This week, Bishop David co-signed a joint declaration with leaders from Greater Manchester’s Muslim and Jewish communities, elected representatives, and civic dignitaries, which aims to promote understanding, peace and tolerance in the region. The declaration acknowledges the strain on community relations between Muslim and Jewish residents in Manchester since 7 October 2023 and seeks to begin rebuilding community relationships through open dialogue and mutual respect.
Bishop David reflected on the importance of the statement in this Thought for the Day, shared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Good morning, from here in Media City, Salford.
With or without an actual dotted line, signatures matter. Even in an increasingly digital age, for the decisions that matter most, from buying a house to marrying a partner, we take pen in hand and scrawl our name. American presidents, I gather, when signing the most important papers, often use multiple pens, making just one stroke with each. That way there are souvenirs aplenty to go round.
Being in public life, I’m frequently asked to add my name to some letter or statement, promoting this, or condemning that. In practice, unless I’ve had a hand in drafting the document, and expect to be involved in following it up, I almost always refuse, even when I agree with the thrust of the statement. But later this week I’ll be breaking my normal rules.
As war rages on in Gaza, and the pictures that emerge become ever more horrific, a group of senior Muslim and Jewish figures from across Greater Manchester, have drawn up a Joint Declaration. Alongside them, civic and other leaders, including myself, will add our own names to the statement, in support. Together we seek to signify our shared commitment, to step out of our comfort zones, and to have the difficult conversations we need to have, with those with whom we disagree profoundly.
The Declaration recognises the harm done to community relations here in Britain, since October 7th 2023, and notes the increased level of hate incidents and crimes. It affirms the right to protest peacefully for the causes and concerns that matter most deeply to us. But above all, it seeks to build on the longstanding warm personal relationships within our city region, relationships that were strengthened in the aftermath of the murder of 22 people at a city centre pop concert eight years ago. We chose then, as we choose now, not to find scapegoats in our midst, against whom to seek vengeance, but to defy evil by seeking ever deeper relationships. St Paul, writing in a time of deep tension and trouble, tells his Christian readers in Rome, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Good conversation is not about persuading others to our views, nor about lessening our own firm commitment to how we see events of huge global import. It’s about what a popular phrase describes as “disagreeing agreeably”. It won’t make intractable issues such as Middle East borders or the status of Jerusalem go away. But living peaceably, as Paul puts it, can help reduce tensions among us. And that is, we believe, a cause worth putting our names to.