Non Gamstop Betting SitesNon Gamstop Betting SitesCasinos Not On GamstopBest Non Gamstop Casinos UkNon Gamstop CasinosBest Casino Sites Not On Gamstop

Faith & Politics in a Pluralist Society

Billy Mitchell

Is loyalism inextricably linked to religious Protestantism? A common charge levelled against loyalists like myself is that wehave abandoned the faith of our Protestant heritage and sold out to secular socialism. Those who make such allegations seem to suggest that political Unionism must somehow become the bulwark of the Evangelical Protestant Faith or of the Reformed Faith. While I readily admit that, for generations, evangelical Protestantism was regarded by many Protestants as the spiritual heartbeat of Unionism, I do not believe that any legitimate faith community requires a political bulwark.

If Unionism is genuinely about maintaining the link with the rest of the United Kingdom then Unionists must accept the multi-faith and multi-cultural nature of the United Kingdom. Pluralist societies cannot give preference to one religion over another and, if the oft quoted phrase �civil and religious liberty for all� is to have any legitimate meaning, each citizen of the United Kingdom must be free to worship his or her god, or to dissent from worship, according to the dictates of their own individual consciences. For this reason I personally subscribe to the belief that the Church of England should be disestablished. There is no room in a pluralist society for a State Church.

It has long been a cardinal tenet of Protestantism that each individual is personally responsible for what he or she does about the claims of the Christian gospel. If we, as Protestants, really believe that then we must reject any alliance between church and state and any reliance upon political parties to legislate in defence of our faith. As a Christian I repudiate the blasphemous notion that the defence of my faith in Jesus Christ is dependent on anypolitical party or any form of government legislation. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom which no human government or political party has a right to intervene in.

Unionists who claim that part of their political remit is to defend the Protestant Faith are an offence to God. Are politicians so arrogant that they would assume powers that belong only to the Holy Trinity? I am kept in my faith by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the power of the Queen of England or any of her ministers. Any religion that is dependent for its defence upon political institutions or human governments is inherently and fatally flawed, andcarries within it the seeds of its own destruction. To suggest that the government of a post-Christian society such as we have in the United Kingdom can in any way defend my faith simply adds insult to injury.

Political unionism is about citizenship. As a Unionist I desire nothing more and nothing less than to retain my position as a citizen of the United Kingdom. My loyalism is, therefore, focused on securing and maintaining for myself and my family full and equal citizenship within a multi-faith and multi-cultural Union. Consequently I am committed to working for a classless society where all citizens are afforded equality in terms of both opportunity and outcomes regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or other such considerations. That in itself necessitates involvement in secular class politics.

Loyalism must therefore be a secular, pluralist and class conscious movement. That in no way excludes people of faith from playing an active role within loyalism. Indeed there are a number of committed evangelical Christians, as well as other people of faith, involved within my own party. We seek to bring our faith perspective to the debate on core issues and, where we personally have to dissent from policies which we cannot endorse as individuals, we are given liberty to do so. Democracy is not about coercion, it is about freedom of choice and respect for diversity.Indeed that is what authentic Protestantism is about as well � though somewhere along the road that has been conveniently forgotten by some psuedo-fundamentalists.

Gordon J. Spykman, a Reformed Theologian in the Calvinist tradition, writing in support of a principled pluralist position says, �We live in a religiously splintered world, surrounded by a wide range of contrasting faith communities. Pluralism, as an alternative way of living together in society, seeks to reckon seriously with these very real philosophical differences. It seeks to ensure that the public as well as the private rights of all groups in society be safeguarded within a common democratic order�. Spykman goes on to argue that pluralism �disavows special pleading for the privileged status of established groups and vested interests. The rights that it affirms for one group in society it also advocates for others�.

A Loyalism that claims to be true to the legacy of the Reformation must embrace pluralism. The concept of �civil and religious liberty� is a pluralist concept thatflows naturally from the Reformation. As the Croatian theologian, Meic Pearce explains, �The Protestant Reformation (has) opened a fissure which made growing pluralism all but inevitable�.

Pluralism has a duty to ensure that people of faith have the liberty to worship God according to their own individual consciences, it has no duty to promote or to defend any particular religion or set of religious beliefs. Christ and not loyalism must therefore be the only defender of the Protestant Faith.