Sneak Peak: The Politics Series

This blog post follows on (belatedly from a post promising more regular updates, ironically...) a few threads that have begun to emerge in my thinking, reading, and writing recently. My central interest in the Doctrine of The Image of God - or, more obviously, what it is that makes us human, means I can somewhat imperiously profess and explore interest in things that are not central to that quest, but irresistibly part of it. Today, in line with starting to think about the different ways that being human impacts our world, I want to announce an exciting series of guest posts about Christianity and Politics. Politics, in terms of relating to my main interests, is the interactions in the public square between, on behalf of, and about, various groups and kinds of human beings. 

With my friend Johnny (who works in Westminster at the moment, and who has done the lion's share of legwork on this) I'm thrilled to be hosting some brief blog-interviews (think ten-minutes-or-less-to-read) with a range of perspectives from Christians heavily involved in political parties. Subject to change (and in alphabetical order, to reduce bias from the outset...), these include:

- The Conservative Party (Tories)
- The Green Party (Greens)
- An Indepedent (In this case, a local Councillor)
- The Labour Party (Labour)
- The Liberal Democrat Party (Lib Dems) 
- The United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)

As this blog is based in the UK, specifically (at this time) in London, I have not included parties such as the SNP, or Plaid Cymru. I am very happy to include these perspectives, however, and would welcome enquiries.

Watch this space - first up will be my friend Johnny giving more of an introduction to this series, and then we'll kick off. The majority of the interview pieces are in our email inboxes, and work has already begun on formatting them, and thinking further ahead of how to use them.

Thanks for dropping by - and I hope this blog can be a space to engage graciously and respectfully ahead of this rather contentious General Election!

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If you are interested in reading other stuff on faith and Politics, I'd direct you to my review of a book by Carey and Carey, a letter I'd've liked to have written to George Osborne, a review of a superb book on 'The R Factor', a response to Russell Brand's daft approach to politics, and a Guest post from a (Tory-sympathetic!) friend on Jesus, David Cameron and the Big Society.

If you are really bored, can I point you in the direction of a recent conference paper, presented at Goldsmiths FaithXchange conference, looking at the motivation of 'evangelicals' in the public square.

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I hope this taster has whet your appetite for the full series - I've been enjoying reading the responses thus far, and have been provoked in my own political thinking in some surprising ways already. I'd love to connect with you via Facebook, or you can find myself and Johnny on Twitter.