Man of the cloth attacks 'Christian economics'

By Alex Singleton | 16 February 2005

Mark Hart, a Rector in the Church of England, comes clean in today's Times of London. He says: "I confess. I believe in free trade." Good on him.

It is deeply worrying that Britain's churches have been captured by economic illiteracy. Sunday service after Sunday service promotes economic ideas that do not work, like the need for poor countries to keep their tariffs, or for "fair trade". These ideas commonly get called "Christian economics", as though any other view is anti-Christian. Dissent is not exactly easy in a church setting, and so supporters of free trade never voice an alternative perspective.

Hart says:

To imagine that the Church has a special revelation that enables it to cut through these complex issues is like expecting the Met Office to forecast the date of the Second Coming. The Church should not so casually claim Christ's authority to adopt a corporate position which may be proved wrong, while excluding faithful dissenters.

(Hat tip to The Commons Blog.)