It’s Time to Stand Together
A response to recent events by Daniel Singleton
Our hearts go out to the victims of the original tragedy in Southport. Words are inadequate when people are faced with such loss and tragedy, and our prayers are with the victims’ families.
I am very concerned by the rise of tension and disturbance across the UK. This is not what we want to see in our cities. We want peace and neighbourliness to be the flavour in our communities. We have a great country, with diverse people and many opportunities. We have a heritage of democracy, equality under the law and policing based on consent. All this was demonstrated by the peaceful transfer of Government on the 4th July – something which does not automatically occur in many other countries.
We are calling for faith communities to stand together for peace.
There needs to be genuine engagement between Government and civil society – and especially faith groups – in order to carve a route for greater integration. We have already seen a high level of success with the integration of those arriving from Hong Kong as part of the British National (Overseas) visa scheme – often with churches being the anchor institution on making a route into UK society.
However, government policy will take a while to implement. In the present moment, I want to borrow from my faith tradition. We need to avoid evil AND the appearance of evil. This means that, even though I live in a free country with free speech, what I say and what I do must be tempered, not by my emotion or tribalism, but by my regard for peace and community. I choose not to use my freedom to infringe on the peace of my “neighbour.”
I think it is also a time to imagine the kind of country we want to be.
At a youth camp this summer, I observed 5,000 young people from across the UK commit to demonstrate neighbourliness, both to their peers, and back in their home communities. After this, a hushed atmosphere descended as the same 5,000 young people knelt and prayed for our nation. It’s a very different picture than the one which is featured on the news channels this summer. It starts with me, and my next-door neighbour.
It’s a conscious choice to move toward kindness, away from grudge and suspicion.
