In his play "Antigone", Sophocles's flawed king, Creon describes actions he has taken with disastrous consequences as "The sacrilege I called public policy".
In today's secular society, we may no longer feel that sacrilege is an appropriate term but the idea is clear, that to claim moral grounds for actions taken to bolster one's own interests at the expense of those unable to resist is hubristic. For Creon to have claimed gods-given right to make self - interested decisions is not so far away from Ministers claiming that it is for people's own good to have the safety nets on which they depend cut away, when this is done for doctrinaire reasons, simultaneously protecting the wealth of those more fortunate.
Could any religion today defend or support the so-called " bedroom tax" or entitlements which fail to meet the subsistence needs of claimants? If not, perhaps Sophocles was right. Those to whom power is entrusted can only morally exercise that power if they look after the interests of all those over whom they have power, rather than just favouring sections of society with less needs and more influence. Democracy demands rule for all the people. To act otherwise is, if not sacrilege, immoral and must be challenged.
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