You
may agree with Brenda from Bristol, and when thinking about the
forthcoming General Election exclaim “Not another one!” But
whether we like it or not we are having another election. Brenda's
reaction perhaps reflects a more widely held weariness about yet
another chance to 'have our say'. That is why the Archbishops of
Canterbury and York wrote in their recent letter to the Parishes and
Chaplaincies of the Church of England that one of their obligations
“at these times is to set aside apathy and cynicism
and to participate, and encourage others to do the same.”
It is easy to take for granted the privilege we have to vote in
democratic elections but the example of the Suffragettes and the
Chartists to name just a couple should remind us that the right to
vote was one that had to be fought for. And we only have to look
around the world to see places where free and fair elections are not
possible. However, that doesn't mean that we can be so naïve as to
think that democracy is a perfect system nor as arrogant as to think
that we should impose Western style democracy on other nations. But
here in this country we do have the right to vote and we should use
it.
The
Archbishops also say that Christians have the higher obligation to
pray for those standing for office, and to continue to pray for those
who are elected. They encourage us “to engage prayerfully with the
candidates and issues in this election” and to “recognise the
enormous responsibilities and the vast complexity of the issues that
our political leaders face. We are constantly reminded of the
personal costs and burdens carried by those in political life and by
their families.” This will involve the criticising of policies for
their logical, economic and moral flaws and perhaps holding these
policies up for ridicule but in our examination of the issues and
policies we should not forget that the politicians are all human
beings.
However,
importantly, the Archbishops say that “Contemporary politics needs
to re-evaluate the importance of religious belief.” This might
seem an obvious thing for them to say but their further statements
show that this is deeper than saying that religious belief should be
respected. They say “Religious belief is the well-spring for the
virtues and practices that make for good individuals, strong
relationships and flourishing communities” and “The assumptions
of secularism are not a reliable guide to the way the world works.”
They are reminding us that none of us are neutral or impartial in
our outlook, all of our actions and thoughts stem from particular
worldviews; some religious, some non-religious. A point of view
should not be dismissed merely because it is a religious view. In
fact, only religious viewpoints make sense because without a belief
in God, concepts like good and bad, and right and wrong cease to have
any objective meaning: they simply describe whether we like something
or not (see the video "Can you be good without God?" by Andy Bannister).
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.”
