Britain’s history is long, varied and complex and makes for fascinating and interesting study. Many history classes start with William’s invasion in 1066 for good reason; but our history goes deeper than that of course and being a northerner living in Durham I enjoy reading and learning a little about the early northern saints – especially those such as Cuthbert, Aidan, Hilda and Bede to name some of the better known ones.
One of the things that often strikes me when visiting an old abbey or church, or a fortified tower house in the borders is both how different our country is to that which it was in the past, and yet at the same time how similar. Whilst we wouldn’t have been able to communicate easily with any forbears from much earlier than the late 1600s, (modern English being only a few hundred years old), the full range of emotions and issues that we still deal with today in our politics, ambitions, fears, riots, love, wealth created & lost, tragedy, hope etc etc have always been a part of life.
Our history has much to be proud of, and also aspects of which we are rightly disappointed (much like our society today). But through the crucible of history what our forbears have given us is a nation which is astonishingly brilliant compared with almost all places and countries at any point in human history. There’s hardly another time or place which is better to be in that modern Britain. And this has not happened by chance or accident, it has come about because of the work, wisdom and insight of many of our forbears, and also significantly due to influence of Christian leaders in education, healthcare, welfare and politics over the centuries. I’d highly recommend Vishal Malangwadi’s book ‘The Book That Made Your World’ for some insights as to why this is the case.
But the reason for this blogpost is to observe that despite civil wars, global conflict, assassinations, abdications, riots, political upheaval, changes to currency, language, civil systems and laws, our country has largely thrived and prospered. And that we are grateful we don’t live in areas such as China, North Korea, Iran and many others where the people lack the opportunities for free speech, free movement and democratic government. Places where oppression, modern day slavery & state control are still brutally enforced; these are things which have been part of our past history, but also things we want to stay in our history and not again be realised in our present.
This is why it is so important that we aren’t tempted to use the tools which these oppressive regimes use. It’s so easy to be tempted to use our force to crush those who dissent, whose views we find offensive and unsettling; yet we remember that our country shed the shackles of oppression through forming democratic and accountable government, impartial policing and an independent judiciary. We have a rule of law which is able to deal with those who break it and which can be challenged if the law is deemed inappropriate or unfair.
We will continue to adapt our laws and processes as our society and world changes and rightly so; but let us never fall to the temptation to walk backwards into regimes where those in power silenced those who disagreed with them. Let us not become like the countries whose approach to civil liberties we disagree with. Let our future continue to be molded by such powerful forces such as ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ and ‘pray for those who persecute you’, and ‘with humility consider others ahead of yourselves’. It was these foundations which gave us the country we love, and we cannot do better than that. So let us continue to debate, discuss and disagree with each other in open, honest and frank discussion and to thank our forebears for showing us what it is that makes a country great.