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LETTER FROM THE RECTORY
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LLYTHYR O'R RHEITHORDY

May 2010

Rector of Llandudno
Within a few days of the publication of the Parish Magazine (in which this letter also appears) the General Election of 2010 will be upon us. As I write, it promises to be the most closely fought election for many years with lots of talk of a ‘hung’ or ‘balanced’ parliament which makes things quite unpredictable. Now it is most definitely not my business as your parish priest to advise you how to vote, but it is my duty to lay before you some core Christian values which might be of value to you as you prepare for May 6th.

It may well be that you have already decided who will be getting your vote. Perhaps you are a paid-up member or a committed supporter of one of the political parties convinced of that party’s philosophy and programme. It may be that you have decided to vote in a particular way this time because you feel one or other of the parties has the right policies or competence to deal with the difficult situation we are in as a nation at the moment.

You may feel it is time for change, or maybe that what we need is continuity. On the other hand you may be a ‘floating’ voter, confused by the claims and counter-claims of the election campaign and not sure who should get your support. You may be sick and tired with politics, particularly after the expenses scandals of recent months and be tempted to register your contempt by not voting at all. Whether you are settled in your convictions or aren’t sure what to do please do take time to reflect on your choice from the perspective of the Christian faith.

As Christians with concern for the well being of society and for individuals I believe that we have a duty to be involved and to vote despite the understandable cynicism that we might be justified in feeling. The right to vote was hard won by our forebears and just think for a moment what the alternative to democracy might be — a dictatorship or a one party state — in which we would have little or no say at all in how we were governed. Yes, there have been many corrupt politicians, but there is corruption and wrong doing in every part of society.

So what might be some of the values from our Christian tradition which we might reflect upon as we approach polling day? I begin in the book of Genesis where in chapter 1 we read that humanity has been created in the ‘image and likeness of God.’ (Gen.1:26) This has tremendous implications for the way in which each human being is to be valued and treated as members of our society. It means that every human person has dignity and is to be given respect and love and is enabled, as far as is practically possible, to achieve their full potential in life as one who bears God’s image. So we need to examine the philosophy and the proposals of each political party to see how they
would indeed enhance the dignity and well being of every member of society in these ways.

Secondly, we can turn to many places in the Old Testament, in particular to the Pentateuch (the books of the Law) and the books of the prophets, to see that the notion of justice and fairness for every member of society is central to our Judeo-Christian tradition. In both the Law and the Prophets there is a particular concern for the poor and the weak and a demand that those in authority act with consideration for them. There is also a concern for justice and fair play in the way that society is ordered as well as a demand for personal righteousness from the individual members of that society.

Moving to the New Testament, Our Lord himself was similarly concerned with justice for the poor and he spent much of his time with the outcasts of society. And remember Mary’s Song, the ‘Magnificat’ which speaks of God casting down the mighty from their thrones and lifting up the lowly, filling the hungry with good things and sending the rich away empty. How do the political manifestos measure up to all this?

My final point of reference is to our understanding of God as the Holy Trinity, three persons in one God. In his book The Orthodox Way Bishop Kallistos Ware writes: ‘Each social unit — the family, the school, the workshop, the parish, the Church universal (and in the context of the election we might add ‘the nation’) is to be made an ikon of the Trinity. Because we know that God is three in one, each of us is committed to living sacrificially in and for the other; each is committed irrevocably to a life of practical service, of active compassion. Our faith in the Trinity puts us under an obligation to struggle at every level, from the strictly personal to the highly organized against all forms of oppression, injustice and exploitation. In our combat for social righteousness and ‘human rights’ we are acting specifically in the name of the Holy Trinity.’

No political party manifesto can of course measure up to all this, but surely as Christians we are bound to look for the one which will be of most help as we seek to help our society grow, even if in very little ways, into the likeness of God’s Kingdom. Happy polling day!

Fr John


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