This house believes religion has no place in the 21stCentury. Quite a claim. As an atheist sitting in the choir for my eighth evensong this year, I find myself wondering how religion has come to occupy such a large place in my life. Religion is certainly hard to avoid in Cambridge. No college is without a chapel. Chaplains play a pastoral role for both religious and non-religious students. Grace is said in Latin or sung at Formal Hall. Furthermore the invitation of Rowan Williams and Richard Dawkins to debate religion in the 21stCentury at the Union suggests that religion remains central to intellectual life here. The debate made me reflect on the role religion plays in everyday Cambridge life, and, more importantly, what role it should play.

Tradition is strong in Cambridge, and religion forms a core part of this. Some argue that it’s possible to separate the two – the Chapels can be appreciated for their aesthetic value even if you don’t want to use them for prayer. Grace is said because it always has been - it’s part of what makes Cambridge special, not religious. Traditions should be established and upheld to commemorate past successes, or to idealise a long and honourable history.

But the history of the religious side of Cambridge is far from honourable – in many cases it is the story of exclusion. When colleges first started saying grace, only Anglicans were welcome to study and learn here.  Until 1962 no college accepted both men and women. It was mainly under religious guidance that the sexes were separated and women first banned, then confined to their own colleges, miles away from the others.  Personally these are not things I wish to remember every time I pass my chapel or sit down to eat at Hall. After all doesn’t Cambridge have so much more to boast about than this?

Neither is the type of traditional religion expressed in chapels and formal halls actually thriving. College chapel services often have very few attendees, but the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU) brings together enormous numbers of Christians every week to worship and share their faith together. It performs an important role in supporting religious students who may otherwise feel alienated or stigmatised for ‘being different’, particularly in such a rigorously intellectual community.  Religion is still flourishing in Cambridge, but not in the formalised, institutionalised version espoused by the University.

Being religious is now an incredibly diverse experience in Cambridge that is remarkably inclusive of different beliefs and faith systems. On top of the tens of churches of various denominations and chapels in every college, there are also three mosques and two prayer rooms. There is a synagogue open all hours and according to a Jewish first year, Cambridge porters and colleges are ‘completely brilliant’ at accommodating for his specific needs. Plus there are strong Jewish and Islamic student societies in Cambridge, as well as groups to represent those of other faiths. The inclusion and willingness to accommodate a whole host of different belief systems witnessed on the student level should be translated to the University as an institution. In the 21st century it is only right that the Christian traditions that are part of the University as an institution, which marginalise students of different beliefs, begin to be deconstructed.

University is the place above all where people should be given the chance to explore new ideas. Cambridge should offer a lively and representative debate about any question students may ask, especially when this is often happening for the first time. The mere fact that there are religious people in Cambridge warrants it a place in our daily life and a strong voice in Cambridge society. But as Arif Ahmed argued on Thursday, the real question is what the legitimate role for religion in society should be, and whether or not it is occupying that sphere.

In Cambridge, religion’s rightful place is as a support system and a representative body for students and staff of any religion. The various churches and societies do this well. Where religion is not welcome, to me, is in the traditions and compulsory practices of the University. The imposition of Anglicanism on non-believers is not something those on either side of the debate over religion’s role in the twentieth century should want.