Nine days to go to the election - and the BBC has been asking Will Christians swing the 2010 UK election?The fact that the question is being asked at all is evidence that something is happening. Christians are waking up. They are recognising that they have a responsibility in the world out there and that they need to make a difference. They are taking an interest in this parliamentary election in a way that certainly hasn't been seen in recent years.
The Christian Party is putting up more than 100 candidates. The Christian Peoples Alliance is putting up a further 18. The Westminster Declaration 2010, upholding Christian belief and Christian conscience, has been signed by more than 38,000 people in just over three weeks.
The Christian Institute, which has had 10,000 copies of its 48-page election briefing downloaded and is posting out 40,000 printed copies this week, says there are three touchstone issues for Christians at this election: religious liberty, the sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of human life.
People have suggested Christian voters should find out whether candidates are genuinely interested in moral issues, whether they would put moral issues above party, and whether they seek election for self-interest or in the interests of others.
A number of organisations, like CARE and Christian Concern for Our Nation, suggested Christians should hold hustings - meetings to which parliamentary candidates would be invited so they could be questioned about their stance on moral issues.
More than 260 hustings are now being advertised, which means that they will be held in more than one in three of the total of 650 constituences and hundreds of candidates will be asked where they stand on matters of Christian concern.
Unlike the United States, where candidates for public office are expected to have some Christian background, public confession of Christian faith here has been looked on as political disaster. But things, it seems, are beginning to change.
What difference will the Christian vote make this time? Zoe Dixon, of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, said it could make a difference in marginal seats. Elizabeth Berridge, of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, said while there might generally be a low turnout at the polls, some 80 per cent of Christians could be expected to vote.
Meanwhile Scotland's Catholic bishops are urging voters to back candidates who oppose abortion, embryo research, homosexual marriage, homosexual adoption and assisted suicide.
They suggest Catholics ask candidates to answer a questionnaire on these issues, and consider which candidate will best respect their religious freedom and freedom of conscience.
"When you vote, make your faith count," the bishops say.
And according to leaked Government plans, Labour plan a reformed, all-elected House of Lords in which the number of Church of England bishops would be cut by half. The bishops would have a voice, but would be allowed to vote only on specific Church of England legislation.
"In an age where the role of religion in shaping social and moral attitudes is increasingly recognised to be highly significant," said a Church of England spokesman, "the idea of shaping the Lords on a purely secular model would be a retrograde step."
