You may have heard of the interesting case of Kate Forbes, a Scottish politician who is one of three candidates seeking to replace Nicola Sturgeon as leader of the governing socially progressive, Scottish National Party. What makes Kate Forbes special is that she is a Reformed Protestant Christian, and this is going down like a 'fart in a spacesuit'.
My first question, what is she doing in the SNP? It doesn’t seem like a natural home for her with all their increasingly outlandish leftist policies - some examples here, here and here but being wedded to the idea of Scottish Independence, I suppose the SNP is the only show in town committed to this unfortunate and destructive idea.
At the early stage of her candidacy she had the chattering classes spitting their tea out in shock and the interviewers sat slack-jawed as she robustly defended her faith. They almost couldn’t believe what they heard; a politician with principles? How outrageous that this christian woman doesn’t affirm that the liberation of the sexual instinct is the path to utopia. The absolute scandal of it and here we are in the enlightened 21st century - etcetera, etcetera.
Yes, but most of our “tolerant, diversity is our strength” lefty friends don’t agree.
Somehow, there is this idea that if you don’t have faith you are gifted with a high-minded intellect, a purity of vision, free from primitive superstition. No, I would argue you are a Darwinian materialist - that is your religion, someone who believes that life is shaped by undirected forces and that chief end of man is avoid pain and maximise pleasure. Your approach is utilitarian yet you live in a world which still benefits from its Christian foundations. You profit from our understanding of truth, human dignity, justice, human rights and compassion to pick a few at random. These ideas just didn’t evolve. Philosophically Biblical Christianity makes sense if you want to live in a peaceful, just, ordered world. I would contend there is a congruency between what a Christian believes and how the world actually works. The materialist can’t say this. Perhaps a Christian in high office might focus on those more noble aspects, listed above rather than trying to defy gravity and burning the entire structure down in the process.
Somehow, there is this idea that if you don’t have faith you are gifted with a high-minded intellect, a purity of vision, free from primitive superstition. No, I would argue you are a Darwinian materialist - that is your religion, someone who believes that life is shaped by undirected forces and that chief end of man is avoid pain and maximise pleasure
You might not like what we have to say because we believe in a higher authority than the state and our understanding of morality chafes against the secular pagan worldview. Many believe progressive values to be enlightened but as we look back on history, we can see they are in fact regressive. They are the extremists. All cultures and societies go through this cycle but in the end, social, cultural and moral decay finish them off. Christianity has a perspective on preventing this cycle, It is hard medicine requiring repentance, right and virtuous living, with our affections focused on God the creator and sustainer of the world. It is no surprise that the Roman Empire martyred 2 million Christians. While in most respects they tried to be model citizens, they wouldn’t worship the emperor nor bow down to the false gods of the day. Christians now face the same stark choice today. We offer a revivifying alternative approach, why should we not want to share it to a world that is hurting. We think you should consider it early treatment for what ails us but we know how this works. There will be formidable resistance. People enjoy their sin and rebellion too much.
Christians agree that there should be a state but we may disagree on its scope. For most of us though, the job of the state is to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. At present this is not happening in the West because we have lost our way. When the state cannot do its duty, chaos reigns. The elite prosper and the ordinary people suffer. As Christians we have a moral obligation to act and there are different means to do this. We should want to be contributing citizens within our communities and we have a rich heritage to prove our ability to provide care and compassion and the pursuit of justice for the oppressed.
Before anyone gets too worked up, I’m not arguing for a theocracy but a society rebuilt and administered on a christian philosophy and this can be achieved in time. Biblical Christianity is the only antidote for the woke mind virus. It does not matter how many Christians make it to the top if the system below, is working against them. Our starting point needs to be at the bottom. We need our “long march through the institutions” It may take one hundred years and it won’t happen by accident. If we have useful skills and social capital, we need to put ourselves forward for the jobs at the bottom of the institutional food chains and do these jobs well and work our way up. Remember God's does things differently, He doesn't tend to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. People often mistake power with influence. People at the top may have power to issue orders, but influential people make things happen or more importantly, can prevent things happening. We need to be influential and the best way to achieve this through competence. Whereever God places us we need to be the best. We need to be in place to promote the good and suppress the evil. There may be a cost but what we can’t do, is just let the evil pass through and upwards and then claim “I was just doing my job”. Each of us is placed strategically by God. Pray to be competent, then do your duty.