Anglicanism

==Social activism==
[[File:Christchurch Cathedral - Dublin.jpg|thumb|[[Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin|Christ Church Cathedral]] in Dublin, Ireland]]
A concern for social justice can be traced to very early Anglican beliefs, relating to an intertwined theology of God, nature, and humanity. The Anglican theologian Richard Hooker wrote in his book ''The Works of that Learned and Judicious Divine'' that "God hath created nothing simply for itself, but each thing in all things, and of every thing each part in other have such interest, that in the whole world nothing is found whereunto any thing created can say, 'I need thee not.'"<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Works of that Learned and Judicious Divine|last=Hooker|first=Richard|publisher=Oxford, The Clarendon press|year=1888|pages=313}}</ref> Such statements demonstrate a theological Anglican interest in social activism, which has historically appeared in movements such as evangelical Anglican William Wilberforce's campaign against slavery in the 18th century, or 19th century issues concerning industrialisation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Church Schism & Corruption|last=Maseko|first=Achim Nkosi|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4092-2186-9|pages=204|publisher=Lulu.com }}</ref>

===Working conditions and Christian socialism===
{{Toryism |expanded=characteristics}}
Lord Shaftesbury, a devout evangelical, campaigned to improve the conditions in factories, in mines, for chimney sweeps, and for the education of the very poor. For years, he was chairman of the [[Ragged school|Ragged School]] Board.<ref>J. Wesley Bready, ''Lord Shaftesbury and social-industrial progress'' (1927).</ref> [[Frederick Denison Maurice]] was a leading figure advocating reform, founding so-called "producer's co-operatives" and the [[Working Men's College]]. His work was instrumental in the establishment of the [[Christian socialism|Christian socialist]] movement, although he himself was not in any real sense a socialist but "a Tory paternalist with the unusual desire to theories his acceptance of the traditional obligation to help the poor",{{sfn|Norman|1976|pp=171–172}} influenced Anglo-Catholics such as Charles Gore, who wrote that "the principle of the incarnation is denied unless the Christian spirit can be allowed to concern itself with everything that interests and touches human life." Anglican focus on labour issues culminated in the work of [[William Temple (archbishop)|William Temple]] in the 1930s and 1940s."<ref name=":0" />

===Pacifism===
A question of whether or not Christianity is a [[pacifist]] religion has remained a matter of debate for Anglicans. The leading Anglican spokesman for pacifist ideas, from 1914 to 1945, was [[Ernest Barnes]], bishop of Birmingham from 1924 to 1953. He opposed both world wars.<ref>Stephen Parker, "'Blessed are the Pacifists':  E. W. Barnes of Birmingham and Pacifism, 1914–45", ''Midland History'' 34#2 (2009) 204–219.</ref> In 1937, the [[Anglican Pacifist Fellowship]] emerged as a distinct reform organisation, seeking to make pacifism a clearly defined part of Anglican theology. The group rapidly gained popularity amongst Anglican intellectuals, including [[Vera Brittain]], [[Evelyn Underhill]], and the former British political leader [[George Lansbury]]. Furthermore, [[Dick Sheppard (priest)|Dick Sheppard]], who during the 1930s was one of Britain's most famous Anglican priests due to his landmark sermon broadcasts for [[BBC Radio]], founded the [[Peace Pledge Union]], a secular pacifist organisation for the non-religious that gained considerable support throughout the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pat Starkey|title=I Will Not Fight: Conscientious Objectors and Pacifists in the North West During the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3KaZIfHQHbkC&pg=PA4|year=1992|publisher=Liverpool UP|page=4|isbn=978-0-85323-467-8|access-date=13 April 2018|archive-date=21 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221122738/https://books.google.com/books?id=3KaZIfHQHbkC&pg=PA4#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

Whilst never actively endorsed by Anglican churches, many Anglicans unofficially have adopted the Augustinian "[[Just War]]" doctrine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ploughshares.ca/pl_publications/no-war-just-war-just-peace-statements-by-the-anglican-church-of-canada-1934-2004/|title=No War, Just War, Just Peace: Statements by the Anglican Church of Canada 1934–2004|language=en-US|access-date=16 August 2018|archive-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816061836/http://ploughshares.ca/pl_publications/no-war-just-war-just-peace-statements-by-the-anglican-church-of-canada-1934-2004/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/just-war-theory|title=Just War Theory|date=22 May 2012|work=Episcopal Church|access-date=16 August 2018|language=en|archive-date=16 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816093601/https://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/just-war-theory|url-status=live}}</ref> The Anglican Pacifist Fellowship remains highly active throughout the Anglican world. It rejects this doctrine of "just war" and seeks to reform the Church by reintroducing the pacifism inherent in the beliefs of many of the earliest Christians and present in their interpretation of Christ's [[Sermon on the Mount]]. The principles of the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship are often formulated as a statement of belief that "Jesus' teaching is incompatible with the waging of war ... that a Christian church should never support or justify war ... [and] that our Christian witness should include opposing the waging or justifying of war."<ref>{{cite web |title=Who We Are |url=http://www.anglicanpeacemaker.org.uk/ |publisher=Anglican Pacifist Fellowship |access-date=27 September 2017 |archive-date=28 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170928060404/http://www.anglicanpeacemaker.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Confusing the matter was that the 37th Article of Religion in the ''Book of Common Prayer'' states that "it is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars." Therefore, the Lambeth Council in the modern era has sought to provide a clearer position by repudiating modern war and developed a statement that has been affirmed at each subsequent meeting of the council.

This statement was strongly reasserted when "the 67th General Convention of the Episcopal Church reaffirms the statement made by the Anglican Bishops assembled at Lambeth in 1978 and adopted by the 66th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in 1979, calling "Christian people everywhere ... to engage themselves in non-violent action for justice and peace and to support others so engaged, recognising that such action will be controversial and may be personally very costly... this General Convention, in obedience to this call, urges all members of this Church to support by prayer and by such other means as they deem appropriate, those who engaged in such non-violent action, and particularly those who suffer for conscience' sake as a result; and be it further Resolved, that this General Convention calls upon all members of this Church seriously to consider the implications for their own lives of this call to resist war and work for peace for their own lives."

===Opposition to apartheid===
[[File:Desmond Tutu making speech in Los Angeles, 1986.jpg|thumb|Bishop Desmond Tutu making a speech in Los Angeles, 1986.]]
The focus on other social issues became increasingly diffuse after [[World War II]]. The growing independence and strength of Anglican churches in the Global South brought new emphasis to issues of global poverty, the inequitable distribution of resources, and the lingering effects of colonialism. In this regard, figures such as [[Desmond Tutu]] and [[Ted Scott]] were instrumental in mobilising Anglicans worldwide against the [[apartheid]] policies of South Africa.

===Abortion and euthanasia===
[[File:M4L_Elvert_Barnes_IMG_2207_(16360279245).jpg|thumb|right|An Anglican clergyman marches with [[Anglicans for Life]] at the 2015 March for Life in Washington, D.C.]]
While individual Anglicans and member churches within the Communion differ in practice over the circumstances in which abortion should or should not be permitted, [[Lambeth Conference]] resolutions have consistently held to a conservative view on the issue.  The 1930 Conference, the first to be held since the initial legalisation of abortion in Europe (in [[Abortion in Russia|Russia]] in 1920), stated:<ref>{{cite web |title=Resolution 16, The Life and Witness of the Christian Community – Marriage and Sex |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127734/1930.pdf |publisher=Anglican Communion Office |access-date=29 December 2023 |location=London |page=7 |date=2005 |archive-date=9 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231209065235/https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127734/1930.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> "The Conference further records its abhorrence of the sinful practice of abortion."

The 1958 Conference's ''Family in Contemporary Society'' report affirmed the following position on abortion<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lambeth Conference 1958: Resolutions and Reports |date=1958 |publisher=SPCK and Seabury Press}}</ref> and was commended by the 1968 Conference:<ref>{{cite web |title=Resolution 22, Responsible Parenthood |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127743/1968.pdf |publisher=Anglican Consultative Council |access-date=19 August 2023 |location=London |page=10 |date=2005 |archive-date=4 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104104718/https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127743/1968.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|In the strongest terms Christians reject the practice of induced abortion or infanticide, which involves the killing of a life already conceived (as well as a violation of the personality of the mother), save at the dictate of strict and undeniable medical necessity ... the sacredness of life is, in Christian eyes, an absolute which should not be violated.}}

The subsequent Lambeth Conference, in 1978, made no change to this position and commended the need for "programmes at diocesan level, involving both men and women ... to emphasise the sacredness of all human life, the moral issues inherent in clinical abortion, and the possible implications of genetic engineering."<ref>{{cite web |title=Resolution 10, Human Relationships and Sexuality |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127746/1978.pdf |publisher=Anglican Communion Office |access-date=29 December 2023 |location=London |page=8 |date=2005 |archive-date=29 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231229211948/https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/127746/1978.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the context of debates around and proposals for the legalisation of [[euthanasia]] and [[assisted suicide]], the 1998 Conference affirmed that "life is God-given and has intrinsic sanctity, significance and worth".<ref name=1998life>{{cite web |title=Resolution 1.14, Euthanasia |url=https://www.anglicancommunion.org/media/76650/1998.pdf |publisher=Anglican Communion Office |access-date=29 December 2023 |location=London |page=11 |date=2005}}</ref>