Jack Palmer-White: The place of faith in politics

[@siowat7911]

Very interesting discussion. My wife and I have been involved in a couple of joint efforts between our church and the authorities. The main problem we experienced was that the authorities (local or national) very much expected the church to be a junior partner and we were expected to sign up to follow their rules. For example, in the case of the youth club we were involved in, we were expected to sign a safeguarding document that required us to report anything of concern, that a young person told us, to the relevant authority. Unfortunately this operates on the assumption that the state knows best and takes all decisions out of the hands of the young person affected. Ultimately, I do not believe that state operated child services are better than anything but the worst of home life experiences. It seems to be a one way calculation that ignores the inadequacies of the state. I came to the conclusion that the problem is a man cannot serve two masters and the state, or charity, will usually want to be the master. Maybe we are better, as a church, maintaining a safe distance from the state and operating independently. Catholic priests maintain confidentiality. This too has it's problems, with potential abuse, but there is no systemic solution to the problem of sin.