A Political Presbyter

 As I get older I find myself becoming increasingly political and my politics becoming more radical and progressive.  Apparently we are supposed to become more Conservative with age, but I’m finding just the opposite.  If I wasn’t ordained I’d almost certainly be Looking to stand as a Local Councillor or even as an MP.

People do sometimes say that as an ordained Presbyter in the Methodist Church I shouldn’t be political or that I shouldn’t express my private political views in public.  I’m sorry, but I completely disagree with you about that.

As a person who is first and foremost a disciple of Christ I feel that I must be involved in and comment on every area of life, just as Jesus did during his earthly ministry in first century Judea.  Politics affects every area of our lives, whether we like it or not, and I actually believe it would be wrong of me not to be politically involved as a Christian disciple, specially as my first degree is in Politics.

I have been a member of three political parties in my lifetime, Labour (under Jeremy Corbyn), the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.  I’m not currently a member of any party, because I can’t find one whose policies I completely agree with, though the Greens come closest in being truly radical and progressives .  Perhaps, in the future, I will rejoin the Greens, but for now I find it useful to have that degree of separation.

I will continue to make political posts on both Facebook and Twitter and they will almost certainly be negative where the current Tory government is concerned.  I will praise them should that remote possibility occur that they do anything praiseworthy.

Christianity is about loving God and loving our neighbour as ourselves.  I cannot stand by and be silent whilst there is violence and injustice in our world; I cannot stand by whilst a privileged few take the wealth of our nation whilst people are having to choose between being warm and eating and sometimes don’t have the money for either, and I cannot stand by as long as some people are treated badly or as inferior in any way because of their gender, ethnic origin or sexuality.

As a Christian I believe I must be involved in the political process and us my voice in a country where we still have freedom of speech and expression to opposed privilege and injustice.  I will continue to do so.