" Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction. Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy." - Proverbs 31:8-9

"Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above" - John 19:11

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn" - Proverbs 29:2

CPA prepares family values campaign

The CPA's Political Issues Group met on Monday this week (8 August 2005) to discuss a policy initiative on family values. Present were David Bamber, Colin Bricher, Sid Cordle, Michael Elmer, Stephen Hammond, Richard Heathfield, Genevieve Hibbs, John Kay, Andrew Otchie, and Timothy Webb. The party leader, Alan Craig, was kind of present, on the other end of a phone line.

The meeting kicked off with a brief review of CPA policy on the family, including incremental tax breaks for married couples. It perhaps bears pointing out that these tax breaks are not supposed to be so high as to encourage people to marry purely for the money! Rather, they are intended to demonstrate that the State supports and blesses the concept of marriage. This does not mean that the CPA is attacking single parents! Rather, it means that marriage is seen as the ideal environment in which to raise children. One CPA member pointed out that he was a single parent himself; his wife had died, leaving him to raise his teenage daughter alone, and he made the excellent point that this situation was far from ideal! Children need a mother and a father. That one of them is not around, for whatever reason, is sometimes unavoidable. Nevertheless, the ideal is for both the mother and the father to be fully involved in their children's upbringing.

There is a considerable body of secular research pointing to the fact that marriage has societal benefits; one obvious task, then, is to track down this research so that the CPA can readily cite it when required. It was also agreed that secular research into the societal harm caused by divorce should also be identified. (The reason for using existing secular research is simply that such research cannot be discredited on the basis of having been carried out by Christians and therefore drawing "Christian-friendly" conclusions.

Politicians are not noteworthy for their integrity where family relationships are concerned. Public figures seem, all too often, to discount the solemn vows of fidelity that they made when they married; not only that, but they appear to expect us to trust them to keep the promises they make to us, the electorate. They can't have it both ways! On the other hand, the Group recognised that people do make mistakes, and should not be continually criticised for those mistakes, provided they have publicly acknowledged their fault and repented of it.

Considerable harm results from extra- and premarital sexual relationships. God instituted marriage for a good reason! For example, sexually transmitted diseases (most of which are incurable) wreak havoc with people's health. In some cases, the cost to the National Health Service of treating these diseases (particularly AIDS) is excessive, and that cost has to be borne by the taxpayer.

Various problems with existing government policy on sexual health were pointed out, such as the ineffectual nature of gossamer-thin preservatives, which are all too prone to splitting and tearing.

Of key importance in the fight to re-establish appropriate sexual behaviour in our society is the Church itself; we need to get off the fence and start pointing out the importance of chastity before marriage and fidelity within it. We also need to pray fervently for the restoration of sexual propriety in our nation.

The CPA campaign should highlight existing Christian pro-family initiatives. People need to be made aware of the long-term societal effects of the personal choices they make today.

We need to have a firm policy on homosexuality, and we should certainly fight against the appalling misuse of the word "marriage" to describe homosexual relationships, which are an abomination before God. The attitude of the Church of England towards homosexuality is simply bizarre, given the clear Biblical bar on such relationships. (See Romans 1:27, for example.)

The meeting considered "Proud to be married" as a possible campaign slogan. This isn't necessarily a very good slogan, and it is to be hoped that someone can come up with a better one before the next meeting. Otherwise, we might be stuck with it! (If you have a suggestion, please email the webmaster of this site as soon as possible.)

The meeting closed in prayer, and a number of us then slipped quietly into a nearby restaurant to recover from the rigours of the meeting. The next meeting will be on 22nd August, at the slightly later time of 18:30. If you are a CPA member, please do your best to get there. If you can't get to London, but would like to attend via conference call (at no cost to you), please let John Kay know as soon as possible.

CPA should focus on human rights and family values

The Christian Peoples Alliance ought to campaign on human rights, the family, and freedom of speech, it was suggested at a policy review meeting last night (18 July 2005). The acronymically-challenged Political Issues Group, meeting for the first time yesterday evening, proposed a foreign policy focus on the abuse of human rights in North Korea. Closer to home, we should be focusing on challenging the Government to support, rather than to destroy, the family.

First meeting of the CPA Political Issues Group; present were (clockwise from left) John Kay, Stephen Hammond, Michael Elmer, Alan Craig, David Bamber, and Timothy Webb

The Political Issues Group (PIG) also discussed the recent demonstration against the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, which sent a clear signal to Tony Blair that the Afro-Caribbean Christian vote could no longer be taken for granted.

The primary concern, though, was North Korea, where poverty and human rights abuse are extraordinarily serious problems. We can't fix those problems ourselves, but we can at least contact the people who do have that power, and ask them to try.

Closer to home, P.I.G. also discussed the importance of fighting the battle of family values. Families are increasingly under attack from Government policy, and we are in very real danger of societal breakdown as a result. The CPA could play an invaluable political role in shoring up the defences against the secular humanist attack on ordinary family life.

(If anyone can think of a better name than "Political Issues Group" and persuade the CPA to use it, your correspondent will be eternally grateful to you.)