{"id":23500,"date":"2026-03-24T06:17:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T06:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=23500"},"modified":"2026-03-24T06:17:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T06:17:13","slug":"a-little-known-christian-declaration-that-deserves-more-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/?p=23500","title":{"rendered":"A little known Christian declaration that deserves more support\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n \u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock)<\/span><\/p>\n

The American screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is best known for his seven series American political drama\u00a0The West Wing<\/em>, which was first aired between 1999 and 2006, and is generally regarded as the best TV political drama ever produced. What is not well known is that The West Wing<\/em> was a spin off from ideas which Sorkin first developed when he wrote the script for a movie called The American President<\/em> which came out in 1995.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This film is about a fictional American President called Andrew Shepherd (played by Michael Douglas). Shepherd, a Democrat, is a widower who begins a romantic relationship with Sydney Ellen Wade (played by Anette Benning) who is a lobbyist for an environmental campaign group which wants the Shepherd administration to introduce legislation to drastically reduce carbon dioxide emissions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shepherd is running for re-election and his Republican opponent, Senator Bob Rumson, uses Shepherd\u2019s relationship with Wade to attack Shepherd, arguing that she is a dangerous left-wing political activist who burned the American flag during an anti-apartheid demonstration, and is a member of the left-wing campaign organisation the ACLU (The American Civil Liberties Union).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The climax of the film comes when Shepherd gives an impromptu press conference at the White House after Wade has broken off their relationship because she feels he puts political expediency before his principles.<\/p>\n

In this press conference Shepherd gives a barn storming defence of his beliefs, his actions and his relationship with Wade. Addressing the question of his own membership of the ACLU (something on which he has previously refused to comment) he responds to Rumson with some of the best lines in the film:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018For the record: Yes, I am a card-carrying member of the A.C.L.U. But the more important question is why aren’t you, Bob? This is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the questions. Why would a senator, his party’s most powerful spokesman and a candidate for president, choose to reject upholding the Constitution?\u2019<\/p>\n

I have recently been thinking about these lines from The American President<\/em>, and particularly Shepherd\u2019s question \u2018why aren\u2019t you, Bob?,\u2019 in connection with the issue of why there has been disappointingly little support from Christians in this country to the \u20182025 Westminster Declaration on Faith, Freedom and Public Life\u2019 which was launched in September last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2010 a Christian manifesto entitled \u2018Westminster 2010: Declaration of Christian Conscience\u2019 was published with a list of signatories including the former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, Cardinal Keith O\u2019Brien of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, Mgr Michael Nazir-Ali, and the campaigner for religious freedom Baroness Caroline Cox, as well as other senior clerics, the principals of three theological colleges, and the leaders of several Christian organisations like the Evangelical Alliance and the Christian Medical Fellowship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The manifesto was a statement of Christian values which called on politicians to \u2018protect the right of Christians\u2019 to hold their beliefs and \u2018act according to Christian conscience\u2019 with the issues of the protection of human life and the defence of marriage mentioned as two particular areas of concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 2010 manifesto was an important and influential declaration at the time when it was issued and helped to highlight the issue of the protection of Christian values and the consciences of Christian believers in contemporary British society.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fifteen years later, a group of Christians convened by Mgr Nazir-Ali, who were concerned by the growing erosion of Christian values and respect for the consciences of Christians in the years since 2010, decided that the time had come to produce an updated and expanded version of the 2010 manifesto and the 2025 declaration was the result.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the words of the opening to the 2025 declaration:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Some of\u00a0the\u00a0choices made by Parliament and others in authority about the nature of human life,\u00a0family relationships, sex education in schools, end-of-life care, and the use and development of new technologies are having serious consequences.\u00a0By ignoring\u00a0Britain\u2019s Christian heritage\u00a0we have endangered\u00a0human life, weakened\u00a0society,\u00a0and\u00a0created a fragmented nation\u00a0uncoupled from\u00a0its formative traditions, and\u00a0without a unifying vision\u00a0for\u00a0its future.\u2019<\/p>\n

The 2025 declaration was produced as a result of input from a range of different Christian traditions, including the Anglican, Roman Catholic, Free Church and Pentecostal traditions, with the members of the steering group which oversaw its production including Mgr Nazir-Ali, Major General Tim Cross, the journalist and author Robin Aitken, the CEO of Voice for Justice UK the Rev Lynda Rose, and Dr Tony Rucinski, a researcher and campaigner on family and social issues.<\/p>\n

The 2025 declaration covered a wider range of topics than the original 2010 version to cover \u2018freedom of belief and of conscience,\u2019 \u2018the value of human life,\u2019 \u2018marriage, family and children,\u2019 \u2018parents and school education,\u2019 \u2018biological sex and gender,\u2019 \u2018the role of the university,\u2019 \u2018and AI and moral reflection.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

On \u2018freedom of belief and of conscience\u2019 the declaration states:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018We uphold freedom of religion and belief for all, as enshrined in Human Rights law. This means the freedom to manifest and practise our faith in public and in private, and a reasonable accommodation of this in the workplace. Individuals have a right to change their faith or beliefs, freely and without coercion.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

It further adds:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Democracy in Britain was founded upon Christian beliefs about human dignity and equality. For that democracy to survive \u2013\u2013 free of coercion by those now actively seeking to reframe our society and culture \u2013 and for the wellbeing of all, we urge that freedoms of belief, of conscience, and of speech, be protected through legislation and policy.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

On \u2018the value of human life\u2019 the declaration affirms that \u2018All human beings are made in the divine image, and invested with dignity, equality and freedom\u2019 and that as a consequence:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018We oppose the termination of life in the womb, whether by pharmaceutical or surgical intervention. Accordingly, there must be freedom of conscience for medical, administrative and other staff to decline participation in any procedure relating to abortion, including handling aborted foetuses, or stem cells derived from the destruction of embryos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018Further we oppose the causing or hastening of death by pharmaceutical means or by the withdrawal of nutrition and water. This is contrary to Christian belief, and alien to a civilized society. At the end of life, while it is permissible to administer analgesics with the sole purpose of relieving pain, the intentional causing or hastening of death by any means, direct or indirect, is unacceptable to Christian consciences. We are praying that assisted suicide will not become law, but if it does, consciences of Christians and others should similarly be protected from having to take part in any procedure the intent of which is to cause or hasten death.\u2019<\/p>\n

On \u2018marriage family and children\u2019 the declaration states\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018We believe the normative and best expression of family is the marriage of a man and woman bound together in a lifelong union for mutual love and support and the raising of children. We are concerned at the number of children raised by couples who have not made a public lifelong commitment to one another in marriage, whether civil or religious, or raised by those who choose to be single parents. Marriage benefits husband and wife, their children, and wider society, in ways that no other arrangement can replicate.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a consequence, it says:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018We call for policies and legislation which strengthen marriage and family life, and we reject ideologies which weaken family ties by falsely claiming that other types of relationship are of equivalent value to marriage. While affirming the importance of mothers and fathers jointly raising children, we also believe that those who find themselves single parents deserve society\u2019s support.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

On \u2018parents and school education\u2019 the declaration argues that it is parents and guardian rather than the state who have:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026 primary responsibility for their children\u2019s education and upbringing. Parents must, therefore, have the right to withdraw children from teaching which conflicts with their beliefs and values.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

It also argues that:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018While children need to be taught about different beliefs, values and lifestyles in our plural society, this is not the same as promoting various lifestyle and sexual ideologies, such as are being disseminated in schools. Training teachers to understand the traditional view of the family, and ensuring that view is taught in classrooms, is vital for the wellbeing of our children. This includes teaching the normative role of marriage between a man and a woman in raising and nurturing children, and in sustaining family life.\u2019<\/p>\n

Furthermore, because the purpose of education is to broaden the minds and enrich the lives of pupils it follows that:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026 there should be a balance in teaching children skills needed for employment, such as IT and business studies, and a knowledge of our history, literature and art which can provide them with appreciation of our rich cultural heritage.\u2019<\/p>\n

On \u2018biological sex and gender\u2019 the declaration affirms \u2018the givenness of biological sex\u2019\u00a0 while at the same time noting that \u2018compassion for those confused about their gender\u2019 is a \u2018Christian duty.\u2019\u00a0 It adds that now that:<\/p>\n

\u2018\u2026 the Supreme Court has ruled that the terms \u2018man\u2019 and \u2018woman\u2019 in the 2010 Equality Act refer to biological sex, the Department of Education must ensure that classroom teaching reflects this ruling.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

On \u2018the role of the university\u2019 it notes that \u2018universities have sprung from Christian roots,\u2019 and emphasises \u2018the need for freedom of speech and of belief among faculty and students as central to the true purpose of education\u2019 and the threat to this posed by \u2018group think\u2019 and \u2018cancel culture\u2019 which are \u2018leading to the closing of the western mind.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, on \u2018AI and moral reflection\u2019 the declaration states that AI, like other inventions, \u2018arises from the creativity of human beings, made in the image of their Creator.\u2019 It notes that although AI can bring \u2018\u2019much benefit to the practice of medical science, engineering, and many other professions\u2019, it \u2018can never attain the ability of moral discernment, nor will it ever be able to empathise or establish authentic relationships\u2019 and concludes that \u2018If we believe we are relating to a fellow person, we have become fools.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n

The declaration calls on the government to establish a body to oversee the future development of AI which would \u2018include Christians trained in moral thinking and decision making.\u2019 The purpose of this body would be to \u2018ensure that innovation is tested with discretion and does not take place in a moral and spiritual vacuum, especially where it affects human life, relationships, children\u2019s education and development, and the dignity of work.\u2019<\/p>\n

The 2025 Westminster Declaration is a very important manifesto as it is probably the only Christian statement which covers freedom of belief, life issues, university education and the development of AI in one comprehensive document.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The declaration has been published in partnership with Citizen GO, an organisation which promotes public participation in the political process, as an online petition which can be read and signed at www.2025WestminsterDeclaration.org. If 100,000 people sign the declaration this will trigger a debate in Parliament on the issues it raises.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, at the time of writing it has only been signed by 3,712 people. The question this raises is why this is the case. Why has it not been promoted more widely and achieved a far larger number of signatures? The points made by the declaration are not extreme or idiosyncratic. They are a consensus, mainstream, orthodox Christian response to key issues facing contemporary British society and there must be hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Christians who would agree with them. Why, then, the lack of signatures?\u00a0<\/p>\n

If we ask why modern British society has come to be shaped so profoundly by \u2018progressive\u2019 ideas about society and ethics with roots in Neo-Marxist ideology and by the LGBTQI+ movement, a key part of the answer is because people who hold to a progressive or LGTQI + viewpoint have been vocal in stating what they believe and active in promoting it. To use the old slogan, they have been prepared to be \u2018out, loud and proud\u2019 about their convictions. Christians need to take a leaf out of their book and do the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, to return to where I began this article, my challenge to any Christian who is not yet a signatory of the declaration is \u2018why aren\u2019t you, Bob?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0(Photo: Getty\/iStock) The American screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is best known for his seven series American political drama\u00a0The West Wing, which was first aired between 1999 and 2006, and is generally regarded as the best TV political drama ever produced. What is not well known is that The West Wing was a spin off from ideas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[72,432,7807,65],"class_list":["post-23500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-christian-living","tag-christian","tag-declaration","tag-deserves","tag-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblelon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}