Evangelical Alliance invites Christians to join Sharia debate

The Evangelical Alliance (EA) is inviting Christians to join the debate on Sharia law by submitting following the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent assertion that the British legal system should accommodate aspects of Sharia law.

The EA is inviting church leaders, theologians and community practitioners to take a fresh look at the place of faith and law in the public square, and the impact that has on community relations and cohesion.

The wider Christian community is also being invited to share its views by submitting comments to the Evangelical Alliance website.

The EA is hoping that the exchange of views will help set the agenda for discussions on faith and law in light of the Archbishop's comments.

Rev Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, said: "The way faith operates in the political and legal sphere has always been extremely important to the Alliance, but the response to the Archbishop's speech has given this debate a real sense of urgency.

"We want to use this as a spring-board to find a way forward for those in our, and other, faith communities who feel disenfranchised on matters of conscience by the changing meaning of what it is to be British.

"We are encouraging the wider Christian community to join in this important conversation, by giving us their views through our website, which we will feed into our discussions."

The Alliance will publish the findings of the consultation - to give your views, please go to the website, www.eauk.org.