Evangelicals Call for Government to Partner Christians to Instil Respect

In the fourth in the series of Winchester Lectures, Rev Joel Edwards, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance spoke about Respect being a state of mind and the responsibility of the state, Feb. 15th, 2006.

|TOP|The lecture series has been used to promote Edwards’ Respect Agenda, and in the lecture yesterday, the Evangelical Alliance head highlighted the moral vacuum created by society and government that has increasingly driven Christianity to the margins.

The address also called for all UK citizens to recognise the power they have to impact and make a difference to the political process.

On Feb. 8th Edwards also spoke about the outcry from Muslims across the world to the printing of Danish cartoons illustrating the Prophet Mohammed.

“Both sides of the debate needed to take seriously the notion of respect. So, editors who recklessly attack a religion which has no iconography are guilty of disrespect, as are violent extremists,” said Rev Edwards.

In his latest talk, Rev Edwards, as part of the Respect campaign, addressed the need for the government to recognise the important contribution Christians make to the cohesion of their local communities.

|AD|He called upon the government to adopt churches and Christian organisations as partners in the battle to re-introduce a culture of respect in the country’s cities, towns and villages.

During Edwards address he commented:

“We need to act on the realisation that Governments are in power because we vote or do not vote them in. At a time when politicians have never before been so sensitive to opinion polls and the mood of the populace, we need to exercise our democratic rights and demand more from those who want to govern us. Power is in the hands of the voter but we need to wake up from our apathy and play a more active role in politics and society. By this I do not mean that we expect politicians who are void of human failings, I mean we are realistic in our expectations but demand the best from them. If politicians are afraid to say sorry for mistakes or feel unable to be honest about the things that most haunt or trouble them, we fail to treat them with the dignity that all human beings deserve. And yet, at the same time, we need to challenge our leaders when we believe them to act in ways that are detrimental to society. We must understand that pop idols and “beautiful people” find it much easier to become national heroes in our age of celebrity. We must be more discerning and support those who are, dare I say it, less glamorous and yet are working hard for a better society.”

“At the very heart of the political process is a moral vacuum which has been created by the dualism which banished faith to the no-go zone of private religion. Consequently a vacancy has been created which no-one seems sure how to fill. Successive governments have identified a gradual shift towards anti-social behaviour but have learned by bitter experience the cost of moralising on such subjects. Let me be clear, we don’t expect politicians to create a moral environment, which is what it seems like they try to do at times and fail. But we do expect them to create an environment in which issues of justice and morality can be addressed by men and women of faith. To deny this prophetic and spiritual dimension to society and to move ever closer to complete secularisation is reckless. We should all be worried about dismissing the faith perspective in order to appease a Godless ideology.”

“The danger of course is that when the radical message and challenge of Jesus is sanitised and is mixed up with the establishment then there is a real danger of distortion on issues such as global trade and past atrocities such as apartheid in South Africa and the hatred that emerged in America with the Klu Klux Klan. Personal faith can however have the potential to be an effective partner of the state. This can be seen in the way Christians work towards positive community cohesion. Look at the history of Britain - education, hospitals, social services and reform – and I’ll show you people motivated by their strong Christian convictions for the good of their fellow man.”

“Comprehensive research into the price of the Christian pound would make interesting reading but those of faith offer more than empirical and cost-cutting benefits to communities. Christians should be taken seriously and not just wheeled in to Government offices to fulfil a listening exercise. They are working at street level and contribute their expertise as well as their commitment.”

“Healthy human relationships are the bedrock of a strong society and are built upon the value of respect. We are pleased that the Government’s Respect Plan looks at family training. When they have mistakenly, in my view, legislated for the child as opposed to the family, I call on them to have the courage to resist the politicisation of relationships which rubbishes the family. They need to look again at their tax policies, and act on research that proves the financial and emotional benefits of marriage to adults as well as children and which also reaches much further into our communities.”