Photo from news.bbc.co.uk"There is so much that binds us Christians, socialists, liberals... We all strive for a better world..." and similar arguments I often heard in a debate organised by the Netherlands Christian Democratic Party (CDA) about the 'C-factor' in politics*. CDA Member of Parliament, Mirjam Sterk, argued that CDA's political intentions are derived from the gospel, eventhough CDA is not explicit about it. And such intentions coincide very well with those of socialists, muslims, liberals. Of course, to a certain degree there is political (operational) overlap between muslims, Christians, socialists and liberal democrats. Moreover, there's ample proof of coalition governments in Europe, especially in the Netherlands. However, are intentions separate from pretensions?
There's a certain teleology about Christianity (as is about other religions and (political) philosophies): it leads to somewhere. Mirjam Sterk denies this by argueing that the Kingdom of God is not of this world. Whether the Kingdom of God is earthly or heavenly or both, I would leave out of this discussion. But even when the Kingdom of God would only be in heaven, Christians are still called to be representative of God's realm on earth. (The Bible even speaks about Christians as ambassadors!)
The government coalition of the Netherlands now consists of social-democrats, Christian Democrats and Christian Union. If this government performs well, who is to claim the honour? Without the pretension that we (Christians) are trying to represent Jesus in politics, the honour would be kept by the individual political parties. Successes will become mere munition for the subsequent election campaigns. But have we realised more of God's explicit vision for this world, do we still keep with the our reason for existence?
In the nineties European social-democrats and to a lesser extent American democrats committed to the so-called "Third Way", a pragmatic social democracy that is ideologically flexible. All over Europe, we witness how these social-democratic parties without pretension are losing confidence and support. Newer, ideologically outspoken parties (for instance the Socialist Party in the Netherlands) have sprung up. I believe this phenomenon is explained by the fact that Third Way Social Democrats have lost their ideological pretention, there's no common vision of how a better world should be. The price they pay for short term electoral gain in the nineties has been very high.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Christian Union should not compromise in some matters. But a criterium for evaluation should always remain, have we come closer to the vision that God has for this country, and for this world. In sum, intentional politics without pretensions is unpretentious, like a ship on high seas without navigation. Reversely, pretentions without the intention to make claims real, would be empty, or perhaps merely pretentious. Pretention and intention are inseparable.
*"Een nieuw Kabinet, een nieuw C-elan" debate 15 March 2007, in Grand Cafe de Bosbaan, Amstelveen (Netherlands)
