Tony Blair's Enters the Interfaith Domain

Last week, Time published an article by Michael Elliott regarding his time spent with former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Specifically, the piece discusses Blair's new interfaith organization, The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, "which, among other things, is dedicated to proving that collaboration among those of different religious faiths can help address some of the world's most pressing social problems." Elliott then goes on to describe Blair's own personal religiosity as he has come to understand it based on two long conversations with the former Prime Minister.

Throughout the piece, Elliott also brings into discussion the much-debated relationship between religion and state. Blair's own comment regarding the matter is quite profound. "The worst thing in politics," he says, "is when you're so scared of losing support that you don't do what you think is the right thing. What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it."

Overall, it is an incredibly interesting article that illuminates not only Blair's interest in interfaith relations but also how this interest can be, and is, translated into the global, political context.