In the CIS’s annual Acton Lecture on Religion and Freedom, Senator David Coltart discusses the application of biblical standards to foreign policy in terms of moral values: forsaking violence as means to obtain or maintain power, the application of the parable of talents to the question of aid, and many other issues.
David Coltart was born in Gweru, Zimbabwe and served in the British South African Police after leaving school. After conscription, he enrolled at the University of Cape Town in 1978 and pursued a successful legal career in Zimbabwe. He moved into politics as legal secretary to the newly formed Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999. In the 2000 election, he unseated the ZANU-PF MP for Bulawayo-South, after which he served as Shadow Justice Minister. After the MDC split in 2005, Coltart was the only member to remain impartial in an effort to reconcile the opposing factions.
In the March 2008 Senate election, Coltart won the seat of Khumalo, and is now Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in the coalition government of National Unity. He has fought passionately in Parliament and the courts for justice and human rights in Zimbabwe.
