What ultimately can really change the world we live in for the better? How can we transform places of conflict, suffering, inequality or poverty? For are not these, together with climate change, the most pressing issues that face our generation?
There’s an increasing tendency in the West to argue that the best way for society to flourish is to let everyone have their own way as much as is reasonably possible. People should be free to do what they like; free to make choices about their lives (such as wearing a face mask during a pandemic) without rules or instructions, and regardless of advice from experts; free to say whatever they please and broadcast it on social media, whether or not it offends others.
Political forces are afoot to try and force a ‘culture war’ in this country: that is to stir up division in an attempt to overwhelm those that argue for respect, tolerance and inclusion. I’m not against people taking personal responsibility for their lives, or having freedom of choice about how they live them. And as a writer I’m certainly in favour of freedom of speech. But with such freedoms comes responsibility, and I’m not always convinced that those who argue for liberty have the common good in mind.
Politics does make a real different to people’s lives, and it matters that we are informed and engaged about it. But the force that will really enable change in our country is that of love. The love that God shows for us in creation, in his son Jesus Christ, and in his teaching for love to be at the heart of all we do. Only when love is the transforming force at work in society will our personal freedoms not be at the expense of others.
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