Church(es) and politics in your country

[Neil]

Who knows what the Catholics do, but a priest is a citizen like any other, and he can do any of those things, no matter what Polish faggots say.  In Canada, we have laws and civilization.

[Zanza]

Generally the Church has and voices opinions on stuff like marriage, education, abortion, stem cell research etc. in Germany. They are one of many groups of society that does that, nothing special.

A few days ago, the Pope held a speech in our parliament.

Isn't he a citizen though?

Yes, he spoke in his role as head of state of the Vatican though.

[Barrister]

I'm sure Marty will be happy to know that there is a long tradition in Canada of ministers and churches being involved in the 'progressive' side of politics.  Most noticeably Mr. Medicare himself Tommy Douglas started out as a Baptist minister.  Of course I'm sure viper or someone will be along and tell you about the influence of the Catholic Church in Quebec.

These days its not so much.  It's hard to make any comparison to Poland, because there are few countries left on the planet where a single church which is independent of the government has such sway over such a large % of the population.  In Canada there are various churches who speak out on issues of both the left and the right.

[dps]

In churches I've attended, certainly the preacher will speak from the pulpit on certain issues, but none has ever endorsed a specific candidate or party that I'm aware of, nor run for office or lead a protest.  But, clearly, other churches are different in those regards.  There's no correct answer for this in America (even "all of the above won't work, because it implies that all of these things are done in all churches, while there are some in the US that don't do any of them), and even asking the question would seem to indicate a lack of understanding of just how diverse the US, and religion in the US, really is.

EDIT:  well, I guess "other" fits, but that really doesn't  tell you anything, does it?

[sbr]

EDIT:  well, I guess "other" fits, but that really doesn't  tell you anything, does it?

It's not like Marti really cares about the poll results, he just thought he had found a way to rail against his two favorite things: religion and the US.

[Sheilbh]

Yes, I marked all of them as at some time a churchman has involved himself in such matters. But in England the amount of church interference is pretty low, less than it should be perhaps.

I agree.  I think the media aren't interested/treat the CofE with disdain.  Rowan's comments are normally worth reading and pretty thoughtful (very CofE) and Archbishop Sentamu's always worth listening to.

I think what's missing is a good Catholic voice in this country.  I don't know if England's had one since Basil Hume, Cormac was just insipid and Vincent Nicholls not done much better.  Scotland's not had someone of Cardinal Winning's stature since he died.  For whatever reason (I think because the Catholics still see themselves as outsiders) the comments from that Church tend to be a bit more prickly, interesting and well-reported.

Jonathan Sacks is always worth it too.

[Razgovory]

In churches I've attended, certainly the preacher will speak from the pulpit on certain issues, but none has ever endorsed a specific candidate or party that I'm aware of, nor run for office or lead a protest.  But, clearly, other churches are different in those regards.  There's no correct answer for this in America (even "all of the above won't work, because it implies that all of these things are done in all churches, while there are some in the US that don't do any of them), and even asking the question would seem to indicate a lack of understanding of just how diverse the US, and religion in the US, really is.

EDIT:  well, I guess "other" fits, but that really doesn't  tell you anything, does it?

I'm not sure it's legal for a church to publicly endorse a candidate and keep it's tax status.  I may be wrong there.

[viper37]

I am just wondering how active religious ministers in your countries are - I suppose the results will vary wildly between Europe, the US and say, Latin America.

They support specific policies & issues, like anti-gay marriage, anti-abortion, etc.
At least one priest ran in an election recently, but he was pulled by the Vatican, having to choose between priesthood or politics, not both.  He had some weird ideas about religion where Jesus loves everyone, even gays and aborted women, so that was incompatible with politics, where only the crazy ones are allowed to do politics.

[dps]

In churches I've attended, certainly the preacher will speak from the pulpit on certain issues, but none has ever endorsed a specific candidate or party that I'm aware of, nor run for office or lead a protest.  But, clearly, other churches are different in those regards.  There's no correct answer for this in America (even "all of the above won't work, because it implies that all of these things are done in all churches, while there are some in the US that don't do any of them), and even asking the question would seem to indicate a lack of understanding of just how diverse the US, and religion in the US, really is.

EDIT:  well, I guess "other" fits, but that really doesn't  tell you anything, does it?

I'm not sure it's legal for a church to publicly endorse a candidate and keep it's tax status.  I may be wrong there.

I'm not sure that a church, as an institution, can do so, but individual clergymen certainly can and have.

[viper37]

Other:

The people turned their back on the Catholic Church sometime in the 1960s here - and they haven't looked back.  However when the clergy ventures into voicing an opinion - such as last year's declaration against abortion from the Cardinal of Quebec - its members are usually shouted down and ridiculed.




G.

they do that every year or two, with the same result.

[viper37]

I also started a thread because there is a big debate/uproar right now over the clergy telling the faithful from the pulpit which party to vote for (mainly, PiS) and which is the tool of Satan (PO).

Western protestant churches do that all the time, and they even have their members in key position of the government.
They had a site last election, listing all "ok" candidates based on issues like abortion&gay marriage.  It's not the kind of thing you'd see with the Catholic Church in this country though, and that's a big no-no for Quebec.

The Fundamentalistes tell their members whom they should vote for, they organize rally to support their agenda, they lobby the Federal governement and have access to key ministers&MPs in the government.

[viper37]

Of course I'm sure viper or someone will be along and tell you about the influence of the Catholic Church in Quebec.

currently it's between zero to none
It ain't the 50s anymore.

[Razgovory]

I'm not sure that a church, as an institution, can do so, but individual clergymen certainly can and have.

That is probably true.  My experience has been they say, "don't vote for someone who is for such and such" and then give out voter guides to say who is actually for such and such.  This apparently allows them to skirt the law.

When I was a kid, the local parish was heavily involved in sending missionaries down to Peru.  Somehow they got mixed up with the Shining Path loonies.  God knows how that happened.

[MadImmortalMan]

I've never been told anything political in church when I was growing up. Things could be different now.

[Iormlund]

The Church tries actively to push their agenda. I don't know if they have ever explicitly endorsed a candidate (I don't attend mass or listen to their radio channel), but PP is the logical choice. There are nuttier alternatives but we are a two-party nation.