Article in Stretton Focus, August 2017
I write from the month of June that might be seen as the annus horribilis of months. It had murderous terrorist attacks in two of our largest cities, and the appalling Grenfell Tower fire with such a huge loss of life. There was a general election resulting in a hung parliament. Political authority, once assured of its own rhetoric, even arrogant in its assumption of its natural right to rule, was lost and shamed.
In June we learned that in 1992, the then archbishop suppressed evidence of child abuse by a fellow bishop, thus allowing it to continue for another 20 years. The area of life which declares the dignity and unique value of each individual chose the wrong route to follow. Religious authority had its own shaming in the failure of leadership to put morality before the protection of the institution.
During the hot spell of weather in June there was the story of boys at the Isca community school in Devon who had asked to wear shorts instead of longs, but were told shorts are not part of the school uniform. Some boys promptly borrowed skirts that were part of the girl’s uniform. Clearly the school had succeeded in creating a mild form of subversion. Breaking the rules is part of learning which are the ones that really matter. The school quickly realised that there are rules that assist towards forming character and there are rules which are just not relevant to the day.
The response of many, borne out of frustration and bearing rage towards authorities, was to gather and work together, across cultures, faiths, rich and poor, in the Manchester, London and Grenfell communities. Voluntary groups, local churches and mosques engaged with each other to help with the basic needs of life. The Fire and Rescue, Police and Medical services worked tirelessly and often sacrificially, whilst the stilted response of authorities appeared dispassionate, slow and unimaginative. It is more observable today that authorities have become distant from their populations, responding by robotic telephone messages and questionnaires. Authorities grow weaker and more incompetent in themselves, but in the streets and communities, people are stronger.
If we want all our institutions to serve the best interests of people, the people within need the space – freedom – to be independent-minded, questioning, more imaginative, and creative, even original in our thinking, morally aware of the wider view, and much less reverential about tradition – and like the Isca boys, even subversive.
Noel Beattie
