Religious suspicion, public prayer and peacemaking in Scotland
by Luke Devlin
In contemporary Scotland, the fragile values of tolerance, relatively peaceful community cohesion, and freedom of belief that we currently enjoy simply cannot be taken for granted. A restive atmosphere of far right agitation, driven in part by online mis and disinformation, is at risk of fracturing a society primed to seek out scapegoats. People are unhappy about their standard of living and the state of their local areas. It’s a society that is struggling in the face of inflation and the cost of living crisis, housing scarcity and the erosion of community assets, civic values and a degraded, underfunded public realm. In a time of war, lies, and extremism, we are called to take seriously the task of active peacemaking and restoration: internationally, and in our communities, too.
This includes meaningfully reckoning with the febrile tensions running through our social fabric: strong opinions, lived experience of perceived injustice, and the 'legitimate concerns' of those who feel unheard but also anger, neglect, and unresolved harms that our society has long failed to address. The Church's social teaching reminds us that every person bears the dignity of God's image and affirms that all people have the right to migrate in pursuit of a life worthy of human dignity especially when they flee violence, injustice, or destitution.
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Luke Devlin is a human ecologist, social commentator and broadcaster from Glasgow who works in education, community development and restorative justice. He writes here in a personal capacity.