Faith and Power: Christianity and Islam in 'Secular' Britain - Paperback

by Lesslie Newbigin (Author), Lamin Sanneh (Author), Jenny Taylor (Author)

"The issue . . . in the multicultural millennium is not so much the 'Islamization' of a once-Christian culture as the emergence, with state collusion, of discrete territories where vastly different norms prevail, shut off and resentful, a breeding ground for ferment and a target for hostility." In the aftermath of the London suicide bombings, this unusual book seems more prophetic than ever. Begun six years before 9/11, it examined the roots of political Islam and its offshoots in Britain. In describing the indifference of policy makers and government officials to religion, it warned of extremism taking root among disaffected young Muslims -- and offered a vision of hope tempered with realism that might have helped avert tragedy had it been more widely heeded. The book's timely republication offers another -- and a way out of it. Lamin Sanneh, himself a former Muslim, explores the history of Islam's always controversial accommodations with the West. Jenny Taylor's debut engages contribution critically at the grassroots level, looking in detail at Islam in Britain, its mission and tactics, and the State's inadequate response to them. "Neglect would appear to have been government policy." Lesslie Newbigin describes the loss of a sense of direction in the West as bankrupt secular ideologies confront fundamentalism with politically correct platitudes or coercive legislation that is destroying the West's historic freedoms. All three authors call for a radical Christian critique to replace the false and evidently failed policies of neutrality of the State.

Author Biography

The late Lesslie Newbigin was one of the twentieth century's most influential Christian thinkers. A founding bishop of the Church in South India, he later served as an associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches, before being called back to southern India as Bishop in Madras in 1965.

Lamin Sanneh is D. Willis James Professor of Missions & World Christianity and Professor of History at Yale University.

Jenny Taylor is a journalist, writer, and commentator on religion and culture. Jenny is Director of Lapido Media--Centre for Religious Literacy in World Affairs. She is also the author of A Wild Constraint: The Case for Chastity (2008).