A brand new service from the religion and society thinktank Ekklesia details what's on the agenda in the next four weeks with regard to religion and public life.

Immigration Minister Phil Woolas should be publicly investigating his own government's bias against asylum seekers rather than attacking charities, human rights groups and lawyers for giving vulnerable people support, says the religion and society think tank Ekklesia.

Encouraging people to commit to social justice, human dignity, equality, civic participation and peace-building is the way to create good citizens, says the religion and society think-tank Ekklesia, not attempts to impose symbols of state allegiance and inflated rhetoric about ‘national pride’.

The think-tank Ekklesia, which examines religion in public life, says that the controversial appointment of the head of the Evangelical Alliance UK to the new Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is "a historic opportunity for evangelicals to shift toward full acceptance of the equalities agenda."

The present situation where churches seek government support in areas like education, and government uses faith groups to prop up its own social agenda, is unhealthy for all concerned, says Ekklesia.

Current ideas about the relationship between faith and politics ‚Ä' both among believers and secularists ‚Ä' are ‚Äúhopelessly stuck‚Äù in a confrontation which is ‚Äúas deadly as it is mistaken‚Äù, says the UK Christian think tank Ekklesia ‚Ä' which is launching a book proposing a ‚Äúradical new approach‚Äù.