I have found the build up to this election interesting, challenging but mostly frustrating. All major parties seem to think within the same narrow parameters and consequently the set of available options is radically limited. It’s frustrating because I don’t think you need to know very much about the world to see, that unless they were impossibly bold, any party in power has its hands tied by a global economy and complex international relations. For me though there is a fundamental problem with politics as we have known it throughout most of human history so far – it’s very clear as you listen to the debates – each leader of course promises our country’s prosperity and security, as essential priority – it is good to prosper and be safe of course but the commitment to that as a country’s driving aim reinforces an innate tribal instinct we have as humans. This instinct is extrapolated by our clearly defined country borders. It’s why I believe Jesus demands his church to be a selfless community, the only way our tribal instincts can be a good thing is if we identify ourselves with a selfless tribe. By promising to work toward our countries prosperity and security at all costs you automatically elevate this countries value higher than the others. In a world with limited recourses of course this will involve trampling other countries into the ground and even if it does not it certainly will not involve picking the already trampled countries out of the dirt with any genuine commitment. Imagine what the world would be like if the 70%+ in the dirt had the same lifestyles and opportunity as the lucky 30%, we could not sustain ourselves for long. So already like all leaders around the world ours are saying our country is more important than the others that perhaps the image of God is stronger amongst us brits - that all humans do not have an equal stake to a quality of life, if they do then the parameters they argue within would need to be shattered.
What a shame that our countries attempt at democracy amounts to voting for the least worst option. How our country feels qualified to go and initiate democracy in other countries when ours leaves so much to be desired is hard to understand. The House of Lords can veto nearly all bills, a significant proportion of those Lords, have inherited seats or bought them, still the rich elite have a huge stake in our democracy. We did not vote in our present prime minister - that was left to his party made up of a particular demographic and a small sample at that. A party can have a 1/4 of the nations votes but only 10% of the seats. People have dismissed a coalition government based on the threat of indecision, bickering and back hand deals. This will probably happen, but it doesn’t say much about the character of our politicians, they are people and they can decide not to bicker or make back hand decisions. As for indecision, Germany the power house of Europe do ok as do Scotland. In fact of the top rated 16 countries in the Aaa category 10 operate coalition governments. Saying that I do not want a coalition government because I think it will work in England straight away but because it’s the biggest step for change and a change like that is a catalyst for more change. Even if its change for the worst it will galvanise people into action and place pressure on the perceived limit that dictates the range of feasible ideas.
There have been several influential Christian organisations asserting conservatives are the best option; in fact they have seemed just as bias as any of the political party’s actual propaganda. Conservatives are not necessarily the clear Christian position. Some Christian organisations argue that an increasingly secular society will obscure the banner of Gods light they fly, that it will become harder for Christians to do good works which transform society. I think these arguments disclose a gross misinterpretation of the gospel. No type of world can hide the spirit of God in us; if the salt remains in the salt cellar then it does so because we choose to hide it and do not let God transform our hearts. Do not those arguments completely undermine the power of the gospel, the idea a 'dark' world could hide that light makes no sense, a light is more obvious and radically different in darkness. The gospels present Jesus alive in a time and place that’s a melting pot of both secular and heavily religious sensibilities, both divorced from God. Yet Jesus and his actions were distinctive, he seemed saltier and brighter because the world he was in is was the antithesis, he was God and it could not be hidden. The idea that a particular party could accelerate the moral decline of our society suggests that if we have the right laws in 'those straightforward issues of right or wrong' we can raise our society up to an acceptable moral position. If an acceptable moral position existed it would surely also challenge our military endeavours,our treatment of the natural world,question our economy, address social injustice and emphasise our responsibility to the poor and marginalised (my thoughts after reflection on matt 25 and Rom 12:10 -13). I believe the wretched of the earth should be shown that God is on their side; those who are blessed are to bless others - spiritually, emotionally and physically. Imposing a certain way of living will not transform anyone’s heart, the Old Testament is a long history thats testament to that - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. According to these Christian organisations these good works which transform society seem to amount to shouting at people on street corners, handing out step by step guides on how to get to heaven and forcing individuals who may want no part in the kingdom of God to live by the standards of that kingdom, which is futile. Our motive as Christians is not to force people to conform or say a 5 point prayer but to bless them, to love them, what follows from that we leave confidently in the hands of God. 1Timothy 6:17-18 gives me an alternative insight into what criteria a Christian could base their vote on.
Many seem scared that their christianty will be made redundant or irrelevant in a growing secular society. But the message of the gospel speaks directly to the deepest parts of the soul and unfolds the human condition. Isn’t its essence the joy of being at peace with God and the transformation toward holiness, toward love that can grow from that relationship because of Jesus? I propose the Christian organisations that are fearful of losing their influence have confused priorities and have forgotten what it is that makes them relevant to a struggling world. Perfect love drives out all fear. ‘When fear flows in love flows out. When love flows in fear flows out. It all depends on which power we expose our hearts to’ Slewyn Hughes.
The politicians over these last months have bickered over 6 billion pounds this is a small amount of money in relation to our countries GDP, or the national debt, or our spending on militarily/nuclear weapons which is on its way to equal the trillion dollars a year America spend. The financial sectors activities are divorced from the real economy of goods and services, a significant proportion of money (some figures say 70% but I am wary) is caught up in Monetarism, buying and selling money, which is a system purely about making money to make more money, most of it doesn’t really enter into the economy yet we are at its mercy, more so are the worlds poorest. ‘Globally it now turns over more than 60 times the size of world GDP every year. In the UK it has reached a staggering 446 times the size of our real economy’ (Schulmeister, 2009). There is a tax called the robin hood tax which proposes to ‘tax the trade in financial assets such as stocks, bonds and foreign exchange’ The UK already taxes share trades with a 0.5 per cent stamp duty, they say it should also tax sterling exchange at 0.005 per cent (5p for every £1,000 exchanged). This would raise up to $400 billion globally each year, they want to spend that on national and international injustices and climate change. $400 billion is incidentally the total amount given in aid to Africa since the 60’s, of which 1/3 of that has been used corruptly through misplaced trust and superficial cooperate intervention with a vested interest elsewhere (Patricia Adams - Probe International). Politics does matter as a Christian here in England because the underlining values that run our country are toxic. The phrase money talks is commonplace and utterly true in this society, imagine a society where the accurate observation was love talks or selflessness talks or forgiveness talks. In my opinion there is no government that can achieve this paradigm shift because it will not be laws and legislation but Jesus living in us and loving through us. But like Jesus when he was alive our love will challenge the values and methods of our society. So we should strive for the things of Gods heart in every sphere including politics, this is where the some of these Christian organisations I’ve hinted at are absolutely right. My problem is they seem to have reduced Gods heart to homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia and conversion – all anyone hears from Christians, often unfortunately through very hateful discourse. As for straightforward right and wrongs the bible is clearer on selfishness and pride. Although politics can’t change those attitudes, Christians can push for governments to rectify the many situations that have been caused by those attitudes, and the prevailing systems that continue to do so. Like the small mustard seed the kingdom of God will spread and transform the world through the infectious trail of bold, small acts of love.
What a shame that our countries attempt at democracy amounts to voting for the least worst option. How our country feels qualified to go and initiate democracy in other countries when ours leaves so much to be desired is hard to understand. The House of Lords can veto nearly all bills, a significant proportion of those Lords, have inherited seats or bought them, still the rich elite have a huge stake in our democracy. We did not vote in our present prime minister - that was left to his party made up of a particular demographic and a small sample at that. A party can have a 1/4 of the nations votes but only 10% of the seats. People have dismissed a coalition government based on the threat of indecision, bickering and back hand deals. This will probably happen, but it doesn’t say much about the character of our politicians, they are people and they can decide not to bicker or make back hand decisions. As for indecision, Germany the power house of Europe do ok as do Scotland. In fact of the top rated 16 countries in the Aaa category 10 operate coalition governments. Saying that I do not want a coalition government because I think it will work in England straight away but because it’s the biggest step for change and a change like that is a catalyst for more change. Even if its change for the worst it will galvanise people into action and place pressure on the perceived limit that dictates the range of feasible ideas.
There have been several influential Christian organisations asserting conservatives are the best option; in fact they have seemed just as bias as any of the political party’s actual propaganda. Conservatives are not necessarily the clear Christian position. Some Christian organisations argue that an increasingly secular society will obscure the banner of Gods light they fly, that it will become harder for Christians to do good works which transform society. I think these arguments disclose a gross misinterpretation of the gospel. No type of world can hide the spirit of God in us; if the salt remains in the salt cellar then it does so because we choose to hide it and do not let God transform our hearts. Do not those arguments completely undermine the power of the gospel, the idea a 'dark' world could hide that light makes no sense, a light is more obvious and radically different in darkness. The gospels present Jesus alive in a time and place that’s a melting pot of both secular and heavily religious sensibilities, both divorced from God. Yet Jesus and his actions were distinctive, he seemed saltier and brighter because the world he was in is was the antithesis, he was God and it could not be hidden. The idea that a particular party could accelerate the moral decline of our society suggests that if we have the right laws in 'those straightforward issues of right or wrong' we can raise our society up to an acceptable moral position. If an acceptable moral position existed it would surely also challenge our military endeavours,our treatment of the natural world,question our economy, address social injustice and emphasise our responsibility to the poor and marginalised (my thoughts after reflection on matt 25 and Rom 12:10 -13). I believe the wretched of the earth should be shown that God is on their side; those who are blessed are to bless others - spiritually, emotionally and physically. Imposing a certain way of living will not transform anyone’s heart, the Old Testament is a long history thats testament to that - If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. According to these Christian organisations these good works which transform society seem to amount to shouting at people on street corners, handing out step by step guides on how to get to heaven and forcing individuals who may want no part in the kingdom of God to live by the standards of that kingdom, which is futile. Our motive as Christians is not to force people to conform or say a 5 point prayer but to bless them, to love them, what follows from that we leave confidently in the hands of God. 1Timothy 6:17-18 gives me an alternative insight into what criteria a Christian could base their vote on.
Many seem scared that their christianty will be made redundant or irrelevant in a growing secular society. But the message of the gospel speaks directly to the deepest parts of the soul and unfolds the human condition. Isn’t its essence the joy of being at peace with God and the transformation toward holiness, toward love that can grow from that relationship because of Jesus? I propose the Christian organisations that are fearful of losing their influence have confused priorities and have forgotten what it is that makes them relevant to a struggling world. Perfect love drives out all fear. ‘When fear flows in love flows out. When love flows in fear flows out. It all depends on which power we expose our hearts to’ Slewyn Hughes.
The politicians over these last months have bickered over 6 billion pounds this is a small amount of money in relation to our countries GDP, or the national debt, or our spending on militarily/nuclear weapons which is on its way to equal the trillion dollars a year America spend. The financial sectors activities are divorced from the real economy of goods and services, a significant proportion of money (some figures say 70% but I am wary) is caught up in Monetarism, buying and selling money, which is a system purely about making money to make more money, most of it doesn’t really enter into the economy yet we are at its mercy, more so are the worlds poorest. ‘Globally it now turns over more than 60 times the size of world GDP every year. In the UK it has reached a staggering 446 times the size of our real economy’ (Schulmeister, 2009). There is a tax called the robin hood tax which proposes to ‘tax the trade in financial assets such as stocks, bonds and foreign exchange’ The UK already taxes share trades with a 0.5 per cent stamp duty, they say it should also tax sterling exchange at 0.005 per cent (5p for every £1,000 exchanged). This would raise up to $400 billion globally each year, they want to spend that on national and international injustices and climate change. $400 billion is incidentally the total amount given in aid to Africa since the 60’s, of which 1/3 of that has been used corruptly through misplaced trust and superficial cooperate intervention with a vested interest elsewhere (Patricia Adams - Probe International). Politics does matter as a Christian here in England because the underlining values that run our country are toxic. The phrase money talks is commonplace and utterly true in this society, imagine a society where the accurate observation was love talks or selflessness talks or forgiveness talks. In my opinion there is no government that can achieve this paradigm shift because it will not be laws and legislation but Jesus living in us and loving through us. But like Jesus when he was alive our love will challenge the values and methods of our society. So we should strive for the things of Gods heart in every sphere including politics, this is where the some of these Christian organisations I’ve hinted at are absolutely right. My problem is they seem to have reduced Gods heart to homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia and conversion – all anyone hears from Christians, often unfortunately through very hateful discourse. As for straightforward right and wrongs the bible is clearer on selfishness and pride. Although politics can’t change those attitudes, Christians can push for governments to rectify the many situations that have been caused by those attitudes, and the prevailing systems that continue to do so. Like the small mustard seed the kingdom of God will spread and transform the world through the infectious trail of bold, small acts of love.
