Christian ministry Faithworks has hit out at a new report by the British Humanist Association (BHA) released this week, which claims that religious organisations do not offer any distinctive benefits in the provision of public services.
The ‘Quality and Equality: Human Rights, Public Services and Religious Organisations’ report also argues that government plans to give religious organisations a greater role in the provision of public services “runs the risk of lowering standards, increasing inequalities, introducing ‘parallel services’ and damaging social cohesion”.
Faithworks’ leader Malcolm Duncan has rejected the report’s findings, arguing that the BHA “has fallen into accusatory and exclusive language”.
“The report attempts to consign faith to the edge of society, attacking and misrepresenting who we are and our motivation for what we do,” said Duncan. “Its language caricatures the faith sector, assuming the worst of us rather than acknowledging the best.
“The way ahead,” he added, “is not to dismiss faith, but to embrace it whilst at the same time celebrating the rights and responsibilities of humanists and secularists.”
The BHA report also warned of discrimination in the work place because of exemptions to equality legislation enjoyed by religious organisations, and questioned whether faith-based organisations would provide public services irrespective of religion, belief or sexual orientation.
Hanne Stinson, BHA Chief Executive, said: “We are publishing Quality and Equality to draw attention to our concerns about the current policy to make religion a central feature in the provision and delivery of a wide range of public services.
“Through the report, we want to make clear our position that the most fair and most inclusive services – for service users of all faiths and none – are secular services.”
Polly Toynbee, President of the BHA, said: “It cannot be right that any provider of public services is permitted by law to discriminate in employment policies or in the manner in which it provides statutory, state funded public services.”
