Evangelical Alliance Press Release and Statement on Citizenship and Abortion
PRESS RELEASE
5 September 2011
Evangelical Christians: firm faith and active citizenship
It’s official: evangelical Christians are far more likely to be active in their communities than the average person.
Some 1,151 evangelical Christians have been asked in an online survey about their understanding of central tenets of the Christian faith, as well as their involvement in public life and knowledge and opinions on current affairs.
Overwhelmingly they expressed their confidence in the central message of Christianity: that Jesus died for our sins, and rose again from the dead. But this is not mere belief in a doctrine, but a powerful driver behind their active involvement in society.
Findings showed that a quarter of respondents are trustees of a registered charity. That’s compared to 2.2 per cent nationally. Nine per cent are serving as school governors, compared to 0.7 per cent nationally, and four out of every 100 are members of a political party in contrast to the national average of 1.3 per cent.
These evangelical Christians also beat the national average for serving as councillors for their local authorities and as court magistrates. Astonishingly nine out of 10 had voted in the Alternative Vote referendum in May compared to UK-wide turnout of just 42 per cent.
On foreign policy, slightly more than half the respondents are in favour of Allied intervention in Libya. However, nearly three quarters said they could not justify Western military invasion of Iraq in 2003.
The latest findings are published in Does belief touch society? – the first in a series of follow-ups to the landmark 21st Century Evangelicals survey of 17,000 Christians conducted last year by the Evangelical Alliance and Christian Research.
Church and community leaders are encouraged to order copies of the latest research booklet which details the findings in full and use the information to better serve their own communities.
It is available to download and order from http://www.eauk.org/snapshot/does-belief-touch-society.cfm. Suggested donations are £3 for one copy, £4 for two copies, £5 for three, £6 for four, £7 for five, £8 for six, £8.50 for seven, £9 for eight. £9.50 for nine, £10 for ten.
Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, says: “Evangelical Christians are not bystanders. We are actively involved in our communities. We hope that this report, by holding up a mirror, will inspire us to seek – and be certain of - God’s truth in our lives and our communities.”
STATEMENT
5 September 2011
Evangelical Alliance backs independent abortion counselling amendment as common sense
In response to the amendment put forward by Nadine Dorries MP and Frank Field MP to the Health and Social Care Bill to provide independent abortion counselling, likely to be debated in Parliament on Tuesday 6 September, Dr Dave Landrum, Director of Advocacy for the Evangelical Alliance, commented:
“The amendment proposed by Dorries and Field to ensure independent counselling for women considering an abortion would be a triumph for common sense, and the Evangelical Alliance fully supports it.
“Abortion has become big business. It is effectively seen as just another form of contraception that has become a multi-million pound industry, backed by government subsidies and encouraged by political extremists blind to any form of reason or restraint.
“Counselling for women who find themselves in the difficult position of considering an abortion should be less pressurised and must ensure that the decision made is done in the light of all the information and options available. Any move that exposes and challenges this deadly consumer culture and lets women make a choice that is not guided by organisations intent on guaranteeing their income stream is an essential move in the right direction.”