Religious values in public life

Yesterday, Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, the BBC published a poll that shows 62% of those questioned want religion and the values derived from it to play an important role in British public life. Even 40% of those with no religion felt this way.

More specifically, 63% of those questioned agreed that the laws of this country should respect and be influenced by the UK's religious values, a sentiment that the BBC points out is at odds with the calls of many politicians and secularists for faith to be excluded from public life.

Even many of those of a faith other than Judeo-Christian (Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other minority religious groups) would prefer to have a Christian-based framework to national life than one that is entirely secular.

Logically, if this view applies to public life in general, and to our legislative framework in particular, then it will probably also apply to dealing with money. If that is the case, then the Kinder Institute of life planning approach to money that we use (which is developed from Buddhist principles) and our own developing ethos of advising clients based on the Rule of St Benedict, should become the standard for many financial planning firms in the future.

Click here to complete our own straw poll about religious values in money.

Is it a coincidence that the findings of the BBC’s poll, which were surprising to say the least, come at a time of financial crisis, change and insecurity. As Private Tommy prayed just before going over the top in 1915, “Dear God, I haven’t bothered you in the last 21 years, and if you get me out of this I promise you I won’t bother you again for another 21 years.”

Even if this is the case (and I don't thinkit is) it is still an opportunity for politicians, institutions and financial professionals to build a society based on deeper and more long lasting principles than we have now.

Jeremy