by Judith Woods, Telegraph
A planned mosque in a Cumbrian town has sparked local unease, revealing deeper tensions over faith, identity and change in modern Britain
The joyful peal of church bells is cascading down from St Mary’s belfry across the little Cumbrian town of Dalton-in-Furness. Pedestrians smile as the chimes resonate, filling the summer air. Whether they are regular churchgoers or not, to the locals it’s a comforting sound, a familiar sound that represents continuity, constancy, community.
“The bells are tradition, they are part of what makes us British. If they start calling from that new mosque, it would be unacceptable,” says one elderly parishioner with a frown. “I’m not racist, but everybody else round here feels the same.”
And in truth, everybody in the town does say the same. The phrase “I’m not racist, but…” is repeated like a mantra. From: “I’m not racist, but I don’t see why we need a mosque,” to “I’m not racist, but why couldn’t they just convert an existing building?”, there is genuine puzzlement and unease over the construction of a three-storey mosque outside a town of some 7,000 souls without any large Muslim population.