|PIC1|Faith and politics came together in an unusual display of harmony on the first day of the Christian Resources Exhibition that opened in Sandown Park, Esher Tuesday.

Former first minister of Northern Ireland, Lord David Trimble, was at the CRE to present the UK Christian Book Awards 2006, organised by the Christian Book Promotion Trust (CBPT).

Among the award-winners were Alexa Tewkesbury in the Children’s Category for ‘It’s a Boy’, the highly successful short animation project to teach school children about the real meaning of Christmas. ‘Taming the Tiger’ by Tony Anthony also took home the Best Biography Award while Rev Andrew White of the Foundation for Reconciliation in the Middle East also won an award for his ‘Iraq: Searching for Hope’.

Speaking to Christian Today after the awards, Lord Trimble told of the importance of separating faith and politics, particularly in the Northern Ireland context.

|QUOTE|“Especially in dealing with the situation in Northern Ireland there are far too many people who look at and try to explain the situation in purely religious terms and I think that leads to a misreading of the situation, it actually tends to exacerbate it.

He continued: “Because once you put it into religious terms you are putting it into an area of faith where people feel directly challenged and respond based on their faith rather than dealing with the political issues that are there.”

Lord Trimble urged a different approach to the Northern Ireland situation that would keep politics separate from religion, warning that, “There are far too many folks from where I come from who are very eager to rush into bringing religion into politics and that is something I have seen having negative effects.”

Former MP Jonathan Aitken, whose book ‘Porridge and Passion’ was also short listed for a prize, spoke candidly at the awards of his troubled years which included divorce and a failed libel case against The Guardian and Granada Television that landed him with an 18-month prison sentence for perjury.

|AD|Recounting much of his life prior to his conversion to Christianity, Mr Aitken revealed to the audience how he had been at best a half-Christian, or ‘Sunday Christian’, despite being nursed for several years by a devout nun.

He told the audience that his “royal flush of disasters” was the turning point which led him to seek God more fully in his life, adding that, “The audience I care about is the audience of one, the God that I have come to believe in”.

“What really matters is the relationship with the audience of one,” he said.

Speaking to Christian Today, Aitken revealed: “I think going through trouble, although it was not easy, did strengthen my faith.”

When asked by the newspaper if it was easier to have faith outside of politics, he answered: “No, we need politicians with real faith.

“Sometimes it’s hard to follow Christian virtues like humility but it’s not impossible.”

He admitted, however, that it is “getting harder” for politicians to be open about their faith, cautioning that people in politics should “do God carefully”.

Mr Aitken added, however, that although politicians should not proselytise or thrust their religion on other people in a secular environment, they “nevertheless shouldn’t be at all ashamed to make it clear that they do have a faith that is very important to them in their lives”.