英国新闻听力 包容并尊重不同宗教信仰（在线收听）

Good morning. Remember, remember the fifth of November. Gunpowder, treason, and plot.

In the nineteenth century the English religious imagination was kept in balance by the celebration of two annual festivals. On 30 January, the feast of Charles I, king and martyr, people rejoiced that England never became narrowly Protestant. Today, on 5 November, the day of Guy Fawkes’ foiled gunpowder plot, people gave thanks that England was never overrun by Roman Catholics. This was the Anglican balance: to emerge from 150 years of religious conflict with a compromise that avoided the extremes on both sides.

Today, the celebration of 30 January is rare; and the festivities around 5 November have blended with the trick-or-treat traditions of Hallowe’en. The truth is, the British have largely succeeded in domesticating Catholicism and privatising Protestantism so they both appear equally harmless. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean religious antagonism and bigotry have disappeared.

For too long, people of faith have found it hard to do two things simultaneously. They’ve struggled to hold religious convictions deeply, and yet, at the same time, to recognise the right of others to believe differently. The 1605 gunpowder plot was all about holding religious convictions deeply, to the point of blowing up Parliament and seizing political power. But it abides as an example of profound intolerance to those who believe differently – an intolerance that frequently led to the ghastly spectacle of people going to war for the sake of religion. Such travesties gave religion a bad name from which it’s never fully recovered.

Today people of faith in this country are generally better than their forebears at recognising the right of others to believe differently. We applaud individual rights and freedoms. The trouble is, we’ve rather lost the appetite for profound religious convictions. As a result our culture finds it easy to talk about instrumental goods, about the right to work, to be left alone, to be treated decently, to be given a chance in life; but we find it hard to speak publicly about ultimate goods, about our true nature and destiny, about truth, purpose and meaning. Religion’s role in the public square is to stimulate this conversation – but it can’t insist on having the last word.

In one place in the gospels Jesus says, ‘If you’re not with me, you’re against me.’ In another place he says ‘If you’re not against me, you’re with me.’ It’s a paradox that expresses the same balance. If people of faith want respect they have to allow others to believe differently or not at all, and learn from, not blow up, the stranger. Looking to God and cherishing your neighbour shouldn’t be opposites. The challenge is to be equally proficient at both.

早上好。要记住，记住11月5日。火药、叛逆与密谋。

19世纪，两个一年一度的节日使英国的宗教信仰状况基本保持平衡。1月30日，查理一世节——他是一位国王，也是一位殉道者，人们庆祝英格兰没有变成狭隘的新教徒的土地。今天，11月5日，盖伊·福克斯的火药阴谋遭到挫败，人们感谢英格兰没有被罗马天主教徒占领。这就是圣公会平衡：脱离150年的宗教冲突，达成妥协，双方都避免极端行为。

今天，1月30日的庆祝活动已经非常罕见。11月5日的庆祝也混合了万圣节的“不给糖就捣乱”传统。事实真相是，英国人很大程度上已经成功驯化了天主教和新教，所以两者能够和平共处。不幸的是，这并不意味着宗教对抗和偏执已经消失。

很长时间以来，有信仰的人们发现同时做到两件事情很困难。他们努力深刻地保持宗教信仰，然而，同时，要认识到别人有权拥有不同的信仰。1605年的火药阴谋就是因为宗教信仰不同，以至于炸毁议会，夺取政治权利。但是这是难以容忍不同宗教信仰的例子——这种不容忍经常导致大规模的人们以宗教的名义发动战争。这样的悲剧导致宗教背负了永远难以完全摆脱的不良名声。

今天，这个国家有信仰的人们在认可他人有权持有不同信仰方面做得比祖先更好。我们尊重个人的权利和自由。问题是，我们也失去了对宗教信仰深切的渴望。结果，我们的文化发现很容易探讨工具性货物，工作，独处，被善待，获得机会工作的权利。但是我们很难公开讲述终极货物，我们的本性和命运，真相，目的和意义。宗教在公共广场中的作用就是激励对话，但是却没有最终话语权。

耶稣在《新约》四福音书中表示，“如果你不支持我，那就是反对我。”他在另外一个场合说过，“如果你不反对我，你就是支持我。”这是表达同一个平衡的悖论。如果有信仰的人们想要得到尊重，他们就要允许他人有着不同的信仰，或者从他人那里学习，而不是打击他们。信仰上帝和尊重邻居不应该是矛盾的。挑战是两者同等对待。