Mapping social change for Britain

The danger of "an abandonment to the common life or common good"

Delivering the Temple Address the Archbishop has said the current economic crisis poses fundamental questions for society: "The woes of our current economic climate will bring many challenges over the coming years. Increasing redundancy, home repossessions and a recession will create an economic climate in which the economic givens of recent years can no longer be taken for granted. However alongside these challenges, will be opportunities for re-considering the purposes of our economic wealth".

For every statistic on the hundreds of jobs lost at a workplace, there are hundreds of stories of individual hardship and of families in desperate need.

At times such as these it does not do to welcome hardship as a necessary corrective to excess. The words of politicians from the past who suggested that "if it isn't hurting, it isn't working" could only have been spoken by someone who was patently not hurting. After all, the person wearing the shoes knows where the shoe is pinching! Our excessive materialism, perpetuating a culture of acquisition and greed leaves little room to acknowledge the belief of 'loving one's neighbour'. The economic boom has misled us into thinking that excesses could be justified. As Rabbi Heschel said, 'In a free society, all are involved in what some are doing. Some are guilty, all are responsible'.

Among the myriad of lessons which stand to be learned from the recent economic crises, one must surely be what was the purpose of the wealth that was generated during the recent decades beyond the increasingly rapacious consumerist appetite? Where is the greater vision that directs our frenzied business activities? Can we as a country find a vision that can maintain a reason and a purpose for our activity beyond avoiding the worst impacts of economic excess or slow down?

At any time of great crisis, be it personal, national or global, there is always a balance to be struck between the gravity of the dilemma at hand and the hope that this crisis too will pass. The road to recovery is a path not to riches but to service. It is rooted in the rediscovery of a vision to rebuild community in recognition of our duties to one another. Of standing ready to help our neighbour not only because they may be a victim of the recession, but because they are created in the likeness of God, and are an individual of infinite worth for who Christ died."

Regaining a big vision for Britain

Dr Sentamu has called for Britain to use the credit crunch as a time to reassess its priorities as a country and to rediscover its vision as a nation. He proposed a three fold approach based upon "freedom, social fellowship and service" in a recent lecture to the Smith Institute.

Stressing the need for an interdependent approach the Archbishop said: "any analysis of society which treats people either as just individuals with no collective responsibility or on the other hand, as mere objects of economic and social forces is bound to fail. We are not just individuals confronted by the state. Instead, we belong to society through many different communities, geographical, ideological, faith and in many other ways."

Commenting on the loss of vision, the Archbishop criticised the policies of successive Governments which led to "over-cautious policy-formation, fear and irritation" linked to multiculturalism. Using an analogy developed by the Chief Rabbi, Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Archbishop said "With the decline of the empire and the growth of significant immigration to England from the Commonwealth, Chief Rabbi Sacks discerns a new approach which he compares this to a hotel. Guests are entitled to stay if they can pay their way, are free to choose their hotel and receive basic services in return for their payment. But they are guests – they do not belong. In the same way, migrants to Britain from the 1960s onwards have made their home with their cultural rights protected under legislation framed under a multi-cultural perspective. Consequently any sense of a shared common culture is eroded risking increasing segregation."

What it means to be English?

Can there be an identity that we can all share which is flexible enough to recognise the new aspects of England while remaining authentic enough to proudly recognise England's history? The Archbishop has commented that where there is no awareness of identity, there is a vacuum to be filled. Whether it be the corrupting ideology behind "Islamic" terrorism, salafi jihadism or the insidious institutional racism and bigotry of the British National Party, there are those who stand ready to fill the vacuum — with a sanitised identity and twisted vision — if the silent majority hold back from forging a new identity.

Historically, Christianity has been at the heart of this nation and the Christian Gospel has played a major social and civilising role in this country. It is true to say that such virtues as kindness to neighbours, fair play and common decency are not unique to the Christian faith — just as they are not unique to England. It is equally true to say these virtues have become embedded into our social fabric and heritage as a result of the Christian faith and its influence on society. The Archbishop has argued that we need to become better acquainted with this heritage, be grateful for it and build upon it. The Archbishop said: "Let us not forego our appreciation of an English identity for fear of causing upset or offence to those who claim such an identity has no place in a multi-cultural society. Englishness is not diminished by newcomers who each bring with them a new strand to England's fabric. Rather, Englishness is emboldened to grow anew."

Pushing back apathy

The joint statement issued by the Archbishops on the importance to vote and to vote wisely was made in reaction to two prevailing factors: the general anger against MPs as a result of expenses and the nature of the voting system used for the European elections. Such a system allows that those with only 10% of the vote may be elected to the European Parliament. The Archbishop of York has said that "as Christians we should push back apathy that is seeing fewer citizens engage in the democratic process, and the consequences of such apathy."