I used to know dozens of Conservative voters, now I know none, they have all become or say they will be UKIP voters. As one of our Bishops said, "It is concerning". It is concerning because those who previously hovered around the Tory centre, or might have voted for other parties but chose to vote Conservative because the Conservatives were in rather broad terms "Christian", or at least were pro-family have all decided, like me "not again". I admit, at the last General Election I voted Conservative, solely because of Dave's promised support of the family, he lied, and I certainly shall not do so again.
It is concerning that many on the vaguely political right have joined a political party or support one that is as much an experiment as Cameron's untried experiment with the redefinition of marriage, a party that is several clicks to the right of traditional Toryism and even more to the Tory Part that has recently emerged. As far as UKIP is concerned we really do not know what is down the road, or where that road leads. Whatever one thinks of Nigel Farage, others in UKIP seem to have a tendency to rather worrying right wing personal ideas, rather than party policies. UKIP however is attractive in so far as it does actually have distinct policies rather than shades
The great problem with joining UKIP, the "concerning" part is that many joining, or associating themselves with the party is that they tend to absorb other right wing ideas. A parishioner whose business revolves around supplying material for London small businesses tell's me that among his Islamic customers that after the Iraq war so many of his customers or more often their children, suddenly began growing beards and becoming more radically Muslim than their parents, whose mosque attendance was sparadic, until Blair's invasion suddenly awakened a renewed consciousness of their religious and cultural difference.
Cameron has given those who would have voted Tory a shove to the right; mild mannered "cultural" Tories, rendered homeless, are now going to mix with by comparison extreme members of new right wing. It is concerning that those who were shocked by Cameron's announcement of supporting gay "marriage" because he is a Conservative and started allying themselves with UKIP have become increasingly anti-European, anti-Eurpean Court of Human Rights, often moving to positions that are anti-Human Rights per se and becoming anti-Immigration too and one suspects finding reasons to become anti "Equalities". Where they will move to is worrying. The older former Tories will probably do little more than write and vote, the young who tend not to vote are likely to be a little more radical, some influenced to move to an extreme.
17 comments:
Fr. Ray,
I think the emergence of UKIP is just part of a much bigger problem which is the estrangement of the population from the principles of civic decency and solidarity which derive from Christianity. The willingness of people to jump to new political parties is closely related to the willingness of the average person to put "no religion" on the census form -- even though your ex-Tory parishoners may say they have shifted to UKIP in defence of the family.
It could be the other way around, Father. Those migrating into UKIP have the opportunity to knock off its rough edges and make it into something sustaining of the Christian world and not at all bizarre.i think we sometimes underestimate our possibilities.
Like you Father I did as you did for much the same reasons and was fooled.
The conservative party is IMHO finished. The nastiness that needed to be eliminated was the ignorant "losers go by bus" attitude, instead they attacked social conservatives, hardworking honest people, often churchgoing who form the backbone of the true voluntary sector (ie not the government funded left wing pseudo charities) and also the backbone of the local Conservative parties who deliver leaflets and get the vote out.
Whatever Cameron promises, I will vote UKIP, even if we have to endure Labour as a result. It is a necessary price to pay for the destruction of the Conservative Party and its reform or replacement with a centre right party that primarily represents the hard working working classes and lower middle classes, not upper middle class, socially liberal toffs, who have never had to earn a days living because one of their ancestors was a mate of Henry VIII and was given a large chunk of land when Henry VIII did to the Catholic Church what Robert Mugabe did to the Zimbabwe commercial farmers.
A lot of UKIPs policies are immature and it is a bit of a one man band but as their membership increases that will change, just as it did in the DUP which started as a one man band but ultimately destroyed the conservative (offical unionist) party in northern ireland.
In the short term this will benefit Labour but I think UKIP will also be attractive to an awful lot of labour voters in a way the tories never were because of who they were more than what their polices were.
In my lifetime we have been constantly governed by liars & clowns so voting Ukip we at least know we are getting clowns.As they say "It can only get Better"
All are equal in the sight of God but in other respects some are distinctly more equal than others. Inequality is a fact of life which should be mitigated by Christian charity. To suggest that what is manifestly unequal can be made equal by legislation is arrant nonsense.
We know who the nasty party are. They are those whose supporters poured scorn and bile on the funeral of an 86 year old women because they disagreed with her politics. UKIP undoubtedly , like the Catholic Church, has some nutters in its midst, indeed at least one was quoted as denying the shoah, but it is infinitely better than Galloway, Livingstone, et al.
I think the UKIP is still to the left of traditional Conservatism - it only seems otherwise because the Conservative Party has moved so far to the left.
I don't get to vote in UK elections any more though if I did still have that right, I would vote UKIP as I told a LibDem friend two years ago.
Here in Australia we have a much better system of voting than you have. Ours is preferential voting so we have to place a number against each candidate in our elections and if my number 1 candidate is eliminated after the votes are counted and sorted into piles for each candidate then my voted is passed down to the one for whom I voted number 2 etc., etc., until there are only two piles of votes left. This state is referred to as "Two Party Preferred". And then the winner is announced.
This means that I can vote, and I do so vote, for the Australian Christian Party as my number 1 choice. Almost certainly that candidate will not win, but my vote is then transferred to my second choice candidate and in my electoral district it usually is my second choice candidate who wins. But my vote for the Australian Christians is recorded and gradually it is being seen that this party represents an increasing number of voters. So, some impact is being made in the minds of the politicians.
Father: You say some are moving to positions that are anti-Human Rights per se. I am not sure about this; is it not more that people are concerned with the present understanding of human rights and the seeming disregard for obligations? Simone Weil in "L'Enracinement" suggest that human rights without the obligations from which they should flow was the great mistake of the French in the 18th century. There is surely a need to discuss all this much more deeply.
I can't believe what I'm reading here; "The emergence of UKIP is just part of a much bigger problem &c." I don't think you know which side your bread is buttered. UKIP is part of the solution, not part of the problem; for one thing it represents the only effective means of unseating our cancerous political class. It is the only anti-Gay Marriage mainstream party.
UKIP represents, essentially, the principles of Classical Liberalism **NOT TORYISM** (small government, self-reliance, entrepreneurship &c.) informed by Christian values which made this country great. It is not an un-Christian organisation.
Fr Ray; why so squeamish about the 'extremeness' of UKIP? An extremist is simply someone who takes his position to its conclusions. I'd much rather have a politics of extremism, than a politics of lies and fudging everything around a 'middle ground'.
It's exactly that lack of rigour and virility in our political discourse that has enabled less scrupulous extremists - who, unlike the UKIP, take care to hide their true colours - to push their agenda in the dark, while we have all been pansying around with the toxic Anglican mantras of compromise and moderation.
Vote UKIP, and educate yourself about UKIP policies rather than toeing the line of the MSM that it's a racist, little-Englander, fascist &c. party. No. It's a breath of fresh air.
As long as your Conservative party are too stupid to throw CaMORON out, they deserve to go down in flames.
The Tories are now nothing more than conspiracy of the rich. UKIP are pathetic suburban Pujadistes.
Take your pick, but don't pretend it has anything to do with Christianity.
Poujade was a Catholic father of 5 who's party had 400,000 members and won 53 seats in the 1956 national assembly elections in France. In 1984, Pierre Poujade was appointed to the Conseil économique et social by Mitterrand. The main themes of Poujadism were articulated around the defense of the common man against the elites. His party ultimately failed but undoubtably greatly influenced the policies of other parties.
Better Poujadism than the liberal secular Humanism of the libourcon.
Please do correct me if I'm wrong but I think it is true to say that leftist regimes have always been more murderous and amoral than those of the right.
Ma,
Any regime without God is pretty murderous.
USSR and China are pretty big places, so therefore numbers are higher but some of those A. American and Asian states propped up by the USA last century didn't shine with light.
Even regimes 'with' God are seldom exempt from murderousness, eventually.
Christianity is not a political ideology, nor a 'solution to the world's problems'. The world and its regimes are already judged. Put not your trust in princes - whoever the hell they are, or claim to be.
I think it is wrong to judge UKIP alone as somehow 'not respectable'. All parties are. They are all anti-Christian. UKIP could be pro-Christian....but that would entail Christians getting off their easy chairs and actually influencing something for once...instead of lying back and expecting secularists and Islamists to do our bidding for us. PS....they are not going to.
I agree with Amaqula. To some extent UKIP are a tabula rasa and the way this party develops will be influenced by the quality and motivation of the people who get involved now.
Christians have largely been disenfranchised in this country since the 1980's with all 3 main parties being consistently anti-life, anti-morality, anti-religion (but scared to offend Islam) and anti-tradition. We will never have a "Christian party" in this country but a lot of Catholics and other Christians are getting involved in UKIP and can bring much positive influence to bear.
Yes there are some cranks and nutters involved, as there are in any party (or Conference of bishops!), but I am privvy to some of the steps that UKIP are taking to ensure this is dealt with, and they are taking it seriously.
If any Catholics who read Fr Ray's blog are thinking of supporting UKIP I would strongly encourage you to get involved and make a difference. The realm of politics is particularly a place where lay Catholics are called to bring the values of the Gospel to bear on the society in which we live. UKIP is a grassroots movement which is being driven as much from the ground up as it is by Nigel Farage. Some of its policies are presented as right-wing by the vested interests in the media, but in reality most are common sense responses to widely-held concerns by many ordinary people from a wide range of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Not everybody involved will share the same values, but the difference with UKIP is that you won't be ridiculed for having values.
And this latter point, Fr Ray, is one reason why we should wrest back control of our country from the EU. It might have been a worthy project based on the principles of Catholic social teaching when it started, but it has now become a vehicle for enforcing a liberal, anti-Christian orthodoxy on its member states. Some things are more important than money and economic advantage - not least of which is the ability, for good or ill, of a country to decide what values are important to it and who will actually govern and be accountable for whether those values are honoured.
Sorry for the Party Political Broadcast, but I see an opportunity here for Catholics to make a difference for once.
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