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Inter Faith RelationsAuthor(s): Maurice RyanSource: Fortnight, No. 358, Supplement: Tolerance: Freedom of Religion and Belief (Feb.,1997), pp. 21-22Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25559214 .

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Inter faith relations

Maurice Ryan on Northern Ireland's ethnic/religious minority communities and the recently formed Inter-Faith Forum

In the turgent and very proper concern for the development of' better understanding across the historical denominational botundaries in Northern Ireland, it wotl(l be all too easy to lose sight of' the fact that a

seriouis commitment to progress in commtunity relations should also take accouint of'the growing numbers of'people of'"other" ctulttures and traditions now present within ouir commutnity. These grouips, thouigh as yet relatively small, collectively represenlt a

significant integral part of' Northern Irelani(d society, with distinctive claimiis aind( contribtutions in relation to otur cultural, economic, political, religiotus and educational lif'e.

The oldest established religiouLs minority community in Northern Ireland is the Jewish. Jews firstcame here in the seventeenth centtury and the first synagogue was established in the late nineteenth, when Belf:ast saw an inflttx of'

Jewish refugees fleeing from persectution in Tsarist Russia. Over the years, Jewish grotups have existed in various parts of' Northern Ireland-L ondonderry, Downpatrick,

Newcastle. Now the Jewish population is located almost wholly in Belf'ast with approximately 300 active f:ainily member-s of' the 'orthodox' Belfast congregation.

In contrast to the Jewish commutnity there is the very dif'f'erent tradition of'the Hinduts some 250 extended families, representing perhaps 800 people, residing mainly within the greater Belfast area andl in parts of' mid

Ulster and Londonderry. Maniy have riseni from small beginnings to become suiccessf'll btusiness people who, as memiibers of'the local Indian Business Fortum, have made a

significant contribtution to the community economically in the creaitioni of' somie 3,00() jobs, in which many native Ulster people, ais

well as Hindtus, are employed. As well as the mainstreamii Hindut tradition,

there is also the Hare Krishna movement

with centres in Duinmulriy neacr Belf'ast and Innis Rath (or Hare Krishna Island), a ruiral ashram in Upper Lough Frne, togethel comprising abouit 100 congregational

members.

Another well establishedl community in Northern Ireland are the fbollowers of Islam. Twenty-five years ago there might have been 60 or 70 Muslims here. Today the Northern Ireland community numbers around 1,500, belonging mainly to majority Sunni tradition, and residing for the most part in Belfast though there are also quite a few in Antrim, (Craigavon, I ondonderry and (,oleraine.

Northern Ireland has a small Theravadan Buddhist(ommunityof around 50 members which was first established in 1979 and a small Tibetan Buddhist'cell' in County Down.

There is also a resident Lama in (County Cavan serving as a focal point for Irish Buddhists, and, indeed, the proliferation of Buddhist groups in the Republic stands in sharp contrast to their more modest presence in the North.

There has been a thriving community of Baha'is here since about 1930, mostly Irish born, but with a sizeable minority of Iranian believers-approximately 20 per cent of the 300-strong commuinity. There are active 'Spirittual Assemblies' in 13 out of '26 districts

council areas. One official census has mistakenly classified Baha'is as Protestants,

7~~~~~~~~~~~7

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which, of course, is to obscure completely the distinctive Baha'i identity as maintaining the ultimate unity of all religions.

There have been Sikhs in Irelancl since the 1920s, but the community in the North did not become formally established until 1990, with the opening of the Northern Ireland Sikh Association and Gurdawara in

Londonderry, where most of the present membership of around 50 people live.

One final group that should be mentioned is the (Chinese communitywith betw, een 7,000 and 8,000, constituting the biggest ethnic

minority in Northern Ireland. Oldler generation Chinese observed a'

conglomeration of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and other folk traditions, andl many homes have a small shrine honouring variouLs deities such as the gods of longevity or

prosperity. But onnly a minoritv still practice

any faith, and there are no temples in Northern Ireland, nor anyone with the expertise to lead these faiths. A vei- small number of Chinese are attached to local Christian churches, but since the langtiage barrier is the biggest practical problem facing the Chinese here, church services can have

* :: C

Article 6. (cont) the right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief shall include inter alia, the following freedoms:

i) to establish and maintain communications with individuals and communities in matters or religion and belief at the national and international levels.

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litt Ille.manin( for milost of theni. The Chiniese Welf'are Associaitioni provides English (classes

fr Vo(tingt( and old, ats wN ell as a whole range of'

counllsellinleg and sociial activities. Buit the C(ommuni11111ity i'emains somewhat isolated aniid very, miuichl in n1eed of an inci-'eased public

awai'eness of' thieir problemiis and statiutoil'

aniid inistituitiona.ll measures to deali with thiemii. Most of these (ri-olups i-eport very happy

r elaitionis genei'allv with the inidigen louis population, but tlre are pioblemis i'elatiigr to languiage; e ii ad imiisconiceptionis

about f'oreign faliths' and 'strange sects'; how to achieve the ri',it bal'nce between on1e's

tiaicditional heritage aind the Iiislh way of'life; the fdelt need f`6r futilleir iecognition of the civil alnd political i'ights of' mini1orities; and clear instainices, f'romil timze to time, of' i'acist

pi-ejtidice aniid abuse. A particular cause of'

(grief on the pairt of' the ethnic/religious mino)ritn' commun1lii1ities riecentlv has been the fact that the new stattitoi\, core syllabus for

Religiouis Eduicationi in Nortlherln Iielanid

schools has given no place whatever to the

sttidv of milajor- religious tr-aditionis otlher- tlan-i

Christianiit-ffor all its unidotibted benefits in encouraging gre r Ctei Catholic/Pi'otestant iiindei-stancdiing.

In spite of some i'eal problemils a new awareness of ii tiltictiltlti-al issuies in Nortlher-ni

Irelanid has resuilted in the recenit

establishment of a nimiiber- of oigcanisations (concerned with ctiltu-al anid r'eligiouis diversity. On the specifically religiotis f'ront ther-e is a Belfast branich of' the Council of'

Christians anid jews. Others incltide the Bry.son Hotuse Mtulticuilttural ResotlIces Cen tr-e

in Belfast, the Northernii Irelanid (Couincil for Ethnic Min-or-ities anidl the Northern Irelanid CouIncil for Ethniic Equality which hav'e been prominent in the camiipaign for an-ti-racist

legislation fo`r Nor-ther-ni Irelanid, com)lpar-able

to that in force on the mainiland.

In celebrationi of' the f-irst 'Aorld's

Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 an event which is generally recognised as the beginning of the modern inter-f'aith movement-the year 1993 was designated 'a v'ear of inter-religious uinderstanding and co operation'. To mark this, and after extensive discussions with interested parties, includirig the minority communities and the Irish

Council of Churches, the Northern Ireland Inter-Faith Forum was f`6rmed in May 1993.

The Forum has the essential purpose of promoting friendship and mutual understanding across the spectrum of religious life of the province and draws its

membership from the Jewish Hindu, Mislim Chinese, Buddhist and Baha'i communities

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as well as the Romanla( Catholic and Protestant C hurches. It has a memlhbershlip of ar-ound t(50

people, many of whoImi occupy positionis of leadership within their own traditions. While

Forumll members are not official (lelegates of tlheir- respective conlllwtilities, they represent that bodyof opinion within their communities

which is supportive of the association's aim to provide a for-tuim where: a) atdlher-enits of

cliffei-enit f'aiths can imieet to shar-c and(l foster

mutual undlerstanding of'each other's belief's

and practices; and h) wher-e the special problems of religious and( ethlnic minior-ities can be artictIlatedl anid so(lutionis recommiiiiencled.

Experience in England wotild indicate that setting tip and maintaining inter-faith organisations can be extremely hard work and carries tensions and potential pitfalls. W!hile some relationships are deep and lasting, others seem precariouis and have to be ntirtttred. (Committed inter-faith supporters often have leadership roles in their own communities, which can mean divided loyalties. Many suffer too from being a minority within their own faith commtunity and can find it difficult to persuade their own people to see the importance of their work. Some factions may actively oppose efforts to establish dialogue.

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One fear that is soinetimiies expressed is that in ter-faith organisations ar-e reconstrtictionist ainid ecuimenical in tlheir aimiis. Butt the adjective 'eciimeniical' is one

whlichi has to be looked at car-efuilly in this coIntext. According to Michael Huirley ( It ?)men1i.s 01, 1'u iteenical Theology an(l

Ec'(lutienii(cs-1 978), a ectiienlist is a persoIn who is opposed to a pluirality of' chuirches, whio wanits to see mlualny chuirches 1)ecoile onie chlur-ch, andl whose clefinition of'"ectimenical

theology in thie str-ict sense' is convstituited by reflectioni on 'the cxperieice of'shared faith'.

Most inter-faith association)ls are n-ot

ecimilleniical in Huirley's sense. The main cmphasis is on imuittual tunderstand(ling, and,

while it is hopedl that people of faith, from whatever batckgrouind, will be dirawn closer together throtigh stich encotinters, it is taken for granted that it is possible for a person to

Linderstand and respect another person of a different faith tradition while disagreeing somewhat or even profouLndly with that person's views. Rev. Maurice Ryan is Serretary of the Northern Ireland Inter-faith Forum and author of 'Another Ireland' on Ireland's ethno-religious minorities. Information on the Forumfrom Religious Studies

Dept, Stranmillis College, StranmillisRoad, Belfast BT9 5DY

ARTICLE 7. The rights and freedoms set forth in the present Declaration shall be accorded in .

national legislation in such a manner that everyone shall be able to avail themselves of such rights and freedoms in practice.

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