Ahead of the independence referendum in 2014 the Evangelical Alliance Scotland launched a manifesto entitled What Kind of Nation? comprising 38 recommendations covering the four pillars of Scottish society – the economy, the family, civil society and the environment.
A ruthless commitment to the eradication of poverty, restoration of the dignity of those who rely on the welfare state and tax incentives to encourage the rich to invest in projects that would tackle Scotland’s most pressing social needs are among issues that evangelical Christians wanted both sides of the referendum debate to consider.
Fred Drummond, national director of Evangelical Alliance Scotland, said the debate had been too narrowly focused on issues of EU membership, the pound and pensions. He said: “We also need to discuss what kind of future we want for our children and grandchildren.
“These economic issues are important but they are not the whole story; there are many other important matters, such as poverty, on which people are hurting which need to be addressed. We need to have a ruthless commitment to eradicating poverty in all its forms. It cannot be right that the poorest 20 per cent of the population contribute a larger percentage of their wealth in tax than those in the top 20 per cent. It cannot be right that those in work find themselves having to rely on state hand-outs and parcels from foodbanks.”
“As Christians we believe such inequality to be an affront to God and a blatant attack on our humanity as individuals made equally in the image of God.”
