By Rick Hiebert. All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission.
With talk of no party winning a majority in this month’s elections in the United Kingdom, “swing” voters will be key.
Which is leading the B.B.C. to ask whether there is anything close to a bloc vote amongst the country’s Christians, and whether their vote will be decisive.
Their story notes that trying to bring a overtly Christian point of view to politics, “doing God”, has been viewed with aversion by most British polticians. But things seem to be slowly chnaging. There are two “Christian” parties in Britain, and one of the parties leaders is wondering whether he could be a kingmaker, not even necessarily by winning swing seats, but by causing one party or another to lose.
Several prominent Christian leaders have also signed what they call the Westminster 2010 Declaration , urging British Christians to recall their faith when making political decisions or policy:
Christians should work to ensure “religious liberty and freedom of conscience are unequivocally protected against interference by the state and other threats”, while they “will not be intimidated by any cultural or political power into silence or acquiescence”.
The declaration goes on: “We call upon all those in UK positions of leadership, responsibility and influence to pledge to respect, uphold and protect the right of Christians to hold these beliefs and to act according to Christian conscience.”
Its website encourages voters to e-mail parliamentary candidates to find out their views.
More than 30,000 people have backed the declaration.
Paul Woolley, director of the Christian think-tank Theos, said: “The fact that the election looks very close will give a certain relevance to the question of whether Christians can influence voting.”
He added that, despite a commonly held view that British public life is becoming ever-more secular, parties had been “working hard to make inroads into faith-based communities and organisations”.
It’s not exactly the sort of “Chrsitian politics” you might see in the United States, say, but if Christians start to become active in poltics, it may be an interesting–if under the radar–development for Britain.
NO
the ‘Christian invasion of Britain’ will not be heard to any great degree.
The multi national peoples of Britain ‘don’t need another flag to unite under they have enough already!
The only way someone is a kingmaker in the UK is if they do something to Queen Elizabeth II
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Seriously, you’re right that the British Christian view of politics is different, since a lot of the sexual-or-euthanasia related issues that make up US activism aren’t in play nearly as much in the UK. Than means that believers have to choose from other economic and foreign policy issues which require a different type of discernment.
The real “kingmakers” will be the three main parties, who will likely have to decide which pair will run the country, since a coalition government seems likely at this point. To try a Canadian overlay, Cameron is Peter MacKay (more moderate than Harper), Brown is Iggy and Clegg is a charming young Dipper (I don’t know the NDP back-bench to do a great analog).
I am aware of a Christian party fielding some candidates in the UK election. However, the chance of that party being the kingmaker in the event of a hung parliament are, sadly, about zero. That will fall to Nick Clegg, who is an avowed atheist.
There is a ‘party of christians’ that have been slowly making inroads into parliament and its corridors for a number of years that have had back up from ‘certain parties in America. It has been noted that this back up was ‘part of a strategy’ to join forces numbers.
I would like to think that if Britains ‘christians’ want to ‘rule politics in Britain then they would do so on their own merit without the American influences especially as the Church in America right now is in need of a spring clean.
There is this belief that a christian somehow ticks the boxes when it comes to honour, integrity and the like and yet much eveidence tells us otherwise, Christians in America are Obama bashing at this very moment which I find downgrades both them and America!
At the end of the day its the best of a bad bunch.
With all the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes by those in search of ‘ ……..I just wonder if anyone in this world really cares for the people or only for themselves.