It may not have escaped peoples' notice that there has been recently been an exchange of views between two prominent Americans; the US President, Donald Trump and the Pope, Leo XIV. It began with the Pope pointedly saying the Christ rejected the prayers of war mongers; the President responded by accusing Leo of being weak on crime and foreign policy and Leo in turn refused to debate politics with Mr Trump. Christianity and the world of politics have always had an uneasy relationship. At one level the Bible has much to say about justice and peace; particularly in the Old Testament the prophets were vocal in their views on the rulers of Israel and Judah. Jesus followed in the line of prophets by speaking out on social justice and promoted a vision of how the world would be organised in the Kingdom of God. On the other hand, the Old Testament notably failed to identify any obviously successful way of governing a nation state; rule by "judges", kings and priests all were tried at various times. Sometimes they seemed to work, more often they did not. And Jesus, whilst clear on the direction of travel, did not endorse any specific political manifesto, at least as far as I can see. For what it is worth, my own view is that as a Christian, I must be an active citizen, doing what I can to promote a Godly society. I also must recognise that there is no simple political philosophy on the left or right that will exclusively lead in that direction, albeit there are some that deny our common humanity that do not seem compatible with Biblical teachings. I pray for justice and the coming of God's kingdom, I pray for all our political leaders, I may highlight issues but I hope I do not tell people how to vote. That is between themselves and God.