Are we becoming more liberal? 

According to a survey carried out by the National Centre for Social Research, our attitudes to a whole range of issues have shifted radically over the last 20 years.  Such changes have consequences for society.  

We have become much more liberal when it comes to sex and relationships.  Divorce no longer carries the stigma it did a generation ago; homosexuality is more readily accepted as being just one dimension of what it is to be human.   

The BBC series The British Family reflected on the massive shifts that have taken place within the way in which we order our social relationships – from the upheaval of life in the wake of two world wars, to the equal education/employment opportunities offered to men and women, and the diversity of family networks. 

It is too easy to think back to an idealised “golden age” of family life, but most of us will have had first or second hand experiences of both enriching and painful relationships.  Similarly, the rhetoric of politicians and social commentators describing a broken Britain does not reflect the complex truth. 

The devastating extremes of breakdown are part of our reality; but so is the fact that divorce rates have fallen again this year; that within our schools, day centres and local political structures people are working hard to enrich the lives of individuals and communities. 

The result of the survey of social attitudes reveals a worrying trend: the number of people who regard it as a civic duty to vote is in decline. Our more liberal attitudes towards personal relationships arise, in part, from a sense of justice and compassion.  However, if we limit such responses to the private realm of self-interest, and become apathetic in relation to public policy, all of us suffer.  The most vulnerable in society suffer. 

The values of acceptance, support and encouragement enable us to fulfil our potential in our work and our community as well as in our personal relationships.  Those values are made more radical in the context of the church.  Week by week, we gather at All Saints, and within other Christian communities, to hear the word of God. A word which calls for justice, love and mercy; a word that speaks out against dishonesty, selfishness and cruelty. 

Perhaps we should reconsider our personal and public commitments in response to a question raised by the National Equality Panel’s report: 

Are inequalities inevitable? 

The panel suggests that wide inequalities erode the bonds of common citizenship and recognition of human dignity across economic divides, leading to lower levels of happiness and well-being and to more social problems. 

We each have a voice within society: when we vote, when we engage with local issues, when we involve ourselves in our community.  Our choices and actions can build up bonds of common citizenship.  Our changing attitudes can enrich the lives of individuals and make society more cohesive.  Our voices can echo God’s call for justice, mercy and compassion.