WilliamG's blog

            Democracy is a concept that many of us take for granted, especially those of us who live in the West. Each year the Economist releases their democracy index that provides a full report on the state of democracy around the world. According to their 2023 report, 45.4% of the world live in a democracy, and 39.4% live under some form of authoritarian rule. They conclude that only 7.8% of people live in a full democracy after the US was downgraded to a flawed democracy in 2016.

In last week’s Christian Political Action podcast I spoke to Revd Luke Larner about his experience as a priest in the Church of England, practical theology, trade unions, and more. While speaking to Luke about his work in the Church as a priest, his PhD, and trade unions, the thing that stood out to me was his emphasis on the practical and the local. I agree with Luke that much of theology, even theology which calls itself practical theology, remains detached from the material contexts that people find themselves in.

On Wednesday the 22nd of May Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made an announcement that the next UK general election will be taking place on the 4th of July 2024. This was unexpected for many and welcomed by many more. We have just under six weeks until the electorate will be able to vote for the people they want to represent them in the House of Commons. If this is your first time voting or taking part in a general election, then consider this a quick guide to what happens now.  

Welcome to the new series from SCM, Christian Political Action. This is a series of podcasts, blogs and resources designed to equip you with the tools you need to discern what it means to be a politically active and engaged Christian. The series will explore everything from democracy to political parties, trade unions to mutual aid, political theology to non-violent direct action. The series includes a weekly podcast episode and accompanying blog with contributions from activists, theologians, and students. The first podcast episode was with Rev. Dr.

William rounds off our Lent 2024 series reflecting on the ways in which we've rediscovered Jesus, and offers another way to meet Jesus again, inspired by Marcus Borg. 

“Believing in Jesus does not mean believing doctrines about him. Rather, it means to give one’s heart, oneself at its deepest level, to the post-Easter Jesus who is the living Lord, the side of God turned toward us, the face of God, the Lord who is also the Spirit. Believing in Jesus in the sense of giving one’s heart to Jesus is the movement from second-hand religion to first-hand religion, from having heard about Jesus with the hearing of the ear to being in relationship with the Spirit of Christ.

Warning: Spoilers Included

When we consider the place of Christian faith and human rights, one person of particular relevance is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. For those of you who don’t know who Bonhoeffer was, he was a pastor and theologian who was part of the Confessing Church in Nazi Germany and who eventually became involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Hitler. You may be asking how Bonhoeffer justified his willingness to partake in such an act of violence, especially if you have read any of his earlier pacifist writings.

            In the last blog we discussed the connection between the theological concept of Imago Dei and human rights theory with reference to the work of I Sil Yoon. We considered the ways in which the Imago Dei can be used to promote Christian action to further human rights and its connection to Catholic Social Teaching, the Nguni concept of Ubuntu and its relationship to the Bible. However, in this blog we will consider the ways in which the use of Imago Dei in promoting human rights can be a challenge and some of the problems it produces. 

“So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them”. Genesis 1:27