The Christian Socialist Movement has chosen the holiest day of the Christian calendar to make the case that Jesus "might" vote Labour. I believe that there are Christians in all mainstream political parties and I don't question their sincerity but the CSM's case - which appears on LabourList - deserves a fisking...1. His identification with the poor and marginalized. The Labour
party has always had a commitment to “speak up for those who cannot
speak for themselves”. The Bible contains over 2,000 verses which speak
about poverty and justice. Many theologians speak of God having a “bias
to the poor”. There has been a continual attempt in the Labour party to
reflect this bias, through structural change rather than mere handouts.
My response: I do believe that there is a role for the state in helping the poor but let's not forget that God's command was for us to love our neighbour as individuals. We cannot fully discharge our responsibility to the neediest members of society via compulsory taxation. The Roman Catholic principle of subsidiarity teaches that government should never usurp the central caring roles of the family and other intermediate institutions. For Labour, government action tends to be the first resort and the politically correct agencies of Labour's state have trampled on the free institutions of society, notably the two parent familiy by creating a benefits system that penalises living together.
2.
His view that his Kingdom was more important than any earthly kingdom.
Nationalism is nothing new. The Jews of the first century were hoping
for a national Messiah to once more turn them into “a great nation”,
again operating as the political powerhouse of their region. But Jesus
confounded their desires. What they got was someone who announced that
justice, mercy and compassion were to be extended to insiders and
outsiders, friends and enemies alike. He was always clear that his and
our primary allegiance should to be to “the Kingdom of God”, and not to
any earthly kingdom. Labour has always had an internationalist
tradition, favouring international co-operation and reconciliation to
nationalism. This is expressed through attitudes to the European Union,
peace-making in Northern Ireland and the Middle East and asylum.
My response: There is a difference between internationalism and multilateralism. Labour places too much faith in institutions like the EU and the UN. Although they are built on good intentions their record leaves a lot to be desired. Ask the people of Srebrenica, Rwanda or Darfur if the UN is a good institution. Ask the people who suffered from the Indian Ocean tsunami if they received urgent relief from the UN or from US military helicopters? The EU has become a selfish giant. Its aid budget is riddled with corruption and its agricultural policies hurt developing world farmers. Individual democracies tend to be better agents of international justice than multilateral bureaucracies.
3.
In Jesus’ teaching there is a strong ethic of working for “the common
good”, to serve a community, rather than our jobs purely being about
wealth creation for ourselves. This is reflected in Labour’s investment
in public services and a commitment to protect those services which
will never have great market value, but immense benefit to the public.
Fair progressive taxation ensures we all make progress together, rather
than leaving some behind.
My response: Conservatives can sign up to this. The Tory commitment to cut back on welfare benefits for those earning more than £50,000 will actually make a Conservative government more redistributionist - at least in that respect - than a Labour government that is determined to extend state dependency up the income scale. But why the constant emphasis on materialism? Labour has become the materialist party. The deepest forms of poverty have worsened under Labour because it starts from the view that a child's first need is money - rather than the love of a mother and father. The three surest routes out of poverty - family, education and work - have all been penalised under Labour. Family breakdown is accelerating; ill-discipline in schools is at epidemic levels; and many poor families lose disposable income when they start to work.
4. Jesus firmly placed himself in the
centre of the “Big Story” of creation and redemption. For Christians
who believe that we are called to be part of God’s “Big Story” i.e. the
restoration and reconcilation of all things, Labour’s policies of
engagement sit much closer to this than opposing conservative
theologies of escape for the privileged few to a separate heavenly
realm. This is seen in Labour’s responsiveness to NGO and church
campaigns to increase its already ground-breaking emissions cut target
from 60% to 80% – the first Government to set legally binding Carbon
emission targets.
My response: Labour have actually been missing climate change targets in recent years. Progress has slowed since the Tories left office. Much greenbelt has been lost. A third runway at Heathrow is Labour policy. Tories oppose it.
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