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Not entirely sure I agree.
William Temple was an important player in the foundation of the welfare state and Wilberforce's attitude to slavery was directly motivated by a faith based on equality and freedom...Where Christianity and politics gets messy is when personal morality gets confused with policy making. Sadly, this seems to be the reason that followers of a religion that preaches tolerance equality and liberty end up with such a poor voting record
Rik_Van_Looy-
William Temple was an important player in the foundation of the welfare state and Wilberforce's attitude to slavery was directly motivated by a faith based on equality and freedom...
Two men who happened to be Christian and whose faith - as they interpreted it - lined up against the regressive behaviour of most Christian churches and most Christians. Not much evidence for anything.
There have been several minority break-away movements over the centuries with an interest in social justice (e.g. during the English Civil War, John Wesley) but since everybody was Christian (or said so, to avoid painful death), you can't use them as evidence of Christian charity. Since those sects were consistently persecuted by the majority, I'd argue their progressive beliefs had fuck all to do with their faith, frankly. They found ways to align what they were doing with scripture because that was how you a) persuaded people to accept those beliefs, b) tried to avoid persecution for heresy. If you were born and raised Christian and decided that something was a good idea, since you also believed God was good, clearly you'd find a way to show why God would support it. Doesn't mean the idea had the slightest connection with a mystery cult that became the official faith of a bloodthirsty empire.
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I agree, we can identify some Christians who were 'good people',
but,
their actions were despite being Christians.
These good/progressive/unsatisfied Christians had to argue that the staus quo supported by the Christian ethics of the time, was unacceptable and infringed upon basic human rights of the oppressed.
However for each good Christian, it is easy to identify a villain.
John Williams, the judge who sentenced the Tolpuddle Martyrs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolpuddle_Martyrs
to penal transportation, no doubt considered himself a Christian.Likewise, those organised, auithorised and led the cavalry charge at the Peterloo Massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterloo_Massacre
were, no doubt, considered Christians.Indeed their sense of selfworth pervades down the centuries.
John Scott, the Lord Chancellor when the Six Acts were introduced,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Scott,_1st_Earl_of_Eldon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Acts
has a direct descendent who is currently in a public argument with an eminent scientist
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/oct/27/jeremy-hunt-links-to-peterloo-gagging-laws
itsbruce
mespilus
Scruton is peddling the widespread and completely bollocks idea that Western democracy and human rights ideals are a) unique and b) founded on Christianity. Bullshit. Western countries became more tolerant and democratic in direct proportion to the weakening influence of Christianity. The philosphical principles which pushed back religion and placed focus on individual rights and the power of a secular society came from many different sources around the world and across history. Most Christian churches have opposed social progress every single step of the way.
When the UK was a genuinely Christian country, we were burning and torturing heretics. It's only very recently (in historical terms) that the Church of England retreated from demonising scientists and philosophers and retreated to become the shit social club it is now.