Zoe Dixon comments

Zoe Dixon

Liberté, égalité, fraterneté is the national motto of France. The phrase finds its origin in the time around the French Revolution and although coined over 200 years ago I believe it remains poignant for our situation.

The European revolutions of old were a fight for decentralisation of power and the deconstruction of the absolute monarchy. It was a hard won battle and we stand in the good of it. Democracy is the mode of government that the UK employs; it isn't a perfect system but it does provide a platform on which to be heard and engage. The revolutionaries were fighting for a voice; we just need to find ours.

Liberty

Is liberty a core value of Christianity? It reflects the importance of an individual to be free from the oppression of external control. The state of the world does not reflect this. Did you know for instance that there are more people in slavery today than there were in all of the transatlantic slave trade?

I believe that the Bible is very clear that government power should be limited and that its influence over the individual should be limited. We must work hard to defend our hard fought liberties. Freedom of speech and expression seem natural ideals to us and yet, as Orlando Petterson the Harvard Sociologist reminds us, this hasn't always been the case.

'There is nothing at all self-evident in the idea, or, more properly, the high esteem in which we in the West hold freedom. For most of human history, and for nearly all of the non-Western world prior to Western contact, freedom was, and for many still remains, anything but an obvious or desirable goal.'

The British are largely accepted as being the most watched people on the planet. There are estimated to be between four and four and a half million CCTV cameras in the UK. This slow decent into a surveillance state breeds mistrust and suspicion.

Equality

It is a sad but true indictment of our society that there is less social mobility than there was ten years ago. The rich have become richer and the poor are increasingly described as disenfranchised and dispossessed. The Bible says that all men are created by God; we all possess Imago Dei, the image of God. This confers innate value and infinite worth on all people.

As Christians we must work to foster equality. Many of you will know firsthand that children born to parents in one part of town will fair very differently to those who are born to richer parents only a few hundred meters away. The causes are complex and involve parenting, income and expectations to name but a few factors. There are always exceptions to this, but it is not right that some people are at such an inherent disadvantage. We must work to eradicate institutional inequality. We must work to ensure that a person's future is not dictated by their past. We must work to create a fairer, more equal society.

Fraternity Or Brotherhood

It is said that we are becoming an increasingly segregated, individualistic society. We know, however, that relationships are not only important to secure an individual's mental health, but also to ensure a flourishing society. In his book 'God has a dream', Archbishop Desmond Tutu highlights that:

'In our world, we can survive only together. We can be truly free, ultimately, only together. We can be human only together, black and white, rich and poor, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and Jew.'

This is a pertinent reminder that we need to recapture our sense of connectedness; perhaps the Big Society initiative offers a chance for us to do this?

This is not a call to arms as in the revolutions of past. This is a call to engagement. Liberté, égalité, and fraterneté are integral values of our faith which are reflected in good governance and must be protected. This is what politics is about. We see time and time again in the Bible that God defends the weak; he brings the mountains down low and has special affection for the poor. This is what we are about and it can only be achieved by getting our hands dirty. Will you join us?

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