The spirit of the Materialist religion now distinguishes western politics. It inspires and sets the parameters of political debate in nations whose identity was forged by the Christian religion. Now, a new identity and culture has been imposed, predicated on the superstition called Materialism.
This was evident in the speeches of British government ministers at the annual conference of the ruling Conservative and Unionist party in Manchester, England, 3-6th October 2021. Indeed the speech by Party leader and Prime Minister Boris Johnson summed it up.
Johnson spoke of the spirit of Britain. I held my breath. Could it really be that the man who came so near to death in April 2020 was about to reveal that he had realised his utter dependance on God for every breath he breathes ?
No.
Instead, he credited his recovery from Covid to the National Health Service – not God.
He then defined the spirit of the British as that bull dog persistence to succeed whatever the obstacles. To rise to the challenge and to show the world how clever and courageous we are. That in the high tech and sophisticated world of the 21st century, the British are world leaders. Note the speedy development of a major Covid vaccine by Oxford University.
Such a message goes down well with a political party claiming to represent traditional patriotic values. But in fact it reflects the materialist mindset and agenda at work today, dressed up in patriotism – that sentiment which politicians everywhere deploy to camouflage their actual agenda.
The British Conservative party reflects the intellectual orthodoxy of its day. Man is at the centre; man’s values; man’s needs; man’s ambitions; man’s wants. Man accounts only to Man, not his Maker. Values and principles are derived from Man’s own agenda and Man’s own concerns. Man is all, and God is a myth belonging to the past.
Now Man has Man’s myth to believe: in himself and in his success. And success invariably equates to Prosperity and to Man’s Rights. A high tech and high wage economy is the objective. And one exceptional version of Man – the British – are the type to achieve that.
I am reminded of King Solomon. As a young king, he realised the enormity of the challenge before him to rule God’s people; he understood his need of God. So, he asked God for wisdom to rule the people whom God had entrusted to his care. Solomon understood that God is at the centre, and that God’s wisdom and God’s strength are vital to true success.
God gave Solomon wisdom; prosperity was the unsolicited bonus. Because that is the true order. God first, and our present, mortal, material existence second. Because true success in this life depends on submission to God our Maker, Sustainer and Moral Arbiter.
Solomon established his kingdom as a great regional power because God gave him wisdom and success.
But Solomon also provides us with a further salutary warning. Becoming accustomed to success, he deserted the God who had given him everything. We read that all the material distractions of this life turned his heart away from God. He prized the creation above the Creator, and he even turned to worship false gods. Thus Solomon sowed the seeds of national division and his peoples descent to destruction.
There is a parallel here for the United Kingdom. Britain’s initial rise to world influence was predicated on the Protestant Christian settlement of 1689 and the subsequent reign of the devoutly Christian William and Mary.
Now, I don’t suggest for one moment that the British empire was flawless. It was not. But it had certain merits – merits highlighted in a world today where totalitarian, dictatorial China has repossessed Hong Kong. Young Hong Kongers demonstrated in their hundreds of thousands against the Chinese takeover. They’d prefer British colonial rule. Why ?
Because British colonial rule guaranteed a person’s property and liberty – the foundation of Hong Kong’s economic success. British rule was critically informed by its Christian religion – a religion which teaches that all human beings merit respect – all people are made in the image of God.
But that critical religious and cultural influence has been displaced by a man centred and fallacious notion of social justice. The psychology of Rights eclipses all sense of a commensurate Responsibility. The psychology of Rights feeds self interest, not responsibility. It is a religion of self interest, not a reminder of social responsibility.
Prime Minister Johnson may wish to resurrect the greatness of Great Britain. But does it accord with the great constitutional and religious heritage of 1689 ? No. It is instead inspired by the values, expectations and demands of the Materialist 21st century.
Both Mr Johnson and his party have forgotten the very heritage they ostensibly exist to preserve. The Christian obligation to worship our Maker and live by his teaching has been jettisoned to worship the gods of this world. But the very First Commandment specifies explicitly:
thou shalt have no other gods before ME
In concrete terms then we find that the ruling party espousing nation and tradition in Britain no longer finds occasion to sing the national anthem at their national Conference. And you will see scant evidence of the national flag, too. After all, that flag is constructed around the Christian symbol of the Cross of Christ.
The English national anthem manifestly assumes that God is at the centre of our universe and that God is the very source of life and all existence. That anthem takes the form of a prayer, acknowledging our place as creatures in need of God and beholden to God. It references national identity and integrity as embodied in the Monarch, Elizabeth II – technically governor of the national Church dedicated to the Christian religion.
That anthem turns our attention to the true and proven source of our liberty, prosperity, and LIFE – God Almighty.
It references “I AM”
But I heard not a single reference to the Christian God of English tradition in ministerial speeches to the national Conservative conference.