Christian Democratic Values for Society

Transcription

1 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page i Christia Democratic Values for Society Our Commo Christia Faith A Christia Cotributio to Politics Uderstadig our Times The Meaig of Christia Democracy Reworkig the Foudatios Goals for the CPA Foreword by Sid Cordle MBE Leader of the Christia Peoples Alliace

2 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page ii Itroductio Sid Cordle MBE Leader, Christia Peoples Alliace The Christia People s Alliaces visio for our atio arises from the covictio that the Creator kows best how His creatio is ordered. Truth exists ad so does a set of objective, moral orms that ca guide all huma society i the pursuit of true peace, justice, charity ad the opportuity for each idividual to fulfil their huma potetial. It is for this reaso that a party which seeks to groud itself o Gospel values ad the example of Jesus Christ is ecessary for our atio. It is through the adoptio of Christia Democracy that Britai ca play a just ad meaigful role i the wider huma family of atios. We seek to base our policies upo a pricipled respect for creatio ad the covictio that, as huma beigs are made i the image ad likeess of God, everyoe is of ifiite ad equal value before Him. Without the right to life, all other rights ad laws are redered meaigless. The Christia Peoples Alliace will therefore promote uequivocally the sactity of huma life from coceptio util atural death. As part of this culture of life, we hold to the covictio that marriage ad the family are crucial buildig blocks of society. We will therefore seek to protect ad promote these Biblical ad fudametal istitutios. The pursuit of peace is also fudametal to our political visio. It is writte that God flooded the earth because violece was everywhere. Jesus said Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called childre of God. That s why as Christia Democrats we seek peace at every level of our society. We abhor weapos of mass destructio ad we seek the ed of all wars. Equally we seek recociliatio withi our society ad the ed of forces that brig separatio, especially deep iequalities. That does t mea compromise. It meas ecouragig everyoe to hoour God ad His laws but doig it with respect ad compassio. Ultimately we believe that our atio prospers oly to the extet that it makes righteous decisios. The booklet that follows was produced at the begiig of a ew adveture lauched i I tur it was based upo a idetically formed statemet produced i 1991 by our predecessor, the Movemet for Christia Democracy. Sice our formatio as a party, the Christia Peoples Alliace has produced a series of maifestos which ca be foud o our web site. Please joi us ad help us together to seek God s purpose for our atio. CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE WEB SITE E MAIL ifo@cpaparty.co.uk

3 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 1 Our Commo Christia Faith We believe that God is the creator of all thigs ad the source of all good. God has made us to worship Him, ad to live i love, justice ad peace with oe aother ad His creatio. However, our lives are marked by si, which distorts our relatioship with God, with each other, ad with the atural world. Yet God does ot abado us i our failure, but i His love has met with us i Jesus Christ. Through His life, death ad resurrectio, as scripture reveals, Jesus Christ has opeed the way to recociliatio with God, ad has triumphed over the power of death. We believe that the Holy Spirit is preset ad seeks to guide us, to lead us to right livig, ad to bear witess to the truth. A Christia Cotributio to Politics We believe that Jesus Christ calls us to follow Him i every area of our lives, icludig the realm of politics. We recogise that the Kigdom of God caot be simply idetified with ay political cause; but we also affirm that it demads the pursuit of just govermet ad the promotio of a well-ordered society. We reject the idea that religio is merely the idividual s private affair. We regard all of life as subject to the rule of Christ. The Christia faith has bee fudametal to British society ad of irreplaceable import ad ifluece i the process of shapig the character of our atio. Hece we bear a resposibility both to challege ad to affirm the social ad political order i accordace with our uderstadig of orthodox Christia priciples. 1

4 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 2 Uderstadig Our Times We believe that uder God the well beig of society should be judged more by the quality of huma relatioships tha by material attaimets, more by the richess of huma lives tha by the abudace of possessios, ad more by the realisatio of huma values as expressed i scripture tha by the accomplishmets of techology. We ackowledge ad give thaks to God for the may privileges that we ejoy today: the relative stability of our political istitutios; the recogitio of may civil rights ad liberties, comparative ecoomic prosperity; the may advaces i idustry, sciece ad techology; ad the cotiuig availability of social, educatioal ad health services. However, we also recogise that our atio has failed i may ways to live as God requires. Our society is marred by ecoomic exploitatio, poverty, homelessess, family breakdow, eglect of the elderly, child abuse, destructio of the ubor, exploitatio of wome, racism, violece, crime, drug ad alcohol abuse, excessive persoal debt, complacecy about global sufferig ad ijustice betwee atios, ad careless ravagig of the atural world. Ours is a atio where too ofte selfishess is rewarded ad resposibilities are evaded, ad where the fear, loeliess ad uhappiess of some are met by the igorace ad idifferece of others. We wholeheartedly affirm the value of idustry ad commerce ad the importace of a productive ecoomy for a atio s well beig. Nevertheless we fid it iadequate to measure the health of society i terms of the growth of the gross atioal product, growth of the iformatio society ad e-commerce, ad globalisatio, or to attribute its greatest problems merely to such causes as poor ecoomic performace, problems with the welfare state, ad log-term idustrial declie. The fact that may of our techical ad ecoomic solutios serve oly to exacerbate the problems cofirms that deeper diagosis is ecessary. There are mistake beliefs to which we have succumbed ad idols 2

5 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 3 before which we have bowed. We have placed our faith i humaly desired possibilities of self-sufficiet sciece ad techology. We have ivested our hopes i the quest for edless ecoomic growth. Ad, to give meaig to our lives, we have tured to the promise of idividual freedom, happiess ad prosperity, or have foud our idetity i collective groups such as state, atio or class. Beeath it all, we have deceived ourselves ito thikig that we ca solve our problems without referece to God ad His good purposes for us. It is time to break with these false otios ad to recogise our eed for a idividual ad corporate chage of heart ad mid. The Meaig of Christia Democracy The Christia Democratic traditio of thought, i our uderstadig of it, takes its bearigs from Christia covictios about the perso, society, ad political authority. Accordig to these, the fudametal worth of each huma beig is derived from beig made i the image of God. True huma fulfilmet is uderstood as resposible freedom i relatio to others, ad is foud i the developmet of persos i society. A society should embody a ethos which is either selfishly idividualistic i sactioig the pursuit of private satisfactios to the detrimet of duties towards others, or tyraous i supportig the demads of the state or other collective bodies at the expese of the rightful claims of the idividual. Istead it should create ad urture a spirit which respects the freedom ad itegrity of social ad cultural istitutios such as the family, the school, religious orgaisatios, trade uios ad busiess eterprise, thereby servig to equip citizes to pursue the commo good together. The fudametal role of political authority is to esure justice i the public realm ad to create coditios coducive to the commo good. The exercise of power by the state must always be equitable ad limited, ad should be directed to promotig just relatios betwee idividuals, associatios, commuities, ad other groups, whilst also respectig their proper idepedece. 3

6 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 4 Although bearers of political authority have the resposibility of ecouragig the good, ad rectifyig ijustice, it is beyod the competece of govermet to remedy every social ill, ad ideed it is the duty of govermet ot to udertake tasks that are the resposibility of family, church, or other spheres of authority where this could be properly fulfilled. Democratic participatio elarges the horizos of people, empowers them as citizes ad limits the power of govermets. The expressio of opiio through represetative electios, political parties, public debate ad loyal oppositio, together with respect for political office ad ope ad accoutable govermet, are itrisic to resposible democracy. No party or groupig may claim special legal privileges. While Christia Democratic thikig rejects secularism as a public ideology, it does ot seek a goverig role for ay oe church deomiatio. We recogise the role of the Christia faith i shapig the liberties our atio ejoys. Though we wat Christiaity to cotiue to be our established religio we affirm that it also requires the state to ackowledge the rights of religious ad cultural miorities ad to treat them equitably i public policy. We welcome the diverse faith commuities preset i our atio. With regard to the ecoomy, democratic resposibility implies that the ecoomy should ot be cotrolled either by the state, or by busiess ad fiace, but should build up the cotributio ad mutual resposibilities of everyoe. Ecoomic activity should serve people rather tha domiate them. The full persoal, social ad ecological implicatios of atioal ad iteratioal market activity eed to be recogised, rather tha merely private or accoutig calculatios. Iequitable ad ufair patters of distributio eed redressig. Our emphasis is therefore o the state s cocer with justice ad right structures rather tha ecoomic performace aloe. Reworkig the Foudatios We do ot imagie that i Christia Democracy we possess simple solutios to the problems of our coutry. Nevertheless we firmly believe that Christiaity ca make a importat cotributio to the 4

7 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 5 well-beig of society, ad that membership of the Christia Peoples Alliace is a appropriate way of affirmig this. For this reaso we commit ourselves to the followig six guidig priciples which highlight some basic themes of Christia Democracy. Justice Justice is ultimately fouded i the character of God ad its cotet is give by divie law. Uder this law all me ad wome are due equal respect ad have resposibilities to oe aother ad to wider society. Social justice demads a equal regard for all ad cosequetly a special cocer for the eeds of the poor, the sufferig ad the powerless. It requires that exploitatio ad deprivatio be fought, ad that appropriate resources ad opportuities be available, so that the basic requiremets of all are met ad each is eabled to take part i the life of society. Respect for Life Huma beigs are created i the image of God. The right to life is the most basic of all huma rights ad the itrisic value of every huma life at every stage from coceptio to atural death should be ackowledged ad respected. We therefore especially affirm the fudametal digity of those who are ubor, ifirm, metally or physically disabled, elderly, or uable to speak for themselves. Such respect for huma persos also requires a commitmet to maitaiig a decet quality of life for all, ad to meetig the eeds of those who for whatever reaso do ot have the essetials of life. Moreover it implies a disavowal of all armamets whose use is icompatible with the pursuit of just peace. Recociliatio The Kigdom of God is heralded by a commuity i which all are called to be recociled i Christ Jesus. This should be reflected beyod the church i the breakig dow of oppressio ad divisive barriers related to differeces of religio, geder, race, class, atio, ideology ad political power. These problems have their roots i huma si, 5

8 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 6 expressed through flawed social structures ad persoal pride ad selfishess, which we Christias too ofte demostrate as well. It is a task ot oly for idividuals ad social ad ecoomic groups but also for those egaged i politics, at local, atioal ad iteratioal levels, to work towards recociliatio ad healig. We recogise that such goals may ever be wholly achieved i this world. Nevertheless, humility, repetace, patiece ad forgiveess are political as well as persoal values, ad are essetial i the process of replacig coflict by commo uderstadig. Active Compassio The God of justice is the God of Love, ad huma beigs are called to active lovig service of others. Istead of a idifferece to the distress of others based o passivity, selfcocer or igorace, such compassioate love ispires a attitude ot oly of detached justice but also of opehearted geerosity. We all bear the resposibility, idividually ad corporately, for such service to oe aother. The govermet should motivate idividuals, families, charities ad other associatios to active compassio, ad should prompt ad assist the commuity to meet the fudametal eeds of the poor before satisfyig the prefereces of the rich. Wise Stewardship Huma beigs are called to be stewards of the Creatio, ad all ecoomic activity ivolves our resposibility before God for the world etrusted to us. Ecoomic resources are give by God to serve people s eeds, to help i the developig of their capacities, particularly for justice, co-operatio, ad mutual care, ad to be used creatively ad with resposible cocer for others (icludig future geeratios) ad the eviromet. Markets are ot a law uto themselves, but are shaped by people s decisios. They should therefore be structured i such a way that ecoomic trasactios are fair ad are udertake i good faith ad with the eeds of the commuity i mid. Cocetratios of wealth ad power erode resposibility ad 6

9 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 7 may cause market distortio. We seek a ecoomy where baks, busiesses, trade uios, professioal groups ad govermet departmets work together with greater mutual uderstadig ad public accoutability. The primary task of govermet i relatio to the ecoomy is to oversee the establishmet of just structures i all areas of ecoomic activity; such justice icludes maitaiig a soud currecy agaist iflatio ad ecouragig wealth creatio by gaiful employmet. We will discourage cotiuig depedecy o the state welfare provisio ad gamblig so as to equip all to participate fully i the ecoomy ad to use resources i a maer that respects the created order of the world. Empowermet All authority is from God ad must be exercised resposibly i accordace with the Divie ordiaces for society. It is give to eable service of the commo good ad use of it distorts its iteded purpose. There are spheres of life such as family ad church, i which God has placed authority i structures other tha the state. I each case authority should have its ow proper limits ad be directed towards servig ad beefitig those uder it. We will ecourage active participatio betwee the state ad volutary providers of services. The accumulatio of power may ofte be ecessary for the satisfactory performace of certai tasks, but it may also foster patters of cotrol ad domiatio. Cosequetly it is wrog to assig to larger orgaisatios what ca be adequately doe by smaller ad more local associatios. I particular, those i whom much power is cocetrated, such as idividual owers of wealth, professioal iterest groups, trade uios, multiatioal corporatios, atioal govermets, ad leaders of political blocs, while they ofte exercise power with great resposibility, may yet eed to be called to accout i view of their potetial for workig agaist the commo good. 7

10 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 8 Some Goals for the Christia Peoples Alliace We have outlied the cetral ideas of Christia Democracy ad these six priciples i the belief that they offer a better visio for Britai tha those prevalet at this time. The task of brigig them to bear o the problems of a complex society will require both visio ad patiet attetio to detail, careful research ad wide-ragig discussio, However, at the outset, we put forward the followig as a selectio of goals for the Christia Peoples Alliace, ackowledgig that they will eed further refiemet. 1 Educatio To improve the quality, resources ad morale of the state system of educatio. To urge the appropriate authorities to make resources available, so that parets may effectively exercise their right to have childre educated i coformity with their ow religious ad philosophical covictios, especially i the fudig by the state of ew volutary aided schools. 2 Health To improve the quality, resources ad morale of the state system of healthcare. To improve prevetative healthcare to icrease the health of the atio ad reduce the burde o the NHS. 3 Welfare To provide resources for methods of welfare provisio by discouragig ecoomic depedecy ad promotig gaiful employmet. To adopt a holistic approach to care, which moves beyod mere fiacial provisio. To provide assistace to people who are i dager of beig pushed to the margis of society, for example the homeless or metally or physically disabled. 4 Employmet Improvig employmet prospects by ecoomic, social ad physical meas. 8

11 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 9 To improve the coditios of work to ecourage huma flourishig ad to put people before profit. To seek measures which would aid the geuie participatio of employees both i decisios made by their compaies ad participatio i owership. 5 Housig Develop policies to assist the regios to redress ecoomic imbalaces, i order to brig demad for housig ito balace. To ecourage ad resource commuities to develop holistic plaig for eighbourhoods, ad regeerate deprived areas i partership with the commuity. 6 Iteratioal Policy While we are members of the Europea Uio to work with fellow Christias to seek to brig about moral ad democratic reform. If i future there is a referedum o leavig the EU we will make a judgemet the o what we cosider to be right ad i the best iterest of everyoe. To work for peace, justice, freedom ad recociliatio betwee ad withi atios. To foster huma flourishig ad quality of life both locally ad globally. To icrease the fiacial ad other support provided by this atio to low-icome atios with a view to promotig ecoomic idepedece, especially by partership with volutary providers. 7 Ecoomic/ fiscal To give workers more say i the ruig of their compaies through icreasig employee share owership ad the value of those shares. To esure bouses are paid to all employees i a compay ot just a few, usig the tax system to this ed. To exercise prudet fiacial maagemet of public resources. To properly exercise ifluece over wider ecoomic ad fiscal matters. 9

12 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 10 To reform taxatio to the beefit of married families. To avoid massive debt ad balace the budget. 8 Defece To protect British Citizes ad the Uited Kigdom. Work towards iteratioal peace ad security by stregtheig UN peacekeepig ad multilateral global security, supportig the reductio of armamets ad outlawig weapos of mass destructio. 9 Busiess Work for the just distributio of ecoomic beefits. To esure that busiesses support sustaiable commuities ad preserve the itegrity ad flourishig of people ad creatio. To promote a ecoomy which is stable, diverse, strog, sustaiable, adaptable ad competitive for existig ad ew busiesses. To reform food policy by ecouragig free, local markets with resposible govermet itervetio. 10 Eviromet To effectively steward atural resources for the use of both our ow ad future geeratios. To work for the restoratio of the eviromet where it has bee damaged. 11 Crime To build a atio which has a high reputatio for justice, safety ad civility. To provide a police service with both high morale ad public cofidece which is sesitive to the cultures it serves ad works i partership with the commuity. 12 Trasport To provide trasport systems which meet the full rage of eeds i ways which are attractive, effective, evirometally friedly ad sustaiable. 10

13 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 11 To promote resposibility ad participatio i the fiacig ad operatio of public trasport. 13 Regeeratio (Ecoomic, Physical ad Social) To facilitate the ecoomic, social ad physical regeeratio of decayig commuities through local parterships. To promote iovatio, diversity, equality ad sustaiability. 14 Discrimiatio To promote ad protect the digity of the perso - i civil, political, social, religious, cultural ad ecoomic life ad i the workplace. To foster resposibility by people ad istitutios to work for a just society, marked by love, compassio ad peace. 15 Culture, Media & Sport To support cultural, media ad sport activities ad services for all which lead to huma flourishig, creativity ad improved quality of life. 16 Agriculture, Fisheries ad Food To support farmig methods that practice stewardship by ecouragig sustaiable farmig methods, the appropriate use of techology, maiteace of bio-diversity, ad respect for the place of aimals withi the creatio order. Each policy area is to be cosidered i relatio to both other policy areas ad the followig areas of focus, to esure that all policies are cosidered for their impact i a rage of cotexts: The Perso This focus cosiders how policies cotribute to: Respect, equality ad the eradicatio of urighteous discrimiatio. Idividuals' resposibility for their families, eighbours ad the poor. 11

14 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 12 Persoal fiacial security through practical measures which will exted ad stregthe the emergece of a culture of stewardship. Creativity ad the realisatio of idividuals' potetial. Providig hoourable work ad rest. The Family This focus cosiders how policies cotribute to: The cetral importace of the family, icludig the exteded family, for geeral welfare. The cocept ad practice of family property owership so as to eable families to develop roots ad a greater sese of permaece ad security i their commuities. Commuity This focus cosiders how policies cotribute to: The quality ad itegrity of huma relatioships ad our relatioship with God. A awareess of our accoutability to God i all aspects of public ad private life. The support, regeeratio ad celebratio of commuity - at work, i rest, i play ad i civic areas. The decetralisatio of political ad admiistrative decisios from regioal govermet to local authorities ad from local authorities to eighbourhood structures. Regio This focus cosiders how policies cotribute to: The decetralisatio of political ad admiistrative decisios from cetral to regioal govermet. To ecourage the flourishig of regioal idetity, developmet ad vibracy whilst celebratig diversity. To support regios adversely affected by global ad local treds. 12

15 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 13 Natio This focus cosiders how policies cotribute to: Fuller stakeholder participatio i political processes. Goverace which is ope, efficiet, flexible ad moder. Global This focus cosiders how policies cotribute to: The developmet of a active role for Britai i iteratioal goverace structures ad alliaces i the pursuit of co-operatio, mutual beefit, global prosperity ad peace-makig. Addressig the issues behid the cotiuig impoverishmet of poorer atios icludig through debt ad iteratioal tradig policies. The resposible haressig ad stewardship of the eviromet for the use of preset ad future geeratios. Coclusio The Christia basis of our atio is uder attack as ever before both from secularists ad from false religio. We edeavour above all to be authetically Christia i our approach rather tha merely differet from other political programmes. We will ever be ashamed of beig Christias ad wearig crosses ad prayig i public. We call o all those who share our visio of society to joi forces with us, ad to promote ad act upo the priciples ad goals outlied i this declaratio. ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE IN SEPTEMBER 2001 AND UPDATED IN

16 Mayflowerbooklet:Mayflowerbooklet 12/02/ :38 Page 14 The Mayflower Declaratio is a documet which provides the philosophical basis of the Christia Peoples Alliace. It explais why we believe Christias have a role to play i politics, ad sets out the basis of the Party withi the Christia Democratic traditio. The mai priciples o which the Christia Peoples Alliace is fouded are explored i detail, ad policy directios based o these priciples are set out, icludig the various levels of society which cut across each policy area. The Mayflower Declaratio is based upo a similar documet published o the foudig of the Movemet for Christia Democracy, from which the Christia Peoples Alliace later emerged as a party cotestig electios. The Declaratio was adopted by the CPA Coucil i September 2001 ad updated i It should be oted, however, that we hold the Mayflower Declaratio with a ope had i humility before God. CHRISTIAN PEOPLES ALLIANCE WEB SITE E MAIL ifo@cpaparty.co.uk Published by Sid Cordle 15 Abbey Road Belvedere Ket DA17 5DF. Desiged by Liz Nicoll Prited by StressFreePrit.co.uk, Uit 3, Lodge Bak, Crow Lae, Horwich Bolto BL6 5HY