2. Freedom of Worship

The Reith Lectures

BBC

Society & Culture, Science, Government, Technology

4.2 • 770 Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2022

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, gives the second of the 2022 Reith Lectures, discussing faith and liberty. In his lecture, he cites Lord Acton, the 19th Century thinker on freedom, who said that religious freedom is the basis of all political freedom. Williams addresses this with reference to South Africa and today's controversies around the abortion debate. He argues that for religious believers, freedom of worship must mean the freedom to express conviction, not just the freedom to meet.

The lecture and question-and-answer session is recorded at Swansea University in front of an audience. The presenter is Anita Anand.

The year's series was inspired by President Franklin D Roosevelt's four freedoms speech of 1941 and asks what this terrain means now. It features four different lecturers:

Freedom of Speech by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Freedom to Worship by Rowan Williams Freedom from Want by Darren McGarvey Freedom from Fear by Fiona Hill

Producer: Jim Frank Sound Engineers: Rod Farquhar and Neil Churchill Production Coordinators: Brenda Brown Editor: Hugh Levinson

Transcript

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