Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has endorsed the work of Christians in politics ahead of the general election and spoke of his admiration and respect for Churches and Christian charities.
In a video released this week, Mr Brown said the Public Square was not a marketplace that could be stripped of values.
‘I don’t subscribe to the view that religion should somehow be tolerated but not encouraged in public life, that you can somehow ask people to leave their faith at the door when they enter a town hall or the Commons Chamber.
‘Churches and the Christian charities have been Britain’s conscience on causes from debt cancellation to child poverty, to the good environmental stewardship of the earth, and each of these great recent causes is rooted in the idea that we are each other’s brother and sister’s keeper, Mr Brown said.
(Click here to listen to the interview)
Mr Brown, himself the son of a minister of the Church of Scotland, stated that the current financial crisis had caused him to draw on the lesson of the Good Samaritan, not to pass by those who are in need.
‘The lessons of the Gospels need not be kept separate from political life. If Christians engage with politics then all of us together can build a society where wealth helps more than the wealthy, good fortune serves more than the fortunate, and riches enrich not just some of us but all,’ he said.
Mr Brown continued saying that he did not accept the idea of privatisation of faith. He said:
‘I don’t accept this idea of privatisation. I think what people want to do is to make their views count, and I think what’s happened over the years is that there is a moral sense that people have, and out of that grow rules.
‘In the end our communities will be strengthened by the involvement of people of faith in them, and our society will be better because people with convictions about what a good society means are playing a part in creating that society,’ he added.
The Prime Minister’s statements came at the time when new laws have made it extremely difficult for Christians to live out their faith in public.
Christian commentators, nurses, lawyers, doctors, teachers and care workers are among those who have faced problems at their workplaces because of their beliefs under the current administration.
(See the Christian Legal Centre for some examples)