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 we� have
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 any�
political 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, and�
carries 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 that� flows 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.