DARK SHADOW OVER THE NATION
“This year it is difficult to escape a very sombre national mood. In recent months, the country has witnessed a succession of terrible tragedies”.
“As a nation, we continue to reflect and pray”.
(From the Queen’s Birthday message this week.)
The Queen took the unusual step of sending out a message on her birthday celebration day this week. It was very short but much to the point. She noted that traditionally it was a day to celebrate but in fact her message voiced her own deep distress at the Manchester attack and the Grenfell fire. She was clearly not in a mood to celebrate – she had the nation at heart, as she always has. Her genuine concern for the people afflicted was very evident and so also was her appreciation of those who voluntarily sought to help them. She noted “a very sombre national mood” and obviously very much felt it herself. Of course she could make no references to the confusions that surround her government at this time and to the general political climate, though there can be little doubt that she will have felt equally deeply saddened about those things; they also add to the “sombre mood” she detects.
There was concern, there was compassion, but there was a complete absence of “rage”. You wouldn’t expect the queen to be in a rage, would you? That would be outrageous! You’d want constructive concern. Anger might be a powerful motivator in one sense, but you’d want it fully under control. If it were not under control it would almost certainly be destructive. The control of anger or “rage” is essential in those who aspire to rule. (In contrast, the media seem to like the word “rage” because it sounds so much more emotive than “anger”; it grips the reader and sells the paper!) No, those who rule must not rage, and those who rage must not rule.
In contrast to this we read of activists, masquerading under a specious banner of justice, attacking the Kensington Town Hall after the Grenfell tragedy and leaving an innocent man injured and badly shaken after physical assault. The man turned out not to be the “Tory councillor” he was thought to be, but a man volunteering to help the victims of the fire. Such activity is a grave danger to our society; politics by the mob, the violent mob. It was not even rage caused by the human tragedy of the burnt-out tower block. It was quite simply “rage” with political motivation, cynically using a human tragedy to make a political point and gain political advantage. Contrary to what the perpetrators think, it was utterly unacceptable to the free society which has been our birth right. Our birth right is the rule of Law, not the rule of the fist.
Unhappily there is real danger that such organised bullying violence will seek to impose itself more on the nation. Today, Wednesday 21st June, the Queen is due to open Parliament and give her customary speech. However, there has been a nation-wide call (so easy on social media!) for left wing militants to come to London in their thousands, to descend on Parliament and disrupt the Queen’s speech and embarrass and even remove Theresa May. There are those who will do their best to introduce violence to the occasion, a fact that is perfectly well known to the organisers of the event. But the motto of the organisers is “change by whatever means it takes”. This day has been called a “Day of Rage”, a “March of Anger”; it is precisely what the country does not need whatever political party we may belong to. It is particularly not needed at this already tense political moment in our history. The vast majority in the nation will not want mayhem on London streets, with the police yet again in the firing line. We have too much of it already from terrorists. It’s very important that all political leaders go out of their way to roundly condemn such behaviour, though sadly some politicians seem ready to turn a blind eye or even condone it.
History gives a clear verdict on the dangers of such behaviour. In fact “strong-arm” repressive politics is actually very much a contemporary happening in many nations, and they present a very dark scenario. But, in my mind, the memory of the appallingly destructive effect on Germany’s ailing democracy caused by the “private armies” of demagogues in the early 193os remains very much alive. We all know what the outcome of that was. Brute force, coercion, violence, rousing people’s anger are very dangerous tools to play with. They do not build – they only destroy.
The Queen said we were “reflecting and praying” on the grief we are witnessing in the nation (and since her message was given, Moslem worshippers have been mowed down by a van – more grief!) We certainly need to reflect – on many things. One glaring fact emerging from the Grenfell fire certainly calls for reflection; the juxtaposition in Kensington of low cost, poorly maintained public accommodation alongside luxury flats costing millions many of which are unoccupied and simply representing unused assets of rich investors. It highlights the vast gulf between poor and rich in a modern, greedy, riches-seeking society. Interestingly, and very appropriately, a lady preacher in one of the churches adjacent to the tower reflecting on the scene preached about the similarity of Kensington to the greed of the rich in the society of Amos’ day which drew down God’s strong judgement. We also need to reflect on a society which cuts corners at other people’s risk simply for profit, on a society which is losing integrity to increasing corruption. On the other hand we need to reflect on the readiness of so many ordinary people to rally so quickly to the needs of those who have been afflicted; this is good “capital” in the nation and we should give thanks for it. Those who would rage do a gross disservice to such people whose heart is to help.
It certainly is a critically important time to pray. Our society is being “given over” by God to its own lusts and desires, and the increasing and ugly confusion we are witnessing is a marker of that fact. We can only pray for his mercy to be revealed in the midst of his judgements, and for restraint and righteousness to prevail.
Bob Dunnett
