Final countdown to June 23rd
The EU Referendum — No wait! … DON’T GO!! .…… Yes I know we’ve had news, leaflets, and headlines blasted at us since New Year’s Day. But many of us are still wondering how to vote. Listen to the personal experience of our 2 guest writers Jane Henderson and Steve Burr as they explain how we can bring about the greatest good on June 23rd.
A Surprising Conversation
By Jane Henderson (REMAIN)
“I’ve lived in East Manchester for 12 years and I’ve noticed big changes since immigrants started living here…”
Uh oh! I braced myself for what was to come. How the immigrants have … ‘taken all the jobs, worked for less than the minimum wage, swamped the local schools and public services’ … and are generally responsible for everything bad that ever happened — as stated by the media.
So imagine my surprise when this indigenous British person said: ‘Since we’ve had large numbers of immigrants here, the quality of the schools has gone up because they value education highly. The number of pubs and betting shops has decreased because they have strong family values. They value community and make the effort to be neighbourly. The area has improved because they work hard for their money and they spend it in the local community.’
Facts … or fears?
Sadly, it seems that the way we will vote in this referendum may well have more to do with fears than hard fact. For some, these are fears about the economy and what we think the impact of being in or out will be. For others it’s to do with immigration. And yet often those who are most fearful and have the strongest negative views, actually have no direct experience of either immigrants or their impact on our society. As my conversation above illustrates, direct experience can result in positive attitudes and fear reduction.
Is God in … or out?
But as a Christian, I believe that I should also consider what God’s perspective might be in all of this. That’s no easy task. The history of Christianity is littered with people who believed God was on their side in disputes large and small. For me it’s important to reflect on this from a Christian perspective.
The history of Christianity is littered with people who believed God was on their side
When I think about God, I think about love and unity. Jesus called us to ‘love our neighbour as ourselves’. He never said ‘reinforce your borders and look after your own’. The story of the Good Samaritan shows that our neighbours include those who are alien to us, and with whom we may disagree. Jesus’ commission to go and make disciples across the world shows that he required the Jewish believers to reach out to those of other cultures and religions in peace and reconciliation. Jesus’ greatest condemnation was for the religious leaders of his own faith who applied the letter rather than the spirit of the law. I wonder; when we assert our borders and claim we need to ‘look after our own first’, aren’t we just applying the letter of the law? The reality is this is all God’s world. Our borders are merely an arbitrary dividing of land that belongs ultimately to him.
Better off in … or more in control if we’re out?
Are we as a country more financially secure within or without the EU? I don’t think anyone can predict what will happen either way; hindsight would have been beneficial in the recent banking crisis! Indeed when I took out my endowment mortgage 20 years ago no-one predicted I would now have a shortfall in paying my mortgage off.
But one thing I am sure of; the wealth distribution we currently have is unjust, within this country, the EU and across the world, and it breaks God’s heart. The Bible is often not as clear as we’d like it to be, but in virtually every book within it, you can find some reference to God’s heart for the poor and an urging for us to share what we have and ensure those who have little, are provided for. And in God’s Kingdom, the good news is that those who have least will come first! If we want to see God’s Kingdom ‘on earth as it is in heaven’, we have to take this seriously.
In closing
So where does this leave me in the debate? I think with the belief that working together is more Godly than working against; that God as Trinity in Community is a God of relationships and wants to see humanity building relationships for the good of all, particularly the marginalised and vulnerable. So I’ll be voting to stay. I see myself as a citizen of the world, not just Britain. I want us to share responsibility for those who need our love and care, and to give others the opportunity to both contribute to our shared life and to receive something of the blessings we have been given.
I see myself as a citizen of the world, not just Britain
Compromise is a necessary part of any relationship and teaches us tolerance, self-sacrifice and to see things from another perspective. We are better together.
Jane Henderson is a Baptist Minister in Training, working in Openshaw, Manchester. She completes her training this year and she blogs at “janelydialoves — Faith, Hope, and All Things Art and Craft” www.janelydialoves.wordpress.com
An Extraordinary Phone Call
By Stephen Burr (LEAVE)
Some time ago I received an unusual phone call. A well-spoken gentleman outlined an offer to me: “Steve we can get you batches of 5 to 10 Eastern Europeans legally brought in by a recruitment company — and we can undercut local agreements on pay”.… He even offered to house them in small houses — 10 Europeans holed up in each one. This was while I was a Director of a previous company and setting up an apprentice scheme to train up young machinists. I politely informed him I would not be taking him up on his offer.
But it does exemplify one of my reasons for voting “LEAVE”.
This flies in the face of the biblical mandate to be fair to our employees.
Free movement … or legalised trafficking?
Yes the EU has made the movement of people easier, but if we think this is all good we are in for a profound shock.
In fact it has led to a wholesale business of deliberately importing people to undercut local wages. I have been dismayed how often in business I have found companies seeking to bring in people from Eastern Europe to reduce costs. This flies in the face of the biblical mandate to be fair to our employees.
Its also bad news for communities. Take Germany (where I worked for 2 years). Their open-door policy to migration has led to huge numbers of people moving from Africa and the Middle East and the end result has been more barriers and acute distrust of foreigners across Europe. Consequently, it will now require even greater centralisation and transfer of powers to the EU to get a grip of this situation. Resentment is being mirrored across the continent.
Ultimately local communities will find themselves undermined as the physically and intellectually able move to the richer Northern countries.
Inside the house … but stay in your bedroom!
The European project has always had an agenda to standardise and integrate and this has led to the accumulation of power by the commission with limited accountability. People say we need to be in the EU in order to influence this agenda. This is wishful thinking. The other EU members will operate the Euro area in their own interests – they have no choice. We would be inside the house but find the inner door shut against us when it comes to discussions that really matter.
Then look for example at the “Greek project”. Although they meant well, France and Germany effectively forced the pace of political integration here – our UK voice was irrelevant. This led to Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal all being included in the Euro whereas in fact most of these countries should never have been coupled in this way. The consequence as we now see is that Greece is being bankrupted with massive youth unemployment, crippling debt repayments and resentment from other European countries as the debt is restructured and written off.
Alleviation of poverty … or acceleration of red-tape?
Huge amounts of EU budget are still spent on agriculture but this has stifled economic activity and trade with poorer countries by hiking-up trade tariffs which they must accept or go elsewhere. How can it be right to protect the richest countries in the world whilst those in poorer countries are shut out?
Moreover, EU food subsidies are used to build agricultural production capacity that keeps out the poorer countries’ goods. We then make huge aid payments to poorer countries and in the process assist in corrupting some, and creating a dependency when trade would have helped them in a proper and dignified manner. In fact in recent years the greatest alleviation of poverty has happened in China and India — primarily through trade.
If we were to leave the EU, the step-change in economic relationships would force the UK to be more open and more involved with the world. I believe the increased trade would result in many more people being economically improved.
In closing
The origins of the EU were in avoiding war through cooperation and an internal free-trade area. Today the issues are complex. The Bible offers some guidance on the position of the Christian in relation to civic authorities; we are to pray for them (1 Timothy 2v2), to be subject (Romans 13v1), and yet not conform to the standards of this world (Romans 12v2). For these reasons and those in Psalm 146 v3 I will vote Leave.
James, Thank you for reading and commenting. As a point of reflection, in the 1980’s more than 300 economists wrote to the Times but were subsequently shown to be wrong. In the 90’s the “experts” mostly said that leaving the ERM would be a disaster, but it was the moment that we left that the Uk that commenced years of continuos growth and individuals mortgages fell and so realised the benefit immediately. I do not recall the. members of the ERM and the forerunner of the Euro wanting to help the UK anymore than they want to help Greece now.… Read more »
I would have to say that this is a difficult call and there are significant issues on both sides of this binary choice we have to make. I would make a couple of points:- 1. Pretty much all the independent financial institutions have indicated that we should expect a recession on leaving Europe. The argument that “we have just weathered a recession so if there is another one then we will weather that too” is problematic to me as the people who did not weather it so well tend to be the lower income families and the young people. Do… Read more »
James, Thank you for reading and commenting. As a point of reflection, in the 1980’s more than 300 economists wrote to the Times but were subsequently shown to be wrong. In the 90’s the “experts” mostly said that leaving the ERM would be a disaster, but it was the moment that we left that the Uk that commenced years of continuos growth and individuals mortgages fell and so realised the benefit immediately. I do not recall the. members of the ERM and the forerunner of the Euro wanting to help the UK anymore than they want to help Greece now.… Read more »
Steve,
Thanks for commenting.
Whilst I am sure that you are correct in the instances that you detail, the end point of your argument is that we should ignore experts as they are reliably wrong. I find that quite difficult to believe. Further, it seems that in this instance that George Osborne and the previously wrong experts are now lined up, I wonder who will be wrong this time. Perhaps we will never know!
James
Hello James,
I’d agree that the answer to the referendum question is not obvious at all; it is even counter-intuitive. But, having thought about the matter for some time, I am convinced that it would be a mistake not to choose to leave the EU when such an opportunity has presented itself. My decision isn’t based on aiming to maximise material wealth, nor is it about increasing the UK’s power over the European continent, rather it stems from moral convictions about what is right and what is acceptable to God.
Paul
Very helpful perspectives that illustrate how tough it is to decide!
I agree with Steve Burr on this one. It would seem that the only convincing arguments to remain in the EU are materialist arguments. Leaving the EU will most probably cause an economic shock in the short-term, financial markets will probably respond adversely due to the increased uncertainty, there will probably be increased volatility in financial markets. GDP growth may slow down if the UK experiences a fall in labour market mobility. But this will be a short-term effect. In the longer-term the UK could benefit from leaving the EU as it can negotiate new trade deals, in particular with… Read more »
Brilliant!
Thanks!
I found both these articles very good and both had some really good points the trouble with politicians today is how do we know who is speaking truth and who is not. I have swung like a Pendalum over my decision over the last few months but having prayed and read the booklet written by intercessors for Britain I am at the moment with Steve Cathy
very interesting blogs with good points well expressed.
Not really helped me pick a side to vote for. I’ll keep praying!