蜜芽传媒

A number of the weekend鈥檚 newspapers made reference to a recently published book called 鈥淭he Road to Somewhere鈥� by the social commentator David Goodhart. Though it was written pre-Brexit and pre-Trump, 鈥淚t has the feel of a book whose timing is pitch perfect鈥� said Andrew Marr. And I agree.
Goodhart鈥檚 thesis is that for too long our political class has been dominated by what he calls 鈥渁nywheres鈥� - highly mobile individuals who have little sense of loyalty to place or to group identity. In order to become successful they have left where they were brought up and float around as rootless cosmopolitans, with portable identities and no specific allegiance to home or to what some might call 鈥渙ne鈥檚 own people鈥�.

Against these nomadic 鈥榓nywheres鈥�, Goodhart promotes the values of the 鈥榮omewheres鈥�, people who remain loyal to their roots and people. And I agree with him. But this isn鈥檛 any sort of political agreement. Rather, the 鈥榓nywhere鈥� philosophy isn鈥檛 really tenable for a parish priest whose job it is to build up a sense of shared common enterprise, amongst the people who live in the streets of our parish. Our job is parochial by definition.

Nonetheless, like many, I do worry that a concentration on place and people can deepen too sharp a division between 鈥渦s鈥� and 鈥渢hem鈥�, between 鈥渋nsiders鈥� and 鈥渙utsiders鈥�. And this is especially dangerous when divisions happen to fall along sensitive lines of historic pain and injustice, like racial divisions. So whilst I agree with Goodhart, I鈥檓 also nervous about what his thesis might be used to justify.

From a church perspective though, things look really different. My congregation is about as socially and racially diverse as its possible to get. At Pentecost, we say the Lord鈥檚 Prayer in dozens of different languages. But instead of being biological kith and kin, our 鈥渦s鈥� is to be found in the water of baptism. So many in my church adopt the African custom of greeting fellow congregants as auntie or uncle even when not biologically related. In church, water is thicker than blood.

And this powerful, shared baptismal identity is both local and international. It creates a strong sense of 鈥渦s鈥� in the parish - but it also makes me family with those I go to church with even when visiting a place thousands of miles away and where I don鈥檛 even speak the language.

Like Goodhart, I worry that the values of nomadic individualism strip away the connective tissue of social solidarity. And when community is undermined it鈥檚 the most vulnerable who suffer first and most. But still, it鈥檚 perfectly possible to construct powerful common identities that celebrate difference and are porous to outsiders. We can develop a confident commitment to 鈥渦s鈥� without the need for a graceless disparagement of 鈥渢hem鈥�.

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