Politics

andy

Posted: 22.02.2005, 10:13

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Does anyone here believe their faith leads them to particular political views?

Do you even feel that being a Christian specifically leads you to support a particular political party or group in your country?

With an election approaching here in the UK, and just gone in the US, I'm interested in what you think about this.

davidb

Posted: 22.02.2005, 16:03

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I find that my faith drives me to vote or not to vote for particular parties at particular times, but my faith doesn't drive me towards a fixed ideology personally. So for instance, this election I feel constrained not to vote for Labour because of my understanding of how my faith relates to Middle-East relations with the West, and because I know and love lots of Muslims this effectively trumps most other concerns at the moment.

On the other hand, Labour do have ideals (perhaps, deep down) which jive with my values which are faith-laden. So I may well vote for them again in a following election.

Equally, I can't vote Tory this time because of my perception that they're playing on rhetoric which is hostile to the stranger instead of welcoming to the stranger, as my faith demands.

And so as not to leave anyone out, I often find the Lib Dems have too liberal views for me regarding eg drugs and cohabitation rights. However, I'm most likely to vote for them this time, as these issues are not as high on my priority as the others at the moment, and I value other aspects of Lib Dem policy such as taxation and preserving civil rights - again, these values are faith-driven for me.

I'm in Scotland, so I guess I should consider the Nationalists and Socialists too. I tell you what, the Socialists always have the best literature - it's always a hilarious rip-take of the other parties.

edited by: davidb, Feb 22, 2005 - 04:04 PM

andy

Posted: 25.02.2005, 07:44

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I find the Conservatives (slang name Tories, right of centre) unacceptable due to their constant appeal to selfishness, greed and fear. They just seem utterly cynical in trying to say anything to get elected. You can (presumably) be right-wing for principled reasons, but if so, why do they always just appeal to the worst instincts of the electorate?

andy

Posted: 25.02.2005, 10:00

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Interesting article on politics, quite US focussed, but generally applicable, about how left-wingers are missing out on ways of getting their message across:

http://webdiary.smh.com.au/archives/margo_kingston/000715.html

Anonymous

Posted: 19.05.2006, 02:02

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I struggle with this all the time! I live in the United States, in an area that is ULTRA-Conservative and is part of the "Bible Belt." I am constantly told by church leaders and basically everyone in the community that God is "for Bush," that going to Iraq is the right thing to do by God and that to go against the government is to go against God, since God has put leaders in power (strange you never heard about that when Clinton was in power). But then the more I pray about it the more I feel like none of this is true, that it is unethical and un-Christian NOT to go against the present administration and that God is against almost everything this administration stands for (I will give Bush credit on some domestic things that may be Christ-like). But then I cannot support ultra-liberal groups who argue that war is wrong but it is OK to kill unborn children and to keep God out of public life.
For those of you who are not American, you may think that being a Christian in such a "Christian" country is easy, but I actually think this is the hardest place in the world to really be a Christian and honor God. You find yourself constantly being forced between a "Christian" culture that is actually anything but Christ-like and a thirst for justice and peace that is not generally valued by the faith community. I often feel like I am forced to choose between a strong Evangelical faith and ethical Christian social action. I am not the only one who feels this way.
OK, so I have ranted and raved. Please pray for me and all the others who struggle with this.

Anonymous

Posted: 24.05.2006, 11:09

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I will indeed pray for you - be encouraged, it's refreshing to hear about people like you.

Midge

Posted: 28.05.2006, 22:09

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Your experience sounds like what I've heard from a friend of mine, who's an English Catholic but who discusses things online with mainly American Catholics. Everything seems to be polarised and politicised, much more than in the UK. For example, you're always supposed to favour an anti-abortion candidate over a pro-abortion candidate, regardless of any of their other views - despite the fact that Pope Benedict said this was not the only decisive issue (while he was still a cardinal). I don't envy your situation! May God shake up all his people and change our hearts.

Midge

Posted: 27.08.2006, 17:40

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I've just been dipping into Jim Wallis's book "God's Politics", about what Christians should be doing with politics - very interesting. Makes me glad I'm not living in America, not that we're doing much better here. Gordon Brown's written a blurb on it. Would be good if people took it seriously.

PS Andy I think officially you should've said "Tories (slang name Conservatives)". Though why their official name comes from the Irish for "robber" I don't know.