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THEO3900 External Placement- Theology and Religious Studies Beyond the University
May 2013
Word Count: 4,278 1
Theology and Religious Studies Beyond The University: Central Library
Local History Archive Report
Introduction
This report will focus upon my time within my external placement at Leeds
Central Library and reflecting upon the challenges and benefits to observing
TRS outside of a strictly academic environment. Beginning this placement my
objective was primarily that of seeking donations from religious communities,
either well-established or newly arrived to add to the archives the Central
Library already held. Leeds Central Library is a grade II listed building found in
Leeds City Centre which holds the largest collection of books and resources
in the municipal district of Leeds.1 Within it, the department of Local and
Family History located in Information Services serves as a large reference
library listing its subjects primarily as ‘history, geography, religion, education
and natural history’ of Leeds and Yorkshire as well as further resources for
tracing family roots and genealogies.2 I expected that the project itself would
garner a lot of attention and enthusiasm from religious communities, but there
was less of a response than I expected.
1 Leeds City Council. History of Leeds Municipal Building, Leeds City Council
History Pamphlets (2010)
2 Leeds City Council. (2012) ‘Local and Family History Services’, Leeds City
Council Online, Accessed 20 March 2013 on:
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/leisure/Pages/Local-and-family-history-service.aspx
THEO3900 External Placement- Theology and Religious Studies Beyond the University
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The aim of my report is to discuss why I believe I missed opportunities to
enhance the archives of the Central Library, and the reasoning behind this. I
was tasked with attempting to collect a more diverse reflection of Leeds
through the Central Library’s archives of religious material. The Central
Library had a wide range of material already that was shown to me on my first
day, but it was predominantly of collected from Christian churches, in
proportionately affluent areas. What I perceived as my goal was to
successfully create links with religious and cultural groups the Library had not,
or could not get in touch with for various reasons and gain some form of
material that could preserve that particular group’s history within Leeds. Like
all research projects I was very optimistic about the amount of responses I
would get, but unfortunately not everything is as successful as one could
hope. There are various reasons projects such as this have limitations which
will be further elaborated upon later in this report, but it must be remembered
that the majority of responses were positive and thus open to further contact
from Leeds Central Library.
My aim within the project altered from specifically requesting donations
towards initially connecting to religious groups that may have not been
included in other projects of this sort for the purpose that if they became more
culturally established and were able to donate to the Library’s archives, the
relationship would already be existent.
The Politics of Religion in Local Government
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It has been almost ten years since Alistair Campbell, the former government’s
director of strategy and communications famously interrupted Prime Minister
Tony Blair with the words ‘We don’t do God’ when the press approached the
Prime Minister about his faith.3 With this as a landmark quote for a perceived
secular nation, it is questionable why an individual’s religious identity could be
so detrimental to his party politics. Moreover, it reiterates that religion is still
very much an important part of society today if it is a subject of concern to
discuss. With the promotion of understanding different communities and
religions within Britain at the core of New Labour’s politics and its political
legacy, government policy has since geared towards a comprehension of
religious understanding, and it is significant to recognise how this has affected
local government in their communications with key faith groups that have
been identified.
It seems key to reference the American report ‘Social Capital’, in which the
title term is summarised in two words: ‘relationships matter’.4 Relationships
are adaptable, they change in different situations both business and personal,
and the way in which we approach them should be our top concern.
3 Brown, C. (2003) ‘Campbell interrupted Blair as he spoke of his faith: 'We
don't do God' The Telegraph, Accessed 21 March 2013 on:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1429109/Campbell-interrupted-Blair-
as-he-spoke-of-his-faith-We-dont-do-God.html
4 Field, J. Social Capital (London: Routledge 2003), p. 9
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Moreover, the way in which we approach religion, a practice founded on
relationships, requires a form of sensitivity. This concept of social capital must
be taken lightly as it is not short if its critics, but the way in which it is used by
government policy initiatives reflects that a better understanding of ‘it’ leads
to:
‘Better educational attainment, lower crime levels, improved
health, more active citizenship, better functioning labour markets
and higher economic growth’5
Although this quotation originates from the New Labour era, it is relevant to
the formation of government policy surrounding the idea of the ‘Big Society’.
In ‘The Big Society: Power to the People’ Ben Kisby reports that Cameron
claimed in his speech announcing the initiative had three central points
‘empowering communities, redistributing power, and a culture of
volunteering’. 6 Arguably the formation of a ‘Big Society’ occurs through
grassroots initiative, and I see a project such as this as part of an enterprise
for greater understanding of religious groups.7 What the Library was exploring
5 PIU. Social Capital: A Discussion Paper (London: Cabinet Office 2003)
6 Kisby, B. (2010) ‘The Big Society: Power to the People?’, The Political
Quarterly 81(4), pp. 484- 491, p. 484
7 Woolcock’s distinctions between the three types of social capital come
highly useful for those wishing to research social policy.
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in allowing a project such as this to be conducted is primarily the concept of
‘linking’, approaching groups that were not already in the Council’s extensive
circles to attempt some form of ‘bridge’ with them. A culture of volunteering is
essentially what this project is looking for, but regardless of the political
branding and the government’s approval, it is a much more difficult concept
than an idealistic speech.
Initial Methodology
Perhaps the most essential part of understanding my report is how I collated
it. Firstly, my tutor at the Central Library and I agreed on a format of a letter I
was to send out, asking if the organisation in question whether or not they
would be able to donate any form of material, chargeable or free to the
Library, preferably on a regular basis. When sent out as a letter a freepost
envelope would be included with a form for which the organisation could fill in
and return back to us. This was the optimum way in which we received
feedback or general responses to the project. I also sent out emails using
addresses found in the Central Library’s ‘talis’ database. Talis contained
records of a number of different community groups and was very helpful in an
initial search for volunteers. One of the advantages to emails is that they
ensure that the organisations who do not have a specific residential/ business
Woolcock, M. (2001) ‘The Place of Social Capital in Understanding Social and
Economic Outcomes’, Isuma: Canadian Journal of Policy Research 2(1), pp.
1-17
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address are aware of the initial objective of the project so that if they felt they
had something to provide they had a quick means of contacting Information
Services and a way to download the form sent out with the letters. Prior to the
project I thought perhaps phone calls would be the most effective way of
getting people to input into the project, but as the methodological issues I
explore highlight, problems with a lack of availability of phone numbers or
phone numbers simply not working, meant the most effective way was by
post.
Donations mainly came in the form of newsletters, event flyers, books that
were used for teaching purposes and historical leaflets concerning religious
buildings and communities within the district. Receiving donations was
organised mainly through the organisations coming to the Central Library, as
most were happy to send in or drop off material. I kept track of who had been
contacted and their response through constructing a database that was colour
coded to denote which religious tradition they belonged to (see appendix).
Overall there were seventy-eight organisations I myself had contacted (the full
amount on the database is eighty-six), of which twenty-eight responded.
Methodological Issues
In order to comprehend the success of the placement, the obstacles to
achieving its greatest potential must be identified. Each point will be
considered in its religious context, but it is important to highlight them first.
THEO3900 External Placement- Theology and Religious Studies Beyond the University
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The Central Library’s priority was to find regular material such as newsletters
and information booklets that groups provided their members during the year.
However, this requires time, effort, resources and more importantly funds to
secure these three. But with declining funds and reduced funding through
charity and government donations during this time of austerity, cultural groups
including those with religious inclination in general have suffered greatly
because of finances. Thus, it made it difficult to find community groups in
Leeds that were able to contribute regular material for the archive, if anything
at all. As the ‘Faith and Voluntary Action’ report shows, and I mentioned
briefly in the introduction, many religious communities and cultural groups
have fewer links than one would expect with local authority and their forms of
support primarily come from an internal basis.8
On the other hand, a lot of religious groups have taken advantage of the
advent of the Internet in connecting themselves. For example, one Jewish
charitable organisation has produced their own archive that can be accessed
via the Internet, rich of Jewish history within Leeds. This is very much their
work therefore it would be difficult to attain a form of hard copy for the library,
therefore something could be discussed in reference to creating integral links
from the library database to such a digital archive.
8 Lukka, P; Locke, M; Soteri-Procter, A. Faith in Voluntary Action: Community,
Values and Resources (London: Institute of Volunteering Research 2003), p.
10
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Another issue I found within initially contacting various religious groups was
that they were unsure of what Central Library would use the material for.
Although my placement tutor and myself had agreed and understood what the
letter we were sending out implied, I had a range of different questions that
came back to me.
For example:
Will you be allowing material that may be homophobic within
your archives?
Where will the archive be and if there is little interest will our
material be discarded?
If I am unhappy with what is displayed alongside our material
can I have it removed? 9
Even though they were very relevant and interesting issues to raise I was not
people to be so cautious towards the project, rather I was expecting people to
relish the promotion of their causes. Furthermore, they were incredibly
relevant, and I had not considered the notion that people may submit material
that could be perceived as offensive by the general public, and what would be
done in such a situation. Whereas the university setting allows certain
sensitive views to be acknowledged, it is difficult to enforce this sensitivity in a
work environment, especially one for public use.
9 As the person did not wish to contribute to the project, I have refrained from
using their name or organisation.
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Other reasons for people not wanting to participate included an unwillingness
to share personal information. One particular Synagogue was reluctant to
share their information concerns about data protection, considering many
pamphlets and newsletters do contain addresses, phone numbers etc.
Secondly, organisations were simply too busy. Many had their own issues to
deal with in their congregation, especially financial therefore this would be a
waste of revenue for them to participate in.
Thirdly, people were already donating to separate archives such as religiously
organised collectives like the aforementioned Jewish archive or secular
programmes such as the West Yorkshire Archive. Interestingly enough, the
Library and the Leeds City Council overall do not recognise themselves as
secular organisations, rather the topic of religion is simply not mentioned until
it is brought up for the purposes of equality and diversity; it is not specifically
discussed.
However, some places did want to participate but it was unfeasible. One
reason some religious groups did not produce material for their congregation
was that the demand simply wasn’t there- they were situated in a socio-
economically deprived area, and literacy standards were poor therefore it is
easier to communicate through word of mouth. To produce a newsletter
simply to archive would be a pointless venture. And lastly, I had a large
number of groups who did not get back to me which may simply be because
they were too busy, but it is likely that telephone numbers and email
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addresses could have required updating since resources such as Talis had
not been updated for a long while.
The Popularity of Urban Buddhism
Regardless of the methodological issues the placement has still collected a
sizeable amount of data, most of which can be used in the future for further
projects involving bridging the gap between faith communities and local
government. For example, the large proportion of Buddhist groups suggested
that Buddhism was a much more popular religious ideology in West Yorkshire
than the project had first realised. Buddhism in the Western World has arisen
as a religious philosophy that has attracted many women to it, and although I
attribute my perception of this heavily coming from the proportion of women I
interacted with over men, it did make me contemplate why.10
It could be suggested that the spiritual sanctuary found in Buddhism for many
women and men alike could be due to a displeasure of city living and the
consumerism the majority of people face in their everyday lives, as well as the
stress it puts upon a person, in particular women. As S.J. Tambiah states in
his article ‘Buddhism and This-Worldly Activity’, the deliverance of a reprieve
from spiritual suffering is the mission of Buddhism, like the deliverance from
economic suffering is the mission of socialism. Although many might disagree
10 For further writing on women and Buddhism, please refer to Rita Gross’
Buddhism after Patriarchy (1993), which I consulted during my placement.
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with Tambiah, it is an insight into the true message of Buddhism since
spiritual suffering and economic sufferings are the symptoms of materialism
and escape is only found in realising this.11 As previously mentioned we live in
a time of austerity, and the meditative practice Buddhism encourages attracts
those who seek a balance within their lives.
In the 2011 Census it was recorded within Leeds 2,772 people identified
themselves as ‘Buddhist’, around 0.4% of the population. This may seem like
a small amount, but the community is thriving and incredibly pro active and
aware of itself and its members, and acknowledges both their similarities and
differences. Furthermore, the populations is growing- this is an almost double
increase from 2001 in which 1, 587 identified as ‘Buddhist’, 0.22% of the
population.12 Of course these figures must be treated as guidelines, since
many ‘Buddhists’ would not label themselves as such, and some may identify
with Buddhism without adhering to any form of practice (there is extreme
difficulty in determining a person’s belief by definition only in such large
studies such as the Census). However, the records the Census show are still
testament to growing interest attached to Buddhism and the positive
11 Tambiah, S.J. (1973) ‘Buddhism and This-Worldly Activity’, Modern Asian
Studies 7(1), pp. 1- 20, p. 17
12 Census, 2001- 2011
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confrontation by primarily middle class white women of gender inequalities
faced by other faith communities.13
The Jewish Population of Leeds
The Jewish population were very responsive, and although I did not receive
donations for each group, it was interesting to know why they wouldn’t donate.
Unlike many other religious denominations I noticed that my database
recorded most of their organisations within the LS8 area (Roundhay,
Gledhow). Judaism within Leeds has stemmed back to over 150 years ago,
and as Douglas Charing notes, for the majority of this century the Jewish
population of Leeds has been the third largest in the country.14 However, the
interest I hold for the Jewish population within this report is not the size of the
population, but its close-knit area. Like many other regions of the country,
Leeds has seen a decrease in its Jewish population, due to families moving to
be closer to larger Jewish areas such as North London and Manchester,
where the availability of synagogues and kosher butchers is higher.15 This
would explain the reasoning behind what appears to be many Jewish
13 Farnell, R; Furbey, R; Shams Al-Haqq Hills, S; Macey, M; Smith, G. (2003)
Faith in Urban Regeneration: Engaging Faith Communities in Urban
Regeneration The Policy Press: Bristol, p. 34
14 Charing, D. in Religion in Leeds, ed. By A. Mason. (Far Thrupp: Sutton
1994), p. 129
15 Ibid. (1994), p. 140
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organisations moving to be closer together over the last century or so of living
within West Yorkshire. Jewish communities are renowned for maintaining
close relationships to each other and building a strong foundation for their
families, which is arguably as a result of the anti-Semitism they have endured
throughout their history. Although Leeds remains a wonderfully multi-cultural
society, when tensions are high it appears, like all industrial cities, those who
are new or in the minority e.g. migrants such as the Jewish community in the
19th – 20th century, will be attacked and alienated.
An example of this would be the riot that broke out in June 1917, primarily in
the Leylands area of Leeds, due to the political extremism that was brewing
under the surface of near post World War One Britain. Jewish properties were
looted as young Christians and Jews fought in the street.16 Jewish men were
accused of not aiding in the war effort, which was a severe misinterpretation
since over two thousand fought in World War One. The anti- Semitism that the
Jewish people have received and continue to receive in some areas would
explain why their groups were reluctant to share anything concerning their
community’s details. Although the project is aiming to reflect a more diverse
portrayal of Leeds in the archives, personal data and information is something
that must be seriously acknowledged as an obstacle to some religious groups
donating.
The Hindu and Muslim Communities of Leeds
16 Thornton, D. Leeds: The History of a City (Ayr: Fort Publishers 2002), p.
186
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What was probably the most surprising thing within my placement was that I
was unable to reach any Hindu or Muslim organisations within Leeds, or the
Mandirs and Mosques themselves.17
Leeds Hindu Mandir, situated on Alexandra Road has been serving the Hindu
community of Leeds since 1968, but from using the Internet and the resource
database provided by the Central Library itself, it would appear to the general
public and council to be alone in its efforts. This was a concerning discovery,
but perhaps the role of the Mandir may have different meanings in different
forms of Hinduism. Devotional forms of puja are mainly performed at home,
therefore the idea of a Temple may not be relevant for all Hindus, or those
with a relationship towards Hinduism within a form of Indian philosophy may
not feel the need to demonstrate the practice within a mainstream Temple.
For example, Kim Knott refers to ‘Raja Yogis’, those who are on a path of
spirituality that is presented as influenced by Indian philosophy within a
Western context, thus suggesting that the Western framework may alter the
practice. Within West Yorkshire, at the time of pressing ‘Hinduism in Leeds’,
there were various forms of such groups, including the ‘Ramakrishna Order’,
‘Divine Light Premis’, or ‘Ananda Margiis’. 18 However, the geographical
17 It must be noted that the time of this report being finalized I gained a further
contact in the Harehills region of Leeds who may through the future of the
project be aiding in donations from the Muslim demographic of Leeds.
18 Knott, K. Hinduism in Leeds (Leeds: University of Leeds 1986), p. 11
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limitations of the project meant areas such as Bradford and Wakefield were
not included in the project, thus the contacts that may have been gained from
including such locations were excluded as the placement was to reflect the
diversity of Leeds itself, and only Leeds.
What I found to be an issue, which seems to be a parallel issue of Knott’s
monograph, was that the displacement of Indian Hindus within Leeds at that
present time has led Leeds’ Hindus to become very individual to that of other
major urban Hindu communities. The difficulty in addressing population
numbers of the communities lies in the differentiation in practice thus what
could be argued as incompatibility between each other may mean greater
efforts for the Council and Library itself in order to find some form of material
they can archive.
One suggestion I would make for the project’s continuation is to contact and
establish links with the Bradford Hindu Cultural Society, predominantly
mentioned in Bowen’s chapter of Hinduism in England, The Hindu Community
in Bradford.19 Although they may exist outside of geographical limitations,
they will certainly be able to aid in Hindu relations within Leeds itself.
However, it must be remembered that as the Faith in Voluntary Action report
reflects, some faith communities that may want to be addressed in the name
19 Bowen, D.G. ‘The Hindu Community in Bradford’. Hinduism in England, ed.
By D.G. Bowen. (Bradford: Faculty of Contemporary Studies, Bradford
College 1981)
THEO3900 External Placement- Theology and Religious Studies Beyond the University
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of social inclusion may not wish to participate in bridging such gaps.20 So
ensuring that the Hindu community does not feel hassled by such requests is
highly important.
As for Islamic organisations, the Faith in Voluntary Action report may be
correct in their case too. Although one of the university societies got in touch
with some backdated leaflets, no Muslim group fully donated. Furthermore, I
would suggest that had the project been extended to Bradford, Central Library
would’ve received a lot more material, not necessarily specific to that
geographic location, but simply because the foundations of Islamic
correspondence to social cohesion and government policy are much more
advanced there. In both cases for the Hindu and Muslim communities
although it may look like their communities are fully established, that may not
be the case.
There is still a sense of displacement even with so many government
initiatives that aim to reduce such feeling, but don’t seem to be working as
well as they should be. As Jocelyne Cesari notes in ‘When Islam and
Democracy Meet’, communities of challenged socio-economic status tend to
turn in on themselves,21 and rightly so, but this isolationism must be targeted
by projects such as this to ensure that diversity is highlighted in academia, a
20 Lukka, P. et al (2003), p. 11
21 Cesari, J. When Islam and Democracy Meet (Basingstoke; New York:
Palgrave Macmillan 2004), p. 23
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stellar example being the Community Religions Project, set up in 1976 by the
University of Leeds. Perhaps a suggestion as an improvement for the
improvement of this project is some co-dependent work between the two,
especially the inclusion of the Community Religions Project reports in the
library’s archives.22
I have realised through this project and fully believe that the engagement of
religious communities that may not have the deep rooted history in Britain like
the various denominations of Christianity do have the chance to be involved
with secular programmes in urban regeneration by sharing within other faith
communities and although it may be a slow process to get there, it is all the
more rewarding when the engagement of faith communities begins to work.23
Breaking the ‘mainstream monopoly of Christianity’
There may be some slight confusion as to why I have not constituted an entire
section on the Christian faith and organisations attributed to it. In general I
received the most donations from various Church denominations, but it was
not anything we hadn’t already seen. That led me to question whether or not
we were seeking any form of religious organisation’s material, or just that of
groups that did not have an Anglo-Christian background. I refer to ‘Anglo-
22 I have included a link to the Community Religions Project for further
information. See: <http://arts.leeds.ac.uk/crp/>
23 Farnell, R. et al (2003), p. 10
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Christian’ since there are many churches that inhabit Leeds such as churches
that are affiliated with a Polish Roman Catholic identity.
Of course we welcomed anyone’s generosity, but I do feel that in order to
reflect a more effective portrayal of Leeds as a diverse community, Central
Library was right in wanting to gain more ‘bridges’ with more diverse
communities. The dominance of what can be defined as ‘Anglo-Christianity’
was obvious when first looking around the archive; yet involving minority
religious organisations in projects such as this allows them to have their share
in Leeds’ history- community establishment and renewal must occur through
grassroots initiatives. As Jane Thompson remarks, 70% of Britain’s black and
minority ethnic citizens live in the poorest neighbourhoods, in which social
exclusion is prevalent for various reasons. The Government, both local and
national, must be vigilant in trying to regain people’s trust since short-term
policy interventions consistently failing means many are reluctant to become
involved.24
Throughout my placement I was very much influenced by ‘Faith in Urban
Regeneration’ and its talk of the desire of widening participation to ‘break the
mainstream monopoly of Christianity’.25 What many local communities realise
when they become involved in interfaith groups is that their material issues
24 Thompson, J. Community Education and Neighbourhood Renewal
(Nottingham: Russell Press 2002), p. 1
25 Farnell, R. et al (2003), p. 31
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regardless of religious inclinations, such as: ‘jobs, housing, environment,
crime, drugs, education’ are actually shared, and there is little variance in their
coping methods, although the report does disclose that there are some
detached faith organisations that are underrepresented in their report. 26
What may also be recognised in my report is that I have included an extensive
discussion on the Hindu and Muslim population of Leeds, but not Sikh. This is
due to restrictions I have with this being a brief report and a separate
fieldwork report I conducted previously, but it should be noted I received one
form of contact from a Gurdwara situated in Beeston. The Sikh community of
Leeds is thoroughly involved in interfaith activity and should be highlighted as
a great communicative source and exemplar addition to the religious
communities of Leeds.
Concluding Remarks
I believe that this project has the longevity to continue and in doing so help
build a rapport with the local community. As long as the database is
continually updated, we may see many more organisations wishing to
participate since projects such as this usually take more time than the
placement’s duration to set foundations. It may be worthwhile to contact other
archives and set up a form of Internet archive, with co-operation from others,
so that they can be interlinked and shared across various platforms. This may
26 Ibid. (2003), p. 10
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be a complex task, therefore could be incorporated into the project placement
also.
The main improvement I would like to this in the future of this project is getting
those who had responded but not donated actually participating, so that there
is an awareness they can come to Central Library at any time with
information. Nevertheless, a primary issue is ensuring that religious groups do
not feel pressured or harassed by the placement so finding a balance to this is
essential. Since completing this placement report I have received several
more donations from other groups, and the database has been updated
accordingly.
The placement has allowed me to develop a greater understanding of TRS
outside of the academic setting of University. Whereas in an academic setting
people are not afraid to use religious language, it seems that Local
Government is still unsure in how to approach religious communities, and
there needs to be some form of accessible specification that can demonstrate
to employees how to approach the topic of religion without feeling
uncomfortable. However, projects such as this can allow dialogue between
the Central Library and religious communities to become more open and not
as exclusive to Christian denominations. Perhaps once communities such as
the Hindu and Muslim communities become more culturally established in
Leeds there will be more of a presence of their material in the archives, but
like all things this requires time to develop.
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Farnell, R; Furbey, R; Shams Al-Haqq Hills, S; Macey, M; Smith, G. Faith in
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