Tim Farron to resign as Lib Dem leader. Is it time for the debate about religion and politics?
I know this isn’t a perfect image as it depicts Mrs May as a zombie rather than something satanic, but the message about her personal character is clear enough [Art: Dave Brown].
Well, yes.
But then, Mr Farron came under a lot of criticism for his views against homosexuality during the election campaign, and his responses ultimately led to the resignation of Lib Dem peer Brian Paddick, who is gay, as the party’s home affairs spokesman.
Mrs May faced no criticism whatsoever from the mainstream media over the discrepancy between her claim to be deeply religious and her activities as prime minister.
A topical example of this is the fact that she pared the emergency services down to the bone during her time as home secretary and prime minister, while her housing ministers sat on reports warning about unsafe building practices, creating the situation that led to the Grenfell Tower conflagration.
In This Writer’s opinion, Mr Farron’s beliefs about homosexuality have very little to do with the Bible and much more to do with his own prejudices.
He knew he had to go because the prevailing mood is not bigoted in the same way.
On the other hand, Mrs May can continue persecuting people with her own prejudicial policies because most of the Conservative Party – if not all, in some cases – hold the same views.
One has gone and the other is still plaguing us – not because one is more correct in the way they practise religion than the other, but because of the way it is interpreted by their different social groups.
Or do you believe otherwise?
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Just another list in a long line of many reasons why she should go. Not necessarily because she’s religious, but for the simple fact that it’s yet another example of how she contradicts herself and does the very opposite every step of the way, every day. Saying ta-ta can’t come soon enough..x
May deeply religious??? With all her lies & cutting emergency services + the fact
1000s of poor souls have lost their lives or have taken their own lives because of this government & not one of them has battered an eyelid as they simply don’t care about us stock..
I live in MK we moved here 16 years ago
at that time it was very rare to see homeless persons but now theres quite a few of them in the city with their makeshift beds its so sad to see does she or any of the tories care? the answer is no… At least JC cares
Let’s be honest Farron inherited a party that had been o the up but was badly damaged by Clegg deciding to support a vicious uncaring government to get the non job of deputy prime minister, the title sounded good, a bit like when you used to see the kids loving the toy on the front of the box but when you got it home it was rubbish. Add to that the Liberal Democrats were shown to be neither Liber or Democratic by attempting to overturn a democratic vote to leave the eu, the Ghost of Clegg losing his seat due to it, and Farron appearing be ever more desperate and crazy. The Lib Dems don’t appear to have a natural successor and it could take a long time to repair the damage of the last few years.
Personally speaking I find it troubling that our political leaders appear to look for inspiration from non-existent, man-made deities and the spirit world.
I don’t really think Farron has said anything specifically anti-gay in fact. He tried to avoid answering questions precisely because he didn’t want his religious views to overlap with his political ones. By answering, “We are all sinners,” to the question of whether gay sex is a sin was very foolish, but I don’t think he meant it the way people took it.
On the other hand, he did vote against the 2010 Equality Act, and abstained on the Gay Marriage Bill. So he hasn’t always helped himself.
The problem he and any other religiously-inclined politician will have is that politics is in large part a matter of one’s own values. And religion is a set of values, one that demands it overrides all others. Therefore, anyone religious will find it incredibly difficult to keep those views separate from their politics, not matter how hard or honestly they try to.
Thanks be to non-existent God I’m an ethnically-Jewish atheist!
Unfortunately homophobia is now seen by non Christians to be one of the main tenets of Christianity- and it is NOT. Only mainly by those who are “born again” or fundamentalists who hold that every word of the Scriptures is true and written by the hand of God. Many Christians world wide understand that our understanding of science and of human nature has developed and changed in the last 2000 years or more. We don’t all believe that the world was created by God’s own hand several thousand years ago- not even the Pope does.
Unfortunately there are powerful people in the Christian Church who use the Scriptures to shore up their own prejudices and fears and uncertainties. Jesus himself is never reported to have spoken against homosexuality.He was of course a Jew of his time and would have been influenced by his own Judaism which was against homosexuality. However we can infer that his message of love and compassion includes all people and should be followed by everyone. Its the hardest thing of all but true love trumps every other rule.On this ( love) hang all the law and the prophets.
You can hear whats coming next, in the national interest it’s been decided that we will form a coalition with the Conservative’s, in the national interest you understand!!!
Tim Farron’s stance on gayness and his exit had everything to with his faith, and nothing to do with prejudice.Yours is a prejudiced view, if this is what you think. He made a courageous moral decision to choose his religious beliefs over his politics, having re-thought his earlier stance. it is a great sacrifice.
The fact that you give him no credit for that is something you should reflect on, i.e. just how bigoted some in this society has become towards those are practising their Christian faith. I tell you what, go and ask a Muslim or Hindu or Sikh politicians if they believe in gay sex. Then publish your reaction.
I was brought up in the Christian faith so, with regard to Mr Farron, I write from an educated standpoint.
His attitude is not Christian.
It is as simple as that.
And I am a practising Catholic and it is not as simple as that, as well you know. If you have never agonised over abortion, or gay marriage like so many have then you would not know how complex these issues are.
Being Christian: “Judge not.” “Whatever you do to one of the least of my brethren….”
How are you doing on these – Christian or no? My experience of Tim the constituency politician is that here he is one of the best.
Oh, yes,and charity seems in short supply, having read David Laws’ ignoble and hypocritical rant against Tim in iNews.
No, I have never agonised over abortion or gay marriage. “Judge not”, as you suggest.
Mr Farron clearly has been judging – that’s his problem.