muslims are less vociferous because they are trying to integrate into British "liberal democracy", he said.
"I
think there's an awful lot of noise about the Church being persecuted
but there is a more real issue that the conventional churches face that
the people who are really driving their revival and success believe in
an old time religion which in my view is incompatible with a modern,
multi-ethnic, multicultural society," Phillips said.
"Muslim
communities in this country are doing their damnedest to try to come to
terms with their neighbours to try to integrate and they're doing their
best to try to develop an idea of Islam that is compatible with living
in a modern liberal democracy.
"The
most likely victim of actual religious discrimination in British
society is a Muslim but the person who is most likely to feel slighted
because of their religion is an evangelical Christian."
Senior
clergy, including Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, have
attacked equality laws for eroding Christianity and stifling free
speech, but Phillips said many of the legal cases brought by Christians
on issues surrounding homosexuality were motivated by an attempt to gain
political influence.
"I
think for a lot of Christian activists, they want to have a fight and
they choose sexual orientation as the ground to fight it on," he said.
"I
think the whole argument isn't about the rights of Christians. It's
about politics. It's about a group of people who really want to have
weight and influence."
He
added: "There are a lot of Christian activist voices who appear bent on
stressing the kind of persecution that I don't think really exists in
this country."
However,
Mr Phillips, who is a Salvationist from a strong Christian background,
expressed concern over the rise in Britain of anti-religious voices,
such as Richard Dawkins, who are intolerant of people of faith.
"I understand why a lot of people in faith groups feel a bit under siege," he said.
"There's no question that there is more anti-religion noise in Britain.
"There's a great deal of polemic which is anti-religious, which is quite fashionable."
Phillips
said that the Commission is committed to protecting people of faith
against discrimination and also defended the right of religious
institutions to be free from Government interference.
The
Church of England is under pressure to allow openly gay clergy to be
made bishops, while the Catholic Church only permits men to be priests,
but the head of the Government-funded equalities watchdog said they are
entitled to rule on their own affairs.
"The
law doesn't dictate their organisation internally, in the way they
appoint their ministers and bishops for example," he said.
"It's
perfectly fair that you can't be a Roman Catholic priest unless you're a
man. It seems right that the reach of anti-discriminatory law should
stop at the door of the church or mosque.
"I'm not keen on the idea of a church run by the state.
"I don't think the law should run to telling churches how they should conduct their own affairs."
The intervention by the Commission comes after criticism of its £70 million annual budget, which is to be cut drastically.
Mr
Phillips, a former Labour chairman of the Greater London Assembly and
television producer was criticised for his £110,000 a year salary and
was accused of "pandering to the right" by Ken Livingstone, the former
Labour London mayor, for saying that multiculturalism had failed.
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