In a recent interview with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, we discussed his attendance at the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative held earlier this year, the work of his Faith Foundation, and the importance of understanding religion in a rapidly globalizing world.

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Rahim Kanani: While your Faith Foundation’s primary goal is to promote and foster understanding amongst the world’s major religions, and the Face to Faith initiative you’ve described focuses on secondary school students engaging in interfaith and intercultural understanding, what is the role of colleges and universities in tackling interfaith education? Should such instruction be required learning in such a setting?

Tony Blair: My Foundation believes that young people have a pivotal role to play in building a harmonious modern world. After all, they are tomorrow’s leaders. It is therefore vital for students to have a firm grasp on the relationship between faith and globalization. So as well as a schools program my Foundation also has a universities program – the Faith and Globalization Initiative.

Seven universities around the world are currently part of the network: Yale University in the USA, The National University of Singapore, The University of Western Australia, Technologico de Monterrey University in Mexico, McGill University in Canada, Peking University in China and Durham University in the UK. The Faith and Globalization students who are drawn from a huge range of disciplines including international relations, law, theology, economics and business studies are examining the impact of religious faith on politics, business, society, and development in an increasingly globalized society. The focus here is on making the research findings from the university network accessible, meaningful and relevant to policymakers through publications, conferences and policy papers.

Each university customises the course to suit their local contexts and explores aspects of globalization which are particularly relevant to them, for example the key themes in Religions in the Contemporary World at the National University of Singapore are Religion and Technology, Urban Religiosity and Merchandising Religion which reflects the importance of technology in Singapore’s rapidly expanding economy.

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My interest in China – her history, her people and her culture – began before I was British Prime Minister. During my time in office, I knew power was shifting East and sought to build strong relations with this fast moving new power.

Since then, I have got to know the country even better still. Today, I am a witness to a new revolution happening here; to the rapid modernization and the opening up of borders, culture and society both internally and externally. And whilst power is still shifting East, there is a fascination about what that means for China and for the rest of the world. I hope the new partnership my Faith Foundation is announcing with Peking University can, in some way, help to explain. The Tony Blair Faith Foundation has been looking at the issues of faith and globalization for three years now. We’ve been working with some of the world’s leading universities to define and debate these vital questions academically. We started at Yale University in the United States and now have a network of seven leading research institutes, stretching from Mexico to Australia.

I am delighted to be announcing in Beijing that Peking University is the newest member of this group. China’s great wealth of academic, and other, talent is engaging and shaping our world as never before and Peking University holds an esteemed place in the international academic world. I believe the launch of this partnership signifies China’s openness on many levels and willingness to reach out to other universities in a spirit of co-learning and enterprise and to contribute the best of its talent to an international consortium of academics and future leaders. The new course will focus on Western and Chinese doctrinal traditions – looking at different faith traditions in different parts of the world, not just within the Chinese context. This is proof positive of China’s outward-looking perspective. In the future the Peking University and Tony Blair Faith Foundation will co-sponsor a discussion event at the Beijing Forum 2010, under the general theme of “The Harmony of Civilisations and Prosperity for all – commitments and responsibilities for a better world.”

One of the crucial questions for people of faith – and for those who are not – is how does interfaith dialogue impact on international policy-making? How does faith and dialogue motivate and influence decisions on a global scale?

Some in the West may find the idea of debating religion in China strange. They will cite, for example, that proselytising in public places in China remains forbidden. But few are aware that Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Islam and Daoism are all officially recognized and almost one third of Chinese describing themselves as religious – an astonishing figure for an officially atheist country where religion was banned until three decades ago.

According to a 2006 survey by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, 31% of the Chinese public considers religion to be very or somewhat important in their lives, compared with only 11% who say religion is not at all important. When asked a somewhat different question in a 2005 Pew poll, an even greater percentage of the Chinese public (56%) considered religion to be very or somewhat important in their lives.

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Left: Member of Parliament Steven Fletcher; Right: Faith Acts Fellow Nicholas Pang

The 2010 World Religions Summit drafted a statement urging leaders to curb poverty, end violent conflict, and protect the environment. Over 80 representatives from the world’s major faiths convened in Winnipeg, Canada from June 21-24 including, for the first time, representatives of the Baha’i faith. The summit convened in the days leading up to the G8 and G20 summits in Toronto with the conviction that the leaders of the G8 nations have the ability to enact these changes.

The conference was attended by both senior faith leaders and youth delegates, including former Faith Acts Fellows from the Tony Blair Foundation. Over 20 countries were in attendance representing Aboriginal, Buddhist, Baha’i, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, and Shinto religious traditions.

The statement called on leaders to take “inspired leadership and action”:

Acknowledging our common humanity and embracing the imperative to treat all persons with dignity, we affirm that no one person is more or less valuable than another. We urge the political leaders to consider first the vulnerable among us, particularly our children, and to work together to address the dehumanizing scourge of poverty and injustice, and practice and promote care for our common environment, the Earth.

In our diverse faith traditions we have rich histories and powerful dreams for ending poverty, caring for the Earth and being peace-builders. We acknowledge our own shortcomings and inadequacies, we commit to continuing these life-giving actions in the service of the common good. While recognizing efforts already made to address many of these challenges, we expect government representatives to set aside short-term agendas and work together for a future that allows all people on this planet to thrive.

Click here to read more about the 2010 World Religions Summit.

Click here to read more about the Summit and a copy of the report.

This week we have seen some significant steps taken to strengthen the relationships among the diverse religious communities of Silicon Valley.

For the past several months, two Faiths Act Fellows, Tim Brauhn and Hafsa Arain, have been stationed in San Jose to help build a network of students interested in cooperative efforts of service to address global poverty. Sponsored by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation and the Interfaith Youth Core, Tim and Hafsa have been working with students up and down the Peninsula to join together in working to eradicate malaria.

As their term of service comes to an end, they have sponsored meetings in San Francisco earlier this month and again this last Monday, May 10, in San Jose, to report on their efforts and to lay a groundwork for continuing after they go. In the time they have been in this area, they have held fourteen gatherings, have gathered a “Hub” team of 25 people, and have built groups at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, UC Berkeley, University of San Francisco, Santa Clara University, and Stanford.

Also this week, over forty people representing a wide range of religious and community organizations met at the South Bay Islamic Association center in San Jose and resolved to take the necessary steps toward building a multifaith organization that would enable the religious communities of the South Bay to take a more visible and active role in service to the wider community, engagement with governmental and educational institutions, and stronger relationships with one another in building a peaceable environment for all.

The new organization would take on the functions of Silicon Valley’s status as a member of the Partner City Network of the Parliament of the World’s Religions.

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Does your faith inspire you to look after the environment? Has it inspired you to take action in your local community?

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation is running a global film competition for filmmakers under the age of 25.

If you’re under 25 and have something to say about faith, please consider entering the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s global film competition to bring your personal stories to a global audience.

The Judges: The film competition will be judged by a panel of global personalities including Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan, Tony Blair, Jonathan Caplan, Hugh Jackman, Anil Kapoor, Amr Khaled, Jet Li, Kishore Lulla, Wendi Murdoch, Natalie Portman, Nik Powell, Rabbi David Rosen, June Sarpong, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faiths Act Fellows and, Deepak Verma. Click here to read more about the judges.

The Prize: Winners will be flown to London to see their films premiered at BAFTA in front of representatives from the film, television and faith world.

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation is working with Pukkanasha Films on this project.

Visit the Tony Blair Faith Foundation website to learn more

Read their full entries below:
A Parliament for all Faiths
The opening night of the congress was a chance to talk about making interfaith work global
You can find find faith in very unexpected places
Our relationship with the poor is not about charity but partnership
Spiritual greatness is grounded in humility and a desire to serve
December 7-8: ‘Poverty must no longer be with us’
December 9: the final day of the Parliament
December 10: breakfast with the Dalai Lama and time to head home