Are you red, yellow, blue or green?

                                                                         Picture credit: RedBubble

In certain forums, not this one, politics and religion are off limits. Too many arguments for beleaguered admin to cope with. I get it. I find it infuriating when the Tiddlywink Fanatics Chatroom goes off on one and gets all political.

My blog spot this month falls when I’m away for a week, hopefully enjoying some sunshine in West Dorset, so I’m writing this in advance. Between this being written and being read, an important event will have happened, so the world will have changed a bit. Yes, we will know which teams are through to the quarter finals of Euro 24. Go Eng-er-land! England play in white. Your team might play in red, yellow, blue or green or even polka dots and stripes. Now, did you know many of the biggest clubs started off as local church teams? Maybe your team is associated with being Jewish, Catholic or Protestant? Is your team banned from tournaments because of the actions of their government? I was just wondering… is it right to stage football competitions in countries with appalling human rights records? Oh dear, I started with sport and got into politics and religion. How did that happen?                                                                     

As Christian writers, it’s hard not to mention these things and why would we want to? Climate change? Political. Social care? Political. The economy? Political. Faith and politics are part of life itself.

Other than footy, something else far less important will occur after I’ve written this. Unlike others, I have placed no bets on the election thingy. Still, at this late stage, it doesn’t seem too controversial to predict we will have a new Prime Minister and the balance in Parliament between red, yellow, blue and green will have significantly changed. We may even have some polka dots and stripes. 

My Christian friends fall into different camps about party politics, and sometimes they surprise me. There’s no ‘Christian’ way to vote or ‘right’ team to support. I don’t know who Jesus would choose, but I know he would challenge and cheer the actions of those in power, whoever they are. Today some of you will celebrate the result, some won’t, but politicians of many colours can play well even if they’re not on our favourite team.  

Not all of us set out to influence either religion or politics with what we write. Regardless, our beliefs and values will emerge in our words either explicitly or implicitly. If you were to write a letter to the newly elected Prime Minister or your local MP making just one point, what would it be?