Religious bodies were once crucial welfare providers in Britain. In recent decades several Western governments are keen to bring them on board again. But times have changed. Can ‘faithful people’ still deliver, and what do they currently have to offer?

Date: Wednesday 21 March 2012
Time: 5.30-7pm
Venue: RUSI, 61 Whitehall, London SW1A 2ET
Speakers: Peter Smith and David Blunkett

In response to escalating religious fundamentalism and division, Karen Armstrong argues that religion has more to do with behaviour than belief, and urges us to make compassion ‘a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarised world’.

Date: 5 March 2012
Time: 7.00pm
Venue: Hall One, King’s Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG

Dr Serena Hussain is a sociologist and human geographer currently working at the University of Oxford. Her principle area of expertise is the social and demographic characteristics of Muslims in Britain. She also works extensively on research exploring the internal migration of Britain's sub populations, as well as segregation within residential and educational settings. She is the author of Muslims on the Map: a national survey of social trends in Britain, published by IB Tauris in 2008, as well as numerous other journals and edited book chapters.

With Dr Sean McLoughlin.

This event is part of a Public Lecture series organised by Cardiff University's Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK.

In His infinite wisdom, Allah tests his servants in different ways. Of the many tests He can present to us, disability can be a particularly challenging one to both the disabled person and their loved ones. In the end, the Almighty rewards those who accept His decree, persevere and maintain their devotion despite the trials.

The popular revolutions from the Arab world last year took many by surprise. The region celebrated the over-throw of three seemingly unshakable dictatorships, witnessed monarchies rush through reforms, and supported the demands for change in other countries. As the Arab Spring continues through the changing seasons, the world continues to watch what becomes of the remaining oppressive regimes and how the post revolution countries transition - or not - to democracy.

Since 9/11 and 7/7 billions have been invested in tackling and understanding religious radicalisation. This debate brings together academic and policy experts to consider what have we learned:
About its nature and causes?
About parallels and precedents?
About the effect of policies designed to tackle the problem?
About future threats and where we go from here?

Thanks to new research by Richard Dawkins and John Pritchard which will be presented at this debate, we now have a good idea of the place that religion actually has in UK schools today. But what place should it have? And is there still a place for ‘faith schools’, old and new?

Date: Wednesday 22 February 2012
Time: 5.30-7pm
Venue: RUSI, 61 Whitehall, London SW1A 2ET
Speakers: Robert Jackson and Jim Conroy