Christian Politics Revisited.

I attended another hustings yesterday - this time attended by representatives from both Christian parties, the Christian People's Alliance and the Christian Party. Again, although I disagree with them, I must say that the Christian People's Alliance came across as very reasonable. I wish I could say the same about the Christian Party - what follows is probably going to be a bit of a rant, for which I make absolutely no apologies, but the woman representing them really got me worked up.

Firstly, she twice compared the policies of the present government to Nazi Germany - always a lazy and crass comparison to make and to be honest, completely nuts in this instance - favouring gay adoption and civil partnerships versus the extermination of million Jews - not an obvious comparison. I would also think its one that, if anybody took them seriously enough to respond, could easily return to haunt them. After all, the Nazis weren't too keen on homosexuals either.

The leaflets they were handing out weren't much better either - full of horror stories about 5 year old being forced to learn about homosexuality and 13 year olds being allowed to go and live with men and parents being unable to remove them. If there is any truth at all in these stories, it is severely distorted. This is scaremongering of the worst kind, even worse as it comes from a party which claims to be standing fr truth!

They say they want to return to the land of the book, but the impression was more of just wanting to turn the clock back 50 years - there was the call to bring back matron! The details of their policies also would give teachers the right to use reasonable force to maintain discipline in school - note that, to maintain discipline, not to protect themselves or other pupils. There is something about that that makes me very uneasy. Yes, there is a problem with discipline in school and the number of teachers assaulted by pupils is completely unacceptable, but fighting violence with more violence has never seemed that sensible a solution to me. There a many teachers who do an excellent job under very trying circumstances, but there are some who have difficulty controlling themselves, let alone their classes. Take a minute to think which group are more likely to use force and what the outcome might be.

I did find it fascinating that when asked who else on the panel they would vote for if they couldn't vote for themselves, neither Christian party would have voted for the other. Now, what does that say? Colin Fox of the Scottish Socialists came out very well from that question, which seemed a fair response as, whether you agreed with his policies or not, he came across as both a man of integrity and a talented politician. Kudos also to Mike Pringle, the sitting Lib Dem MSP, for admitting that at a European election he did vote Green, because his party's candidate was a complete idiot.

One final thought on christian politics, before I leave the subject and I'm going to tackle that most controversial of all subjects - abortion. I should make clear that I'm against abortion, I think it is a tragedy for both parent and unborn child. It also seems to be an issue that creates the most entrenched opinions on both sides of the debate. In fact, opinions are so entrenched that realistically there seems little hope for any real movement on the issue. Now, here is where I'm going to get controversial, I think both sides get so stuck in arguing the case from a legal point of view that they miss something. What they miss is this - that NOBODY actually wants there to be more abortions, everybody would like there to be much fewer unwanted pregnancies, especially amongst teenage girls. I just wonder if all the energy which currently seems to be spent in futility arguing about legislation where re-directed into preventative work around sex education (including ideas both on abstinence and on birth control), drugs and alcohol awareness, confidence and skills training for young women, so they have the ability and the confidence to say no when they mean it or to insist on birth control when they do have sex, if all that were to happen, would we perhaps make more difference than all this arguing is producing. Of course, that would involve both sides recognising the best intentions and sincerity of the others, and maybe that is a step too far.

As always, please do feel free to comment with your responses or thoughts on these issues.