Weekly Thoughts

FATHER MICHAEL’S DIARY

17 JANUARY 2025

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

There used to be a television programme called “Slattery’s People” which began with the observation “Democracy is a very bad system of Government, but all the others are so much worse”. According to a table in my newspaper people in Britain are more apprehensive about President Trump’s second term in office than almost any other country. President Trump’s unexpected and convincing victory in the presidential election shows both the strengths and weaknesses of democracy.

The great strength of democracy is that makes those who govern accountable to those they govern. Mess things up and you pay the price as the Conservatives found at the last General Election. The rejoicing in Syria over the fall of the al-Assad dictatorship shows the liberation people feel at the mere prospect of a more democratic system.

Our faith teaches us we should have regard to the humanity of every person and make it possible for them to realise their full potential. It is the duty of any government to make that possible for all of its citizens, regardless of any differences between them.  Recent thought and experience have widened our ideas of what a government should do considerably. Hobbes in the 17th century thought the Government’s responsibilities did not extend much beyond preventing people from killing one another. But we now see it as the duty of a Government to secure the conditions for human flourishing. That involves providing security, defence from enemies, financial and economic security and so on.

For all its advantages there are several weaknesses to democracy. First there is the whole business of how the Government is elected. The crude “first past the post” system that we have here has been criticised as favouring large parties and making it almost impossible for smaller parties to gain a foothold. Proportional representation may be more representative but usually results in a coalition government formed by an alliance of small parties. The electorate may be liable to manipulation and elections can effectively be simply a means of validating a dictatorship as we see happening in Russia. Or, it may be misled by promises which are not fulfilled as happened here in 2019. Further, in these days of social media it is possible for elections to be manipulated by foreign powers who  distribute misleading propaganda.

A further disadvantage of democracy is that once a party gains power through elections retaining that power can become the chief motivation for the party’s future actions. This means that democracy can decline into an electoral dictatorship. Undoubtedly the most efficient form of government is a benevolent dictatorship where an absolute ruler rules with best interests of the people at heart. But such a form of government is virtually unknown and we have to have recourse to the second best – democracy. 

READINGS AND PRAYERS

19 JANUARY – SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY - John 2.1-11 – the wedding at Cana – Churches together in Selsdon and Addington

20 JANUARY – Monday – Hebrews 5.1-10 – you are a priest forever – that churches may recognise one another’s orders

21 JANUARY – St Agnes, Child Martyr at Rome, 304 – Revelation 7.13-end – who are these arrayed in white robes – all suffering children

22 JANUARY – Wednesday – Mark 3.1-6 – the man with the withered arm – that churches may work together in the ministry of healing

23 JANUARY – Thursday – Hebrews 7.25 – 8.6 – Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant – that all churches may work together to heal the wounds of our divided society

24 JANUARY - St Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, Teacher of the Faith, 1622 – John 3.17-21 – God sent the Son into the world… that the world might be saved through him – that all churches may work together to spread the Gospel

25 JANUARY – CONVERSION OF ST PAUL – Acts 9.1-22 – the Damascus Road – for a wide response to the Gospel of Salvation