Speaking in the Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist in Norwich, Bishop Graham said: “One of the striking images I saw from the Unite the Kingdom rally in London a few week ago was a discarded St George’s flag lying in the gutter in Westminster. The simple red cross on a white field was muddied and sullied. It symbolised something of the brokenness and shamefulness of recent debate, and the provocation, intimidation, fear, and staking of territory, that such a holy flag should never be made to represent. When this has happened, for example in Diss and at Bowthorpe in recent months, some saying they are upholding Christian values, I’ve asked myself, “Do angry flag wavers look like Jesus, or do they look more like those who jeered at him on the way to Calvary?”
“Faithful patriotism is different. It starts with the recognition that God comes first - before any flag. It is about a humility of presence. It seeks to convene rather than divide. It recognizes the cracks in our nation and our society and seeks to mend them. It refuses to scapegoat. It is committed for the long haul, not seeking short-term popularity. It seeks honesty, repentance and renewal because no country is perfect; every flag flies over both good and bad histories,” he said.
Bishop Graham reminded his audience that St George wasn’t English. Born in Cappadocia, now modern-day Turkey, to a Palestinian mother and a father of Syrian heritage, he served as Roman soldier and was martyred for his Christian faith under one of Emperor Diocletian’s persecutions. And he never set foot in England!
“We are all witnessing a growing movement that contains strong doses of racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and Islamophobia hard-wired into it. Though not everyone involved in protests and flag waving is racist, xenophobic, antisemitic or Islamophobic, my fear is that more people will be seduced by those evils,” said Bishop Graham.
“Many people understandably have concerns about the numbers of those seeking asylum in the UK, have concerns if there is accommodation for migrants in their community, have concerns about young men bored and aimless walking their streets, and have concerns when there are local crimes, including sexual violence. The danger is that we can so quickly scapegoat and stereotype, lumping others together.
“Too often asylum seekers are being blamed for wider systemic problems we face as a nation, because that is the easy thing to do, rather than fixing issues of work, housing, access to health care, poverty, family breakdown and social fragmentation, uprootedness and integration.
“Our local and national political leaders need to foster open and honest conversations that will bring our communities and nation together. Often we as churches do that well locally, including working ecumenically and through interfaith projects. Rarely do I visit a church in this city where the local community has not welcomed and integrated refugees. I have met individuals and families who have experienced oppression, torture and violence. Their stories are powerful and moving. They have fled their homelands in utter fear and found a welcome in Norfolk, rebuilding shattered lives and integrating well, often with the support of kind and open-hearted local people.
“The St George’s flag may signal our national identity, but the cross signals a greater one. The flag we wave as a Christian, and the true meaning of the St George’s cross, is not a sign of superiority, but of sacrifice. Not a claim of ownership, but an offering of self-giving love. It symbolises the Kingdom of God breaking through when we pursue peace, practice justice, reject racism and nationalism, and show hospitality to the outsider by loving our neighbour,” said Bishop Graham.
“It is that Kingdom where we find our primary citizenship and where we find our true identity as Christians. Nations rise, nations fall, but the Kingdom of God is unshakeable. And the security of that home enables us to provide a wide tent of welcome, working across denominations, working with other faith communities and people of goodwill to build our life together well.
“We need the courage to love our country rightly, the courage to hope, and the courage to act. We need to claim back the St George’s cross.
“When the flag of St George is lifted in anger, we, Churches Together, must fly it from our towers in prayer.
“When the flag of St George is used to scapegoat others, we, Churches Together, must fly it over our work to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, visit the sick, and tend the earth.
“When the flag of St George is flown over placards that speak of Christian values, we, Churches Together, must fly it as a reminder that St Paul teaches us that those values are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness,” said Bishop Graham.
Pictured above is Bishop Graham Usher addressing the NWCT service at St John’s Cathedral in Norwich. Picture by Keith Morris.
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