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Responding The CSG principles emerged to a large extent from a civic discussion (through the Constitutional Convention and otherwise) in which the churches played a significant part. In particular, that contribution included the theological roots of the "Claim of Right" - which, starting from the sovereignty of God, sees divine sovereignty as entrusted to the "community of the realm" (citizens of Scotland), who may then trust the administration of their affairs, from time to time, to a variety of individuals or institutions. In that sense, it remains our Parliament under God, with as inclusive a sense of ownership as can be achieved; and churches remain, along with others, stakeholders in the Parliament. The churches, then, have been broadly supportive of the CSG principles as embodying that sense of ownership by expressing the rights and duties of Parliament's stakeholders. The vision of public service as a calling (which the Kirk's General Assembly has recently reaffirmed and which many politicians genuinely seek to practise) does not depend on naïve idealism. On the contrary, a Biblical awareness of sin is far from the selective judgementalism that feeds a corrosive cynicism about politics and politicians. Sin is both personal and deeply infects structures - so that "the good I would I do not". And that recognition is a starting point for Christian realism about power. Such realism will be reluctant to see political (or economic) power concentrated in a few hands; rather, it will look for dispersal or sharing of power, for openness and accountability in the exercise of power, and for "minding the gap" between politicians and people. If we would therefore look for political structures which uphold both the integrity of politicians and a wider belief in the integrity of the political process, we might start by recognising that these are not mutually contradictory but that openness is an ingredient of both. Furthermore, if we believe that politics is a morally dangerous game to play, how do our structures assist or inhibit politicians in dealing with pressures? How do they support politicians who have a "moral hinterland", and encourage others to develop one? Churches have previously argued for a more positively "aspirational" code of conduct indicating what the role of an MSP should be, rather than simply a series of "thou shalt not" prohibitions. There is a vital understanding of accountability to God running through the Biblical narrative from the moment Adam seeks to evade responsibility ("she gave me to eat"), via discussion of accountability for the welfare of others ("am I my brother's keeper?"), to the New Testament stewardship parables, several of which hinge on a day of reckoning. Fundamental to this Biblical understanding of accountability and judgement is the recognition that sin infects us all; it contrasts with self-justification and the offering of excuses, and the emphasis is on justification and salvation. Accountability is, then, about more than finding someone to blame - since pinning blame is backward-looking rather than being oriented towards putting things right. It is, in the OT, an aspect of good government, and in the NT the accountability of leaders to God is a major basis of our obligation to obey them.
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