FATHER MICHAEL’S DIARY
3 MAY 2024
POLITICS IS RELIGION
By the time you read this we shall know whether Sadiq Khan or Susan Hall is the Mayor of London. With these Local Government elections behind us and the looming prospect of a General Election this may be a good time to reflect on the whole business of politics and religion. Whenever someone from the Church comments on a current situation they are often told that politics and religion do not mix and by implication one has nothing to do with the other. On the contrary I would submit they are in fact two aspects of the same thing.
Religion and politics are both attempts to live better in the world in which we find ourselves. Both have a vision of what that ideal world would be like. Religion may say the world would be a better if we all tried to live in accordance with God’s law while a politician might advocate lower taxes or a smaller role for the Government. But at the end of day both politics and religion embody articles of faith. Advocates of both will say that their principles have never been fully tested in real life but they continue to promote them regardless. In practice both may cause pain and damage and suffering to ordinary people who have no alternative but to accept whatever the Church teaches or the Government decrees.
This is the consequence of living in the real world and an imperfect world at that. Simplistic solutions, whether religious or political, are never going to work. The search must be for something more nuanced, more subtle, more attuned to the realities of life. Anyone who lines up behind a one sentence slogan is asking for trouble, whether its “We’ll cut prices at a stroke” or “Stop the boats”. Slogans like “the public ownership of the means of production” or “lower taxes” are simply too simplistic to work in our complicated world. So are “see that you love one another” and “render to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s and to God the things which are God’s”
So where do we go from here? The temptation might be simply to pack up and go home, but that is no answer either. Our sad, unhappy, imperfect world is still out there and we feel compelled to do something about it. We know that simplistic solutions will not work so we must look for something more subtle. That entails selfless study of the situation so we can approach it free from any dogma, religious or political. Who knows, what we discover may surprise us. The Holy Spirit, the creative genius of God, blows where she will and, if we let her, may breathe new life into our sterile debates. But that is a risky undertaking for who knows where it may lead.
READINGS AND PRAYERS
5 MAY – SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTERTIDE – John 15.9-17 – love one another as I have loved you – that we may recognise the image of God in all people
6 MAY – St John in Eastertide (Rogation Day) – Wisdom 5.1-5 – the just shall stand with great constancy – for God’s blessing on our community here at St John’s
7 MAY – Rogation Day – Luke 11.5-13 – ask and it will be given you – that God will bless the agriculture, commerce and industry of our land
8 MAY – Julian of Norwich, Spiritual Writer, c.1417 (Rogation Day) – 1 Corinthians 13.8-end – Love never ends – spiritual writers and mystics today
9 MAY – THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD – Luke 24.44-53 – while he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven – thanksgiving for the Lordship of Christ over all creation
10 MAY – Friday – John 16.20-23 – no one will take your joy from you – for optimism and courage
11 MAY – Saturday – Acts 18.22 – end – he was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures – all who preach the Faith today