Lesslie Newbigin, Lamin Sanneh, Jenny Taylor, "Faith and Power: Christianity and Islam in Secular Britain", London:SPCK, 1998, x & 177pp

The preface to this important work sets the stage by presenting two key ideas which are interwoven throughout: firstly, that Muslims in the United Kingdom are increasingly raising issues which the Church has long neglected, and secondly that the Christian message can and should provide the answers to these issues.

This work is divided into four parts, with each of the authors taking responsibility for individual sections. In Part One, Lesslie Newbigin addresses what he terms the secular myth. He rues that, while in earlier periods a sense of identity was clear for the British, this is no longer the case. Multiculturalism, while offering certain clear advantages, poses a number of problems which British society has not yet resolved. Newbigin argues that the relativist thinking associated with the postmodern West tends to conceal the existence of absolutes. He associates these absolutes with the Ten Commandments, absolutes which should not become a matter of individual choice.

Newbigin proceeds with an historical overview of the rise and decline of secular society, which provided a catalyst for the view that religion was anachronistic. The progressive discarding of the religious underpinning of Western society, accompanied by progressive decay, has led to great pessimism in the United Kingdom, and specific problems for which secular society has no answer. Newbigin argues that the response to this loss of direction in the West has come from a re-emergence of religion, particularly in the form of religious fundamentalism, of which Muslim fundamentalism is the most prominent and most vocal form.

Newbigin writes in a lucid, logical and persuasive manner. The author is concerned to provide a message which is accessible to non-specialists, and his thoughts represent a clarion call for those who are seeking an escape from secularist political correctness, be they Christian or Muslim.

In Part Two of the work, Lamin Sanneh addresses Islam, Christianity and public policy. Sanneh argues that Muslim political activity has disrupted the long-standing separation between the state and religion in the West, and he opines that "we are faced instead with a Muslim resolve to make Islam count in the public realm. (p. 28) He points to widespread Muslim dismay at the way that Christians have caved in to secular society on issues such as misuse of the name of Jesus, the adaptation of the Christian scriptures to respond to bandwagon fads, and the acceptance by Christians of a demotion of religion to the private sphere. Sanneh states that "Muslims are justified to charge Christians with compromise, if not surrender." (p. 34)

Much of Sanneh’s thinking in this present work is hard-hitting and incisive, as can be expected from this widely published scholar. Unfortunately, his contribution is somewhat marred by being overly academic and at times stylistically pompous. His writing sometimes verges on the incomprehensible without multiple readings, such as "...human rights must presume a public tribunal insulated from the tyranny of numbers by being grounded in faith in the divine right of personhood, a faith that fosters the twin culture of rights and obligations, of freedom and community." (p. 69) On another point, one must question Sanneh’s rejection of Max Weber’s secularisation theory which states that societies necessarily become secularised as the education level increases. One wonders whether this theory has been allowed sufficient time to prove itself; caution sould be exercised in reading Sanneh’s obituary on Weber’s theory. It could be argued that present assertiveness by Muslim minorities in the West represents a sign of a critical identity crisis based on their awareness of the very success of secularisation among their numbers.

In Part Three, Jenny Taylor addresses what she terms the multicultural myth. This author is the least well known of the authorial trilogy of this work, but it should be acknowledged that Taylor’s contribution represents the heart and soul of this study. Unlike Sanneh, who tends to speak in macro terms about Muslims and therefore risks being somewhat sweeping in his generalisations, Taylor begins by rightly exercising caution on this point. She includes a useful discussion focusing on the great ethnic and theological diversity of Islam, and concludes that "Islam is not a seamless whole." (p. 79)

The force of Taylor’s contribution derives from the degree to which she engages critically at the grassroots level of society, with a skilful analysis of a number of case studies. Taylor cites the case of 13 year old Shazia Shafee, a child of Pakistani parentage. This girl disappeared from her school in Sheffield for 20 months, but no action was taken by teachers, social workers, or the Foreign Office, for fear of encroaching across a multicultural divide. As the girl in question was a British citizen, technically her family was vulnerable to charges of abduction, denial of the right to education of a minor, possible physical abuse, and facilitating underage sex by marrying her off to a peasant cousin in a village in Pakistan. The inaction by authorities, accompanied by an official silence, represents what Taylor refers to as "Multiculturalism and the cult of silence." In one of the most powerful statements in this work, Taylor crucially points out that "The cult of silence ... has led ... to almost total cultural separatism - in fact, informal apartheid. Neglect would appear to have been government policy." (p. 92)

Taylor responds by considering the alternatives to multiculturalism; namely the competing policies of integration or assimilation. She points out that Muslim thinkers in Britain are opposed to both, but especially to assimilation which they see as representing a threat to the continuing existence of the Islamic community in the United Kingdom. Taylor acknowledges such concerns and calls for "a vision of integration that does not threaten people’s need to develop in their own way." (p. 103) This would prevent the emergence of minority colonies, such as is seen among Asian ghettos in Britain, and would serve to forge a sense of common purpose among disparate elements, thus overcoming the problems with present multicultural policies and assimilationist ideologies.

In Part Four of this work, Lesslie Newbigin considers the possibility of establishing a Christian society. He calls for Christians to get involved in wide-ranging social issues, rather than quarantining their Christian values within the realm of Sunday worship. He provides a set of useful recommendations to the church as to how it can re-engage with the world. And rounding off the issues that were raised in the preface, Newbigin draws a clear distinction between Christian and Muslim approaches as follows: "Christians agree with Muslims that God’s will is to be done in the public no less than the private sphere. The question is: what kind of obedience does God desire?" (p. 162) Newbigin answers by stating that God desires obedience freely given as an expression of love, not given out of fear of divine punishment. He clearly identifies the former with Christianity and the latter with Islam.

It is to be hoped that this excellent work does not merely become a transient talking point among select groups of Christians. Given its wide relevance to social issues relating to Britain and other Western societies (including Australia) where non-Christian minorities are increasing in number, this work should be required reading for wide-ranging study programs and interest groups. It represents an appropriate final contribution by the late Lesslie Newbigin, who died shortly before this book went to press, and an exciting debut by Jenny Taylor, from whom more will no doubt be heard.

Peter G. Riddell

This review was published in St Mark’s Review, No. 175 (Spring 1998), 37-38