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Good morning.

Freedom of choice is enshrined in modern society, but choice is not always liberating. Sometimes it can become a form of enslavement. When I lived in Zambia in the 1970s, shortages were a fact of life, and trips to the supermarket were simple. You could get cheese, or you couldn’t get cheese. On a good day, you might have a choice between strawberry and plain yoghurt. I sometimes remember those times nostalgically, when I’m confronted by the array of goods on supermarket shelves and spend precious time comparing prices and ingredients before deciding what to buy.

Choice is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. It can be an expression of freedom, but that depends on what kind of choices we have and how we use them. On Thursday, we in Britain face a choice that really is an exercise of a fundamental freedom, when we go to the polling booths to elect our leaders.

People sometimes say that we’re lucky to live in a democracy, but luck has nothing to do with it. Democracy is the achievement of those who have struggled and died so that we have the freedom to vote. As a woman, and as somebody who grew up in Zambia during that country’s struggle for independence, I’m deeply conscious of what a fragile and precious freedom this is. I always leave the polling booth in tears, choked up by a feeling of awe that I find difficult to explain.

Fear and intimidation are the enemies of democracy, as terrorists know so well. Some of us wonder if the attacks in Manchester and London were cynically timed to disrupt the election process. But apathy is another kind of enemy. The right to vote comes with responsibilities. There’s no point in having that freedom unless we use it. Voting is a deeply personal decision, but I believe that few things weaken democracy more effectively than those who are too apathetic to vote because they think there’s no point.

Of course the political process is fraught with frustration and failure. Jesus said, ‘Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s.’ (Mark 12:17) No political movement or party has God on its side.

Yet religious faith entails a high degree of political responsibility. To love my neighbour as myself is to respect that we are members of a polis – a mutually accountable community in which every citizen has a right and a duty to participate for the good of each and the good of all.

If we truly want to defend our democratic freedoms, then I would suggest that exercising our right to vote on Thursday is as important as resisting terrorism.

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