A colleague in the Redbridge Deanery, Reverend Robert Hampson, vicar of Holy Trinity Church South Woodford (Ilford North Constituency), will be standing for Parliament in the forthcoming General Election. He will be standing as the Christian Peoples Alliance (CPA) official candidate and his intention in standing is to campaign for a robust Christian British identity, free of racism and inclusive of all.
Robert’s decision has stirred up quite a bit of initial reaction. I support Robert’s decision to stand as a candidate in the election as I also support the work that the Diocese of Chelmsford is currently doing to encourage vocations to political life. However, I do not support the platform on which Robert is standing.
A lot of cynicism currently (and to some extent, rightly) exists about politics in the UK but we do have the fundamental human right of a democratic vote, something that people in other parts of the world risk their lives to gain or use, and we should not waste the opportunity we have to contribute to the democratic process.
Christians have much to contribute and share because Christianity engages with and has something to say on all the major issues facing our society and world - environmental degradation; international poverty; health and the NHS; education and schools; defence, foreign affairs and terrorism; crime, law and order; race, asylum and immigration; Europe and the EU; the economy; pensions; and transport.
However, the Bible and Church tradition does not provide a set of political policies that we can simply adopt, instead Biblical and Church approaches to issues over the centuries can help us formulate a series of principles against which we might evaluate party manifestos and promises. We need to think and pray through the issues, ask questions that matter to us, and reflect on our own priorities and what we understand to be the priorities emerging from the Bible and Church tradition, both for ourselves and for the society in which we live.
We don’t all agree however (which is why Christians can be found in all the main political parties) and this is one issue with parties, such as the CPA, that through their name and stance seek to present ‘the’ Christian voice on political issues. Their name and approach suggest that there is agreement among Christians on key issues and policies on those issues. Such agreement simply does not exist and to suggest that it does is misleading to the electorate and dismissive of Christians who think and vote differently from those in parties such as the CPA, the Christian Party, etc.
In addition I think that their analysis of our culture and politics currently is incorrect. Robert has been quoted as arguing that the increasing secularisation of the UK is “taking away the fundamental platform on which Britain has been built” and has stated that he will be focussing on making Christianity “centre stage” in Britain again. I am concerned that that is too simplistic a response to the current position of Christianity in the UK.
First, we are in a Post-Christendom period where the privileged position that Christianity once had in the UK is gradually being eroded. For Christianity to have had a privileged position in UK society was not an unmitigated blessing and the change in its position has pros as well as cons (and arguably brings us closer to the position of the Early Church in relation to political powers). However, our awareness of this erosion process as a series of losses gives the impression that Christianity is being treated unfairly.
Second, there has been and still is a secularist agenda that seeks to marginalise religion (and Christianity, in particular). Secularism combined with Post-Christendom was a potent mix initially seemed to threaten the survival of Christianity as a factor in the public square in the UK. In much of the 70s and 80s this secularist agenda essentially excluded faith-based organisations from involvement in the delivery of public services but that situation has changed radically as a result of ...
Third, the multi-faith nature of the UK and its inclusion in the diversity agenda which has been a counter-balance to this secularist agenda. Equalities and human rights legislation is resulting from the diversity rather than the secularist agenda so that, instead of religions (including Christianity) being excluded from the public square, we are in a place where discriminating against people in the workplace on the basis of religion or belief is illegal. One result has been the increasing reversal of the exclusion of faith-based organisations from involvement in delivery of public services (as example, see Lifeline Projects and the FaithAction network within which they are one of the key partners).
In a turn-of-the-year sermon, which I posted as http://joninbetween.blogspot.com/2010/01/post-christendom-church.html, I touched on some of these issues and argued that our current context is an appropriate reduction in the privileged position Christianity has occupied in the UK in the past combined with a secularist argument that seeks to remove religion (and Christianity, in particular) from the public square but that the secularising agenda has been halted and the position of religions (including the Christianity) regularised and equalised by the diversity agenda. Instead of berating these changes, I think the Church needs to become actively involved in the opportunities which they open up.
Finally, in a more than one London borough, a vote for the CPA or the Christian Party risks dividing the vote in such a way that it may open the door for the British National Party (BNP) to make gains which otherwise might not be possible for them. Any further electoral success for the BNP and similar racist parties, could seriously undermine the patient, strategic work of healthy race relations which has been developing in the UK over many years. Britain can be proud of its status as a world leader in multi-culturalism, a status which is expressed in churches and communities across the country and which is to be further celebrated in coming years, not least with the Olympics coming to London in 2012.
In Redbridge, the BNP is actively seeking the Christian vote by issuing leaflets from supporters which argue that the BNP, although a secular party, supports Christian values because its policies fit with the concerns of some Christians. These policies are mainly about being opposed to particular groups and legislation; being anti equality, anti immigration, anti-Muslim and anti homosexual. Do we, as Christians want to be known as the 'anti people' associated in the minds of others with bigotry, fundamentalism, and narrow moral agendas or do we want to be known as “good news” people associated with positive action and agendas?
Jesus broke down barriers. He treated all people with respect. As a Jew he talked to the shunned Samaritans. Through the cross he reconciled people to God and to each other. “There is neither Jew nor Greek” (Galatians 3. 28). Christians assert that all human beings are created equally in the image of God. The Christian vision of society is one where each person is treated with dignity and respect, whatever their ethnic group or religion. It is a postive vision of hope not a negative agenda of hate.
The BNP, however it presents itself, is rooted in racist and fascist thinking; its message is one of hate. The BNP believes that white people are genetically superior to black people. The BNP believes that black and Asian people can never be British, even if they were born here. The BNP is a racist party and as such does not share the true Christian values. Therefore I endorse the following statement:
” … we call upon all people of goodwill to reject racist politics in the forthcoming General Election and local elections.
We encourage people to vote in the forthcoming elections to prevent racist political parties making any more electoral gains, indeed to out-vote such parties where they have already been elected.
In particular, we urge people to reject the BNP, English Defence League (EDL), National Front (NF) and similar political organisations for the reason that there is no place in mainstream British politics for dividing people on the grounds of ethnicity. The racist ideology of parties like the BNP, who speak of a "traditional British genotype", is not only inaccurate and misguided but is also contrary to the Christian belief that "all people are created as one race, the human race".
As church leaders we do not endorse any particular political party and recognise that there are many social issues today which require much closer attention from elected politicians, not least those of housing, immigration, unemployment and the sheer speed of social change in some of our communities. But we call on everyone to reject the BNP and like-parties as providing solutions to these issues. We all have a responsibility to work for a more just society. This will never be achieved by those who seek to divide our society based on a racist politics.”
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Bruce Cockburn - Justice.
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