Extracts of a broadcast given by Oliver McTernan on BBC Radio 4

Pope Benedict XVI’s claim this week that the Britain’s proposed equality legislation threatens religious freedom and runs contrary to “natural law” has caused uproar especially in the media. Many commentators have rejected the Pope’s remarks as unwarranted interference and accuse him of promoting discrimination. They say the equality bill which he opposes aims to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of religion, sexual preference, gender and race. But the pope also has his supporters. The Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, argued in the Times this week whether we agreed or not with the Pope’s position on homosexuality his intervention should be taken seriously. What’s needed Sacks claims is “an honest debate on where to draw the line between our freedom as individuals and our freedom as members of communities of faith.” This I believe is indeed the core issue. What are the boundaries of belief? Does the State have the right to enact laws that may impact on faith communities and of course the flip side of that question is do believers have a right to impose their faith values on others? Whatever our views it’s a debate that should be rooted in awareness the God given dignity of each and every human being.

From the mid-70’s until collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of the 80’s
I was involved in direct dialogue with the Soviet authorities on the nature of belief. They had failed to eradicate belief through brutal oppression and programmes of indoctrination, the Soviets gradually began to accommodate believers in their society provided they saw their faith as a purely private affair. They could perform their rituals provided these had no impact on life outside the walls of the church, synagogue or mosque. Believers who refused to play by these rules soon found themselves behind bars. In our dialogue we tried to push the authorities to recognise that faith wasn’t just a matter of ritual but it was essentially a way of life which at times would inevitably give rise to tensions over clashing values. Believers in my view have every right to express their faith values even if at times these may run contrary the prevailing norms of the society in which we live. But that said I do not accept that believers have any right to impose their beliefs or values on others. Any attempt to do so would in my opinion run totally contrary to the nature of faith itself.

Despite their poor record, all three Abrahamic faiths are united in the belief that there should be no coercion when it comes to belief. When Jesus was asked by a lawyer what was the one thing that mattered most in life he told a story to illustrate his belief that a genuine compassion for others should come before any desire to abide by ritual laws. The story of the Good Samaritan highlights that an active concern for the plight of others is the litmus test for true belief.

Abraham Lincoln is often quoted as an example of someone who struck the right balance between faith and politics. He once addressed a group of church ministers on one of the burning issues of his day, the emancipation of slaves. He told them: “I am approached with the most opposite opinions and advice, and that by religious men, who are equally certain that they represent the divine will. I hope it will not be irreverent for me to say that if it is probable that God would reveal his will to others, on a point so connected with my duty, it might be supposed that he would reveal it directly to me. These are not, however the days of miracles…I must study the plain, physical facts of the case, ascertain what is possible, and learn what appears to be wise and right.”