VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Dinah|DATE|1382113909|CONTENT|I agree that The Noble Very Reverend Lord Bishop got into a muddle over this one.  It’s OK to have friends, because Jesus had friends.  Phew, that’s a relief.  It’s OK just about for an ethnic group to live in the same neighbourhood, because of their shared values and experiences.  Inviting everyone in the class to the party seems a good idea in principle, but in practice would be very difficult, because there wouldn’t be enough balloons and jelly and ice-cream to go round.

I notice he backed off from discussing the Muslim school where the inclusivity involved making the girls sit at the back of the class and forcing the non-Muslim female teachers to cover their heads.  Religions may preach inclusivity, but traditionally this has only applied to straight men following the same version of the same faith.  Simply labelling oneself a Christian, Muslim, Jew or whatever carries the implication ‘I am right and anyone who isn’t what I am is wrong’, thus reinforcing tribalism and a culture of ‘us’ and ‘them’.
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