Christ Or Barabbas: Is Politics Redeemable?

Catholic theologian Brendan Malone joins Andrew Urquhart to ask whether politics, especially the nasty personal attacks of this election cycle, can be redeemed. He argues the answer lies in making politics less about power and control and more relational, grounding it in Christianity's core call to love God and neighbour.

Drawing on the Good Friday choice between Christ and Barabbas, Malone contrasts Christ's call to self-giving love with the perennial political temptation to "build the kingdom through power," a struggle he links to Marx's view of faith as an opiate that has left everything politicised today. He warns against both over-identifying with political power and retreating entirely from public life, urging Christians to act as "salt and light," keep an eternal rather than three-year focus, and bring hope into an election season marked by constant polling and attack ads.

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