British unsure about moral issues, broadcast suggests
-17/02/05
While the religious right in the US used narrow moral rhetoric to win votes for President Bush, especially from women, people in Britain are uncertain about what constitutes ëmoral issuesí and unsure how to relate these to politics, new evidence suggests.
A street poll for the BBC Radio 4 Womenís Hour programme today indicated that British women may be much less persuaded by ëthe moral agendaí in the forthcoming UK general election than American women were during the US presidential campaign last November.
The Womenís Hour survey was conducted without polling controls, and cannot be compared to statistically moderated surveys, but it suggested that there is suspicion among the British public about the way ëmoralityí and ëreligioní can be used to manipulate voters.
A number of those interviewed said that morality was about personal choice, and that politicians should keep out of it.
Among the points made on the programme was that the US religious right defines its ëmoral agendaí around issues of fertility and family life in which women are major protagonists, and where men often seek to reassert control using moral and religious rhetoric.
Issues of sexual morality, abortion, gambling and drug use are also often considered without regard to wider social and economic issues, say commentators. The environment is generally disregarded by ëthe moral rightí and the interests of big business and the market are treated as sacrosanct.
In contrast, poverty and justice campaigners are seeking to create a new ëcorporate moralityí agenda ñ calling for a ëglobalisation from belowí that would generate a regulatory framework for business stressing accountability to society and the environment alongside shareholders.
But it seems that quite a few ëordinary votersí unaffiliated to religious or lobbying groups eschew all these arguments and continue to pursue a mainly individualist approach to right and wrong.
Meanwhile the biggest wrangles in Britainís churches still revolve around gender and sexual ethics, according to the evidence of this weekís Church of England General Synod.
Contention about women bishops has featured high on Synodís agenda, with some church leaders still arguing that male authority and control is God-ordained.
British unsure about moral issues, broadcast suggests
-17/02/05
While the religious right in the US used narrow moral rhetoric to win votes for President Bush, especially from women, people in Britain are uncertain about what constitutes ëmoral issuesí and unsure how to relate these to politics, new evidence suggests.
A street poll for the BBC Radio 4 Womenís Hour programme today indicated that British women may be much less persuaded by ëthe moral agendaí in the forthcoming UK general election than American women were during the US presidential campaign last November.
The Womenís Hour survey was conducted without polling controls, and cannot be compared to statistically moderated surveys, but it suggested that there is suspicion among the British public about the way ëmoralityí and ëreligioní can be used to manipulate voters.
A number of those interviewed said that morality was about personal choice, and that politicians should keep out of it.
Among the points made on the programme was that the US religious right defines its ëmoral agendaí around issues of fertility and family life in which women are major protagonists, and where men often seek to reassert control using moral and religious rhetoric.
Issues of sexual morality, abortion, gambling and drug use are also often considered without regard to wider social and economic issues, say commentators. The environment is generally disregarded by ëthe moral rightí and the interests of big business and the market are treated as sacrosanct.
In contrast, poverty and justice campaigners are seeking to create a new ëcorporate moralityí agenda ñ calling for a ëglobalisation from belowí that would generate a regulatory framework for business stressing accountability to society and the environment alongside shareholders.
But it seems that quite a few ëordinary votersí unaffiliated to religious or lobbying groups eschew all these arguments and continue to pursue a mainly individualist approach to right and wrong.
Meanwhile the biggest wrangles in Britainís churches still revolve around gender and sexual ethics, according to the evidence of this weekís Church of England General Synod.
Contention about women bishops has featured high on Synodís agenda, with some church leaders still arguing that male authority and control is God-ordained.