A report said that Christians were being marginalized by equality and diversity laws that left them the first to be punished and the last to be protected. It highlighted a number of cases where Christians had been violently attacked in 'faith hate' assaults.
Source: Marginalising Christians: Instances of Christians being sidelined in modern Britain, Christian Institute
Links: Report | Christian Institute press release
Date: 2009-Dec
The Supreme Court ruled that a Jewish school was guilty of race discrimination for refusing places to pupils it did not consider to be ethnically Jewish.
Source: E, R (on the application of) v Governing Body of JFS & Anor, UKSC 15 (2009), United Kingdom Supreme Court
Links: Text of judgement | Supreme Court press release | EHRC press release | BHA press release | Accord press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Dec
The Court of Appeal rejected an appeal by a local council registrar who had been disciplined for refusing to perform civil partnership ceremonies on the grounds that they went against her strong Christian beliefs.
Source: Ladele v London Borough of Islington, Court of Appeal 15 December 2009
Links: Text of judgement | Liberty press release | TUC press release | BHA press release | People Management report | Ekklesia report
Date: 2009-Dec
A new book examined the role of faith schools, and the impact of a religious upbringing.
Source: Graham Haydon (ed.), Faith in Education, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: IOE press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A study commissioned by the Church of England found that, among secondary schools, faith schools appeared to have made a better start than community schools at meeting the legal duty of maintained schools in England to promote community cohesion.
Source: David Jesson, Strong Schools for Strong Communities: Reviewing the impact of Church of England schools in promoting community cohesion, Church of England (020 7898 1326)
Links: Report | C of E press release | Christian Institute press release | BHA press release | Ekklesia report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Nov
A study found that more than one-half of people recruited by churches to work with children were not asked to supply referees, complete application forms, or attend an interview.
Source: Safeguarding Children in the Church, Churches' Child Protection Advisory Service
Links: Summary | CCPAS press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report said that a lack of evidence meant that very little could be concluded about the impact of schools with a Christian ethos upon their pupils.
Source: Elizabeth Green, Mapping the Field: A review of the current research evidence on the impact of schools with a Christian ethos, Theos (020 7828 7777) and Stapleford Centre
Links: Report | Theos press release | Ekklesia press release | Church Times report
Date: 2009-Nov
A new book examined how religion and related beliefs affected the needs and perceptions of social care practitioners, service users, and the support networks available to them. Social workers needed to understand these phenomena, so that they could became more confident in challenging discriminatory and oppressive practices.
Source: Sheila Furness and Philip Gilligan, Religion, Belief and Social Work: Making a difference, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Nov
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that private faith schools gave pupils a strong sense of personal worth and helped them understand the importance of being a good citizen. But more than 1 in 5 failed to teach children about other religions.
Source: Independent Faith Schools, HMI 090093, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (07002 637833)
Links: Report | Hansard | BHA press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Oct
A report examined young Muslims' attitudes on education, identity and belonging, media, policing, and community leadership. Young Muslims clearly saw themselves as British: but they also felt let down in several ways by a society that 'misread' them.
Source: Sughra Ahmed, Seen and Not Heard: Voices of young British Muslims, Policy Research Centre (01530 244944)
Links: Report | Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Sep
A report examined identity and sense of belonging to Britain, based on the 2007-08 Citizenship Survey data. It considered whether or not people felt that there was a conflict between national and religious identities, and whether it was possible to belong to Britain and maintain separate cultural or religious identities.
Source: 2007-08 Citizenship Survey: Identity and Values Topic Report, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Aug
A think-tank report said that the government's 'Prevent' scheme for tackling extremism was alienating Muslim communities, and should be scrapped. It called for the scheme to focus on tackling all extremism – including far-right extremists – rather than just focusing on Islamic extremism. A government minister reportedly said that the strategy would be reformed to focus on white racist groups as well as radical Muslims.
Source: Anna Turley, Stronger Together: A new approach to preventing violent extremism, New Local Government Network (020 7357 0051) | Comments by Shahid Malik MP (Cohesion Minister), reported in The Daily Telegraph, 10 August 2009
Links: Report | NLGN press release | Local Government Chronicle report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Aug
A new book presented the stories of 20 Muslim women from Bradford between the ages of 14 and 80, from their own perspectives.
Source: Wahida Shaffi (ed.), Our Stories, Our Lives: Inspiring Muslim women's voices, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jul
The Court of Appeal ruled that the admissions criteria of the Jewish Free School (in London) were in breach of the Race Relations Act 1976. The qualification for admission to the school was a test of ethnicity and not religion, and therefore the school had discriminated on racial grounds in its admissions.
Source: E, R (on the application of) v The Governing Body of JFS, Court of Appeal 25 June 2009
Links: Text of judgement | BHA press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jun
An article said that non-white people in England and Wales were likely to be educationally and occupationally disadvantaged because of their skin colour or religious background. The direction and strength of the influence appeared to be dependent on whether the specific culture involved was seen as compatible or 'alien' in relation to the hegemonic culture.
Source: Nabil Khattab, 'Ethno-religious background as a determinant of educational and occupational attainment in Britain', Sociology, Volume 43 Issue 2
Links: Abstract | Bristol University press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that 'Sharia' courts should not be recognized under the 1996 Arbitration Act. The courts might be handing down rulings that were inappropriate, because they were linked to elements in Islamic law that were seriously out of step with modern codes of human rights.
Source: Denis MacEoin, Sharia Law or 'One Law for All'?, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Summary | Civitas press release | NSS press release | Christian Institute press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that an individual could be both a loyal citizen of a state and a passionate religious believer. The challenge was to ensure that policy-makers and religious communities each recognized the legitimacy of both religious and political identities within their proper sphere.
Source: Sean Oliver-Dee, Religion and Identity: Divided loyalties?, Theos (020 7828 7777)
Links: Report | Theos press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report examined the effects on ordinary people of living in 'the first post-religious society'.
Source: Edward Leigh and Alex Haydon (eds.), The Nation That Forgot God, Social Affairs Unit (020 7637 4356)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the 'state of the nation' in regard to religion or belief equalities, covering subjects such as legislation, human rights, employment issues, and education. There was a need to improve policy and legislation on religion and belief, in order to ensure equity not only for those with particular 'religions or beliefs' but also other groups that might be affected by religious or belief groups.
Source: The 'Religion or Belief' Equality Strand in Law and Policy: Current implications for equalities and human rights, British Humanist Association (020 7079 3580)
Links: Report | BHA press release
Date: 2009-Apr
A series of 13 reports examined the characteristics of the most significant Muslim ethnic diaspora communities in England.
Source: Summary Report: Understanding Muslim Ethnic Communities, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Summary report | Reports (links) | Technical report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report examined the approach of the Christian Church to the problem of rough sleeping.
Source: Rough Sleeping: Compassion v Coercion – Church, community and government responses, Housing Justice (020 7723 7273)
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Apr
A think-tank report examined the government's 'Preventing Violent Extremism' strategy, designed to divert young Muslims away from militant fundamentalist beliefs. It said that the strategy was failing to achieve its stated objectives, and in many places it was actually making the situation worse: a new generation was being radicalized, sometimes with the very funds that were supposed to be countering radicalization.
Source: Shiraz Maher and Martyn Frampton, Choosing Our Friends Wisely: Criteria for engagement with Muslim groups, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank report said that some private Muslim schools were preparing children to live separate lives in Muslim enclaves, rather than to play their full part in the wider society to which they belonged – thereby threatening the social cohesion of Britain.
Source: Denis MacEoin with Dominic Whiteman, Music, Chess and Other Sins: Segregation, integration, and Muslim schools in Britain, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Report | Civitas press release | NUT press release
Date: 2009-Mar
An article examined the debate over the 2008 Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill. The failure of religiously motivated campaigners to alter the Bill's most substantive and controversial provisions should not be seen as a victory for a homogeneous secular camp. Attempts to secure a greater role for religion in the public sphere were likely to remain a prominent feature of political life.
Source: Steven Kettell, 'Did secularism win out? The debate over the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill', Political Quarterly, Volume 80 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Mar
The government and the Church of England published guidelines designed to promote the greater use of buildings owned by faith groups for wider community use, such as libraries and post offices.
Source: Churches and Faith Buildings: Realising the Potential, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200) and Church of England
Links: Guidance | DCMS press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Mar
A new book examined the relationship between faiths, public policy, and civil society. It considered the role of faiths as public actors; their contribution to welfare services; and how they both helped to build community cohesion and to break it down.
Source: Adam Dinham, Faiths, Public Policy and Civil Society: Problems, policies, controversies, Palgrave Macmillan (01256 329242)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Mar
The government published the first annual report on hate crime, bringing together information on the performance of the Crown Prosecution Service in prosecuting racist and religious hate crime, transphobic and homophobic crime, disability incidents, and domestic violence.
Source: Hate Crime Report 2007-2008, Crown Prosecution Service (020 7796 8000)
Links: Report | Pink News report | Womensgrid report
Date: 2009-Feb
An article examined the potential for conflict inherent in the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion or belief with the regulation of discrimination in the workplace on other grounds. Although protection for religion and/or belief was required by European Union law, it was not required by the European Convention on Human Rights and was not justified by any special quality of religion. On the contrary, requiring the accommodation of practices or beliefs categorized as 'religious' tended to perpetuate practices and beliefs which were problematic on equality and other grounds.
Source: Aileen Mccolgan, 'Class wars? Religion and (in)equality in the workplace', Industrial Law Journal, Volume 38 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Feb
A survey found that the proportion of adults attending church at least once a year had increased from 21 per cent in 2007 to 26 per cent in 2008.
Source: Press release 29 January 2009, Tearfund (020 8943 7986)
Links: Tearfund press release | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Jan
A new book examined the role and capacity of faith groups within specific public policy contexts – including education, regeneration, housing, and community cohesion – with particular reference to the activities of young people and of women.
Source: Adam Dinham, Robert Furbey and Vivien Lowndes (eds.), Faith in the Public Realm: Controversies, policies and practices, Policy Press, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Jan