A Reflection on Christian Socialism
(or, can you bring your faith to the world of politics?)
This is the text of an address given by former CotL office manager Melanie Stride to the Isaiah Community at St John's, Waterloo on Tuesday 1 February 2011.
"It is an oft repeated rule that when in polite company, one should never discuss religion or politics.”
This, I have found, is somewhat difficult when your day job is working for the Christian Socialist Movement (now, Christians on the Left). We are an organisation whose members, drawn from across denominations, believe not only that loving our neighbour in the fullest sense involves struggling for a fair and just society in which all can enjoy the fullness of life Jesus came to announce, but that we can work to make it happen through active engagement with the messy business of politics. Although our members by no means always agree with everything the Labour Party does, we are proudly affiliated to it and count among our number hundreds of MPs, Peers, local councillors, trade unionists and political activists. At the centre of what we do is a belief in the power of cooperation as a route to achieving social justice.
One of the reasons we exist is to support Christians in left-sided politics, who often feel out of place in the two communities that mean most to them, their churches and their local Labour parties. It hasn’t always been so, but the attitude that politicians shouldn’t “do God” is deeply embedded for many. Likewise, it is not uncommon for Christians in politics to feel it necessary to leave their politics outside the door when they come to church, however important it is to them or however big a part of their lives it is. But a Christian Socialist stands in agreement with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, when he says “I don't know which Bible people are reading when they say that religion and politics don't mix”.
A full assessment of the political aspects of the Bible is far beyond the scope of this address, but I take you to Chapter 12 of St Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians as an example of the kind of powerful political vision that has in recent years encouraged a number of thinkers on the left to overcome their anti-religious instincts. Verses 20 to 27 call us to the body of Christ, reminding us that “As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’, nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you” and that “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.” A number of political philosophers (such as Zizek, Badiou, Negri) have suggested that St Paul's writing offers a means of freeing ourselves from the competitive logic of consumerism. In an age where Communism and State Socialism have failed, can Christian thinking and biblical teaching provide fresh resources for our political thinking? Do they offer a glimpse of how we might create a society based on co-operation and escape the myth of competition, which tells us that our own well-being is entirely unrelated to the flourishing of those around us? The academic and activist Noam Chomsky has described the competitiveness of exams and league tables in education as “a training in extremely antisocial behaviour”, turning young people into “the kind of people who do not enjoy the achievements of others but want to see others beaten down and suppressed”.
When Robert Owen stood at the forefront of the co-operative movement in the 19th century with his implementation of co-operative principles among the mill workers of New Lanark, he aroused suspicion among Christians, not least because of his publication in 1817 of a book entitled Denunciation of all Religions. In it, he particularly attacks the Church’s is attitude to the poor. But he was in fact using ideas that were anticipated over a century earlier by the Quaker John Bellers, who also argued for a workers cooperative with a progressive programme of education and welfare provision, no doubt inspired by principles he saw writ large in the bible.
Christians are brilliant at getting involved in charity, philanthropy and single issue campaigns, for example the Jubilee Debt Campaign and environmental campaigns. These are fantastic and valuable things for us to be involved in. However, many of the most pressing issues of social justice require a political response, for example the living wage campaign being run by Citizens UK, CSM’s own campaign for the separation of retail and investment banking, and the Robin Hood campaign for a financial transactions tax. The most effective way to deliver these is for people who care about them to be involved in the political process.
In this regard, I am inspired by the words of Martin Luther King Jr. when he says:
“I am tired of seeing people battered and bruised and bloody, injured and jumped on, along the Jericho Roads of life. This road is dangerous. I don’t want to pick up anyone else, along this Jericho Road; I want to fix… the Jericho Road. I want to pave the Jericho Road, add street lights to the Jericho Road; make the Jericho Road safe (for passage) by everybody….”
Later on we will pray for foolishness to believe that we can make a difference in this world. When I hear this prayer I am reminded of many people that I come into contact with through my work. On a local level, I was surprised when my non-churchgoing councillor father told me that he had spent this Christmas day morning at a church open house. It wasn’t to worship, but to see in use the new kitchen that he, as a local councillor, had been able to arrange funding for from his locality budget.
So, I would ask you to consider whether politics is something that you might get involved with yourself. Perhaps as a candidate – it’s not as difficult as you might think. That’s not for everyone, but what about supporting someone you trust, practically or prayerfully, in the political field?"
What are the top three reasons people often give for separating religion and politics?
On what biblical basis can we disagree with these reasons?
How can we disagree well in our interactions?
What examples can we see of disagreeing well in the Bible?
How does Jesus' example inspire us?
Why is building relationships harder than campaigning and activism?
What might your next intentional, relationship-building action be?