Tory PPC dismisses Christian Voters' Views !
Unpublished Letter to 'Herald Express' 23 November 2006
On his online diary entry of 22 November Marcus Wood, Conservative parliamentary candidate, reports on the public debate between mayor Nick Bye and Ian Handford of the Civic Society regarding the provision of a ‘super casino’ in the bay. Beyond waxing lyrical about the debating skills of the mayor [and I readily admit he is a talented debater and an eloquent public speaker], he seems to imply that even though the meeting in his words voted three to one against the casino bid that this can be largely ignored as many of the audience were allegedly drawn from the Christian community.
Are we not council tax payers, voters and an integral part of the bay too? Why are the opinions of people of faith any less important than the wider electorate? I trust Marcus will publicly apologise for his offensive tone and accept that this issue is one that divides opinion across and within all political parties. Your own report on the meeting is informative. Revealingly those you record as speaking in favour of the casino were largely drawn from the ‘political and professional class’ with those opposed being members of the public.
As Adrian Sanders MP said in the Herald Express on 18 November the social costs could well outweigh any economic benefit and the Torbay bid scored poorly in terms of regeneration prospects. In the same article our Conservative mayor tries to distance himself from the bid by saying ‘this is not being pursued personally by me, but it is a bid supported by the cabinet and some councillors.’, yet the same Nick Bye then tries unsuccessfully to sell the idea of a casino at a public debate a few days later ! Confused? I am!
Although I remain unconvinced about the casino bid, I fully acknowledge the motivations and integrity of those who see the matter differently. However, I trust voters equally respect and welcome independent minded candidates seeking public office, even Christian ones!
Barrie Wood
Ellacombe Liberal Democrats
2007 Local Election Candidate.
Note to Editor: see www.marcuswood.blogsot.com entry entitled Is Torbay to be the new 'Monte Carlo' or another 'Las Vegas'?
posted by Barrie Wood at 11:48 am
1 Comments:
Barry, How true, its very upsetting that Torbay politicians feel it is legitimate to dismiss the views of Christians. (We can also mention the sad events at the crematorium.)
However, I think it should be pointed out that anti-Christain comments, and a general anti-faith stance, is not the perogative of right wingers. I think it is well known that some of the most vehment criticism of Christianity comes from progressive politicians, for example in the recent gay adoption debate.
Secondly, Christians are very rarely united politically themselves. I know there are are strong faith groups in all the main politically parties- united in Christ but not in policy issues.
Your Blog is agreat read keep up the good work.
Bless you Paul
9:44 pm GMT
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