Good for society argument by chapter

Foreword by Rt Hon Lord Tebbit CH, former Secretary of State for Employment, Secretary of State
for Trade and Industry and Chairman of the Conservative Party

In "Good for Society" Martin Parsons has written a book well worthy of its sub title "Christian Values
and Conservative Politics"…

…Good for Society is a robust defence of both our Christian heritage and the Conservative Party.
Perhaps it might have been subtitled "You Cannot Beat Something with Nothing". After all, it might
not be entirely a coincidence that not only have both of the outstanding Prime Ministers of the last
half century been women, but convinced Christians too.

Introduction

Conservativism is one of the great ideas of the English-speaking peoples. The idea that we could
learn from the past, that we could develop learning, social organisations such as marriage and the
family and ways of doing things that meant that we did not have to reinvent the wheel every
generation with all its frustrations, disappointments and pain. But Conservativism cannot work on its
own. At least throughout almost the entire history of the English-speaking peoples it has not done so
on its own. Rather, it has required values drawn from the Judaeo-Christian worldview as its
foundation. However, these values are now under threat and it is only by recovering our confidence
in them that we can provide a credible counter narrative to the threat of Islamism.

Chapter 1 The Bible and politics

Government and politics are not a necessary evil, they are ordained by God to bring a degree of
order, peace and justice to the world. The Bible portrays both the government of God and his divine
delegation of divine authority to man to govern. Whilst the central message of the Bible is one of
God restoring individuals to a right relationship with himself, it also sets out a vision of how society
functions best for human flourishing regardless of whether people make a personal response to the
former. These principles cannot simplistically be reapplied today, but require careful
recontextualization of the underlying ideals to the modern world. However, this leads to a range of
possible politics for Christians. Whilst some may be closer to these ideals than others, there cannot
be a single ‘Christian’ political position. However, as conservatism is about conserving the best of the
past, and much of that has been significantly influenced by the outworking of Christian values, it is
closer to these ideals than either liberalism or labour politics and can therefore be said to be ‘Good
for society’.

Chapter 2 The political landscape

This sets out how conservative principles emerged from the time of Pitt the Younger and Edmund
Burke, partly in response to the French revolution. These principles, which spread to other parts of
the English speaking world such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, are contrasted with those
which evolved from liberalism and labour politics.
Chapter 3 the political landscape and Christian values

There have always been two broad streams of conservativism: one based on both Christian
principles and an argument that these values should be conserved as they have historically proved
to be are good for society and a second based solely on the latter pragmatic argument. Additionally,
for most of the last two centuries conservatives have understood Christian values to be of
foundational importance to the UK’s national identity and values. This view was strongly articulated
by among others Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher. In contrast both liberalism and labour
politics have always been based on overtly secular philosophies, even though in the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries these were ameliorated through the influence of nonconformists.

Chapter 4 The Islamist challenge

Islamism takes its inspiration from the political aspects of early Islamic history including jihad, the
creation of a global Islamic state governed by a caliphate and the enforcement of sharia. It therefore
represents a significant challenge to the values of the English speaking peoples. Colonial rule of
Muslim majority areas led to two divergent responses. First, a focus on devotional Islam which
sometimes overtly embraced the values of the English speaking peoples and secondly, Islamism. This
seeks to spread Islamic government with sharia enforcement across the world, either through use of
the political process (non violent Islamists) or violence (jihadists). In recent years this has led to an
increasing number of countries adopting various aspects of sharia enforcement, the reintroduction
of aspects of sharia that were formally dormant such as slavery and jihadist attacks on religious
minorities that threaten the very existence of Christianity in areas of the Middle East where it has
existed since the first century. The Islamist challenge is not simply that of an alternative political
idea. It represents an existential threat to the very existence of the type of free society that the
English speaking peoples have developed over many centuries.

Chapter 5 Law and Justice

The Common law and much later parliamentary law was based on a number Judaeo-Christian
principles such as one law applying equally to all including the government, individual responsibility
for one’s own actions, truth, good faith, concern for one’s neighbour, limitations on the power of
government to protect human rights, respect for personal property and the institution of marriage.
It was normal for common law judgements to be made on the basis of Judaeo-Christian ethics,
sometimes explicitly so. Central to this was the common law principle set out by Henry of Bracton in
the thirteenth century that ‘the king is under no man save God and the law’ which became central to
later constitutional developments in England and elsewhere. These also became important aspects
of conservativism, but are now being challenged by both liberalism and Islamism.

Chapter 6 Social Justice

The Judeo-Christian belief in the intrinsic worth of all people because they are made in the image of
God was foundational to understanding of social justice from the time of Alfred the Great and led to
a wide range of social reforms including the abolition of slavery pioneered by the Tory MP William
Wilberforce and factory reforms led by Shaftesbury. The Judaeo-Christian worldview also led to
inculcation of virtues such as kindness and generosity which led to the development of charity and
continue to be central to the delivery of health and social care. In relation to welfare they are based
on avoidance of dependency giving those in need a helping hand back up, rather than a permanent
handout. Over time these values have become central to Conservativism’s approach to social justice,
which aims at a meritocratic society based on equality of opportunity. However, they are challenged
on the one hand by well intentioned efforts of the liberal left to give permanent welfare handouts
and create equality of outcomes by treating some groups more ‘positively’ than others. They are also
challenged less subtly by Islamism with sharia giving Muslims significantly greater rights than non
Muslims.

Chapter 7 Family and Education

Marriage has historically been the foundation of family life and family the basis of society.
Conservatives believe in marriage not just because it is an established institution, but because
repeated studies have shown it provides the most stable relationship for children to grow up in.
Whilst marriage has become increasingly secular it has still retained its basic Judaeo-Christian
definition. However, this is now being increasingly challenged by both Islamists and liberals.
Education is primarily the responsibility of parents, though they may choose to delegate some
aspects to bodies such as the state or church. It is not simply about training for work but also about
the inculcation of virtues, wisdom, and the transmission of identity – including national identity, civic
and social obligations and giving each generation access to the accumulated wealth of knowledge
and wisdom we have acquired from previous generations.

Chapter 8 International development

The origins of international development lie in the anti slavery movement led by Wilberforce and the
early missionary movement. The latter not only promoted social welfare but also some of the key
values that are foundational to the emergence of stable democracies. Poverty and
underdevelopment have a complex range of causes and cannot be tackled by simply increasing the
amount of money in the aid budget. They also require the creation of stable institutions such as the
rule of law and a functioning democracy as well as embedding values such as equal treatment for all
by the law, freedom of speech and freedom of religion within those institutions.

Chapter 9 The environment

The Judaeo-Christian understanding that man had been given dominion over God’s earth led to the
concept of stewardship with its twin themes of respect for the environment and responsible use of
the environment. These became central to conservativism which saw the environment as a
trusteeship to be passed on to future generations and therefore intrinsically linked conservativism to
the early conservation movement.

Chapter 10 The Economy

The Judaeo-Christian tradition established a number of ethical principles which in turn helped
modern capitalism emerge in the sixteenth century. These include the importance of subduing the
earth in order to manage its resources, respect for private property, moral self-restraint, work as a
route out of poverty, fair employer/employee relationships, fair rather than disproportionate
taxation and the Protestant work ethic. Conservativism builds on these and additionally argues that
free markets are an essential component of a free society allowing anyone to establish their own
business independent of the state. The Conservative ideal for business and the economy is one
where business is able to thrive and flourish and create employment and prosperity. It is one where
the government provides a regulatory framework for business, but does not directly control it. It is a
free market where competition means that the power lies with the consumer who can choose what
they wish to buy, rather than with the producer deciding what to supply. But it is also one where
everyone can earn enough to support their own family, without being dependent on government
welfare handouts. It is one where people are able to buy their own homes, are not penalised for
doing so and are able to pass those homes on to their children. It is one where tax is proportionate
so those better off pay proportionately more tax, but not disproportionately more, which would
create a disincentive to work hard and better oneself.
Chapter 11 Defence
Defence is one of the primary duties of government because only governments can undertake it.
Much of the modern ethical basis of defence draws heavily on Judaeo-Christian foundations both
the Just War Theory, the need to restrain evil and the belief that the manner in which we defend our
values is as important as their defence itself. Conservativism draws on these foundations and asserts
that it is because human nature is flawed that there is a need for strong defence, which contrasts
with the more optimistic view of human nature held by Liberalism.

Chapter 12 National identity and values

The Judaeo-Christian worldview and the values emerging from it have shaped our national values,
history and culture. They have, for example, been of central importance in the development of
common law and our understanding that it is not only ethically right, but actually our moral duty to
defend our nation, families and values from foreign aggression. The Judaeo-Christian worldview has
also profoundly shaped our understanding of a whole range of other areas including social justice,
marriage and the family, education, international development, the environment, business and the
economy.
Christianity was central both to the emergence of the English speaking peoples in Anglo-Saxon times
and the development of national identity and values in later centuries. This includes the belief that
the king was accountable to God for how he ruled his people, thereby providing a moral basis for
government; the conviction that all men are equally created in the image of God, which along with
the emergence of Bible translation in the sixteenth century laid the foundations for the later
emergence of democracy.
The values which emerged included 1. One law for all with even the government being accountable
to the law; 2. Freedom of the individual under the law with no arbitrary imprisonment by the
government or anyone else without a proper trial; 3. The right to own private property and not to
have it arbitrarily seized by the government; 4. The independence of the judiciary from the
government with the government being accountable to the law; 5. The sovereignty of parliament to
make laws; 6. Freedom of religion including not merely the right to worship, but also publicly to seek
to persuade others of the truth of one’s beliefs, with no requirement to hold particular beliefs to
hold public office; 7. Freedom of speech including the right to express opinions which are critical of
the government or the beliefs and actions of others; 8. Freedom of the press to publish without
interference from the government; 9. The sovereignty of our country as a nation state with its laws
being determined by our own parliament and crimes within it punished by our own judiciary; 10.
Constitutional monarchy.
However, these historic national values are now under threat. First, from liberalism which in recent
years has become increasing intolerant of any views contrary to its own beliefs and secondly from
Islamism. The latter, in both its violent and non violent expressions aims at the introduction of sharia
as a legal system which conflicts with historic national values such as the sovereignty of parliament,
equal treatment of all by the law, freedom of religion and freedom of speech. Liberalism’s own
conflicts with our historic national values and its naïve approach to Islamism means it cannot provide
a convincing counter narrative to the Islamist challenge. However, a renewed conservativsm has the
potential to. Yet, it can only do so by consciously affirming the values derived from the Judaeo-
Christian foundation, regardless of whether individuals choose to have a personal faith commitment
themselves. This renewed conservativism focused on our national story and the development of our
historic national values could give the UK a renewed sense of confidence both in our own national
identity and our role in the world.
Conclusions

Conservativism is about conserving the best of the past, passing on what we have inherited to the next
generation. Yet this raises the question of what we should conserve? Conservativism cannot simply be
about conserving things for as long as we can, before they eventually slip from our grasp. This is
defeatist as it simply allows the proponents of other ideologies, such as socialism, liberalism and even
Islamism to set the direction of travel. Conservativism needs a set of principles. As we have seen
throughout the book so much of what is good in our society has been derived from the outworking of
Judaeo-Christian principles throughout our history. In particular, this has led to the emergence of a set
of historic national values which have become embedded in our legal and political institutions and
spread out across the English speaking world. These are not only central to our national identity and
values, they also represent our greatest contribution to the world. As such their promotion should be
central to our role on the world stage.