Church News Volume 2, Issue 9

Dear friends,

Election time is upon us once again. We hear claim and counter claim by men and women bickering on minor points of policy, like children in a school yard.

What should we be looking for from our politicians as we think about using our vote or shall we vote without questioning the same way as we have always done?

Those who take their religious duties seriously will want to reflect upon what the various political voices are saying about the world in which we live, our society and our caring for others. Are they going to look after our elderly and sick or marginalize them even more?

Do they want to help our youngsters in education and those who teach them? Are they going to be tough on crime yet compassionate and understanding to those who offend and those in prison?

Are they going to look after the strangers at our gates or cast them aside and send them back from whence they came? Are they going to work for a greater understanding and inclusiveness between different racial and cultural groups in our society?

Are they concerned for the environment and protecting God's world and prepared to put into place strategies for doing so, whatever the cost?

Are they going to campaign for a fairer distribution of the resources of the world and in our society?

Do they accept the huge and scandalous differences in earnings we see today or allow the chasm between rich and poor to deepen?

Most importantly of all does our politician show in his/her life the qualities we would expect - honesty, faithfulness, compassion, or are they more concerned with getting their picture in the newspaper?

I could go on with my list of questions. The Christian faith should never shy away from confronting issues of politics. Jesus never was - for He knew that politics is about people and so is religion. A persons spiritual life is linked with their physical well-being. It is harder to pray when you are hungry, homeless, sick, afraid; and yet the simple prayer of the suffering is more precious to God than the long and pompous prayer of the self-righteous.

Revd Ian M. Finn

News Letter Archive.