Getting involved in politics is a daunting prospect.
The vast majority of us do not want to be an MP, or a local councillor.
Making speeches sounds a scary prospect and we could hardly imagine
being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman. But political involvement does
not have to involve standing for election - the key is to become
an integral part of your local community.
Important changes are taking place in our society and Christians
want to move out of "church ghettos" and be involved in trying to
influence our surroundings. We want to see Christian values being
reflected in all sections of society, from our individual homes
to the institutions that govern us. Here you will find some ideas
for getting politically involved that may surprise you. It is not
only about writing complaining letters to your MP, it is about being
part of a community.
Few people see talking to your neighbours as political
involvement, but if we look at politics as being fundamentally about
people, then knowing and talking to those around you becomes essential.
I would argue that buying the shopping for the old lady downstairs
is political involvement. It is being involved in the lives of those
around you, becoming a community, caring about other people and
looking on them as fellow citizens and human beings. Respecting
other people is political involvement.
Voting in elections is a more traditional cornerstone of being involved
in our locality. Local elections when we vote for local councillors
have a huge impact on the environment in which we live. Many of
us have written to our MP on a particular issue but how many of
us have written to our local councillors? In one London Borough
the local council were anxious to keep council tax as low as possible.
One way of achieving this was to close all the day centres for the
elderly in the area. Four individuals in the community thought this
was unacceptable and worked out that every council tax payer would
have to pay "a penny a day" extra to ensure that the centres stayed
open - in other words £3.65 a year. The "penny a day" campaign was
born and a huge lobbying effort was begun. A petition of several
thousand signatures was delivered to the council, and several of
the councillors supported the efforts of the group. This is an example
of how only four people who care strongly about something can have
an impact in their local community.
Your local police station will have numerous opportunities to become
involved. For example 'appropriate adult' schemes where you volunteer
for a couple of hours every month to be available when the police
need to question a young person but cannot, for a variety of reasons,
reach a parent or guardian. Mentoring schemes where for a couple
of hours every week you meet and build a friendship with a young
person who could benefit from such individual care. Your church
could "adopt a cop" and pray for that individual every week.
You can also, of course, write to your MP about
an issue that concerns you, but a few pointers: always be polite,
find out all you can about the issue, find out what your MP thinks
about the issue first (they may agree with you), write to them thanking
them or congratulating them on something and follow up your letter
by visiting them in their local surgeries.
Being politically involved does not primarily mean getting involved
in national politics. Being politically involved means making a
difference where you live and making a difference to the people
you come into contact with every day. The only way we are going
to change society is by changing the hearts of society and that
is not achieved through national politics, but through local action.
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