Research Papers - People and Power

Rethinking religion in an open society

Simon Barrow — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:43:16 +0000

Though the role of religion in society has come back onto the agenda with a vengeance in recent years, the political, spiritual and intellectual resources at our disposal for handling the issues involved seem perilously thin on all sides in public life. This paper aims to reconstruct some key terms in the debate and to offer a positive case for a 'disestablished' form for religion within a plural social and political order. In particular it suggests that the alternative to hegemonic religion or attempts to exclude religion from public life lies in the rediscovery of an alternative form of politics rooted in practical 'goods' and 'virtues' derived from different communities and traditions, accompanied by the development of a 'civil state' framework.

Simon Barrow

How forgiveness can transcend violent tragedy

associate writer — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:51:54 +0000

Following the 2 October 2006 shooting that killed five Amish girls and wounded five others in the USA, three investigators (Dr Donald B. Kraybill, Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania, Dr Steven M. Nolt, Goshen College, Indiana, and Dr David Weaver-Zercher, Messiah College, Pennsylvania) explored why and how the Amish expressed forgiveness in the wake of the shooting. The research methods involved face-to-face interviews with Amish people to probe their practice of forgiveness. In addition the researchers pursued Amish writings on forgiveness as well as historical examples when Amish people forgave those who wronged them. The investigators also reviewed hundreds of media stories and editorials on Amish forgiveness at Nickel Mines. Finally, the investigation compared Amish practices of forgiveness with broader studies of forgiveness in American society. The research was conducted from 1 November 2006 through to 1 April 2007. The results are summarised below and have been released in the new book Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (Jossey-Bass, 2007) - available from the Ekklesia online bookshop.

associate writer

Summary: An economy worth believing in

Simon Barrow — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 16:34:10 +0100

A paper summarising some recent interventions from faith bodies on the debate about economy, globally and locally. It also highlights the historic links between Christian thought/action and oikonomia (the management of the household), some different stances on markets, and Ekklesia's own research paper, Is God bankrupt? - a response to a British and Irish churches' report on 'prosperity with a purpose'.

Simon Barrow

Religion and Secularism Network

Simon Barrow — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 17:00:38 +0100

The Religion and Secularism Network is coordinating a programme of lectures and workshops taking place at the University of Cambridge and elsewhere - aiming to clarify the relationship between the state and religion conceptually and empirically. It is funded under the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Workshop. It is coordinated by David Lehmann, John Barber, Humeira Iqtidar and Emile Perreau-Saussine. This is a project Ekklesia is participating in rather than running. We are endorsing, supporting and collaborating in it as part of our own research/discussion programme on inclusive models of secularity and the challenge of post-Christendom - Reconsidering the Secular.

Ekklesia Staff

When the Saints Go Marching Out: Redefining St George for a new era

Simon Barrow — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:33:59 +0100

This paper proposes that the figure of St George should be reclaimed according to his true, hidden story – as a dissenter against the abuse of power, a contrast to religious crusades, a global figure we share with other nations, someone who offered hospitality to the vulnerable, and a champion of right rather than might.

It proposes that St George’s Day should be re-branded as a national day to celebrate an English contribution to the history of dissent – the witness of people like the abolitionists, the suffragettes and those who have sought to combat racism, nationalism, debt, poverty, colonialism and war with the vision of a nation and world open to all.

For the churches, we believe, St George can be a post-Christendom saint. He is a Christian figure, but he does not ‘belong’ to Christians. However, in his faithful nonconformity he invites the churches to become better servants of Jesus by abandoning reliance on a romanticised past and (in the case of the Church of England) a legacy of Establishment privilege – and seeking a better way.

[An (earlier version) *.PDF of the report below is also available here]

Ekklesia Staff

Current Research: By the Numbers - Examining claims of representation and growth within Church of England

Jordan Tchilingirian — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 18:55:27 +0000

Due for publication in March 2007, following the Church of England's General Synod and the Anglican Primates' meeting in Tanzania, this report - produced in partnership with Inclusive Church - will look at claims being made by groupings within the institution about who they represent and which sections of the church are growing. It will look at how 'the numers game' is played, to what effect, and will suggest alternative trajectories beyond the current 'stand off' in global Anglicanism. [With Simon Barrow]

Jordan Tchilingirian

Redeeming Religion in the Public Square

Simon Barrow — Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:45:53 +0100

A report addressing why religion is not and never will be ‘a purely private matter’; why the answer to ‘toxic faith’ is not ‘less religious religion’ but a renewal of its resources for faithfulness; why post-Christendom requires non-ideological secularity; how the churches have an opportunity to take the lead in redefining the religion-politics dynamic; how relations between faiths and with secularists needs to change; why an established church, blasphemy laws and selection by faith in public education are bad ideas; and how faith can play an alternative, challenging role in the political arena.

Simon Barrow

Faith and Politics After Christendom

Press Office — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 18:15:18 +0100

This book examines the changing relationship between faith and politics. For the best part of 1700 years, the institutional church has enjoyed a hand-in-hand relationship with government. Indeed, the church has often been seen as the glue that has stopped political systems from disintegrating into anarchy. But in this post-Christendom era the relation of Church and State has weakened to the point where the church can no longer claim to play any significant part in Government. What does the future hold? Where is it all heading? What should be done in the face of radicalised religion?

Jonathan Bartley