Tony Blair - On Faith - view clip to 9th April

Newsnight, BBC 2 TV, 3rd April 2008 - view to 9th April 2008
View from 33 minutes - with Prof. Anthony Grayling and Prof. Richard Levin (President of Yale University)

At 44 minutes:

Kirsty Walk: "Do you think in a globalised world Richard Levin, faith is more important then ever before?"
Richard Levin (President of Yale University): "I think it is just an empirical reality that faith is important in politics and in the global conflict. So we could say and

I'd be the first to welcome an era in which secular humanism prevailed and religion had no devisive influence on political life. I think that would be a wonderful world but frankly its a fantasy. Britain may be close to such a world but Britain is much more secular than most parts of the world.

Religion plays a big role in life of the Middle East, a huge role; a big role in the life in America much more so than in Britain and as a consequence I think it is important to acknowledge that fact and try to undertake a political analysis that takes faith into account. I think that is a perfectly legitimate question for our new member of our faculty (Tony Blair) to be pursuing at our great univeristy (Yale)."