Here's my magazine article for June:
On Thursday 23rd June, voters will be able to have their
say over the future of the UK's relationship with the EU. This will
be, and indeed is already being, preceded by lots of comments from
religious leaders about the issues, followed by lots of criticisms of
religion 'meddling' in politics.
Those who don't approve of religious leaders speaking out on
political issues (although they tend only to disapprove if the
religious leader holds an opposite opinion!) often make two mistakes.
Firstly they assume that faith and politics are separate; that one's
faith is a private matter whereas politics is about public issues and
never the twain should meet. This is a false division as any faith
worth its salt has an outward dimension and has a view about how
humans should interact. Indeed, Jesus taught us to ask our heavenly
Father “thy kingdom come” and Jesus himself was executed because
he represented a threat to the political and religious authorities of
his day. The second mistake that is made is to think that a
discussion about politics can be held in a neutral, value-free,
completely 'rational' environment. We all have a world-view that
shapes our thinking about society: for a lot of people that
world-view is influenced by their religious beliefs for others it is
influenced by their secular beliefs.
So
I offer my ha'p'orth on the referendum, two reflections both based on
the experience of the Church of England, but on different sides of
the argument. Firstly, one of the founding principles of the Church
of England was that it was not subject to Rome. Henry VIII reasoned
that as he was appointed by God, he was answerable only to God, and
therefore that he, not the Pope, was the head of the English church.
As the Church of England spread around the world, this principle went
with it, so that each national church had the authority to decide
matters for themselves without looking to England. Therefore, all
the churches of what is now the Anglican Communion have different
liturgies and different views on certain issues. Thus the principle
of each nation being in supreme control of its own area is central to
the history of the Church of England.
On the other hand, the
Church of England makes no grand claims for itself, it simply states
that it is “part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.”
It doesn't claim to be the true Church, or the Church in its
entirety but just a part of the Church. There's a recognition that
it is part of a larger whole and so that it is dependant on, and in
partnership with, the rest of the Church
These two reflections
show that it is possible for a Christian to be on either side of the
debate, and indeed www.reimaginingeurope.co.uk is “a space for
Christian reflection and debate on Britain’s future relationship
with Europe” with views on both sides. However you decide to vote,
and whatever the result, the Christian prayer to God remains the same
“thy kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven.”
