Hands across the gap

AS I suggested in a recent posting, Pope Francis said something quite profound, and provocative, when he declared in his folksy way that the atheist and the believer could "meet each other" by doing good. In almost every democracy, there is a lot of hard debate about the terms on which people of different religions and none can or should co-operate to achieve common goals, which might be social, political or humanitarian.

A British think-tank, Theos, is plunging into this discussion. Theos is a body that commands attention, and not just by virtue of its name, which is the Greek for God. It was launched with some fanfare in 2006 by the leaders of the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. From an office a stone's throw from the Palace of Westminster, it opines on the public role of faith in a country that combines Christian institutions and public symbols, an intensely secular intelligentsia and a messy multi-faith reality.

The body's latest report is a clarion call for "political friendships across difference" in which people of various faiths and no faith form local coalitions to attain their ends. The author, David Barclay, starts with a couple of points on which many secular thinkers would agree. Public endeavours of any kind are likely to be coalitions, in a country where not only churches but political parties and trade unions have seen a tumble in membership. And "state multiculturalism"—helping religious and ethnic groups to assert their distinctiveness—is widely seen as a dangerous failure, at risk of turning the nation into self-contained blocks that hardly touch.

The answer? People with contrasting ideas about the ultimate can get to know and respect one another by working together to change everyday reality in big and small ways. The author acknowledges his debt to the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, who has said faith groups should stand "side by side" at a common coal-face rather than face to face. But in his report, "Making Multiculturalism Work", Mr Barclay goes on to challenge some secularist thinking about broad coalitions. He insists that religious partners in any project should be free to talk about their motives; otherwise friendships will be superficial. As an example of secularist thinking which in his view demands too much, he cites a contributor to a Labour website who puts her case like this:

The question for me is, would I be a friend with someone who thinks my sexuality, or right of access to contraception or abortion is inherently wrong? I would not. Why are making these exceptions seen as not a problem when we deal with faith groups?

Mr Barclay says this seems "a truly extraordinary view of friendship" because it could ultimately "rule out the possibility of being friends with anyone who disagrees on anything of fundamental importance."

Which point of view is closer to real life? It is both difficult, and sometimes necessary, to establish friendships with people whose views on fundamental matters are at odds with our own. What makes the difference, in general, is the strength of the incentive to collaborate. Often the best glue for a coalition is the negative sort—the desire to overcome a common foe or to stop something undesirable. The biggest street demonstration in British history (against the imminent Iraq war, in February 2003) was mainly organised by two small, pragmatic groups whose world-views are utterly at odds: the (Trotskyist) Socialist Workers' Party and the Muslim Association of Britain. Women in hijab marched alongside comrades who sported piercings and tattoos. In the local politics of several European cities there is ad-hoc co-operation between devout Muslims and gay-rights advocates; both groups gravitate towards city centres, and both feel historically disadvantaged.

Against a common adversary, almost any combination of human beings can be friends. In the street protests now raging in Turkey, bohemians and liberals march alongside some devout Muslims, Turkish nationalists share the street with advocates of ethnic minorities. Rage with the existing order can be a wonderful unifier. Bringing diverse people together for some more constructive cause is harder, but not impossible if everybody really wants to get the job done.

Venezuela has operated currency controls for a decade, and restricted access to dollars at the official rate of 6.3 bolivars are a major gripe for local businesses and a cause of the OPEC member's slowing growth rate.

The Finance Ministry source said the government of newly-elected President Nicolas Maduro will in July allow a renewal of the so-called Sicad system. In a first round in March of this year, dollars were sold to businesses for reportedly as much as 14 bolivars apiece.

After another Sicad auction, authorities will then allow a revival of a system prohibited since 2010, under which dollars are sold by private brokers at a floating rate determined by a complicated formula linked to bond prices, the source added.

One local think-tank, Ecoanalitica, estimates that some 140 billion U.S. dollars have left the country illicitly since the currency controls were first put in place by Chavez's government in 2003.

Maduro argues that private businessmen and capitalist "speculators" have been deliberately hoarding consumer products and sabotaging the economy in order to undermine his rule.

In the first quarter of this year, the state currency board Cadivi opened investigations into more than 2,400 companies and suspended more than 200 for what it termed foreign exchange "irregularities."

Until it was shuttered by the government in May 2010, scores of brokerages had reaped a lucrative trade in foreign exchange through bond swaps in what was known as the "parallel market."

That amounted to a $30 billion a year market and provided dollars for, by some estimates, at least a quarter of imports, before the authorities raided many of the brokerages, which the Chavez government had accused of illegal money laundering and unchecked speculation.

With inflation running at a record monthly high of 6.1 percent in May and growth slowing to just 0.7 percent in the first quarter despite high oil prices, Maduro has inherited economic headaches only two months into his new job.

Next month's revival of Sicad is unlikely to bring quick relief. Only $200 million was sold at the auction in March, while economists estimate that the Venezuelan economy needs around $100 million per day to cover the imports it needs.

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