The furore over the pastoral letter published by the Church of England's House of Bishops threw up some interesting views. The letter urges Christians to ensure that they vote in the upcoming general election (so far, so neutral) but then goes on to point out some of the areas that people might want to consider when voting such as poverty, welfare reform and nuclear weapons whilst adding that "our democracy is failing" and noting the growing need to find scapegoats in society. Cue apoplexy on the Right...
The Sun, that balanced and ethical source of news and tits, screamed that the Church of England has "revealed its hand as the religious wing of the Labour Party"! The Times, another Murdoch rag that toes the Dirty Digger's party line on all matters, called the letter "political" and "nakedly partisan" whilst adding that the "tacit criticism" of the government contained in the letter had left the Prime Minister "incensed". The Daily Mail, another completely balanced and fair organ, called the letter "narrow-minded and insular" and advised bishops that if they wished to get political, they should throw away their mitres and stand for election. Finally, the Telegraph, although more accepting of the right of the bishops to say what they said, still felt that it gave the impression that left-wing ideas are more moral than those of the right.
The latter point is probably the crux of the whole matter: were the bisops being openly political in publishing their letter and if so, to what end? My answer would be of course they were being political: there is no way that any pronouncement of this kind cannot be extrapoloated to have a political resonance. We are in the (protracted) run up to a general election so anything that can possibly be interpreted as having 'meaning' or influence on it's outcome will be siezed upon by the press, especially a press that is a) in the majority right-wing and b) scared that a future Labour government will implement the recommendations of Leveson and rein in some of the excesses of Fleet Street. Consequently, anything that may give the faintest boost to Labour has to be stomped on, even when the message that the bishops wrote in the letter was always going to contain those sentiments, regardless of who is in power.
Yesterday, in an interview, Nadine Dorries (I know, I'm invoking all that is best on the Right today, aren't I?) said of the letter "[t]here is a very definite left-wing leaning to their message". And right there is the problem. The job of the church, in my simple mind at least, is to put into action the teachings of Jesus. Now knowledge of the bible is not my strongest suit but I'm pretty certain that much of what Jesus said and did was about ensuring that the needs of the poor, the sick, the vulnerable - those who are being left behind, especially when times are tough generally - should be at the forefront of our minds and should inform our actions. Jesus did not say - and neither are the bishops saying it - that making money or running the country well is anti-Christian, merely that part of the responsibility of those two activities should be ensuring that those less fortunate are properly cared for. In her comment, Ms Dorries exposes the fact that, rather than the bishops' comments being driven by any political bias, they are pro- the poor and vulnerable and, thus, contrary to the mood that the Coalition is currently promoting with their constant demonising of the poor as feckless scroungers.
Just as the Mail challenged the bishops to stand for election, I'd say the same to the editors of our so-called "free" press, a press which, in the level of political influence it seeks to exert, has become an enemy of the democratic process in this country. Peter Oborne in resigning from The Telegraph over its failure to properly cover the HSBC tax avoidance scandal (he called it a "fraud on their readers") is to be congratulated. In doing so, he is highlighting the current, debased role of the press: it is now less about telling us what we want to or should know but, instead, is much, much more about telling us what a bunch of newspaper owners want us to know and how we should be voting to best support their interests. I'd rather the bishops point out a few home truths every now and then if it wipes the endless diet of celebrity and showbiz gossip off the front pages for a while.
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