Scotland's finance secretary admits to 'tiptoeing around' her Christian faith

 (Photo: Scottish Parliament)

Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes has spoken of "tiptoeing around" around her Christian faith. 

Ms Forbes attends the Free Church of Scotland, which adheres to a biblical view of marriage. 

She told the BBC's Political Thinking podcast that her Christian faith was "essential" to her being, and that she felt called to love and serve Jesus.

She added, though, that MPs should be representative of their constituents, and she admitted to being "as guilty as anybody of tiptoeing around" her Christian beliefs.

Explaining why this was the case, she spoke of a "fear and a sense that the public will think we only speak for our own rather than speak for everybody".

"To be straight, I believe in the person of Jesus Christ," she said. 

"I believe that he died for me, he saved me and that my calling is to serve and to love him and to serve and love my neighbours with all my heart and soul and mind and strength.

"So that for me is essential to my being. Politics will pass - I am a person before I was a politician and that person will continue to believe that I am made in the image of God."

She went on to say that it was important to be open about her faith with constituents. 

"Some of them will agree with my politics, others will disagree. Some will agree with my faith, others will disagree," she said.

"I have a duty to represent them, but neither do I want to deceive my constituents and I think being straight with them about my faith, about who I am, about my background is really important."

News
Peacemaking or partiality? Pope Leo and Trump's war of words
Peacemaking or partiality? Pope Leo and Trump's war of words

When the Pope and the President duel in public, is it prophecy versus power, or prayer mistaken for public policy?

Young men are demoralised, not apathetic, says report
Young men are demoralised, not apathetic, says report

A new report is challenging familiar assumptions about the struggles facing young men, arguing that the problem is better understood as discouragement than indifference.

'We want this nightmare to end' - Lebanese civilians fear for safety
'We want this nightmare to end' - Lebanese civilians fear for safety

Israeli strikes have compounded the hardship resulting from years of economic instability.

Trump deletes Christ-like AI image after backlash
Trump deletes Christ-like AI image after backlash

Trump blamed “the fake news” for alleging that the image compared him to Jesus.