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How faith supports the political process

By Peter Sellick - posted Monday, 27 February 2017


There are two mutually exclusive things in our world, service of the self and service of God and hence our neighbour. When the only foundation for the self is the self, the first will win out and the second, though often proclaimed, will be a facade. This is why we are so cynical about politicians and we long for a leader who is able to transcend petty political infighting.

Any identity built on the understanding that we are children of God will entail penitence and self-examination. This is because such a one will always be assailed by the ego and constantly tempted by the will to power. A true servant of the public whose motivation is derived from the service of God must be a disciplined actor. He or she will have to ignore the pressures to conform to the party line that has as its un-questioned presupposition that the grasp on power must be maintained at all costs. Such a one will also have to ignore the temptations of the "over man" to rise above the limitations of creaturely life. He or she would take their frail humanity seriously, confess their mistakes honestly and not be driven by ambition to greatness.

There must be many in our public service that can be described in this fashion otherwise such service would be in chaos. Thankfully the tradition of public service inherited from Great Britain still abides, but for how long now that its foundations have been quietly weakened?

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It is amusing considering the above to reflect on the push to separate Church and State as though the Church is some kind of irrational infection that will derail rational governance. There is often unease when politicians confess their faith and they are warned that to mix religion and politics is an altogether bad thing. However, if there is some truth in the above argument about identity and the ability to work in a detached manner, then we should give thanks to our Christian heritage and give it its due rather than trying to banish it from political life. It may be the very thing that saves us from electing someone like Donald Trump who, as I have pointed out, is the final working out of the Enlightenment's turn to the self. Trump is nothing but self, a giant ego that cannot see past his fog of self-aggrandisement.

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This essay was informed by reading Rowan William's essay "Politics and the Soul: A reading of the City of God. In On Augustine. Bloomsbury 2016.



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About the Author

Peter Sellick an Anglican deacon working in Perth with a background in the biological sciences.

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