In Depth: Interfaith Events

Many AHS member societies have played a fairly prominent role in the organisation of interfaith events on campus. Warwick Atheists under AHS Treasurer set up the Warwick Inter-faith Forum, which led them to win the Best New Society Award at the end of their first year of existence. Southampton Atheists similarly set up their University's Religious Societies Union, and Bristol Atheist, Agnostic and Secular Society have a seat on the Multi Faith Committee, which AHS Director of Education Natasha Barrett held last year. Oxford Secular Society organised “Interfaith Football”, where people from Sec Soc and each of the faith societies... well it's obvious. AHS Secretary Nicola Jackson created and ran the “Perspective” Course through Leeds Atheist Society, whereby each week a representative or representatives of a different faith would come and talk to the society about the particular practices of their belief. This informative exercise has extended all the way down to some of the lesser known religions such as Mormonism and Scientology.

However in other places, AHS societies have been excluded from interfaith activities. Oxford Interfaith Week, which ran once in March 2009, had amongst its aims "to promote the role of religion in the university", and to "celebrate the diversity of religious expression". The irreligious societies at the University were not even invited to participate.

This leads to several questions. What is the role of interfaith on campus? Are interfaith events worth it? Should irreligious societies take part in inter"faith" events?

The role of interfaith

Starting with the first of these two questions, the British Humanist Association's position on Interfaith is as follows:

Interfaith initiatives, by their very name and nature, are exclusive and do not involve humanists and other non-religious people in the community... We believe that, rather than making a fetish of faith, social cohesion and other community initiatives must focus on the contribution that all individuals and groups in the community can make. Where there are legitimate reasons for working with communities identified by beliefs, then this must include humanists and other non-religious people, as well as religious people.

This statement isn't intended to strictly apply to the kind of activity this In Depth deals with, however the basic message still holds: Take part if it's worth it. For example, events intended to foster understanding of different religious beliefs (such as in Leeds) and events intended to harmonise the relationship of different faith groups to the promotion of none (such as in Bristol) would meet the criteria, however events such as Oxford Interfaith Week which are intended to promote faith to the detriment of those with none should be avoided. In fact the motives of this kind of event should be actively questioned.

The BHA's statement also touches on the related issue of the name “interfaith”. Let's deal with that next.

Is the name "interfaith" appropriate​?

Simply put: no, it isn't, as atheists and agnostics are people without a faith, and as such they should not be taking part in events described as being between faiths. When it comes to their work with the Government on community and other initiatives, the BHA prefers to use the terminology "religion or belief", with "belie" intended to capture all non-religious lifestances. This is in fact the Government and Civil Service's own term when it comes to dealing with religion and belief, however they are not very good at sticking to it!

Unfortunately there is no non-cumbersome replacement for the term "interfaith". When a panel event comprising people of different religions and beliefs was organised as part of Oxford Think Week, the term "interfaith/interthought" was used, but this is obviously unattractive. Perhaps "interthought" and "interbelief" would be suitable substitutes, but AHS societies will likely often find they have no say in whether something is called “interfaith” or not, and so it is up to the society as to whether they want to work with this term.

What have the AHS done​?

In September 2009 the National Union of Students appointed its first Interfaith Coordinator, and started a two year interfaith strategy including an Interfaith Forum, with the aim of encouraging interfaith events on campus. AHS Secretary Nicola Jackson has attended these events since the start, and AHS President Richy Thompson recently met with the Interfaith Coordinator to explore how the AHS fits in with the NUS's wider work on interfaith, a discussion that is still ongoing.

The AHS also have a guide on "How to Run Interfaith Events", written by Nicola Jackson, and available to members in the Documents section of the AHS's website. This guide should be redrafted soon to make it an even more valuable asset to our member societies.