Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

The Most Revd 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 RevD 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

Item from: The Scottish Episcopal Church