Chief Commissioner from Equality Commission for NI speaking at Presbyterian Church in Ireland conference on The Church in the Public Square on 9 October 2014 - full blog post about the event including audio from the talk at http://alaninbelfast.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/listen-back-to-roger-trigg-colin-harvey.html
2. The challenge to engage!
• "Superficiality is the curse of our age.
The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a
primary spiritual problem. The greatest
need today is not for a greater number of
intelligent people, or gifted people, but.
for deep people".
• So begins Richard Foster's brilliant book
'Celebration of Discipline'
3. Spiritual capital describes the
social impact of religion on
believers and society generally; it
is not about people’s feelings
towards religion but the social
consequences of these feelings.
Prof John Brewer
4. Varied Christian reaction to that
responsibility to “the world”.
• Imposition of Christian values
• Laissez faire
(non interference)
• Persuasion by education, example and
argument
5. • In N Ireland the boundary between
people is defined as much by silence as
by argument
• In the church this has often been
outworked in
• Avoidance
• Polite indifference
• Limited dialogue and action
6. I fear that the capacity of the
institutional church to inherit the
future is diminished by its failure to
take responsibility for the past
Prof John Brewer.
8. Love your neighbour as yourself
• The equality of human beings is an
aspect of the doctrine of creation. It
locates every human being equally
to every other as one summoned out
of nothing by the creator’s will, one
whose life is a contingent gift,
created for fellowship with others
and answerable to judgement.
• Oliver O’Donovan
9. The challenge
• God will not ignore the ongoing
injustice of social inequality—
the rapacious greed, the lust for
power, the abuse of the poor,
the neglect of the widow and the
orphan, the abuse of the alien
(Deut. 27:11-16; Amos 4:1-5:27).
10. • 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is
acceptable according to what one has, not
according to what one does not have. 13 Our
desire is not that others might be relieved
while you are hard pressed, but that there
might be equality. 14 At the present time your
plenty will supply what they need, so that in
turn their plenty will supply what you need. The
goal is equality, 15 as it is written: “The one who
gathered much did not have too much, and the
one who gathered little did not have too little” 2
Cor 8. (isotes)
11. • The Bible’s account of equality does
not mean the erasure of all difference
• But...People should be treated with
dignity and respect
• This is mediated through them being
treated fairly and equally
12. Bible and Equality
• Bible rarely use “Equality” – prefers
Justice and Righteousness
• Formal Equality – before the law
• Substantive Equality – in God’s image
• Lived equality – this is not uniformity!
• Bible focus is on worth, value, potential,
mutuality in Christ
• Responsibility is a core element
13. So................
• What we have from the Bible is
not a bland, levelling equality:
rather we have an equality that
is the by-product of love—the
seeking of an imbalance in
favour of the other according to
his or her needs
14. So what is the challenge to the
church? To be an agent of Grace
“Grace is utter generosity, unselfish,
spontaneous, reckless prodigal
generosity, which acts wholly out of
loving concern for the other’s need
even if s/he is completely unworthy
of the love and help offered to him/her”
15. My practical challenge to you…
What is the church’s role in
building a more equal, shared
future?
16. Programme for Government
• ....aims to help us move towards “a
shared and better future for all” (pg 14)
by ensuring that “all policies and
programmes across Government will be
built upon the values of equality and
fairness and the ethics of inclusion and
good relations” (pg 23).
18. When you hear the word Equality..........
• What does it mean?
• Fairness?
• Justice?
• One for you and one for me?
• One for them?
• Progressive agenda?
• Utopia?
• Imbalanced?
• An agenda?
19. What would it look like?
• Equality of Treatment?
• Equality of Access?
• Equality of Opportunity?
• Equality of Outcome?
20. • Aspiration. People should be
treated with dignity and respect
• Application. This is mediated
through them being treated
fairly and equally
21. Singled out
for worse treatment
Generally,
discrimination is
treating someone
less favourably on
grounds of, or for
a reason relating
to their:
Race
Sexual
Orientation
Age
Disability
Sex
Political
Opinion
Religious
Belief
23. The facts –
We live
in a fallen
world full of
broken-ness
24. • Discrimination – Nothing
new
• Ancient Chinese texts
General Ran Min ordered
the extermination of all
people with racial
characteristics of high-
bridged nose and bushy
beards during the fourth
century AD and 200,000
were reportedly
massacred.
25. • In the 13th century Jews
were removed from many
countries across Europe
on the basis that they
murdered Jesus Christ.
26. • In the last century,
Death camps,– Jews,
Communists, gay
people, those with
mental impairments.
• Pol Pot’s killing fields,
Amin’s Uganda, Rwanda
and former Yugoslavia
and more recently the
Middle East.
27. • "The main battlefield for good is not the
open ground of the public arena, but
the small clearing in each heart.“
Yann Martel,
The Life of Pi
28. • “Your assumptions are
your windows on the
world. Scrub them off
every once in awhile, or
the light won't come in”.
• Alan Alda
29. Where the Commission came from
Equality
Commission for
Northern Ireland
Commission
for Racial
Equality
Equal
Opportunities
Commission
NI
Disability
Rights
Council
Fair
Employment
Commission
Human
Rights
Commission
30. EQUALITY COMMISSION FOR NORTHERN
IRELAND
covers
sex discrimination and equal pay (1976)
religious and political opinion (1976; 1989)
disability (1995, 2000)
race relations (1997)
S75 duties Public Authorities
sexual orientation (2003)
age (2006)
31. Poverty
• Poverty is not a protected ground in
terms of the anti discrimination statutes
neither is it a ground with in the
statutory duty provisions
•
32. • S 2(4) of FETO excludes from this
protection anyone “whose political
opinion includes approval or acceptance
of violence for political ends connected
with the affairs of NI”, including the use
of violence for the purpose of putting the
public in fear.
Ex Prisoners
33. ROLE
promote equality of opportunity and
affirmative/positive action
work towards the elimination of
discrimination
promote good relations between persons
of different racial groups
keep equality legislation under review
advise on and review public authority
equality duties
35. Providing Advice and Assistance
The Equality
Commission does not
decide whether
discrimination has in
fact occurred
This decision is made
by an independent
industrial tribunal or
court...4,155 in 2011/12
36. Has equality worked?
high levels of compliance with the
duties
decrease in segregated workforces
more integrated and balanced
workforces
improvement in employment practices
some pockets of under-representation
Catholic labour market participation
increased
37. Example 1: Religion.........in 1972?
• Catholic population
31.5%
• 28% economically
active are Catholic
• 46% of unemployed
are Catholic
• 11% of senior govt
officials are Catholic
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
A B C D E
Protestant
Catholic
38. • 3,800 employers monitored
• Catholic Share now 46.3%
• Up 6 points in last decade
• Private sector 46% (Public 46.8%)
• Senior Civil Service 9.8% (‘85) 40.8% (‘11)
• Catholic job applicants now 51.6%
• 1990-2011 growth 32k Prot (6%) and
120k (32%) Cath and 80k others (150%)
39. Example 2: Gender
• Females better qualified than males
leaving school 79% GCSE (68%)
• 80% go on to F/HE (69%)
• PSNI 13.4%(2001) 27.9% (2012)
• Senior NICS 2.8% (1985) 31% (2012)
• 1 in 6 MLAs (1 in 8)
• 1 in 4 lead current Councils
40. Issues remain
• 25% MPs, 15% Judges, 10% bank CEOs, 5%
Newspaper Editors 0% Monetary policy
• 80% purchasing power – but hourly wages
90% men (80% UK), 70% of all part time work
(40% women /10% men), lower paid jobs, and
2/3rds pensions. Last 12 month 10,426 women
and 4,485 men lost jobs)
• 60% women in employment - Childcare is 44%
income (37% UK and 10% EU)
• Sex discrimination - 27% complaints last year
42. Discrimination remains
• Hate motivated incidents are
significant in number in N
Ireland, with the majority still
linked to sectarianism where 4
people every day reported such
an incident during 2011/12.
43. Discrimination remains
• In a recent life and times survey,
42% of pupils stated that they
had witnessed racial harassment
while at school.
45. Commission had over 3,300 complaints
last year
• 39% disability related
• 24% gender related
• 13% race related
• 11% religion/politics related
46. Key findings 2011: Discrimination
• 1 in 3 had experienced “some form or
harassment or unfair treatment” in past 3
years (16% in 2008)
• 14% harassed due to membership of a
group or because of an inability to express
culture
• 10% at work or housing related
47. Key findings: Attitudes
• In most cases, a majority didn’t
hold negative views towards other
groups
• But overall, hardening of attitudes,
particularly in area of closest
contact - marry/relationship....
48. Prejudice
• 30% agreed that “sometimes
there is good reason to be
prejudiced against certain
groups”
(Scotland 28%)
49. Key findings: social distance increased
• Travellers (55% in law and 35% work)
• Transgendered (53% in law and 35%
work)
• LGB ( 42% in law and 22% work)
50. Key findings: social distance increased
• Mental ill-health (37% in law and 26%
work)
• Eastern European Migrant workers (36%
in law and 26% work)
• Religion (17% in law ; 8% work but up
since 2003; 7%/3%)
51. Challenges....
• Attitudes towards Travellers,
Transgendered people, LGB community,
Disabled people
• Dealing with prejudice – which can lead to
negative behaviours and actions
• The place of legislation – modifying
behaviour in certain circumstances
• Encouraging more and wider participation
in community and civic groups
55. • In Faith terms.. Too often it is seen as a
process of marginalisation, a
secularising of values, a requirement of
all people to assent to and conform with
the values of the state.
• Faith is reduced to the personal realm.
• Too often it deals only with “the difficult”
• So, often the dilemma is not addressed
through dialogue but antagonism.
56. Key areas
• Sexual Orientation – LGB
• Religious views – Sunday observance
• Religious practice – cross/clothing
• Role of women?
• Conscience Clauses and reasonable
adjustment approach?
57. Why not discuss?
An employer should consider, amongst other factors:
• Is the action legitimate and proportionate?
• the cost, disruption and wider impact on business or work if the
request is accommodated
• • whether there are health and safety implications for the proposed
change
• • the disadvantage to the affected employee if the request is
refused
• • the impact of any change on other employees, including on those
who have a different religion or belief, or no religion or belief
• • the impact of any change on customers or service users, and
• • whether work policies and practices to ensure uniformity and
consistency are justifiable.
58. The Challenge to the church?
• To commit oneself to
the journey beyond
sectarianism is to find
oneself along with the
Magi in TS Eliot’s poem
“Journey of the Magi”
as… “no longer at
ease with this
dispensation”
59. What is needed?
• People of courage
• Leaders not Followers
• Creators not consumers
• Passionate people
60. • First they came for the communists, and I did not
speak out-- because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not
speak out-- because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did
not speak out-- because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak
out-- because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me-- and there was no one left
to speak out for me
• Rev Martin Niemoller
