An election message to the diocese
"Politicians aren’t perfect, but we must still vote, " says Bishop Harold.
"It is clear that many people in our community are deeply disillusioned with politics at this time, for a whole tranche of reasons which have come together especially over the last year. The kinds of words which are being used are: sleaze, money, hypocrisy, in-fighting and even ‘lies’. And the danger is that we accumulate all of them, apply them to all politicians and say to ourselves, ‘A plague on all your houses. I wouldn’t vote for any of them’.
That is, in the first instance, unfair. Many politicians are politicians because they want to serve the community (sometimes, sadly, only their community) in the best way they can, with all their human weaknesses. They give of themselves unstintingly and often selflessly, and we should be grateful.
The general condemnation of all politics also lacks that most basic of human recognitions: the truth that we are all, none excepted, sinners. Not one of our lives stands up to the scrutiny of God, even if it passes the scrutiny of the press. So the idea that we will put our ‘X’ beside some perfect example of humanity on Thursday is, quite simply, an illusion.
One of the nastiest aspects of pre-election campaigning is the pointing of fingers by one party to another, to make the other appear in a bad light, especially when it is personalized. The whole idea, of course, is to make me and my group appear ‘holier than thou’.
However, that does not mean that integrity in politics is not important: it is, and very important indeed. We need people representing us who can admit weakness, learn from the past, offer meaningful apology where necessary, and whose word we can trust. Not people who have never made a mistake or gone in the wrong direction, but people who are palpably real and growing in themselves.
The truth is that, if we are not satisfied with the candidates before us, then we always have the option to put our own necks on the line or to encourage others forward who can represent us well. For now, we have our list. We will not find a perfect candidate, and the onus on us is to go out and vote on Thursday for the one whom we feel will best represent our constituency and our province in Westminster."
+HaroldDown and Dromore