• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Are you a member of a political party?

allfoak

Alchemist
My dad takes me for car rides just to get out of the house. He will ussually use it as an oppurtunity to rant about a subject of his choice (mainly politics but he's more into history at the moment). I do my best just to humour him as I am "trapped" in the car: Nod, agree and Pretend I'm listening as I stare out the window.

Do you know that feeling? :D
No, but my son does.:D
 

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
No, but my son does.:D

Give him a hug from me why don't you. I know his pain. :D

True, the Scottish situation was always going to have quite an impact. But honestly I think a collapse to some degree was inevitable after Blair.

I suppose I don't see it in quite such parasitic terms, because Corbyn and co have the support of a strong majority of the party, and so better represent what they're about than the PLP did.

I agree that the parliamentary electoral system (and liberal democracy, really!) doesn't engender long-term thinking, but I think that ultimately this can be solved with sufficient devolution of power.

Already used my mod powers, thank you very much :D

As I'm sure you know, there isn't gonna be something ready-made. This is partly why I recommend the Labour Party, because joining it will let you operate within a space where your ideas fit into that broader sphere but in which you can still engage with a variety of people variously located in the left-wing. Communism is rare but not foreign in the Labour Party, and it'll be a great platform through which you can connect with other communists of the more pragmatic sort as well as have dialogue with other people who are more sympathetic. It wouldn't be some echo chamber though, which I think is positive as well.

True. Its more flexible I guess. :)
 

illykitty

RF's pet cat
No I'm not, but I have voted for the Greens in the past elections since living here... And before then I don't think I've been old enough to vote in Canada during elections, IIRC.

I haven't joined any party because I am unsure what to think of this. I'd rather check out policies and vote accordingly instead of being loyal to a party. I mean, what if they decide on something you disagree with? No, that doesn't sit well with me.
 

Kirran

Premium Member
No I'm not, but I have voted for the Greens in the past elections since living here... And before then I don't think I've been old enough to vote in Canada during elections, IIRC.

I haven't joined any party because I am unsure what to think of this. I'd rather check out policies and vote accordingly instead of being loyal to a party. I mean, what if they decide on something you disagree with? No, that doesn't sit well with me.

Many political parties have quite a few factions within them.

For example, in the Labour Party there's 'New Labour' and 'Old Labour'. New Labour are those following in the footsteps of Blair, who endorse neoliberalism and neoconservatism and speak of people 'escaping the working class' rather than about uplifting the working class as a whole. Old Labour is somewhat broader, but remains genuinely socialist, varying from mild democratic socialism through to various clusters of anarchists and communists.

In the Green Party there are liberal environmentalists, who are basically like Lib Dems, socialist environmentalists and an eco-anarchist minority.

In the Conservative Party there's long been a three-fold division. First, the One-Nation Conservatives, who are focused on social cohesion and British nationalism. They tend to support everything they see as promoting cohesion, and so generally are in favour of the welfare state and the health service. These were dominant until the '70s, and there are still some around. Then you've got your Free Market Conservatives, who are big on reduction of the welfare state and privatisation. This has been dominant since Thatcher. Finally, your third wing are the Traditionalist Conservatives, who are centred on social conservatism. They base themselves on support for 'Faith, Family and Flag'. i.e. the primacy of the Church of England, the protection of the traditional family institution (through tax breaks etc) and British nationalism.
 

Terrywoodenpic

Oldest Heretic
For many years I was a very active member of the Liberal party. However I was only a member of the LIB Dems for a short period.
Recently I have supported My Labour MP Debbie Abrahams as she is a stronger candidate than any one put up by the Lib Dems, and she works very hard for the constituency.

I have never voted Conservative.Nor would I.
 

Kirran

Premium Member
My father has joined the Liberal Democrats recently. I don't get the appeal.

My mum's from a strong Labour family (her grand-dad was the leader for a time) but has become disillusioned with them since Blair and isn't a member now.
 

Terrywoodenpic

Oldest Heretic
Many political parties have quite a few factions within them.

For example, in the Labour Party there's 'New Labour' and 'Old Labour'. New Labour are those following in the footsteps of Blair, who endorse neoliberalism and neoconservatism and speak of people 'escaping the working class' rather than about uplifting the working class as a whole. Old Labour is somewhat broader, but remains genuinely socialist, varying from mild democratic socialism through to various clusters of anarchists and communists.

In the Green Party there are liberal environmentalists, who are basically like Lib Dems, socialist environmentalists and an eco-anarchist minority.

In the Conservative Party there's long been a three-fold division. First, the One-Nation Conservatives, who are focused on social cohesion and British nationalism. They tend to support everything they see as promoting cohesion, and so generally are in favour of the welfare state and the health service. These were dominant until the '70s, and there are still some around. Then you've got your Free Market Conservatives, who are big on reduction of the welfare state and privatisation. This has been dominant since Thatcher. Finally, your third wing are the Traditionalist Conservatives, who are centred on social conservatism. They base themselves on support for 'Faith, Family and Flag'. i.e. the primacy of the Church of England, the protection of the traditional family institution (through tax breaks etc) and British nationalism.


The Church of England has not been the "conservative party at prayer" for many years. Though there are a few exceptions, most CofE clergy support either the Liberals or Labour.
 

Kirran

Premium Member
The Church of England has not been the "conservative party at prayer" for many years. Though there are a few exceptions, most CofE clergy support either the Liberals or Labour.

At a pro-Corbyn rally in Cambridge I saw a CoE clergymember with an umbrella endorsing Republic, which seeks to bring an end to the monarchy.

I think they were CoE anyway. Most other denominations probably wouldn't have let them get away with that hairstyle.
 

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
That is hilarious.
Pendulum never stops swinging.

Before I forget, there was actually a religious strain of Marxism. It was deemed to be a "deviation" from the correct understanding of Marxism by Lenin and fell out of favour but has been a reoccurring theme thats cropped up every now and then. Its not widely known but from a purely anthropological point of view of understanding human frailty it may be of interest. :)

God-Building - Wikipedia
 

Kirran

Premium Member
Before I forget, there was actually a religious strain of Marxism. It was deemed to be a "deviation" from the correct understanding of Marxism by Lenin and fell out of favour but has been a reoccurring theme thats cropped up every now and then. Its not widely known but from a purely anthropological point of view of understanding human frailty it may be of interest. :)

God-Building - Wikipedia

Not to mention Islamic Marxism.
 

allfoak

Alchemist
Before I forget, there was actually a religious strain of Marxism. It was deemed to be a "deviation" from the correct understanding of Marxism by Lenin and fell out of favour but has been a reoccurring theme thats cropped up every now and then. Its not widely known but from a purely anthropological point of view of understanding human frailty it may be of interest. :)

God-Building - Wikipedia
That doesn't sound like anything new really.
It kinda sounds like what the Freemasons did.
They also created new ritual and symbolism and reinterpreted religion.
 

Laika

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
That doesn't sound like anything new really.
It kinda sounds like what the Freemasons did.
They also created new ritual and symbolism and reinterpreted religion.

Yeah. There is a tendency in certian forms of extreme atheistic humanism to find a substitute for a diety in deifying man as sacred based on assuming certian characteristic religious are innate or human. It was in ludwig feuerbach's atheism that you needed a "religion of humanity" and feuerbach's ideas became the basis of marxist atheism. So it kept cropping up again and again particuarly in relation to nietsche's philosophy.
 

YmirGF

Bodhisattva in Recovery
I was a card carrying member of the Liberal Party of Canada until Paul Martin pushed Jean Cretien from power way back. Since then I have voted conservative but am not a member of the party. I guess that makes me a lapsed Liberal. :)
 

idav

Being
Premium Member
I'm currently looking into what political party to join. Its tricky as I'm attracted to the more crazy left wing ones but know they are long-shots that would need decades of work and favourable conditions to pick up support. Mostly they are just anti-social political cults in all but name. so I wondered if anyone on RF is currently a member of a political party or if they have experiences worth sharing.

I was a member of the communist party of britain for a few months in 2015. Its one of the larger far left ones. I wasn't able to go to a meeting, etc as I live in a ultra-conservative rural area in the UK and commuting to major cities takes hours. I left after rereading the party programme "britain's road to socialism" and started to get the feeling it wasn't ambitious enough to do what it set out to do and wondering if it was such a good idea to be part of one that would. So beyond talking about politics online and reading alot of history and theoretical books my experiences are pretty limited. (Though I was on revleft.com for a while).

Any thoughts or experiences you want to share? Are you or have you ever been a member of a political party?
I register independent but after what happened this election I'm gonna move to Democrat so I can vote in the primaries.
 

Frolicking_Fox

Artemis, Athena, and Buddha. Anarcho-Communist.
I'm currently looking into what political party to join. Its tricky as I'm attracted to the more crazy left wing ones but know they are long-shots that would need decades of work and favourable conditions to pick up support. Mostly they are just anti-social political cults in all but name. so I wondered if anyone on RF is currently a member of a political party or if they have experiences worth sharing.

I was a member of the communist party of britain for a few months in 2015. Its one of the larger far left ones. I wasn't able to go to a meeting, etc as I live in a ultra-conservative rural area in the UK and commuting to major cities takes hours. I left after rereading the party programme "britain's road to socialism" and started to get the feeling it wasn't ambitious enough to do what it set out to do and wondering if it was such a good idea to be part of one that would. So beyond talking about politics online and reading alot of history and theoretical books my experiences are pretty limited. (Though I was on revleft.com for a while).

Any thoughts or experiences you want to share? Are you or have you ever been a member of a political party?

I affiliate myself with The Pirate Party, a minor party who's only platform is to make everything online free. Basically advocating online piracy. I honestly don't see the harm of piracy, which is why I support this party.

However, I know that in the U.S, they will never win, but they might on Sweden, where they started out.
 
Top