Part 294. Let's be pragmatic. (2)

In 1985 the Church of England published a report on urban priority areas. Its title: Faith in the City.  It painted a woeful picture of prejudice, bigotry and poverty and their causes. At the time the Conservative government and its acolytes told the Church to stick with the cure of souls and leave the politics to the politicians.  Disgracefully little has changed since in terms of the relationship between churches and the state, and it has to be said little progress as been made in addressing the social issues identified in the report. 

One key paragraph in Faith in the City is this: 

Yet while many members of the Church of England have found it more congenial to express their discipleship by helping individual victims of misfortune or oppression, fewer are willing to rectify injustices in the structures of society.  There is a number of reasons for this preference for 'ambulance work'. No-one minds being cast in the role of protector and helper of the weak and powerless: there is no threat here to one's superior position and one's power of free decision. But to be a protagonist of social change may involve challenging those in power and risking the loss of one's own power. Helping a victim or sufferer seldom involves conflict; working for structural change can hardly avoid it.  Direct personal assistance to an individual may seem relatively straightforward, uncontroversial  and rewarding; involvement in social issues implies choosing choosing between complicated alternatives and accepting compromises which seem remote from any moral position.....We have little tradition of initiating conflict and coping with it creatively. We are not at home in the tough, secular milieu of social and political activism.

Paragraph 3.7.

In the United Kingdom there has been some improvement in the way denominations challenge government on social justice issues, but there needs to be much more. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has published a number of reports in the past year setting out the stark reality of poverty and destitution. (See previous posts.). It was encouraging to note secular and faith organisations coming together to challenge politicians on poverty issues. Denominations need to engage more in initiating conflict and engage with secular social and political activists.  In so doing it is essential that the need for a pragmatic approach is to the forefront and positive action is not sacrificed on the altar of unbending moral principles or, even worse,  narrow biblical interpretation.