Starmer put out this Tweet this morning:
Easter eggs really did feature at the top of his video. It was that absurd.
I then noticed this response from a far-right activist:
So I asked ChatGPT:
What is the essence of Christian teaching? Please ignore ideas promoted by St Paul. Focus on the Gospels.
It suggested this, based presumably on a web search:
Focusing solely on the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and setting aside the later interpretations of St. Paul, the essence of Jesus' teaching in the Gospels can be summarized around a few central themes:
1. The Kingdom of God
Jesus' primary message is the coming of the Kingdom of God—not just as a future hope, but as something breaking into the present. It represents a new way of life aligned with God's will: one marked by justice, mercy, humility, and peace.
“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
2. Love of God and Neighbor
When asked the greatest commandment, Jesus summarizes the law:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart… and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37–40)
Everything else, he says, hangs on these two commandments. This teaching is both a return to Jewish roots and a radical elevation of love as the core of spiritual life.
3. Compassion and Mercy
Jesus consistently shows compassion to the marginalized—lepers, sinners, women, Samaritans, the poor. He teaches that mercy trumps religious ritual.
“Blessed are the merciful… Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5:7,9)
“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'” (Matthew 9:13)
4. Forgiveness and Reconciliation
Jesus calls for radical forgiveness—not just of friends, but even enemies:
“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37)
5. Humility and Servanthood
Greatness in Jesus' view is defined by serving others, not by power or status.
“Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)
“The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.” (Mark 10:45)
6. Nonviolence and Peace
Jesus rejects retaliation and promotes nonviolence:
“Do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” (Matthew 5:39)
7. Inner Transformation
He challenges outward religion and emphasizes the heart:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8)
“First clean the inside of the cup… and then the outside will also be clean.” (Matthew 23:26)
In Summary:
The core of Jesus' teaching in the Gospels is a radical call to love—of God, neighbor, stranger, and even enemy—expressed through humility, mercy, nonviolence, forgiveness, and a life aligned with the values of God's Kingdom. It's a call to inner transformation and outward compassion.
I then asked this:
Expand these ideas into a politics for modern living.
I got this:
Absolutely—let's explore how the core teachings of Jesus in the Gospels might inform a politics for modern living. This isn't about religion per se, but rather a moral and civic vision rooted in the values he lived and taught—translated into principles for personal, communal, and political life today.
A Gospel-Inspired Politics for Modern Living
1. The Kingdom of God as Public Vision: Justice, Equity, and Human Flourishing
Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God as a radical alternative to empire and domination. A modern politics grounded in this vision would seek:
Universal human dignity: Every person has value, regardless of wealth, race, status, gender, or nationality.
Justice as fairness: Economic systems should be evaluated by how they treat the poor and vulnerable, not just by growth or profit.
Public life organized around well-being, not domination: Policy would prioritize healthcare, housing, food security, education, and peace.
Political implication: Build societies where the last are first—systems that lift the marginalized rather than reward only the powerful.
2. Love of Neighbor as Social Ethic
The command to love your neighbor as yourself becomes the basis for solidarity and social responsibility. In modern politics:
Healthcare, education, and housing are not luxuries, but expressions of care for neighbor.
National borders and identities do not negate moral obligation to others—refugees, immigrants, the poor abroad.
Systems that breed hatred, division, and exclusion must be reformed in favor of policies that cultivate empathy and community.
Political implication: Civic life should be guided by the question, “What does love require of us?”
3. Mercy Over Sacrifice: Compassion as Governance
Jesus critiqued systems that exalted religious or ritual performance over human need. Today, this translates into a politics of compassion over ideology:
Criminal justice rooted in restoration rather than retribution.
Public assistance systems designed not to shame but to empower.
Mental health, addiction, poverty, and homelessness addressed with understanding, not punishment.
Political implication: Design institutions with mercy at their core—not as charity, but as justice.
4. Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Healing the Social Fabric
Jesus' emphasis on forgiveness and peacemaking invites a politics of repair, not vengeance:
Truth and reconciliation processes where communities have been divided by violence, racism, or injustice.
Policies that foster healing, not just retribution, for historical wrongs (e.g., racial injustice, colonization).
Encouraging civic dialogue that moves beyond tribalism and polarizing rage.
Political implication: Promote truth-telling, mutual accountability, and the hard work of mending broken relationships.
5. Servant Leadership: Power Reimagined
Jesus turned power upside-down: true leaders serve others.
Elected officials as stewards, not celebrities or kings.
Power used to amplify the voices of the voiceless, not to entrench personal or corporate gain.
Public accountability and humility, not dominance and ego.
Political implication: Redefine leadership as service; elevate those who serve the common good, not personal ambition.
6. Nonviolence and Peacemaking: A Politics Beyond War
Jesus called his followers to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.
A politics of diplomacy over militarism.
Police reform focused on de-escalation and community trust.
Foreign policy that prioritizes peace-building, not imperial influence.
Political implication: Refuse to glorify violence—whether in policing, war, or rhetoric—and build cultures of peace at every level.
7. Inner Transformation as Civic Renewal
Jesus emphasized the heart—because no system, no law, works without changed people.
Foster ethical education and moral imagination—in schools, in public discourse.
Encourage personal responsibility for justice, not just institutional reform.
Embrace humility, self-reflection, and growth as civic virtues.
Political implication: True transformation begins in people, not policies—but must move from heart to action.
In Short:
A Gospel-inspired politics isn't about making a religious state. It's about building a society where love is public policy, mercy is law, peace is strategy, and the vulnerable are not just protected but honored.
It's about reimagining power, community, and justice—not in abstract ideals, but in budgets, laws, and daily lives.
I did not stop there. I then asked:
Suggest policy recommendations.
My requests were deliberately kept as brief as possible. I was offered this:
Absolutely—let's turn those Gospel-rooted values into concrete policy recommendations across major areas of public life. These aren't religious policies but ethical ones, rooted in a vision of love, justice, mercy, and peace as public goods.
Gospel-Inspired Policy Recommendations
1. Economic Justice & the Common Good
Value: “Blessed are the poor… for theirs is the Kingdom.”
Policy Recommendations:
Living wage legislation: Ensure all workers earn a wage sufficient for housing, food, healthcare, and dignity.
Progressive taxation: Structure taxes to fairly redistribute wealth and fund public services.
Universal basic needs guarantees: Access to food, water, shelter, and sanitation as rights, not privileges.
Public ownership or regulation of essential services: Healthcare, utilities, and housing must be protected from profit exploitation.
2. Healthcare as Mercy
Value: “I was sick, and you cared for me.”
Policy Recommendations:
Universal healthcare coverage: Healthcare is a human right, not a market commodity.
Mental health parity laws: Mental healthcare funded and treated with the same seriousness as physical health.
Holistic care models: Support community-based clinics, alternative medicine, and preventative care systems.
Abolish medical bankruptcy: Cap out-of-pocket expenses and eliminate debt-based healthcare.
3. Restorative Justice & Human Dignity
Value: “Let the one without sin cast the first stone.”
Policy Recommendations:
Abolish mandatory minimum sentencing and invest in restorative justice programs.
End cash bail: Pre-trial detention for the poor is unjust.
Prison reform: Focus on rehabilitation, education, and reintegration.
Decriminalize poverty: End the criminalization of homelessness, minor drug offenses, and loitering.
4. Immigration & Refugee Compassion
Value: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”
Policy Recommendations:
Pathways to citizenship: Legalization processes for undocumented immigrants, especially those with long-standing community ties.
Humane border policies: End family separation, private detention centers, and abuse of asylum seekers.
Expand refugee resettlement programs, including climate refugees.
Local sanctuary protections: Empower cities to protect immigrant residents from unjust federal enforcement.
5. Environmental Stewardship
Value: “Consider the lilies… not even Solomon was dressed like one of these.”
Policy Recommendations:
Green New Deal-style investment: Rapid shift to clean energy, just transitions for workers, and massive reforestation.
Environmental justice zones: Protect poor communities from pollution and climate-related displacement.
Ban corporate destruction of ecosystems for profit (e.g., deep-sea drilling, mountaintop removal).
Sacred land protections: Defend Indigenous lands and biodiversity zones from exploitation.
6. Peacemaking & Nonviolence
Value: “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
Policy Recommendations:
Demilitarize police and invest in community-based public safety models.
Fund alternatives to incarceration: Violence prevention, mediation programs, community mental health teams.
Cut military budgets and redirect funds to education, healthcare, and diplomacy.
Ban weapons exports to oppressive regimes; promote nonviolent resistance and diplomacy internationally.
7. Education for the Heart and the Common Good
Value: “Let the little children come to me.”
Policy Recommendations:
Universal pre-K and childcare access: Early support for every child.
Ethics, civics, and emotional literacy: Curricula that form compassionate, critically thinking citizens.
Free public college or vocational training: Education as a tool of liberation, not debt.
Invest in public schools: End segregation by funding inequality.
8. Democracy, Humility, and Shared Power
Value: “The greatest among you must be your servant.”
Policy Recommendations:
Campaign finance reform: End corporate capture of democracy with public election financing.
Participatory budgeting: Let communities directly decide how funds are spent.
Expand voting access: Automatic registration, national holidays for voting, voting rights for incarcerated citizens.
Term limits and transparency laws: Reduce entrenched political power and increase accountability.
In Summary:
These policies imagine a society where:
The poor are uplifted, not blamed.
Health and housing are rights, not luxuries.
Justice heals, rather than punishes.
The stranger is welcomed, not feared.
Creation is cared for, not consumed.
Peace is pursued not with war, but with restorative presence.
They are not policies of perfection, but of orientation: toward love made public through just and merciful governance.
I stress - I tried to be neutral.
I am not endorsing all that is said. There is a US bias in some of it. What I am saying is that this is a policy agenda as far from that which Starmer, Darren Grimes, Richard Tice of Reform and US Vice President J D Vance (a born-again Catholic) could imagine.
I have read all the gospels, most definitely more than once. The suggestions fit with my reading of them.
So why are these charlatans promoting neoliberalism and far-right-wing agenda, supposedly in the name of Christianity, when the man who started it all would undoubtedly condemn all they stood for?
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Thank you and well said, Richard.
This Catholic approves your message and notes that the Pope refused to meet Vance officially, so no photo opp, and sent a deputy. There was a private meeting.
Vance has clearly never read Catholic social teaching on issues like the economy. He is a very, very long way from it. The obvious is consistent with it.
Brilliant!
Happy Easter!
you were so right to exclude St Paul. His teaching changed the religion OF Jesus to a religion ABOUT Jesus,
I will admit the quote is not my words but one I read recently.
Agreed
I’m seeing definite moves recently by the British far right to do a US and co opt christianity into their odious, ruinous agenda.
If you are correct than the political extreme Christian fundamentalist’s infrastructure, still reinforced from childhood in siloed communities by an educational system of religious and political apartheid, that was built over fifty years here in Northern Ireland by the British government’s atricity ridden counterinsurgency experiment, will begin to be politically deployed ‘for’ by Starmer, no doubt under the experienced supervision of the Dark Lord Mandelson himself. Also a potentially very useful cat’s paw distraction to destabilise the EU which all of these faux christ ghouls have in their sights. If so, no wonder Starmer’s cartel are still dragging their feet regarding truth, justice and reconciliation, are underfunding the police services and blocking any meaningful civic preparation for Irish reunification. They need to keep their hate fuelled authoritarian Paisley created DUP pro MAGA machine oiled up and in place. It is all so very exhausting to endure. However, neither Statmer or the DUP speak for anywhere near the majority here. RM’s AI translation of Christ’s teachings above are far more truly ‘populist’ on the ground. There is a thought provoking essay on this UK/US shared experience of this left/right political Convergence authoritarian takeover posted over on Ghost by Dave Troy in his AMERICA 2.0 blog:https://america2.news/convergence-is-here-and-were-not-prepared/
I think, Richard, you are confusing Christianity, a multi-organised religion, with the original teachings of the bible. I don’t think the 2 have been connected since Christianity was invented.
Blame the Romans
No, let’s go earlier. Let’s start with Paul.
Certainly, hi-jacking the Gospel by the Romans set Christianity on a path divergent to the original message.
Paul is more complex… well, to me, at least. No doubt, certain sections are used to promote intolerance…. but 30 years chewing it over has led me to very different conclusions.
Not sure this blog is the right place for a deep theological discourse…. but, suffice to say, a full reading of Paul is, in my view, consistent with the manifesto you suggest.
Noted
As someone who was brought up to believe the words of Paul above all else, apart from the words of the man who led our ‘church’, I now think Paul was likely to be an opportunist charlatan.
I can’t think of a government anywhere in the world that governs in service to the people.
Starmer said he was going to, like he said a lot of things, and then hasn’t done them.
Thank You Richard and this UK Baptist approves your message.
But I nearly didn’t survive that double bout of “cultural appropriation”. 😉
Oh dear, Darren Grimes – is he still around making a total fool of himself?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him post on ANYTHING that he didn’t get totally wrong.
The man really is a piece of work (and must be very expensive to keep going).
My first response (to Darren, not you) was: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
I’ll get to Starmer in a minute…
This UK Baptist follower of Jesus approves your message Richard, and would encourage Darren Grimes to do some study on the Constantinian Settlement, although what I would REALLY like is for him to have a day or two talking to Jesus. Perhaps he could just read the four gospels?
This might help him, and it might keep him off X for an hour or two.
https://www.christianbook.com/disavowing-constantine-nigel-wright/9781597527934/pd/527934
(the author taught me my theology)
And while that is a Baptist ecclesiology, I wholeheartedly agree with PSR above – when I used to run local election hustings on behalf of Churches Together, one of the most important documents to get hold of for distribution to the candidates, was whatever the Roman Catholic Bishops had put out for that election – it was always the most comprehensive of the available church hustings literature – not to tell people how to vote but to tell them how to evaluate what the politicians were saying and doing, in the light of the clear teaching of the Bible about our duties to our neighbours.
When Darren’s finished that, perhaps he could read some of the prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, because it’s leaders and people had got round to thinking EXACTLY like Darren – so proud of their country that they thought they had built it all by themselves.
Darren – you should take a virtual temple tour with Jesus and his disciples and listen in – its in Luke 21.5, “Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 ‘As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” that’s what happens when religious people build edifices and institutions instead of communities, for “God desires mercy more than sacrifice” (that’s not original to Jesus, it’s a Hebrew Prophet).
Darren, you might have your appetite whetted for more conversations with Jesus instead of that Christo-fascism you seem so taken by, in which case tuck in to this free online video series called “The Chosen”.
https://watch.thechosen.tv/page/seasons%201-3
The Christianity Jesus taught and lived (to the death) doesn’t build countries or states.
It doesn’t form governments.
It doesn’t covet earthly power.
I wonder how “Christianity” did so much for Britain when the refugee Messiah (fleeing a genocidal massacre in Bethlehem at the hands of King Herod) wouldn’t even have been allowed ashore if Darren was in charge.
The wise men would certainly have been turned away too, foreign astrologers, possibly even from Iran!!!
Jesus said to Pilate – “my kingdom is not of this world” when Pilate tried to pull “state power” on him as a victim of wrongful arrest, by an imperial occupying military power, working in cahoots with corrupt local religious leaders interested only in preserving an advantageous mutual status quo.
I suppose my main question to Darren would be – if “Christians” made this country the way it is, why do we have so much inequality, greed, suffering, cruelty, hatred, and selfishness – mostly perpetrated by exactly the same people who want to wave a cross and a Union Flag at us and preach about us being a “Christian nation”? I hope Darren can find some inner peace, he sounds as if he needs it.
As for Starmer, I suppose I’m hardened to politicians’ making speeches to mark religious festivals of religions which they don’t believe in or practice. They universally make such a total hash of it. I’d rather they just said “happy holiday season and thanks for all the good stuff you do” and then carried on with their usual lies about how things are getting better all the time and how we need lots of agile ceremonies and growth and stuff.
I see his message states the following:
“This Easter, as churches hold special services across the UK, and gather to celebrate with friends and family, we remember those Christians facing hardship, persecution or conflict around the world who cannot celebrate freely. ”
Can I recommend he gives special attention to the 600 or so Christians left alive in Gaza (that’s an optimistic overestimate), who can’t do ANY celebrating while they deliberately starve, are sniped at and bombed, even in the Al-Ahli hospital, next to the deserted ruined Baptist Church? For first hand information about them, he could talk to Leyla Moran, LibDem MP whose family have been trying to shelter there – I’m not sure what their status is now.
Perhaps he could also think about ALL the Palestinian and Israeli Arab Christians who have been almost totally excluded this year from Easter Celebrations in the Christian Holy Places in (occupied) Jerusalem because of Israeli travel restrictions. The Jerusalem Easter has mostly been celebrated by foreigners, and Palestinians have been absent.
I mention them because he is complicit in their genocide (alongside their Muslim brothers and sisters) by continuing to supply weapons to their oppressors.
His message goes on to say: “I also want to thank you for the ways in which you follow Christ’s example of love and compassion in serving your communities. Whether through night shelters, youth clubs, toddler groups, family support, care for the elderly or chaplaincy support, and in a multitude of other ways, you demonstrate steadfast commitment and care. ”
The reason we DO it Mr Prime Minister, is because YOU and your government have given up looking after the people, so we and other third sector organisations have to very imperfectly, do a tiny bit of what you WON’T do, because you’d rather make the wealthy wealthier, than give those without wealth, basic things like food, shelter, warmth and health care. We’re not pleased with ourselves, we are DISGUSTED that we live in such a wealthy country that permits such poverty by deliberate choice. The bad news is – we can’t keep up, so we more and more of them will be turning back to YOU, and asking why the government that creates all the money and continually feeds it upwards to the wealthy, seems so unwilling to send any of it in their direction.
Christian nationalism is a heresy, a false doctrine, a lie, and it runs counter to the life and teaching of Jesus. Anyone who pretends to espouse it is a deceiver, simply trying to recruit people to their political campaign for authoritarian and repressive rule. Call them out.
That’s enough for now – sorry, Grimes and Starmer were too much for me for a moment there.
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed!
I’ve calmed down a bit now, and although this is a political economy blog rather than a biblical studies one, and I’d rather agree with people than argue with them, I’d like to throw in a word of defence for the apostle Paul.
I have no intention of defending those who have misinterpreted or misunderstood him – and there have been many- usually to further an agenda such as antisemitism or anti-catholicism (much of the most influential scholarship on Paul came from Germany, and needs understanding against the backdrop of the Reformation and the Nazis) -Luther, Schweitzer, Bultmann, Käsemann – but he is a figure still getting a lot of attention in biblical scholarship (E. P. Sander, N. T. Wright)
N. T. Wright (a different Wright from my previous post) is well worth reading, but can be heavy going. Writing as Tom Wright, he is much easier to understand, and for anyone interested in an accessible, contemporary study of past & current scholarship on Paul, including Wright’s own groundbreaking work, then the thin 192pp paperback, “What St. Paul really said.” (1997) will be enlightening. (ISBN 0 7459 3797 7)
Why bother? Well, people can do a lot of mischief with religion, and have done so frequently. Misunderstanding Paul has fed some very bigoted and cruel ideologies, and religious beliefs, like cars, need regular servicing, or else you can get into very nasty accidents.
Dumping the car completely seems a bit extreme, which leaves us with study, reflection and dialogue – which we get here, and I like it!
Now, back to political economy and the overthrow of tyrants (and some gardening).
I have read Tom and N T Wright (one and the same person – a former Bishoip of Durham).
I quote like his NT translation – which I also have. I don’t be any means always agree with his commentaries, but they are useful.
Very appropriate Richard.
Even in his own terms Starmer’s tweet was almost an invitation to get the far right responses he got.
The last thing Starmer or the ultra right ‘Christian Country’ mob want is to engage with is the actual message of Christianity – as your ChatGPT summarises
humility, mercy, nonviolence, forgiveness, ….
Having just completed Michael Hudson’s ‘The Collapse of Antiquity’ (2023) I’m in no mood whatsoever for Starmer’s cod Christianity.
Hudson explains the origins of the Roman Catholic Church which seemed to have bought into the materialist ways of the Roman rule all too readily as Christianity became established there.
It transpires that the RC Church interjected itself between the state and individual, in receipt of state help which it apparently ‘allocated’ onwards (maybe this religious allocation of welfare is where the idea of ‘deserving rich and poor’ came from?).
Indeed the lower clergy – the monks and friars – were the symbolic poor and it might explain why wealth was not always passed onto the the local communities (real people in need of assistance) but enriched the abbeys and higher clergy. The idea that if you gave to the church, your sins would be pardoned came from this unfortunate embrace of materialism.
Some abbeys and monasteries were better than others in their local assistance for sure – I especially appreciated those that made beer!
All I know about Easter is that Jesus – a very important prophet – was killed by his own people. Why an earth would he want to come back and try to save a bunch of idiots who saw fit to turn their back on him? And then blame the Jews!! And pretend that he had been reborn to salve their conscience! Oh dear! Seems like a big guilt trip to me, this Easter business. The chocolate I suppose makes up for it.
Thank God Martin Luther came along. And those Franciscan’s seemed to be a decent bunch too (we’ll over-look the Inquisition period however), more grounded in the words of their prophet.
I’m sorry if you find my post heretical and think nothing is sacred. But that is because nothing actually is? What was sacred was destroyed to shut him up. Fact. And the Lord’s prayer was altered to take out debt, and the church chose to get all hot under the collar about ‘original sin’ and sex instead.
There is only one sin and it is not sex. It’s tolerating poverty and watching helpless people being treated badly.
There is only one sacred thing: life. If only.
As per, agree.
If you want to read something amusing & “heretical” (i.e thinking for oneself – the original meaning of heresey): “Kings of Albion” by Rathbone – most amusing and highly appropriate.
Currently reading Catherine Nixey’s latest – & it is very good. Stops up many of the holes left in The Darkenining Age.
It might be a late to comment but the Christians (in a number of different organisations for much of the first three centuries) did have a social work aspect largely missing in the Classical religious cults. With the collapse of the formal administration of the Western Empire , the church was the only Empire wide institution remaining.
All the negatives you mention are true but the original mission kept breaking through despite the authoritarian aspect. Think, e.g. of the Quakers and the Salvation Army ( very different theology and practice but real devotion to accepting people for who they are and providing help)
Jesus was killed by the Romans. Most Jews didn’t accept the Pauline message and John, the last Gospel reflected a growing anti-Semitism. Matthew has a verse 27:25 which was used to justify it
All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!”
Much of this is disputed though, Ian.
I think we might close this particular angle here.
PSR
“All I know about Easter is that Jesus – a very important prophet – was killed by his own people. Why an earth would he want to come back and try to save a bunch of idiots who saw fit to turn their back on him? And then blame the Jews!! ”
Jesus, if such a person existed, was a Jew. He was killed by his own people, the Jews, (and the Romans), So blaming the Jews, for once , was appropriate.
Cyndy
Jesus’ message was snuffed out and yes it involved Jews and Romans but it was German Christians with ‘Gott Mit Uns’ on their combat trouser belts who used it to justify genocide. That is what I was getting at – the pettiness of it all.
Thanks.
Happy Easter everyone.
With regard to Starmer’s message I think a great many non Christians make a huge contributions to our society. The U.K. is no longer a Christian country but an increasingly pluralistic one.
I am a humanist but agree with many of the policy recommendations suggested by ChatGPT, as I suspect would my humanist friends, and also some Buddhists I know.
As a humanist my ethics do not depend on divine revelation, but I believe we have much in common with those of faith.
Much to agree with
Father Hugh O’Flaherty, ‘the Vatican’s Scarlet Pimpernel’ in WW II , who helped thousands of Jews escape the Nazis, said, ‘God has no country’.
OK I’m a humanist, but this is fascinating, as these are exactly the type of fundamental questions we should be asking ourselves now more than ever.
In case it of interest, there is something of a project to work through very similar questions here: https://gezwinstanley.wordpress.com/about/
ChatGPT is woke!!!
In fact, several times over.
Who knew?
Happy Easter 🙂
ChatGPT is a mirror. It can be nothing else.
No it is not
That suggests it looks at the person asking the question
It does not
Thank you so much for this, made my Easter far more reflective and thoughtful about possibilities.
…If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, he would surely be turning in his grave!
Nice to see a constructive use of AI for once (had enough of the AI toy pictures)! A true Christian take on governance, which would make a good constitution, if everyone is cared for why would anyone considering themselves Christians object!?
Love this piece Richard.
I wanted to forward to others, but there is a glitch that causes it to default to another of your posts. Shame. Such a brilliant piece is deserving of being shared.
This is the URL
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/04/20/christianity-starmer-and-the-far-right/
And thanks
Interesting/relevant to this article and comments might be “The Subversion of Christianity” by Jacques Ellul; “The Godless Gospel” by Julian Baggini” and”The Gospel of Christian Humanism” by Arthur G. Broadhurst. The last book is American and has a section on the the connections/conspiracy between the Republican Party and particular Christian Groups.
Also, by the already recommended Michael Hudson, is “Temples of Enterprise” which presents how “money, markets, land tenure and enterprise – were created in the temples and palaces of the ancient Near East”.
It shows that, then and there, types of debt were differentiated into domestic/survival debt and commercial debt. The former was subject to “Debt Forgiveness” when domestic debts were forgiven and debt consequences such as forms of debt servitude were removed. The purpose/reason for such was to maintain the stability of society. Thus the socio-economy appears to have been run, independently and objectively, by the palace and the temples for the benefit of all in the stability and resilience of the society.
Over mighty subjects were effectively blocked from corrupting governance and the exploitation of fellow citizens and their children.
Might such be a paradoxical example of autocratic input with a form of democratic output?
This sometimes happened in Ancient Greece e g. Solon, where the democratic-outcome rulers were attacked by the would be exploitative oligarchs, as tyrants.
This approach was opposed and attacked by the Greek and Roman rulers who enabled the wealthy to control credit and distort their societies.
Jesus’ recorded advocacy of forgiveness may very well have applied to debt forgiveness and a concern for an equitable and so kinder society.
Might such have been a contributory factory in his high visibility execution/judicial murder?
Alas, the Graeco-Roman debt ethic/control is still with us, but History, aided in this case by Mr. Hudson, tells us that better alternatives work and are available to us.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_debt_relief
P. S. Might “debt forgiveness” rulers have seen the social and the economic as symbiotic: might our recent and current rulers see it as more parasitic, to the advantage of wealth production?