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Divine Election: A Christian Guide to Irish Politics
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Divine Election: A Christian Guide to Irish Politics

Author: Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice

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Welcome to Divine Election, a podcast from the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, exploring what it might mean to approach elections from a Christian perspective. I am Cherise McClean. I direct Communications for the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. And as the Republic of Ireland goes to the polls in a General Election on November 29, we thought it was a good time to think theologically about the opportunities and obligations that fall to us as Christians in a democracy. While these issues are especially timely for Irish people, we hope that this series will be of general interest even after the election is completed and a new government is formed and that while it has Ireland as its context, it will be relevant for Christians anywhere.


Over the course of the series we pair big theological ideas with questions of applied public policy. We speak to experts in their fields to inform our reflection on a Christian approach to political life. And we argue that regardless of your particular political persuasion, there are common - and exciting! - commitments that Christians across the spectrum share around what it means to seek the common good. The Christian faith is about love and justice is what love looks like in public. So join us as we invite you to think deeper about these issues

7 Episodes
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Welcome to Divine Election In our last episode, we spoke with Dr Toni Pyke, of the Association of Missionaries and Religious in Ireland. Toni shared with us about the importance of hospitality to the stranger as a core element of the Christian faith. This might feel like a leap - but that really shows how thin our thinking is about these issues - but if we recognise we have to be hospitable to all our neighbours, it follows that we should be hospitable to our non-human neighbours. If, as Ton...
Welcome to Episode 5 of Divine Election For a long while, Irish people could flatter themselves in imagining that unlike the rest of Europe, we didn't have a problem with immigration. As a Canadian who moved here to study and ended up staying, I can say that I have been warmly received. But I have also seen racist outbursts directed towards others who come from places that seem more remote. That perception has been shattered in recent years as anti-immigrant rhetoric has become ever pr...
Welcome to Divine Election. It might be common enough for political discussion to focus on crime, but the details of punishment are obscure to most people. How many times have we heard some version of the "what we need to do is be tough on crime" conversation? We might have recited that script ourselves. But Christians have a reason to dispute the standard, so-called commonsense approach to justice. A fundamental reason for Christians to be concerned with who we put in pr...
Welcome to episode 3 of Divine Election. Lord Acton was one of the most important figures in 19th century British intellectual life, but he is now largely remembered for one absolute zinger of a line. You have undoubtedly heard it. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." There are seams of Christian thought that resonate strongly with this sceptical position, counselling that Christians should stay clear of politics and avoid the messiness and compromise it en...
Welcome to Episode 2 of Divine Election. While in the grand scheme of things, no challenge facing Irish people can compare to the accelerating environmental crisis, it has been clear to us at JCFJ for a decade that we are in the midst of a devastating housing situation. Last episode, Richard Carson helped us to think theologically about the place where we live and today, Peter unpacks that in concrete terms by discussing the systemic crisis that afflicts every element of trying t...
Welcome to Divine election this episode, we encourage you to think about place. Even a brief familiarity with the Bible reveals how important place is to the whole story Christians find themselves within. Loving your neighbour involves loving your neighbourhood! Our guest, Richard Carson, helps introduce the implications of this idea and can testify in his own life to how thinking about this has made a difference in his faith. One of the core pillars of Catholic Social Teaching -...
Divine Election is a short 8 episode guide to Irish politics from a Christian perspective. At the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, we are dedicated to undertaking social analysis and theological reflection in relation to issues of social justice, including housing and homelessness, penal policy, environmental justice, and economic ethics. With the Irish election coming up, we wanted to address a few topics that encourage you to reflect on the Common good as we head to the pol...
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