FLYING THE FLAG

I’ve sometimes wondered if we can really do without a god.  In a society which gradually turns from the God who has offered a narrative by which to live, other gods begin to fill the space caused by the absence of this Divine Person. Football seems one example, families another, the ‘Last Night at the Proms’ allowed people to sing of things ‘British’, but each carry (and some depend on) elements of tribalism. Now the government has introduced into every TV broadcast another symbol that has powerful, emotional overtones – the Union flag, and a woman journalist has received death threats for questioning the reason and wisdom of this development:  https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bbc-calls-police-over-threats-23862000

The move might seem innocent and laudable, yet there's a cynical aspect which has darker aspects because it offers a totem of belonging and an (un)conscious appeal to tribalism.  For some it becomes a badge of honour, an idol demanding allegiance or a (not so) subtle means of approving nationalism.  Unlike many countries, the United Kingdom seemed to have recognised that the national flag can appeal to nationalism and found a host of other ways of affirming our identity – from seeing the monarch as a sign of unity to the simple delight of certain things ’British’.  Other countries displayed their flag (as if they were unsure of the countries their leaders represented) and some demand acts of devotion, but nationalism in the UK has always appealed to a tiny minority. 

Now, however, the flying of the flag by government ministers seems to have given the green light to extremists and a woman’s life has been threatened as a consequence of one Party using the national flag of party-political purposes.  How tragic.