Categories: election-2010
Date: 12 May 2010 06:45:49
I have spent the last few days listening to people dispair and moan, and I've joined in but last night I figured something out.....this government gives us an opportunity to commit to a true revolution of love.
What, I believe as Christians and/ or socialists this government gives us is the chance and imputus, (because we had the chance anyway), to do things that show an alternative way of doing things can work, can lead to more fairness and can be totally counter cultural to the priviledged world view Cameron and Clegg are working from.
Let us commit this morning to stop moaning and start committing ourselves to:
1) Express our love for those who the new coalition would seek to marginalise or demonise.
2) Support strong families, not just of the nuclear sort that Cameron wants to strengthen but also extended families, urban families, church families and so on. Let us strengthen communities which actively include single people, chidless people, old people, gay people and everybody else.
3) Seek fairness and justice in our personal spending decisions. Choosing to use our money to help our local communities and those around us.
4) Live a life more simple, that does not seek to gain more in the face of cuts at the expense of others.
5) Use and support our local communities, schools and facilities rather than using our choices to ship our kids out to "nicer" or "better" schools elsewhere.
6) Give according to our income. Let us seek to decide what we feel the rate of tax should be and then give the balance of the greater amount, (what we feel we should be paying), to charities that support the work of the public sector.
7) Engage in democracy and using our rights to stand up for those less able to through both letter writing and non-violent direct action, as appropriate.
8 ) Look at our use of resources to ensure that where possible we seek to be better stewards of our world and natural resources.
9) Pray for our leaders, loving them as the bible instructs us (John 13). Let us pray too for those who are going to be negatively impacted by their policies.
Tough times are ahead, let us not sink into bitterness and resentment but rather respond to this challenge with love and a new way of doing things that reflects our values.