Politics and Religion

Local elections and MEP elections are about to take place in this sunny part of England so my recycling bin is full of unread glossy pamphlets.

I am told that at a civilised dinner one should never speak about religion or politics. Luckily I am not eating dinner and neither am I particularly civilised, as I want to write about both religion and politics. Some people seem to think the two should be separate, but I can not ignore Catholic teaching when voting and can not ignore the fact that I need to vote. To ignore faith in matter of politics seems very bizarre as political decisions have huge moral implications and can involve laws that affect religious freedom. It is because of my faith, that it is important to me, that the person I vote for is not going to attack my freedom to practise my Catholic beliefs.

Something that I am not entirely clear on is the way MEP's are elected. It seems to me that I do not vote for a person but a party and the party, depending on how many votes it has, decides who will be the MEP's. I am not sure I like that idea.

Our politicians are in a bit of a mess at moment, but then we are a consumer society and their consumption simply reflects this. It is hard to be inspired to know where to place one's vote.

I must admit that I briefly considered the Liberal Democrats. I have met some sensible people who are taking them seriously. My consideration ended abruptly when I read their policies. How can people take them seriously? My real concern showed itself in their treatment of faith schools. They claim to support more faith schools but then declare that they will remove everything that makes the school a place of faith. The Catholic Church makes a huge contribute to the education of this country and are considered to have some very good schools. If the Liberal Democrats succeed in damaging Catholic schools then education in this country will suffer.
They will not be getting my vote.

I will have to keep searching. Not voting is not an option.

God Bless

Mr Peter McGeady