Religion and politics are equally about loving thy neighbour (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Religion and politics are equally about loving thy neighbour

3:06pm Monday 29th June 2009

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By Rev Kevin Logan »

Clergy should stick to religion! The cry echoed around the county after our bishops urged voters to ignore the BNP.

This cry, as old as politics, comes from careless sloganeers, and only a moment’s thought reveals its emptiness.

God’s first command to his human creatures was ‘manage what I’ve made’ (Genesis 1). All of us, regardless of the way we wear our collars, are to be involved.

Secondly, God’s son Jesus urged his followers to be salt and light (Matthew 5); to be a presence that preserves society from rotting and getting lost in darkness.

Maybe our corrupt, lost politics, and especially farcical election of this week’s expense-scandal Speaker, needs more of this sort of presence not less. A wise fledgling Britain agreed to this presence by including two dozen bishops in its parliament.

Thirdly, Christianity and parliament are about care. Can a priest confine himself to the pulpit only when politics is supremely about helping us live sensitively with each other?

Religion and politics are equally about ‘loving thy neighbour’, making the work of politician and priest similar.

So, when the BNP insists that only pink-white humans count, to the exclusion of all other colours, surely bishops would sin to stay silent.

It’s the same when we kill six million unborn humans, and now experiment with millions more. When we’re increasingly treating the unborn, the ill and elderly like dogs by putting them down, surely God’s view should be considered.

A dysfunctional society racing around like rats in search of solutions, would be wise to heed all voices.

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