The Scottish Christian Party believes the country needs a distinctly Christian Voice in the Scottish Parliament and, by God’s grace, it is possible to do so.
How is it Possible? Click here.
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1. The Family Unit
The Scottish Christian Party believes that Christ’s Great Commission
to
make disciples of all nations involves having a Christian social policy for
nations as such. Christian love within the family unit is the building block
of the Church, the nation and society. Both family and state government
are institutions of God. Each has its own sphere of sovereignty and each
should respect its own limits and not trample over the God-given
boundaries of the other.
2. Provision for the Elderly
The Scottish Christian Party will press the Scottish Executive to review
their assistance to low income pensioner households with special
reference to the concessionary rail fare scheme, residential care costs,
home help provision and the Council Tax.
3. Family Rights
The rights of families are being undermined under the pretext of
protecting children from inadequate parenting. The Scottish Christian
Party believes that social cohesion has deteriorated to such an extent that
parenting classes are now being championed as the remedy for the lack of
good parenting in recent generations, but ask “What exactly will be
taught in these classes?”
Proper parenting seeks to promote the parent-children bond rather than
disrupt it. Families and children have had too much interference from
well meaning but misguided social workers. The judgement of some
professional paediatricians has also been called into question in recent
high profile court cases, but not before the social cohesion of the families
concerned has been intolerably disrupted.
The Scottish Christian Party is concerned that political correctness is
encroaching on state education and even the domestic teaching of
children, as though the state is responsible for the world view and moral
values of the children. Parents are not rearing children for the state to
take them over, as though there is a battle for their hearts and minds.
Parents are responsible under God for what a child is taught in the
religious and moral sphere.
Just as there are parental rights, so there are parental duties towards
society to rear responsible and useful children trained to their fullest
potential, with recognition of their talents. Parental duties extend to
meeting the needs and rights of their children in a safe and loving
environment, a caring upbringing and stimulating interest in their
development.
The Scottish Christian Party abhors all forms of child abuse. The denial of
the parental right to administer reasonable chastisement is one such form
of child abuse, as it denies the child its fundamental right to effective
parenting. The anti-smacking laws have altered the balance of power in
the home in favour of the child, to the extent that many parents fear the
legal consequences of reasonable chastisement, and thus elect to exercise
little or no discipline in relation to their children. The Scottish Christian
Party will seek to redress this imbalance and restore the right for parents
to smack their children as a measure of reasonable chastisement.
4. Care, Fostering and Adoption
The Scottish Christian Party believes that it is in the best interest of the
child to be placed for adoption with a heterosexual dual-sex family, rather
than with a homosexual same-sex couple or homosexual single person.
We therefore completely oppose adoption or fostering by unmarried or
same-sex couples, based on the evidence that such parenting
arrangements produce clearly inferior outcomes for children.
Any individual or organisation (including publicly funded adoption
agencies) must be allowed an exemption from the Sexual Orientation
Regulations on the basis that the regulations would compel action
contrary to individual conscience and/or the teachings of their faith.
The Scottish Christian Party believes that taking children away from their
parents should be the last resort and that stronger support services to
families should be encouraged in a cost-effective way through local
churches and other agencies.
We also draw attention to an institutional bias against placing children
with Christian families in some local authority social work departments.
The Scottish Christian Party will seek to establish ‘Open Adoptions’
as the
norm. We believe that the biblical injunction to “honour your mother
and
father” is rendered impossible to comply with if knowledge of birth
parents is withheld. Furthermore, the evidence for serious psychological
problems as a result of ‘Closed Adoptions’ gives rise to the urgent
need to
address this matter.
5. Mental Health
The Scottish Christian Party believes that those suffering mental distress
deserve great love and care, as close to their family and home community
as possible. Our health policies, on self-worth, sexuality, drugs and
alcohol, together with our policies on family life, useful employment and
education will work to reduce the incidence of mental distress. For
continued sufferers, we will make greater efforts to include useful work in
their care, as the Bible and clinical studies point to the importance of work
in the self-esteem of human beings.
6. Helping those with Disabilities
The Scottish Christian Party will seek to love and support those with
disabilities to help them back into the workplace. We will review the
chronic under funding of the current disability access legislation, where
the expectations placed on public authorities are greatly in excess of the
resources being provided to improve access to services and buildings.
7. Adult Services
The Scottish Christian Party will encourage and assist disadvantaged
groups to help each other, thus enabling them to recognise their own
potential and social capital despite their disadvantages. For example, by
helping the poor to build and restore their communities and supporting
them to find work in social enterprises. Such adult services will be a
priority for the Scottish Christian Party as it seeks to ensure that God’s
love and provision reaches those in need in our society.
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• Christian Constitution of Scotland: The Scottish Christian Party highlights the irresponsible failure of the SNP to say what will happen to the Christian Constitution of Scotland if the Treaty of Union 1707 is broken.
The Scottish public deserves to know this before an Election in which the pundits think the SNP may form the next administration; but the SNP has not addressed the question publicly far less provided any answers.
• Education: To give real choice we will campaign for an Educational Voucher Scheme, sex education on a parental opt-in basis, a daily act of Christian worship with Bible reading, and no obligation to promote other faiths.
Creationism and Intelligent Design will be considered alongside Evolution in science classes.
• Economic Development: Less reliance on fossil fuels, with increased emphasis on self-sustainability. Investment in new nuclear
plants must be matched by investment in research and development for nuclear waste solutions.
Explore the potential of water export, and effective extraction of North Sea oil with infrastructure designed to be adapted afterwards for marine renewable projects.
• Housing: Affordable housing earmarked as Local Family Housing.
• Gambling: Opposition to super casinos.
• Elected Police & Fire chiefs: The role of the Police and Fire Service does not involve marching in uniform, or handing out leaflets, at Gay parades. We believe they should be maintaining law and order impartially, and fighting fires. Electing chiefs will ensure accountability.
• Freedom of conscience, of speech and of public preaching: We will address the imbalance in law concerning giving and taking offence, and the oppressive emphasis in diversity training.
• Drugs: Zero tolerance on illegal drugs.
