Responsible citizens vote!

The idea of a no-show or spoiling the ballot paper in the next UK General Election, now just 6 months away, is certainly not an option for a responsible citizen in a democratic society, no matter how much he or she is dissilusioned with politics. Democracy is about choosing and electing the party which is the nearest to our view of what is for the common good, good for the nation and in line with our vision of justice, ethics and principle. No party's manifesto is going to be identical to what we would want, but democracy is all about defining our priorities of choice and what we consider to be important and thus opt for the party most in line with these for us.

With the social media available to all it is probably not too late to influence the manifestos that will be published next year. What do the Brits want for Britain? What is right and wrong in your view? At least read the outlines of the manifestos and compare them!

As Christians we do not have the right to impose our values on wider society no more than any other religious or non-religious group has, but we can seek to live out and show the importance of Christian values and convince people of the importance of including or maintaining such values within our laws and society. When I speak about Christian values I do not limit myself to issues such as abortion, euthanasia and gay issues. Christian values are much wider in scope than these matters. What about war and peace? What about hunger and disease? These and many other wider issues must be considered by the Christian citizen. For what good would it be saving lives with anti-abortion laws yet approving ones which irresponsibly bomb people out of their minds and kill many more in the process. I am not saying that we are wrong to raise ethical questions about abortion or euthanasia, but we must also raise the same ethical questions about peace and war, for example. There is such a thing as a "just war" but there is also a problem with being "gun happy"!

Here ends a bit more of my British politics ramblings!