Tony Blair: I Do God!

 

Last week, Tony Blair launched his Faith Foundation with a lecture given at Westminster Cathedral titled, ‘Faith and Globalisation’. His appeal: to reassert the importance of faith in life and culture.  “Religious faith is a good thing in itself,” he said, “that so far from being a reactionary force, it has a major part to play in shaping the values which guide the modern world, and can be a force for progress.” And that from a former PM whose aid once famously said of his boss, “We don’t do God.”

Mr Blair’s lecture which can be read on his website (www.tonyblairoffice.org) is a fascinating and insightful thesis of modern life, global shifts and a changing world. Of course, having served as  PM to one of the world’s leading nations, he is better positioned than most to grasp the major issues facing the 21 Century and his critique not only highlights some of the dangers but also sheds light on the vital role that Faith can play in leading us forward. As he states, “For religion to be a positive force for good, it must be rescued not simply from extremism – faith as a means of exclusion; but also from irrelevance – an interesting part of our history but not of our future.”

Earlier in his speech he outlined something of the seismic shift shaping our futures. “In an era of globalisation, of political interdependence, where the world is ever more swiftly opening up and the cliché about a global community becomes an economic, political and often social reality; in this new world, how religious faith develops will have a profound impact. The forces shaping the world at this moment are so strong and all tend in one direction. They are opening the world up…Mass migration is changing communities, even countries. People communicate ideas and images instantly around the world, creating immediate political and ideological movements in a ferment of quickly devoured information.  Economically the world system is ever more dependent on confidence, robust when things seem good, extraordinarily brittle when confidence dips.  The world is interdependent today, economically, politically, even to a degree ideologically.”

According to Blair, an interdependent world calls for an interdependent response – we must learn to get on and get along for all our sakes and this is where Faith can play a major role. “If people of faith reach out to one another, learn to co-exist, believe in respecting ‘the other’ they can play an important part in reducing fear and tension, being proud of their own distinctive religious, and often cultural identity, but open and in amity towards those of a different religion. Alternatively, religious faith could be used to bolster, to promote, to intensify the very clash of civilisations we seek to avoid.”

Not everyone will sit easily with what he is proposing, but for the critics of Blair, a different issue arises: what are the alternatives? If we are not able to live side by side in a globalised world what are the other choices? It appears that Christ’s call to be Peacemakers might still prove to be the most relevant message for us to heed.

For me, the encouragement of Blair’s message was not simply what he proposed but also what he believes is driving his new Foundation. “Faith is not something separate from our reason, still less from society around us, but integral to it, giving the use of reason a purpose and society a soul, and human beings a sense of the divine. This is the life purpose that cannot be found in constitutions, speeches, stirring art or rhetoric.  It is a purpose uniquely centred around kneeling before God. For those of us of faith, this is what it means. And whilst we should not foist our belief on others, we should not be ashamed either to assert it or be proud of it. For us, faith is not an historical relic but a guide for humanity on its path to the future.  A faithless world is not one in which we want ourselves and our children to live. If people of different faiths can co-exist happily, in mutual respect and solidarity, so can our world. And if faith takes its proper place in our lives, then we can live with a purpose beyond ourselves alone, supporting humanity on its journey to fulfilment.” Did I hear someone say, Amen.