Saint David Childwall

 

We were staggered to read that the British National Party is planning a billboard campaign for the forthcoming European elections on 4 June which quotes scripture. The quote from John 15:20 is “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” and is followed by “What would Jesus do? Vote BNP.”

This scandalous distortion of the gospel pretends that the BNP’s vile policies of hatred are in some way justified by the Christian faith. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The Christian faith is clear that race is no grounds for discrimination of any kind, that all people are equal before God and that true justice requires total opposition to bigotry and prejudice.

Not that the BNP are the only political party to call upon the Church for help. Recently we received literature from  Stephen Timms MP telling us how New Labour supports the work of the Church in the community. It appears they have a Website dedicated to Christian Socialism. Suddenly, the Church seems popular!

 

Of course, New Labour and the other mainstream parties cannot be classed alongside the BNP. Whatever we may think of our politicians right now there are many who work tirelessly for the good of all and with that we can agree.

We at St. David’s would not persume to tell anyone how they should vote – that is a matter for personal conscience. What is important is that people do use thier vote. Remember: A low turn out in these European Elections could mean that the extremists sneak into power and that could be bad for all of us, Church and people.