Politicians with strong Christian beliefs come under pressure to hide their faith in public, an SNP MSP has claimed.
Dave Thompson, the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch, spoke out before a Fringe event that he is taking part in tomorrow in Edinburgh.
Mr Thompson said that his Christian faith was a core part of who he was and it would be dishonest not to let his constituents know about it. However, he added that it was not always easy to be overtly Christian in politics.
“There are folk who argue that you shouldn’t mention it, that you should leave it at the door when you enter the parliamentary chamber, but my whole approach to social justice stems from my Christian faith,” he said. “It is part of me. It defines me, it affects how I approach things.”
Mr Thompson, a member of the Church of Scotland, founded the group Christians for Independence last year.
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It started as a small organisation within the SNP but expanded to become an all-party group in the run-up to the independence referendum.
Mr Thompson said that his views on social justice had been formed by his faith and added that many of the founders of the Labour party were Christian and used their faith to inform their political views.
Mr Thompson said that most people at Holyrood were “pretty relaxed” about his determination not to hide his Christian faith but he was aware of pressure on Christian politicians, both at Holyrood and at Westminster.
He said he understood that Tim Farron, the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, had faced tough and unusual questioning from journalists and he had been asked, among other things, whether he prayed. “Of course he prays. If he’s a Christian he prays, it is what we do,” Mr Thompson said.
He added: “A lot of Christians don’t publicly make much of it. They don’t let people know they have a Christian faith. I think there has been pressure on politicians in recent years to be very quiet about it, to hide it.”
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Mr Thompson will take part in a discussion for the Fringe at the Yes Café in Edinburgh at 4pm tomorrow, when he will discuss the subject “Are Christian voices valid in politics today?”.
He said: “I just want to pose the question, should we pray to God for guidance or leave it at the door of the political chamber?”