Religious groups attended a Foreign Office conference this week on preventing violent extremism: a phenomenon described as \u201cthe biggest challenge of our generation\u201d\u009d by the Minister for Human Rights, Baroness Anelay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen allegations that religion can cause violence,\u201d\u009d she said on Tuesday. \u201cI would say it is politicians that use religion as an excuse.\u201d\u009d She spoke of a desire to use the \u201cexpertise and experience\u201d\u009d of faith leaders to \u201cfind ways to work together to ensure that young people grow up tolerant of each other . . . and be in a strong position to resist the siren call of extremists, who have a very perverted view of what religion comprises\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
More than 50 speakers were scheduled to speak at the conference, to more than 170 participants. They were given the task, Baroness Anelay said, of producing \u201cpractical ideas\u201d\u009d on how to tackle extremism. The event was \u201cnot intended to be something to reach out to people, but us to then go out and put our ideas into practice\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n