Having
awoken this morning to the news that 25% of voters had allied themselves with UKIP I am not
sure if I should worry about that fact or be thankful that 75% had not chosen
to vote for them.
I cannot
see into the hearts of those who chose to vote for the policies of UKIP. However, it is clear that the party's prime appeal is rooted in fear. As the opening lines of
their website states:
These are anxious and troubled
times. As crisis follows crisis, our politicians do nothing in the face of
dangers rearing up all around us. …
Another wave of uncontrolled
immigration comes from the EU (this time Bulgaria and Romania). …
Whilst
Nigel Farage may claim that they are not just anti-Europe I have a sense that
this, coupled with nationalistic fervour, is what attracts most voters. It is interesting that Farage seems to support
Russian nationalism (no vote from Prince Charles, then!) and is allied to the
European Freedom and Democracy group which includes other nationalist parties. Whilst patriotism is good, nationalism is to
be feared – have that 25% who voted for UKIP really understood the
consequences of nationalism? Clearly
UKIP’ers have not considered the implications of the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
As
someone who grew up with the ‘European dream’ at the same time as forming as a
Christian it deeply saddens me that the dreams and beliefs which I embraced are
being rejected by so many. Whilst UKIP m
might not have a complete Manifesto at present, some of the things they stand
for are made clear on their website:
•Ÿ
Scrap all green taxes and wind turbine subsidies.
• Develop shale gas to reduce
energy bills and free us from dependence on foreign oil and gas - place the tax
revenues into a British Sovereign Wealth Fund.
• ... abolish
inheritance tax. Inheritance tax brings in under £4bn - less than a third of
what we spend on foreign aid. The super-rich avoid it, while modest property
owners get caught by it. It hits people during a time of grief and UKIP will
budget in its 2015 spending plans to completely abolish this unfair death
tax.
• Make cuts to foreign aid that
are real and rigorous.
Ÿ• Remove
the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights.
And as if
that weren't enough to set alarm bells ringing the homophobic and sexist ‘quacks’
of some of its supporters should be a deep cause for concern.
UKIP
seems to provide a narrative that appeals to many people and I find myself
looking for an alternative political narrative that encompasses what I
understand as the Reign of God. Early
socialism, emerging from a religious narrative, did that but I do not hear clearly
one for our generation. What might one
include?
Social
justice; care for the vulnerable and marginalised; compassion and inclusivity;
an appeal to the good in human nature; a desire for healing and wholeness;
respect for the stranger; a sense that we are called beyond the margins of the
self to embrace the Other. These are
some of the things that might provide an alternative vision from which a
narrative might emerge.
In his
book Falling Upward – A Spirituality for
the Two Halves of Life Richard Rohr OFM points out that myths continue to
exert enormous influence on us. But,
with the relegation of the spiritual to the realm of the private, myth is
ignored. But, being ignored, its power
is far greater. A neglected aspect of
UKIP’s influence is the unconscious way in which it works out of a myth of
England ‘as-it-was’. Rohr goes on to
observe:
‘In our formative years, we are
so self-preoccupied that we are both overly defensive and overly offensive at
the same time, with little time left for simply living, pure friendship, useless
beauty, or moments of communion with nature or anything. Yet that kind of ego
structuring is exactly what a young person partly needs to get through the first
twenty years or so, and what tribes need to survive. Maybe it is what humanity
needed to get started. ‘‘Good fences make good neighbors,’’ Robert Frost said,
but he also presumed that you don’t just build fences. You eventually need to cross
beyond them too, to actually meet the neighbor.’ (Ch.1. p.3)
I
thought our society had matured, but maybe it hasn't. Maybe UKIP appeals to those in the ‘first-half’
of life with its need to ‘protect your
identity, defend it, prove it, or assert it.’ but ‘The very unfortunate result of this preoccupation with order, control,
safety, pleasure, and certitude is that a high percentage of people never get
to the contents of their own lives!’ (Ch. 1. p5/7) Maybe a
large part of UKIP’s appeal is that the ‘First Half’ of life is so dominant, its
myths so enticing and its power so controlling.
So let me end with some more observations by Rohr which, I believe,
speak into this social, political and, ultimately, spiritual dilemma. For, in the end, I believe the core of this shift towards the policies of UKIP is a spiritual crisis.
Human life is about more than
building boundaries, protecting identities, creating tribes, and teaching
impulse control if you get mirrored well early in life, you do not have to
spend the rest of your life looking in Narcissus’s mirror or begging for the
attention of others. … You have already been ‘‘attended to,’’ and now feel
basically good—and always will. If you were properly mirrored when you were
young, you are now free to mirror others and see yourself—honestly and helpfully.
I can see why a number of saints spoke of prayer itself as simply receiving the
ever-benevolent gaze of God, returning it in kind, mutually gazing, and finally
recognizing that it is one single gaze received and bounced back. … If you get mirrored well early in life, you do
not have to spend the rest of your life looking in Narcissus’s mirror or
begging for the attention of others. You have already been ‘‘attended to,’’ and
now feel basically good—and always will. If you were properly mirrored when you
were young, you are now free to mirror others and see yourself—honestly and helpfully.
I can see why a number of saints spoke of prayer itself as simply receiving the
ever-benevolent gaze of God, returning it in kind, mutually gazing, and finally
recognizing that it is one single gaze received and bounced back. (Ch.1)
Mature religions, and now some
scientists, say that we are hardwired for the Big Picture, for transcendence,
for ongoing growth, for union with ourselves and everything else. (Ch.9)
If change and growth are not
programmed into your spirituality, if there are not serious warnings about the blinding
nature of fear and fanaticism, your religion will always end up worshiping the
status quo and protecting your present ego position and personal advantage—as
if it were God! (Ch.1)
