Why Christians Should Join Political Parties

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Why Christians Should Join Political Parties

• ROOTS 2008
• PROVOKE SESSION
• Tim Stone - Public Affairs Officer

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Introductions

• Tim Stone
• A theologian?
• There are plenty to call on in the Army
• A politician?
• I dont think so
• A Salvationist - yes
• Responsible for presenting The Salvation Armys
  official opinion to UK and EU Government (and
  co-ordinating responses to what they have to say)
• Status of this presentation
• Personal opinion, not Salvation Army policy
• No rocket science keep it simple

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Objectives

• Share thinking
• Inform you of perspectives across the Christian
  Church
• Motivate Christians to take action
• Encourage you to keep communicating!

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Agenda

• Definitions
• Theological imperatives
• Historical precedents
• Todays opportunities
• Why the time to engage is now
• Practical actions we can all take

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Definitions

• Christians - The definition varies among
  different Christian groups. Some believe that, to
  be a Christian, an individual must go to a church
  and participate in baptism. Others teach that
  instead a belief and acceptance in the life,
  death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is
  necessary. Some consider a Christian to be simply
  one who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus
  Christ.
• Politics - is the process by which groups of
  people make decisions on who gets what.
• Apolitical not interested or involved in
  politics
• Fundamentalism - a belief in the infallibility,
  and literal interpretation, of a doctrine or holy
  book e.g. the Bible
• The poor the last, lost and least the
  marginalised and oppressed not an exclusively
  economic term

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Theological Imperatives

• What does the Bible Say?
• Saint Augustine love your neighbour
• Gustavo Gutierrez good news for the poor
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer identity and discipleship
• Stanley Hauerwas servant-leadership
• Luke Bretherton temptations of the contemporary
  Church
• Consensus?

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What does the Bible Say?

• Gods Will
• Micah Ch. 6 v.8 what does the Lord require of
  you?
• Matthew Ch. 23 v. 23 faith, mercy and justice
• Romans Ch. 14 v. 17 justice, peace and joy
• Jesus Words
• Luke Ch. 4 vv.18-19 the Spirit of the Lord is
  upon me
• Luke Ch. 6 vv. 20-21 blessed are the poor
• Luke Ch. 10 v. 27 love your neighbour as
  yourself
• Matthew Ch 25 vv.31-46 when I was hungry, you
  gave me something to eat

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Saint Augustine Love Your Neighbour

• Augustine describes society in terms of two
  cities
• the Christian is a member of the City of God
  whilst living amongst those from the Earthly City

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Gustavo Gutierrez Good News for the Poor

• Liberation theology
• Seeks to inform the poor, so that they become
  aware of their oppression and begin to seek ways
  to combat it. Neutrality is not an option.
• Political holiness (Major Geoff Ryan)
• Christ came not only to preach about liberation
  but also to liberate

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer Identity and Discipleship

• Religion either separates or identifies faith and
  the world.
• Jesus call is to the world. But that call, for
  all disciples, leads to the cross.

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Stanley Hauerwas Servant-leadership

• For Hauerwas, the first social ethical task of
  the Church is to be the Church the servant of
  the community, leading to its faithful
  manifestation of the peaceable Kingdom of God.
  Holiness is much more than morality.

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Luke Bretherton Temptations

• Let the church be constructed by the modern
  bureaucratic state as either just another
  interest group seeking a share of public money or
  just another constituency within civil society
  who can foster social cohesion and make up the
  deficiencies of the welfare state by helping to
  deliver social welfare
• Christians reframing Christian political witness
  in terms of either multiculturalism or the
  rhetoric of rights
• Let Christianity be constructed by the market as
  a product to be consumed or commodity to be
  bought and sold so that in the religious
  marketplace Christianity simply becomes a
  lifestyle choice, interchangeable with or
  equivalent to any other

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Consensus?

• The Bible does not differentiate between the
  spiritual and the secular, the personal and the
  public, the evangelical and the political
• God is biased towards the poor and expects his
  disciples to change political and government
  systems if they stand in the way of justice
• The prophetic role of the faith community is to
  both denounce those things inconsistent with
  gospel trust and the enunciate the Good News
• Any response to sin and evil involves the
  challenging of evil at both a personal and
  structural level.
• There is no option for a Christian to exist in a
  non-political way. People who do not vote, or who
  withdraw from involvement in political issues
  are, in fact, lending support to the status quo.

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Historical Perspectives

• Early Christians
• The Church
• The Salvation Army

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Early Christians

• Saint Paul
• the (Protestant) doctrine of justification by
  faith
• all have sinned and have fallen short of the
  glory of God
• Divine justice works for the poor and brings
  social justice
• Emperor Constantine
• Tradition tells us that he was converted to
  Christianity suddenly, and by a miracle
• The entire Roman empire became Christian

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The Christian Church

• William Wilberforce
• 200 years since the slaves were freed
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• 40 years since he spoke out for civil rights

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The Salvation Army

• William Booth
• OR for field officers (1891)
• Age of Consent
• Destitution and unemployment
• Sweated labour
• The abandoned child
• Gambling
• Prophetic church

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Todays Perspectives

• The Political Ideologies
• The Ecumenical Response
• Christian Groups in Politics
• The Salvation Army

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The Political Ideologies
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Christian Groups

• Conservative Christian Fellowship
• Elizabeth Berridge
• Liberal Democrat Christian Forum
• Debbie Enever
• Christian Socialist movement
• Andrew Bradstock
• Christians in Politics
• Imminent re-launch
• Christians in Parliament (Bible Society)
• ecumenical prayer, worship and bible study

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Ecumenical Response

• RADAR parliamentary monitoring
• Religion and Belief Consultative Group
• Continuous informal networking and dialogue

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The Salvation Army

• Todays Issues
• Social justice
• Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill
• Human Fertilisation and Embryology
• Human Trafficking
• Immigration and Asylum
• Child Poverty
• Online gambling
• Alcohol Labelling
• Key Political Networks
• RADAR
• Joint Public Issues Team (Free Churches)
• National Council of Voluntary Organisations
  (trade association)
• Acevo (trade association)

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The Salvation Army

• The Salvation Army is widely recognised for its
  work in helping people in need. That status gives
  us a tremendous responsibility to work hard to
  change society. Our experience working with the
  vulnerable gives us a mandate to represent their
  concerns to opinion leaders.
• The tradition of The Salvation Army makes social
  justice and engagement with the world vital
  expressions of our Christian faith.

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Why the time to engage is now

• Declining political engagement generally
• Changing Church agendas
• Increasing willingness of politicians to engage

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Who Runs This Place?
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Declining Political Engagement

• Popular opinion
• Christian responses

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Changing Church Agenda

• Gods Politics (Jim Wallis)
• The politics of God is often not the same as the
  politics of the people of God. The real question
  is not whether religious faith should influence a
  society and its politics, but how.

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Changing Church Agenda

• An Agenda for Change (Joel Edwards, EA)
• We can no longer separate our spiritual lives
  from involvement in the world.

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Changing Church Agenda

• Doing God (Nick Spencer, Theos)
• The secular public square, properly understood,
  is a Christian legacy and one that requires an
  ongoing Christian presence in order to remain
  true to itself.

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Changing Church Agenda

• Holiness and Politics (Geoff Ryan)
• Cannot the absence of Gods people, of
  Salvationists, in this landscape be construed as
  a gross sin?

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Politicians Are Engaging the Churches

• Threat of terrorism
• Breakdown of social cohesion and culture
• The state cant do it all
• Innovation and creativity
• Politicians need votes!

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Practical Actions We Can All Take

• See, Judge, Act
• Individual action
• Community action
• National and international action

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See, Judge, Act

• See
• Recognising what is happening in a particular
  situation
• Judge
• Analysing what is going on from a theological,
  economic and social framework e.g. faith, mercy,
  justice
• Act
• Undertaking effective action to bring about
  change

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John Stott

• Social Service

• Social Action

• Relieving human need
• Philanthropic activity
• Seeking to minister to individuals and families
• Works of mercy

• Removing the causes of human need
• Political and economic activity
• Seeking to transform the structures of society
• The quest for justice

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How do you come into contact with charities,
public bodies or government agencies? 3 Most
Frequent ways
Base 159 MPs, Feb/Mar08 Source CPM, nfpSynergy
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How do you come into contact with charities,
public bodies or government agencies? 3 Most
Influential ways
Base 159 MPs, Feb/Mar 08 Source CPM, nfpSynergy
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How do you come into contact with charities,
public bodies or government agencies? 3 most
influential ways vs. 3 most frequent ways
Base 159 MPs, Feb/Mar08 Source CPM, nfpSynergy
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National and international action

• Get involved and support national and
  international campaigns
• Lobby your government to fulfil their promises
  e.g. Millennium Development Goals, Child Poverty
• Engage in advocacy / political intervention for
  the poor
• Use the power of The Salvation Army for social
  justice issues (not just fundraising)
• Train and equip people for lives of justice
• Build strong international partnerships
• Create outlets for products made overseas

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Community action

• Lobby local councillors / local government
  organisations
• Community gardens / kitchens
• Common purse (endowments)
• Community dinners
• Host community discussion groups
• Build networks
• Build communities
• Rebuild the city

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Individual action

• Living smartly versus living simply
• Become aware of injustices behind your consumer
  choices
• Go and see your local MP tell them what
  concerns you have
• Become a school governor
• Increase your tithing / offerings where do you
  invest your money?
• Volunteer at a local organisation
• Practice hospitality and generosity
• Support an advocacy campaign attract investment
  into your community
• Sponsor a child / community
• Shop at local shops / charity shops (support the
  local underground economy)
• Move into an incarnational community
• Share your home with an asylum seeker
• Join a political party

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What are we waiting for?

• QA

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Key Information Sources

• Darkest England and the Way Back In
• Gary Bishop
• Implications of an intentional theology of
  Christian re-incarnation
• Geoff Ryan (Major)
• Just Imagine
• Danielle Strickland (Captain) and Campbell
  Roberts (Major)
• What are we waiting for?
• Ed. Russ Rook and Stephen Holmes
• New Love
• Shaw Clifton (General)
• Political Holiness
• Matt Reid (Captain)
• The Political Dimensions of Ministry
• Dean Pallant (Major)
• Social Evils the Army has Challenged
• S. Carvasso Gauntlett
• What do you mean, justice?
• Campbell Roberts (Major)

• An Agenda for Change
• Joel Edwards
• Doing God
• Nick Spencer (Theos)
• Engaging Politics
• Nigel Oakley
• Gods Politics
• Jim Wallis
• New Issues facing Christians Today
• John Stott
• Political Ideologies
• Andrew Heywood
• Restoring Faith in Politics
• Christian Socialist Movement
• Revival Time
• Jim Wallis
• Who Runs this Place?
• Anthony Sampson
• Audit of Political Engagement 5

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Contact Details Your Comments are Welcome

• Web
• www.salvationarmy.org.uk/publicaffairs
• Email
• Tim.stone_at_salvationarmy.org.uk
• Snail Mail
• Tim StonePublic Affairs OfficerThe Salvation
  Army101 Newington CausewayLondonSE1 6BN