Christians in Government

[Ken L]

Does this make anyone else uncomfortable ?

 

Organistions such as Christians in Government, The National Black Police Association or the Masons represent cliques that work against the interests of fairness and equality and ultimately against the British tax payer.

A Muslim or a Hindu or a Jew accessing government services or indeed applying for a job should expect to be treated the same as everyone else and to be seen to be treated the same as everyone else but is that going to happen when you have groups of people who all know one another from their little cliques.

 

[Emma two]

Yes, as a committed secularist it makes me uncomfortable. I consider adherents to the Abrahmic religions as suffering from a mental illness rendering them delusional, and so not the sort of person capable of handling any sort of civic responsibility.

What’s more worrying is that in order to get the top job in world politics, the US presidency, a candidate has to claim belief in a lot of middle eastern superstitious nonsense. (I sincerely hope that Obama was lying).

Thankfully there are still voices of sanity within the US, William "Bill" Maher, an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, satirist, author, and actor sums things up well when he compares US and UK politics...

 

 

‘England, where they just had an election two weeks ago and, power changed hands -- but the party that lost is working WITH the part that won -- they are not accusing them of being Bolshevik Zulus out to destroy the Magna Carta. Because the English are grown ups, including their conservatives who enjoy a wonderful luxury that conservatives on this side of the pond do not. They're allowed to be sane. They don't have to pander to creationists and anti-intellectuals. Only in this dumb country do liberals and conservatives argue over things like "evolution" and "climate change" and whether "sick people should be left to die in the street."

The conservative who won in England, David Cameron, was asked if he's religious, and he said, "I don't feel I have a direct line." That's right, he distanced himself from God. If Obama did that we wouldn't see him again until neighbors called the cops about the smell. Conservatives in England don't care about the 3 Gs -- God, guns and gays -- that tilt so many elections in America. And they don't get their policy ideas from TV shows, like 24. You never hear a Brit say, "I'm for torture because it worked on The Avengers'

Edited December 14, 2013 by Emma two

[The Flying Tench]

I could understand the concern if Christian Unions were pressure groups wanting to change how business was done in a government department. In practice that's not how it is. They are usually very small and meet together, usually once a week for about half an hour, to give each other support and study a passage from the bible together. I started an informal group of this nature when I worked at a merchant bank in the City. It only ran for about 6 months because then I left the company, but there were usually about 5 of us - a couple of conservative christians (one of which was me), a very liberal christian who always disagreed with everything I said, an atheist and an orthodox Jew. I found it very interesting, and was pleased that the atheist and the Jew were able to find out a bit about what Christians really believed, but any thought that we were trying to change how the bank operated would have been wide of the mark. For a start we were all quite junior, in different departments, and too few in number, and none of us had contact with each other the rest of the week. I accept that this wasn't the civil service, but the nature of the groups there would be very similar.

[corydoras]

From the "About Us" section of the CIG website.

 

We are a network of Christians of all denominations working in the civil and government service with representatives and Christian networks in all major departments and many national government organisations across the UK. Our vision is to see Christians in Government throughout the UK working together to realise their calling to know Jesus Christ, to connect faith with their working lives and make Him known in their workplaces and through their work, and to see God's kingdom come and will be done in the UK and throughout the world.

 

That does not sound like a secular message to me John. It sounds like something thsat you might find on a Tea Party web site.

[Emma two]

I feel even less comfortable after reading the above quote.

[Ken L]

Going back 20 years to when I was working for the Information Technology Services Agency and was based at tthe Longbenton site in Newcastle, there were regular tanoy anouncements for meatings of an organisation that called itself the civil service Christian fellowship - all in works time of course.

Back in the late 80's, big chunks of the DHSS (as was) were also run buy a cabal of people who would identify themselves as "lay preachers".

It does make me wonder to what degree it is still going on.

[poledark]

Re the Christians,chances are that they don't have to make a big thing about it.. probably already know each others views and values, so no need to have meetings or whatever.

 

Den

[rob.imk2]

Anything to do with religion/politics In the same sentence is a little worrying to me as they actually believe in a deity and run the country .Just look at the state of the world

Edited December 16, 2013 by rob.imk2

[Emma two]

Or look at the state of US politics where religion stalks the corridors of power like an unwholesome spectre.

 

Have a look at this, Bill Maher on religion (in)politics.

 

 

[RUDD]

Re the Christians,chances are that they don't have to make a big thing about it.. probably already know each others views and values, so no need to have meetings or whatever.

 

Den

Always though they meet on Sunday mornings, sorry my mistake - they are matchanglers and you soon get to know their views and values at the draw and weigh in!