Don Anderson, Kay Osborne call for greater Christian involvement in politics

WESTERN BUREAU:

RESPECTED POLLSTERS Don Anderson, and social commentator Kay Osborne are not impressed with the attitude of Christians towards local politics, saying they are largely silent when it comes to participating in the political process or expressing their views via the ballot box.

According to Anderson, while the most up-to-date statistics on Christians’ voting patterns in Jamaica go as far back as 2011, there is a modern perception that the Christian community must be more outspoken on issues that impact the political process, such as corruption.

“The general sense is that the Christian community is silent on issues of national importance, especially when it comes to elections” said Anderson, who was speaking during Sunday’s online Zoom forum held by the Association of Christian Communicators and Media [ACCM] under the theme ‘The power of the Christian vote’.

“It is not too late for a departure to be made, to look at issues that are obviously bothering a lot of people, but which the Christian community appears to be silent on, such as the use of certain language in campaigns, the kind of heated exchanges between politicians that we want to get beyond, and also corruption is another issue that the Christian community ought to be far more vocal about,” added Anderson.

He further noted that while approximately 70 per cent of Jamaica’s population identifies as Christian, that population is split between voters and non-voters, with the number of voters having shrunk from 80 per cent of the population during the 1980s to 38 per cent at present.

“It would be highly unlikely that voter apathy is specific to the Christian population, and therefore we would expect a natural and similar reduction in voter turnout among Christians as there was among non-Christians over this period,” continued Anderson. “When people say they do not intend to vote or are not sure they are going to vote, we have a plethora of responses, where for some, politicians are unkind and unfair, politics is dirty, or no party is different. Within that number would be a lot of Christians, because Christians represent a significant majority of the voting public.”

In speaking to issue, Osborne said that Christian leaders are to blame for not giving their members an opportunity to make their voices heard concerning politics and other national subjects.

“The failure is with the Christian leadership in interpreting and moving the requirements, opinions, views, and demands of the Christian community forward in a way that politicians must respond to. It is the leaders who are failing the people, because the people’s voice is clear, and the leaders are not picking up on what the Christian community is saying and amplifying it,” said Osborne.

“There is an opportunity for the Christian voice to become amplified. Persons who are grounded in ideas of justice, whether they are Christians or they belong to other faiths, can support their communities by amplifying those voices in a way that influences their membership, and others, to actually impact the voting engagement numbers and influence the things that politicians commit to do and actually do, and hold them accountable for doing it or not doing it,” added Osborne.

Sociologist and Roman Catholic deacon Peter Espeut, who was on the panellists on the forum, says Christians’ voting practices should glorify God.

“When we speak about the Christian vote, Christians should vote in such a way that the government that is elected will work to bring God’s kingdom. No Christian, in clear conscience, can vote for a political party to bring in a government that is not going to bring social justice and is not going to work for God’s will to be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” said Espeut.

The Government of Jamaica has yet to officially announce a date for the impending general election, which is constitutionally due to take place by September 2025.