Australian Catholics - Explorations: Christians and politics

Explorations: Christians and politics

WORDS Andrew Hamilton sj

Later this year there will be a Federal Election. The media are already reporting in detail on the issues and tactics. In this edition we explore how, as Christians, we might view politics and approach the election.

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Among Christians, as among Australians generally, there are many attitudes to elections and politics. Some are bored by politics, and wonder if their vote will make any difference. They see politics as a battle between professional politicians, and believe it has nothing to do with their Christian faith. If pushed further, they would say that it is the business of governments to run the country and manage the economy. Elections are about choosing the best people to manage the country. Christian faith has nothing to do with all that.

Other Christians believe that Christians should be passionately involved in politics. They should focus on particular moral issues. They may differ on the issues. Different Christians will focus on abortion, gay marriage, the war in Iraq or the environment. All say that we should use our voices and our votes and so put pressure on politicians to do something about our chosen issue.

These different views invite us to reflect on the relationship between Christian faith, politics and elections. They challenge us to look beyond our more cynical view of politics as the ego driven, deceitful and manipulative games played by full time politicians in order to grab power. They lead us to see the connections between the ordinary ways in which we work together and what is done by our representatives in Councils and in State and Federal Parliament.

Coming to the party

Although we usually think of politics as being the business only of professional politicians, in fact anything we human beings do together has a political dimension. We are happy and can find what we search for in our lives only through our connections with other people. Just to live, we depend on parents, on teachers, on farmers, on shopkeepers, on plumbers, on road and sewer makers, on computer programmers.

To live happily we depend on our friends and on people who help organise sports clubs, dances, schools, study groups and so on. These things happen when we cooperate and negotiate with one another. Agreeing to work together for common goals is a political process. So whenever people gather together there is politics. Imagine, for example, that we are a large group of friends coming together to organise a party. Usually everyone begins with different ideas. So if we are to get the party running, we will all have to give up some of our own pet ideas and arrange something everyone else will be happy with. We shall have to negotiate what time the party will start, what they will eat, what they will wear. Someone has to set up, buy things, clean up, arrange the music and so on.

Our negotiation will work well if we focus on what we want to achieve, and if we try to make all those who take part happy. We will be most satisfied with our hard work if everyone there, especially the most shy, enjoy themselves and feel involved.

This process by which a group organises and decides what it wants is a political process. In larger groups, people are less likely to know one another. When they negotiate decisions that affect the lives of all their members, the political process will become much more complex.

In councils and governments people are paid to develop and to administer policies. The policies will be debated and adopted by representatives of the people for whom the decisions are made. Our paid representatives usually belong to political parties, and are chosen at elections.

Because we are not involved in the process by which governments take their decisions we often feel distant from elections. We may also be put off by the strident competition between parties for our votes and by political commentators who treat politics like a football game.

We are right to be put off. The test of a political process, whether in a group of friends organising a dance or in government, is not who wins, but whether what we plan and do actually benefits people.

An ethical politics

If we recognise that politics at domestic and at national level is about the happiness of people, we cannot separate politics from questions of right and wrong. We need constantly to ask whether the things that we and our representatives decide to do contribute to people’s happiness.

Even the decisions that we make in small groups have an ethical dimension. It would be wrong, for example, to plan a party deliberately to make someone feel bad or to liven up the party by lacing the drinks with amphetamines.

The policies and decisions of governments and councils also have ethical aspects. Because these decisions always involve the spending of public money and resources, politicians need to weigh up what is in the best interests of the people they all represent. If they spend money to ensure their own re-election, and not for the good of the people as a whole, their decisions are not justly made.

Details of political decisions can also deeply affect people’s happiness. For example, it may be justifiable in general to legalise poker machines. But to allow them to be installed in areas of disadvantage would threaten the well-being of families who already struggle. So the decision on where they should go is not simply political, but has a moral dimension.

A Christian politics

Christianity is concerned for the way in which we care for one another and live with one another. The stories of Scripture emphasise this. God reminded Cain that he was his brother’s keeper. The Jewish people’s relationship to God depended on the way they treated the widow, orphan and stranger. The prophets criticised in God’s name institutions that do not work justly for the good of all the people.

Jesus both taught and practised a way of life that affected the way in which people lived together. He did not simply teach but gathered twelve disciples as the nucleus of a people who embodied his teaching. Paul later spoke of the church as the body of Christ. The image showed how much we rely on one another, and how our own happiness depends on the wellbeing of others. We build our relationship with Christ through our relationship with other people. As John puts it, if we do not love the people whom we see, we can’t claim to love the God whom we cannot see.

Because political policies and decisions ultimately shape people’s lives and happiness, they are of interest to Christians, and so to churches. We expect that church representatives will comment on the issues from a moral perspective. This is not meddling in politics. It simply recognises that we should all be interested in political issues that affect the happiness of human beings.

Faithful to politics

The most obvious way we can help shape the society we live in is by participating in elections. Through elections we take responsibility for who will represent us and for the kinds of policies our representatives will adopt. To emphasise the responsibility that we have for electing governments, voting in Australia is compulsory.

Our vote will often seem insignificant, particularly if we live in a safe seat. But voting is important, because it is a symbol of our responsibility as citizens. It is one small way in which we can influence the shape of our society and can hold our representatives accountable for governing for the good of all people.

Of course, by itself, voting is not enough. To use our vote well, we should also take an interest in the policies of the different parties. We need to make a judgment about how honest they are in stating their policies, and how far they can be trusted to implement them if they are elected.

We can also exercise our responsibility by reflecting on the issues that face the nation. The media are full of articles and programmes about politics at election time. Some do reflect on what kind of a nation the competing parties’ policies will shape. Reading also leads to conversation, where we can help develop our own views and those of the people with whom we speak. Conversations help shape political attitudes in Australia.

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Voting responsibly

When we come to vote, what should influence our decision? From what we have said, our decision should be based on asking what is right for all Australians. We should ask ourselves which party’s policies will best help all Australians to flourish, beginning with the weakest and most powerless people. We should also ask which will best help build a just and peaceful world.

But it is not just the policies that decide how we vote. We also want to know which party is most likely to carry through its policies. Before we vote we ask about the capacity, determination and capability of parties to carry through their stated policies. Parties often promise more than they can deliver, and hide their intention to do things which would harm their chances of re-election.

Deciding who to vote for will usually come down to fit. Each party will have policies that help build a humane Australia; each will have harmful policies. Good, intelligent people will differ when they decide how to vote.

Because the moral issues involved in voting are so complex, it is rarely helpful to focus only on one single issue, like abortion or the Iraq war. These two examples, indeed, demonstrate the difficulty of doing so. If we believe that these two issues involve the killing of innocent life, how can we focus exclusively on only one of them and leave the other unaddressed?

When we vote, too, we do not simply judge the policies that governments adopt. We also ask what they are likely to do if they are elected and what will be the effects on Australia if they do execute their policy. We might think, for example, that Australian society would be much fairer and responsible if alcohol was banned. Before we voted for a party advocating this policy, however, we would want to know that they would carry out the policy if elected. We would also ask whether the widespread making of illicit drinks and the corruption that followed it would be a worse evil than the original excessive drinking.

If we vote for a small party with good policies, we might also want to know if our vote will be effective in changing the attitudes of the major parties.

So, we are free to cast our vote on the basis of single issues, but we should not normally expect all Christians to do so. It is reasonable to decide their vote on much more general grounds. We shall then ask in balance which party will address the range of important issues that face Australia, and whose policies will help shape a society in which humanity flourishes, particularly the most needy. Generally, given the complexity of these questions, people will decide honestly for quite different parties.

Conclusion

For Christians, politics is not a foreign country. It is part of life. When elections come we have a chance to imagine an Australia where our resources benefit all our citizens. We can dream of the part that Australia can have in shaping a more just and compassionate world.

At election time we have the choice of switching off and switching on. If we become involved in the conversation about which party will best govern Australia, we can help shape the Australia of our dreams.