A Christian Manifesto

I was heartened to read the Evangelical Alliances' Open Letter to Party Leaders today, as it reflected the views of British Evangelical Christians on Facebook and Twitter, and refreshingly not a single reactionary idea amongst them!

• Encourage the importance of marriage as the best environment to bring up children
• A change to the voting system so that it is more representative of the votes cast
• For politicians to act with honesty and integrity

Other suggestions that make up the top ten ideas include:

• Foster social entrepreneurship in inner city areas that have suffered from long term deprivation
• Fully worked out plans for supplying water and sanitation to those currently without in developing countries
• An immigration policy that ensures we provide proper sanctuary for those fleeing persecution in their own country
• Cap the interest rate that can be charged on loans and credit cards
• Reform the House of Lords
• Work to set up an international tax on financial transactions
• Take hard choices to tackle the national debt

This is just a sample of the many ideas that were submitted to the Facebook group and via Twitter, and show that Christians are passionately committed to all areas of society. Which ever party or parties form the next Government we call on them to listen to these suggestions and engage with the Church. Across the country churches are an integral part of local communities and work for the good of all society. We ask that you work with the church as a key partner as you begin to govern.

The thinking is refreshingly global, focussed on justice, fairness and community - values at the heart of a Christ Centred, Biblical world view. I doubt that the party leaders will have listened that much (judging from most of their manifestos), but whatever government we find tomorrow morning, we have here some of the issues that Christians at least would like it to address - issues that will have a wider benefit rather than simply fulfilling sectarian interests.