Another General Election is upon us. Levels of apathy and disillusionment are at an all time high, and popular figures like Russell Brand are urging us to have no part in what he sees as a corrupt system. So the question we’re wrestling with is: Why Bother Voting?

To help answer this we’ve turned to Paul Bickley for help. Paul has experience working in parliament and public affairs and is currently Director of Political Program at Theos Think Tank, a Christian think tank working in the area of politics, religion and society.

Come on Paul, inspire us…

Image provided by Theos. Used with permission.

QUOTES

“A better question than, ‘Should Christians vote?’ would be, ‘What would an authentic Christian politic look like?’ In the same way that politics is more than voting, it must be more than a theoretical endeavour. It’s about real people. It’s about real challenges.”

“To do politics, you have to start with the people in front of you. Literally, you should start with the people on your street, in your place of work, in your congregation. So often we interpret Jesus’ command to ‘love our neighbour’ as a mandate for a kind of generic humanitarianism. But what about your actual neighbour? Do you know their name? Do you know where they come from? Do you know what they’re struggling with? Have you ever talked with them about what you would want to change in your neighbourhood?”