Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life

rdf:langString Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life

rdf:langString The Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life (CORAB) was convened in 2013 by The Woolf Institute. Its purpose was to consider the place and role of religion and belief in contemporary Britain, to consider the significance of emerging trends and identities, and to make recommendations for public life and policy. Its premise was that in a rapidly changing diverse society everyone is affected, whatever their private views on religion and belief, by how public policy and public institutions respond to social change. The Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life is chaired by Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, Baroness Butler-Sloss and vice-chaired and convened by Edward Kessler. Its twenty members had a wide range of involvement in the issues that were examined. They were diverse in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and occupation, and in their religious, philosophical and political outlooks. They began by engaging in a substantial consultation exercise. There were six weekend meetings with visiting speakers, and public hearings were arranged in Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Leicester and London. A booklet was published and widely distributed and more than 200 substantial responses to this were received. There were many visits to, and interviews with, key individuals, projects and organisations. The patrons of the commission are Iqbal Sacranie, Rowan Williams, Bhikhu Parekh and Harry Woolf, Baron Woolf. There was a special issue of the online magazine Public Spirit and a debate about the consultation in the House of Lords. It was from this mix of interactions and encounters, and from collective reflection on them, that their report was in due course distilled.