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Identity, Freedom and Hope
Identity, Freedom And Hope: Notes on a talk at Christ Church Blacklands for the Annual RAFA Service commemorating the 72nd anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
Flags are a part of our national life. This summer has seen an abundance of flag waving. We have had European Football in the Ukraine, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the most amazing Olympic and Paralympic games and the last night of the Proms, which I always enjoy watching with its profusion of flag waving and singing. People seem to enjoy flying the flag for various sports and national events. Flags such as the RAFA Standard which has been dedicated this evening, and the other flags displayed, are a focus on three significant aspects of our national life.
Firstly – Symbols of National Identity.
Woody Allen hit the nail on the head when he said, ‘There will be no solution to the suffering of mankind until we reach some understanding of who we are. Until questions like that are resolved, we are caught!’
Who are we as a nation? A question needing an answer lest we lose our sense of national pride and purpose. Let us build on what we have seen and achieved over these past few months and cultivate a greater awareness of national identity. We all have a part to play and we can do it by letting our voices be heard on the issues of the day. You may be called a ‘bigot’ by one or two politicians, but so what! There are times when government policies and assumptions need to be challenged and questioned. There are times when we need to strive for integrity, faith and justice both in personal and national life. A strong sense of national identity helps us to play a positive and creative role on the global stage, including Europe. It would help to stem the drift into a monolithic Federal Europe with power focused exclusively in Brussels to the detriment of national identities and interests. Flags like those on display tonight are symbols of national identity, not in a narrow or arrogant way, but an identity that acts as a beacon of freedom and hope in today’s world.
Secondly –Flags As Symbols Of Freedom.
The Battle of Britain was a battle for freedom. It came at a time when the lights of freedom were being extinguished one by one, first in Poland, then Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Holland, France, Norway and many other parts of Europe and beyond. The Battle of Britain was a defining moment in the war when Britain stood virtually alone in Europe. Then came Winston Churchill’s epic speech, ‘Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few‘. Let me say two things about freedom.
Firstly: Freedom is costly, costly in terms of human lives lost and maimed. It is right that we continue to remember those who lost their lives in the Battle of Britain. Honour them; stand tall; remember them with pride; remember the cost in terms of lives maimed and broken. Freedom can never be achieved on the cheap, it’s costly, and some of that cost we see in many parts of the world today.
Secondly: Freedom can be elusive. Take the Arab Spring for example! Uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, other parts of the Middle East, and now Syria, were at first hailed and supported by Western governments as a movement towards freedom and democracy. But freedom is elusive. Have the countries just mentioned simply exchanged one oppressive regime for another? Sadly, we often take the freedoms we enjoy for granted. We must value, guard and affirm the freedoms we enjoy in Britain today. But where do we begin? We could begin by reducing time spent at the shrine of multiculturalism. Secondly, restore judicial equality by curbing the excesses of Sharia law that is expanding in this country. Some of you may have read a disturbing article by Baroness Cox in one of the national newspaper recently about the way Sharia law is edging its way into this country and affecting the lives and freedom of Muslim women and children as young as 12. Thirdly, change some aspects of the human rights legislation which at times appears to exonerate the wrong-doing at the expense of ordinary people!
Thirdly –Flags as Symbols of Hope.
Without hope our national identity and freedoms are diminished. Without hope pride in our country and a sense of purpose is weakened. J F Kennedy once said ‘Don’t allow fear to destroy your hopes’ Enshrined in the those dark days of the early 1940’s and enshrined in the Battle of Britain there was a strong sense of hope. It was hope founded on immense courage, national pride, confidence, achievement and sacrifice. A timely reminder that our enemies were not invincible.
Identity, Freedom and Hope: Three essential qualities we need to affirm in our national life. They are qualities which also need to be affirmed at a personal level, as part of our lives. I dare to believe Jesus Christ is the key to us finding personal identity, freedom and hope. Not the pale anaemic Christ portrayed in Victorian stained glass windows, not the Christ portrayed in the media as weak, old fashioned, and out of touch! Not the limp, unattractive, life-denying Jesus as portrayed in some of our churches! No! no! no! But rather the Jesus Christ in Scripture! The Jesus who is strong, forgiving, radical, attractive, challenging, life transforming and affirming! He is the contemporary Jesus through whom we discover personal identity as children of the living God, valued, affirmed, and loved unconditionally. The Jesus in whom we find true freedom, not the freedom to simply do our own thing, but the liberty to do what we ought to do in the quest for justice and freedom. The Jesus who renews personal hope for the future even in times of danger and the disappointment of unfulfilled hopes. The Jesus Christ who can make a difference to our lives!
Dare to believe? Dare to change? Dare to make a difference? Dare to embrace Identity, Freedom, and Hope?
John Fletcher
The RAF Association Remembrance Garden at The National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas Staffordshire.
It is always a very moving experience to visit this site.