LONDON, March 22 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair has found himself engaged in a delicate balancing act between courting religious voters and dispelling concerns that U.S.-style faith-based politics may be taking root in Britain.
The controversial entrance of the abortion issue onto the British electoral agenda last week has ignited debate about the apparent foray of some political leaders into religious campaigning.
Blair attempted to distance himself from this perception Tuesday, telling the Christian group Faithworks, "I don't want to end up with an American-style politics with us all going out and beating our chests about our faith."
Though faith played an important role on a personal level, it wasn't "very healthy" when it was used in the political process, he said.
However, Blair said he wanted churches and faith groups to play a bigger role in national life, and praised their work for social justice at home and abroad.
And despite a recent cross-party consensus that religious beliefs on such issues as abortion should not enter party politics, Blair went on to say he would like to see church leaders "play a bigger, not a lesser role in the future."
Emphasizing the role of the voluntary sector, including faith groups and churches, in today's society, he said the days of conflict between the welfare state and such organizations were over.
"The only politics which really works today is politics based on a sense of partnership," Blair said.
Faith groups had a vital part to play in fostering a sense of community, mutual respect, help and cooperation in society, he said, adding, "A selfish society is a contradiction in terms to me."
He highlighted Labor's work on issues of concern to Christian voters, particularly on reducing child poverty and debt relief for poor nations. The government enthusiastically supported the work of churches in campaigning against such problems, he said.
Local authorities should "lose the hang-up" about working on community projects with faith groups, he also said. Likewise, the government was looking at long-term core funding for faith groups rather than just for short-term projects.
He stressed that religious groups should be more confident about proclaiming the value of their work and should not feel that they have to de-emphasize their faith in public.
Blair took the opportunity to paint himself as an idealistic and moral man, set apart from the "fury and thunder" of election campaigning.
The media showed only glimpses of politicians and provided little insight into their minds and motivations, he said.
"At the heart of my politics has always been the value of community," he continued. "the belief that we are not merely individuals struggling in isolation from each other, but members of a community who depend on each other, who benefit from each other's help, who owe obligations to each other."
It was this humanist angle that he emphasized, trying to appeal to values shared by Christians, secularists and other faith groups.
Blair squirmed somewhat when asked about spiritual poverty in Britain. Careful not to be drawn into a debate on religion, he said, "so much of it is about just helping people to understand what it is that makes a community work properly."
Likewise, he attempted to play down the importance of abortion as an electoral issue, denying the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales had advocated voting against Labor.
The row over the role of religion in politics was sparked by Conservative Leader Michael Howard's claim last week that he would support reducing the legal time limit on abortions, and would allow parliamentary time for a debate on the issue.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor immediately commended Howard's stance -- as a first step toward abolition of abortion -- and recommended Catholics consider candidates' position on the issue when choosing how to vote. This could mean a break with the tradition of Catholic support for Labor, he said.
Other religious leaders then piled into the debate. Iqbal Sacranie of the Muslim Council of Britain and Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks both welcomed the Conservative call, while Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams suggested parliamentary candidates should be questioned on the issue.
It is a sensitive issue for Blair, who is a member of the Christian Socialist Movement, but keeps his faith well under wraps. His strategists constantly deflect questions from journalists on his faith. Alistair Campbell, Blair's former chief spin-doctor, famously told one inquiring reporter, "We don't do God," recognizing that most Britons are rather suspicious of overly religious politicians.
Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society told United Press International Blair recognized the danger of allowing clerics to dictate the political agenda, hence his shunning of U.S.-style faith-based politics at the Faithworks lecture.
The prime minister was trying to appeal to religious constituencies without upsetting the secular majority, he said, noting he refused to join the group in prayer.
Blair was engaged in "a very strange balancing act of trying not to appear overtly religious and trying to court the religious vote," said Sanderson. "I don't think he's getting away with it," he added.
Sanderson did not believe Britain was heading toward U.S.-style politics on this issue, given that only 5 percent of people in this country say they regularly attend a place of worship. Britons simply do not have the same level of religious interest as Americans, he said.
However, faith groups and churches were "exerting undue influence" on the political agenda at present, he said.
"The government is very much dominated by Christians who are bringing their agenda to the table, and I think a lot of people are quite alarmed about it," he said.
Labor lawmaker Alice Mahon also expressed concern at the way that religion was "being given a more prominent role in our democracy."
Speaking to BBC Radio, she said that she wanted the state to be "secular" with "a strong commitment to equality before the law for everybody."
A particular concern, she said, was how religion was being asked to participate in policymaking, referring to the creation of a ministerial group charged with bringing religious ideas to government departments.
"There are other groups in society who have just as much to offer" she added. "We are going down a road that they have gone down with great cost in America."
But Rev. Steve Chalke of Faithworks said that the church was "not looking for special status but a level playing field."
He told UPI his "politically active but politically neutral" group believed that social welfare was as much the responsibility of the voluntary sector, including faith-based organizations, as the government.
"You cannot push away your responsibility to some elected official to relieve your responsibility to be a neighbor to your neighbor," he said.
Voluntary organizations, including faith groups, needed to have a far deeper involvement in government policymaking than at present, he said.
Chalke said the religious affiliation of politicians should not be an issue in voting, but it was important that they recognize that other people were motivated by their faith.
What religious groups wanted to see from Blair was that he was open and willing to work with the diversity of all people, he said.
After coming to visit Faithworks, "I hope he's also visiting the National Secular Society and the atheists," he said. "He really should do."
One group Blair is also courting energetically is the Muslim community, whose support for Labor was much depleted due to the Iraq war and the ongoing "war on terror." The government has been keen to emphasize its work to meet the needs of Muslims, and Blair will no doubt take the opportunity to speak directly to them in the run-up to the election.
The coming weeks will likely see the debate go on as the parties perform electoral gymnastics to woo secular and religious voters. Though religion is unlikely to achieve political importance of American proportions any time soon, its already unprecedented impact on a British election campaign seems set to continue.
