Towards a movement of Christian Democratic Engagement

In view of what is happening and what is not happening in the various countries of what is called "the free world", I am no longer content to "leave politics to the politicians".

Rather, I want to engage:

• In support of democracy, by which I mean not only formal democratic structures that ensure that governments are determined through general and free elections taking place with reasonable frequency, but also:
  • a reasonable implementation of the principle of "rule by law" including in regard to ensuring that human rights are respected and protected, and furthermore also a generally democracy-minded society with a culture where religious and political disagreements lead to discussion and debate and discourse, but not to enmity;
  • furthermore, my vision for political engagement is to work towards a reshaping of the political cultures, so that as many politicians as possible will see themserves as administrators of the will of the people (within reasonable constraints, i.e. policies that violate human rights or are based on false beliefs about scientific facts must not be seriously considered even if a majority of voters would support those policies) rather than as having a “democratic mandate” of implementing whatever their own ideas (or the interests of their donors and/or other supporters) might be.
• In support of climate protection.
• In support of sustainable development, including in regard to climate change adaptation.
• In support of countries like Ukraine and Taiwan, whose greatest desire is to live peacefully in freedom and democracy, but which are being attacked (Ukraine) or severely threatened (Taiwan).

In my engagement, I want to be firmly grounded on faith in God on the basis of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and I want to pray together and collaborate with those who share a similar perspective.

Are you someone like that?

If yes, please connect with me on LinkedIn and let me know.

Although I envision that from the above ideas, eventually a larger movement of Christian Democratic Engagement could emerge, I am content to start small, perhaps with a regular online meeting of a small group, praying together and supporting each other on our respective faith journeys and business/professional journeys and political engagement journeys.

None of the above implies that a culturally conservative stance must be taken, and in fact my personal desire to connect with other Christians who largely agree with me in relation to the above-mentioned aspects is quite independent of whether they’re social consevatives or not.

That said, I see a strong need for the creation of national political parties which combine genuine cultural conservatism with a commitment to empathy, democracy, human rights, honesty, and a way of thinking that is sane as well as strategic. Parties that can credibly draw votes away from the right-wing populists who have authoritarian and pro-Putin leanings.

Norbert Bollow