6.21 Kan ik de politiek in? Moet ik stemmen? Hoe beslis ik op wie ik stem? Zijn christenen betere politici?
Als christenen zijn ook wij leden van de samenleving. We moeten participeren in de samenleving, ook door aan politiek te doen en onze standpunten te laten horen. Dat kunnen we in de eerste plaats doen door te stemmen. Ook al is er geen enkele kandidaat die op alle punten volledig aanvaardbaar is voor christenen, door te stemmen kunnen we er wel degelijk voor zorgen dat het land anders wordt bestuurd. Waar wij voor moeten zorgen is dat het gemeenschappelijke welzijn, het belang van ‘ons allen’, wordt gediend.
Sommige christenen zijn geroepen zelf in de politiek te gaan. Christelijke politici moeten altijd voor ogen hebben dat ze in overeenstemming met hun geweten handelen en het belang van anderen boven dat van henzelf plaatsen. Zulke politici zijn hard nodig en zij hebben steun en gebed van de hele christelijke gemeenschap nodig om aan hun hoge morele standaard te kunnen voldoen.
In what way do Christians participate in political and social life?
The lay faithful take part directly in political and social life by animating temporal realities with a Christian spirit and collaborating with all as authentic witnesses of the Gospel and agents of peace and justice [CCCC 410].
When is authority exercised in a legitimate way?
Authority is exercised legitimately when it acts for the common good and employs morally licit means to attain it. Therefore, political regimes must be determined by the free decision of their citizens. They should respect the principle of the “rule of law” in which the law, and not the arbitrary will of some, is sovereign. Unjust laws and measures contrary to the moral order are not binding in conscience [CCCC 410].
How does one participate in bringing about the common good?
All men and women according to the place and role that they occupy participate in promoting the common good by respecting just laws and taking charge of the areas for which they have personal responsibility such as the care of their own family and the commitment to their own work. Citizens also should take an active part in public life as far as possible [CCCC 410].
To take politics seriously at its different levels - local, regional, national and worldwide - is to affirm the duty of man, of every man, to recognise the concrete reality and the value of the freedom of choice that is offered to him to seek to bring about both the good of the city and of the nation and of mankind. Politics are a demanding manner – but not the only one – of living the Christian commitment to the service of others… While recognising the autonomy of the reality of politics, Christians who are invited to take up political activity should try to make their choices consistent with the Gospel [Pope Paul VI, Octogesima Adveniens, 46].
