Posted Monday 02 July 2007
The Most Rev Dr Idris Jones, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Bishop of Glasgow & Galloway today endorsed the following statement issued by the Scottish Inter Faith Council:
"We, the under-noted religious leaders of Scotland, utterly condemn the recent attack on Glasgow airport and incidents in London, as we do all acts of terrorism and hope that the full force of the law will be brought to bear on those who perpetrate such violence against innocent people.
"At the same time, we wish to voice our concern that the public reaction to such acts is not mis-directed against others by association of race or religious belief, and in particular against the Asian community.
"As religious leaders, we affirm our view that any act of terrorism carried out in the name of religion is a gross perversion of the purpose of faith and is not supported by either the tenets of any of the faiths in Scotland nor by the vast majority of the followers of each faith.
"We hope that all of the people of Scotland will respond to this attack by reaching out and strengthening further the bonds of friendship which tie our communities together into one Scottish community and thus demonstrate the futility of violence.
"We therefore condemn any acts which target or taint members of a faith community, and support the security services in protecting the public and enforcing the law.
"We give thanks that there were no injuries or fatalities."
Endorsements
This statement has been endorsed by the following Religious Leaders of Scotland:
- Imam Arif, Central Scotland Islamic Centre, Stirling
- Mr. Allan Forsyth, Baha'i Council for Scotland
- The Most Rev Dr. Idris Jones, Scottish Episcopal Church Primus & Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway
- Rt Rev Sheilagh Kesting, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
- Acharyajee Mishra, Hindu Mandir
- The Most Rev Keith Patrick O'Brien, Cardinal and Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh
- Imam Habib ur Rahman, Glasgow Central Mosque
- The Venerable Rewatha, Sri Lankan Buddhist Centre
- Rabbi Moshe Rubin, Giffnock Synagogue
- Imam Mustaqeem Shah, UK Islamic Mission, Glasgow
- Mr Bakhshish Deerhe Singh, Glasgow Gurdwara Council
- Rev Favian Straughan, Order of Buddhist Contemplatives in Scotland
Further Details
Further details from: Pramila Kaur of the Scottish Inter Faith Council (0141 420 6982 or 07778 241 540).
The Scottish Inter Faith Council (SIFC) raises awareness of inter faith relations; facilitates dialogue between the religious leaders of Scotland (through its role as Secretariat to the Religious Leaders bi-annual meetings) and within faith communities; supports the development of inter faith structures at both local and national levels. SIFC also facilitates dialogue between faith communities and the Scottish Executive.
