2012-13 Ebor Lectures Series 7

Theme: The State of Religion? Establishment, Tolerance and Civic Society
In 313 AD a letter between the Emperors Constantine and Licinius officially promulgated the toleration of Christianity in the Roman Empire. The Ebor Lectures for 2012-13 mark the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan by asking a number of questions about the state of religion in the United Kingdom today. In particular, the lectures focus upon the role of religion in civic society; the contemporary relevance of an established Church; the rise of ‘new atheism’ and its implications for the role of religion; and the nature of toleration in a diverse, religiously plural context.
Speakers
N.B. Biographical details and lecture descriptions were those written in advance of the lectures and have not been updated since.
Lord Roy Hattersley - Writer and Broadcaster/Former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party
'Atheism and ethics: Are God and the good life inseparable?'
3 October 2012, York Minster
Roy Hattersley is a politician-turned-writer. He was elected to Parliament in 1964 and served in each of Harold Wilson’s governments and in Jim Callaghan’s Cabinet. In 1983 he became deputy leader of the Labour Party.

As well as contributing to a host of national newspapers, he has written nineteen books, including the much acclaimed Who Goes Home? A Yorkshire Boyhood, John Wesley: A Brand from the Burning, The Edwardians, Borrowed Time: The Story of Britain Between the Wars and In Search of England. His latest book is David Lloyd George: The Great Outsider. He has been Visiting Fellow of Harvard’s Institute of Politics and Nuffield College, Oxford. In 2003 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

He has taken part in many TV and radio broadcasts including BBC One's Question Time and BBC Radio 4's Any Questions. 
The Rt Hon Baroness Scotland, QC - Former Attorney General
'Faith as an arbiter of peace'
21 November 2012, York St John University
Baroness Scotland was born in the Commonwealth of Dominica as the tenth child of twelve. Her family moved to Walthamstow when she was two years old. She attended the Walthamstow School for Girls. She is a Roman Catholic. She was educated at Mid Essex Technical College in Chelmsford where she pursued a London University (LLB) law degree in 1976 (in association with University College London). She was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1977, specialising in family and children's law. Baroness Scotland made history in 1991 by becoming the first black woman to be appointed a Queen's Counsel. She later founded 1 Gray's Inn Square barristers chambers. Early in 1997 she was elected as a Bencher of the Middle Temple. Scotland was named as a Millennium Commissioner on 17 February 1994, and was a member of the Commission for Racial Equality. She received a life peerage on a Labour Party list of working peers in 1997.

From 1999 to 2001 Baroness Scotland was the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where she was inter alia, responsible for the UK Government's diplomatic relations with North America, the Caribbean, Overseas Territories, Consular Division, British Council, administration and all Parliamentary business in the House of Lords. Baroness Scotland notably introduced the International Criminal Court Bill which sought to ratify the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court into UK law. She established the Pro Bono Lawyers Panel, a panel of British-based lawyers who provided legal advice on a pro bono basis to United Kingdom nationals imprisoned in foreign countries. She created an Overseas Territories Council for the Caribbean and reformed and restructured the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Consular Division to be able to respond more effectively to emergencies and disasters abroad such as the 11 September attacks.

In 2001 she became Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, and was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. She was the Minister responsible for civil justice and the reform of civil law including the comprehensive reform of land registration leading to the Land Registration Act 2002. She was also responsible for international affairs at the Lord Chancellor’s Department and was appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair as the UK Alternate Representative to the European Convention and was given primary responsibility for the negotiations in relation to the Charter of Rights which were successfully concluded in 2003. During this period she consolidated the strong relations created with all the applicant countries through the FAHR programme and the Member States and was subsequently awarded the Polish Medal for her contribution to the reform and development of Law in Poland.

Baroness Scotland was a contender for a cabinet position in 2003, when Prime Minister Blair reportedly considered appointing her Leader of the House of Lords.

In 2003 Baroness Scotland was made Minister of State for the Criminal Justice system and Law Reform at the Home Office and deputy to the Home Secretary. She served in that post until 2007 under three Home Secretaries: David Blunkett, Charles Clarke and John Reid. Whilst at the Home Office she was responsible for major reform of the criminal justice system. She created the Office of Criminal Justice Reform which helped to create and support the National Criminal Justice Board and the Local Criminal Justice Board. Having acted as Chair, she then created three Alliances to reduce re-offending (Corporate, Civic and Faith based Alliance) and the Corporate Alliance against Domestic Violence. She created an advisory group on victims and the Criminal Justice Centre, Victims and Witness units.

Baroness Scotland created Inside Justice Week and the Justice Awards. She introduced the Crime and Victims Act which created new offence of familial homicide which was successfully used to prosecute the killers of Baby P who would otherwise have escaped responsibility for his death. By 2009, domestic violence in the UK had been reduced by 64%. The domestic violence homicide rate had been significantly reduced and crime was at its lowest since 1991.

Baroness Scotland continued her responsibility for international affairs at the Home Office and continued to represent the UK in a number of difficult and challenging international negotiations such as those relating to extradition.

In 2004 Baroness Scotland was considered to be a possible candidate to become a Commissioner of the European Union.

On 28 June 2007 Baroness Scotland was appointed Attorney General by Prime Minister Gordon Brown. She was the first woman to hold the office since its foundation in 1315. As Attorney General she was the Chief legal adviser to: Her Majesty the Queen, Parliament and the Government, Supervisor and Superintendent of the Prosecutorial Authorities (SFO,CPS, RCPO), Leader of the Bar and had non-statutory oversight of the prosecutors in government departments, the Treasury Solicitors Department and armed services prosecuting authority. She was Guardian of the Rule of Law and Public Interest. She was one of the three Cabinet Ministers responsible for the Criminal Justice system and had specific responsibility for fraud policy and the National Fraud Authority and chaired the Inter-Ministerial Group responsible for the improvement of the response to fraud and e-crime.

She was instrumental in creating the Quintet which brought together the Attorneys General of USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand to consider issues of joint legal and systemic concern. During her time as Attorney General, Baroness Scotland continued to promote pro bono work by lawyers and created an international and Schools Pro Bono Committee which was responsible for co-ordinating pro bono work. She created the Pro Bono Awards and Pro Bono Heroes. She also created an Attorney General's Youth Network.

She was the last Attorney General for England and Wales also to be the Attorney General for Northern Ireland before the devolution of justice powers to the Northern Ireland Assembly, and the appointment of a separate Attorney General for Northern Ireland.

When Labour left government on 11 May 2010, Baroness Scotland became the Shadow Attorney General and was reappointed to that role by Ed Miliband when he appointed his first Shadow Cabinet in October 2010.

Baroness Scotland is the Patron of the Corporate Alliance Against Domestic Violence. She is the joint Patron of Missio, a charity which is the Catholic Church’s official support organisation for overseas mission.

Baroness Scotland has been voted Peer of the Year by Channel 4, the House Magazine, Parliamentarian of the Year by the Spectator and the Political Studies Association, and received a number of other awards for her contribution to law reform in the UK and abroad.

Baroness Scotland was awarded an Honorary Degree from the University of East London in 2005. She was voted one of the 100 Great Black Britons.

Baroness Scotland was decreed and invested by Prince Carlo, Duke of Castro, as a Dame of Merit with Star of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George in 2003.
Professor Lord Bhikhu Parek, FBA - Emeritus Professor at the Universities of Hull and Westminster
'The place of religion in political life'
13 February 2013, York St John University
Professor Lord Bhikhu Parek is Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy at the Universities of Hull and Westminster and a Labour Member of the House of Lords. He has been a visiting professor at many universities including McGill, Harvard, Barcelona, Paris, and Pennsylvania. He is the author of several widely acclaimed books in political philosophy.

He has received many honours including the BBC’s Special Lifetime Achievement Award, the Distinguished Thinker Award from India International Centre in Delhi, the Isaiah Berlin Prize for Lifetime Contribution to Political Philosophy, Pravasi Bharatiya Sanmman and Padma Bhushan from the President of India, and over a dozen honorary doctorates from British universities.
The Revd Dr Giles Fraser - Priest in Charge St Mary’s Newington / The Guardian columnist
'The trouble with community'
6 March 2013, York Minster
Giles Anthony Fraser (born 27 November 1964) is a priest of the Church of England. He was Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral from 2009 until his resignation in October 2011. As Canon Chancellor, Fraser fulfilled the role of a canon residentiary with special responsibility for contemporary ethics and engagement with the City of London as a financial centre. He was also the director of St Paul's Institute.

Fraser is currently the parish priest at St Mary's, Newington, in the Elephant and Castle, London.

Fraser's father was Jewish and his mother from a Christian background. He was educated at a Christian school (Uppingham School) and became a Christian. He has been involved in social and political advocacy and according to the Daily Telegraph "would be the first to admit that he is fond of the sound of his own voice".

Fraser has contributed to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day. Since 2004, he has had a weekly column in the Church Times. He has written for The Guardian, the Daily Mail and Socialist Worker.

Fraser attended Newcastle University, Ripon College Cuddesdon and the University of Lancaster. He was ordained as a deacon in 1993 and as a priest in 1994, serving as the curate of All Saints in Streetly from 1993 to 1997. From 1997 to 2006, he was a chaplain and then a lecturer in philosophy at Wadham College, Oxford. He is the author or co-author of several books and is a specialist on the writings of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.

Fraser has lectured on moral leadership for the British Army at the Defence Academy at Shrivenham.

From 2000 to 2009, he was the Team Rector of St Mary’s Putney, where he campaigned to raise the profile of the Putney Debates (1647).

Fraser was the founder, and is currently the President, of Inclusive Church and campaigns for lesbian and gay inclusion within the church.

In October 2011, Occupy London based their protest outside St Paul's. Fraser said that he was happy for people to "exercise their right to protest peacefully" outside the cathedral. Fraser resigned as he could not sanction any policy of the chapter of St Paul's to use force to remove the protesters.
Professor Keith Ward, FRBA - Regius Professor Emeritus of Divinity, University of Oxford and Professorial Research Fellow at Heythrop College, London
'The rise of new atheism and the reasonableness of faith in the context of church-state relationships'
17 April 2013, York Minster
Professor Ward writes: As my CV shows, I have been an academic virtually all my working life, teaching philosophy, theology, and religious studies at various times. So I am an academic, with all the shortcomings that implies. I am interested in intellectual problems, in arguments and theories, and I depend on other people for finding out facts.

I am, by nature and conviction, an Idealist philosopher, somebody who believes in the supremacy of Spirit or Mind, and who thinks that the material universe is an expression or creation of a Supreme Mind. I see religions as very ambiguous but probably necessary ways of giving humans some awareness of this Supreme Mind. And I adopted one liberal version of Christianity, and became a priest of the Church of England in 1972. What ‘liberal’ means is a good question, but for me it means, negatively, that I do not accept the inerrancy of the Bible or of any system of dogmas, and positively, that I welcome constructive disagreement and diversity of belief, and also that I believe in a ‘liberal’ God, one who desires the flourishing of all sentient life so far as is possible, and who will not condemn anyone who shares that desire.

That gives an idea of who I am, and explains why my books fall into three main classes – philosophy, religion, and Christian theology. Virtually all my books have been, rather selfishly, ways of working out what I believe, but they have also responded to particular situations which have in my view shown misunderstandings of the sort of philosophy and religion I adhere to – and those misunderstandings are legion, and growing (which is why I have written so many books)!

My interests include: concepts of God; the idea of revelation; method in theology; doctrines of Incarnation and Trinity; religion and science; inter-religious dialogue; Christianity in the context of world religions.

My publications include:

  • Religion and Revelation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994).
  • Religion and Creation (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996).
  • Religion and Human Nature (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998).
  • Religion and Community (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000).
  • The God Conclusion (London: Darton, Longman, Todd, 2000).
  • More than Matter? (Lion/Hudson, 2010).
  • The Philosopher and the Gospels (Lion/Hudson, 2011).
Catherine Pepinster - Editor, The Tablet
'On special offer at your supermarket now: The tolerance and intolerance of public manifestations of religion'
22 May 2013, York Minster
Catherine Pepinster has been editor of The Tablet for the past five years. She has been a journalist for all her working life and before joining The Tablet worked for The Independent and Independent on Sunday. She was educated at Manchester University, the City University, London, and Heythrop College, University of London, where she studied for her MA in Philosophy and Religion. She is a regular contributor to national newspapers and to 'Thought for the Day', on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Professor Anthony Grayling - Master of the New College of the Humanities, and Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford
‘Taking Back the Mile: Constantine’s letter to Licinius gave an inch…’
12 June 2013, York St John University
Anthony Grayling MA, DPhil (Oxon), FRSL, FRSA is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Until 2011 A. C. Grayling was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London.

He has written and edited over twenty books on philosophy and other subjects; among his most recent are The Good Book, Ideas That Matter, Liberty in the Age of Terror, and To Set Prometheus Free. For several years he wrote the "Last Word" column for The Guardian newspaper and now writes a column for The Times. He is a frequent contributor to The Literary Review, The Observer, Independent on Sunday, Times Literary Supplement, Index on Censorship and The New Statesman, and is an equally frequent broadcaster on BBC Radios 4, 3, and the World Service. He writes the "Thinking Read" column for the Barnes and Noble Review in New York, is the Editor of Online Review London, and a Contributing Editor of Prospect magazine.

In addition he sits on the editorial boards of several academic journals, and for nearly ten years was the Honorary Secretary of the principal British philosophical association, The Aristotelian Society. He is a past chairman of June Fourth, a human rights group concerned with China, and is a representative to the UN Human Rights Council for the International Humanist and Ethical Union. He is a Vice President of the British Humanist Association, Patron of the United Kingdom Armed Forces Humanist Association, Patron of Dignity in Dying, and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.

Anthony Grayling was a Fellow of the World Economic Forum for several years, and a member of its C-100 group on relations between the West and the Islamic world. He has served as a Trustee of the London Library and a board member of The Society of Authors. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. In 2003 he was a Booker Prize judge, in 2010 was a judge of The Art Fund Prize, and in 2011 The Wellcome Book Prize.

He supports a number of educational charities and is a sponsor of Rogbonko School in Sierra Leone.

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