Political and religious leaders back Clean Slate Campaign.The Bishop of London The Bishop of London is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 458 km² (177 sq. mi.) of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames (previously the County of Middlesex) and a small part of the , the Rt Rev Richard Chartres Richard John Carew Chartres DD FSA (born July 11, 1947) is the 132nd Bishop of London, being confirmed in office in November 1995. He was previously Bishop of Stepney (1992–1995) and Gresham Professor of Divinity (1987–1992). , saw it as `a simple idea which expresses a deep spiritual truth'; the former Archbishop of Armagh Today there are two people who hold the title of Archbishops of Armagh:
Half of the 80 patrons of the Clean Slate Campaign, including religious leaders from six major faiths, gathered in four cities--London, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff--last December to support the campaign. By the end of the year some 75,000 clean slate leaflets had been distributed, including to 3,500 schools, inviting people to sign a promise `to take at least one practical step' to wipe their personal slates clean before the new Millennium. Many more had heard about the campaign on radio and TV broadcasts. `This is a very simple message, but a very powerful one,' said Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is an unincorporated association founded in 1997 with the following aims:
In a message endorsing the campaign, Britain's Education Secretary, David Blunkett, said that `everyone can think of something that they either should have done, or should not have done, and the Clean Slate Campaign provides an opportunity not only to start afresh, but also to learn from the past and behave differently in the future.' Ann Widdecombe, the Shadow Home Secretary, said she had been attracted to the campaign because it was a `spiritually based exercise'. The difference between the campaign and new year resolutions was that it `obliged oneself to do something by looking back' over one's life. Lord Alton of Liverpool stressed that wiping the slate clean was not just a personal matter. The 99 members of Liverpool City Council
Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. had recently passed a unanimous resolution expressing regret for the city's three centuries of involvement in the slave trade slave trade Capturing, selling, and buying of slaves. Slavery has existed throughout the world from ancient times, and trading in slaves has been equally universal. Slaves were taken from the Slavs and Iranians from antiquity to the 19th century, from the sub-Saharan . The Bishop of London added, `When you put something right and forgive you release a great deal of energy and diffuse tension.' |
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