As the world addresses its innumerable problems, not the least of which is the current pandemic, don’t we consistently see the tensions between the experts e.g. the medical profession together with the legal profession, we the people and our representatives the politicians and sometimes statesmen. A simple example being the economy, with its knock on effect on employment, and lockdown.
A recent article that I read on the religious liberalism of St. John Henry Newman concluded that “Evidence matters. Newman was not a Victorian truther. His protest was against the mind as machine. That which would shut out of the ‘I’ of ‘I believe’ also bars the ‘I’ of ’I think.’ Newman wants each of us to think. He will not allow anyone to put on another what belongs to their own dignity and responsibility to do. The only spiritual vaccine against a baleful family of spiritual contagions is to develop a philosophical habit of mind as far as we may. A habit which weighs, apportions, adjusts and balances. A habit which does not privilege clarity over truth. One that pierces through the long gathered gaze of assumptions about what evidence and experts can do to a wiser view of both.”
With that thought in mind this brings me to the controversy of a “Brexit” bill that has been criticised as a breach of international law. As I write this article the Government has unveiled plans that have shocked the speaker of the US House of Representatives, MP’s of the majority party at Westminster as well as the opposition and Brussels. The Government has admitted that the bill breaks international law caveating that it is the clarification of an agreement rushed through in January. A principal concern of many is that, apart from the United Kingdom’s valued reputation, it could undermine the Northern Ireland Good Friday Agreement. We may suspect that we will inevitably see an example of tension between the legal profession and the politicians of many countries.
The promotion of peace in the world is an integral part of the Church’s mission of continuing Christ’s work of redemption on earth. The Church is a sacrament or sign and instrument of peace in the world and for the world. Many think that the The Good Friday Agreement has taught us that true peace is made possible only through forgiveness and reconciliation.
Let us pray that the potential for tensions, perhaps embracing proceedings and challenges in International Law Courts can be avoided. The St John Henry Newman article suggests that “a habit can be applied that weighs, apportions, adjusts and balances.” Now surely that is food for thought?
Deacon John Mullin