蜜芽传媒

Good morning. Despite last night鈥檚 result there is still happiness amongst English fans that England are through to the next stage of the world cup and can aim to win as they did in 1966.

One difference between 1966 and now however are the flags that are being waved both in Russia and on our own streets and cars. Then it was the Union Jack, now it is the flag of St George. Then, to be English was synonymous with being British, and Britain still had the vestiges of empire. Since then of course Scottish and Welsh identity have found new forms of expression and the English are groping their way into a new understanding of what it might be to be English.

From a Christian point of view national identity is one of the potentially benign cultural forces that shape us. We begin with a sense of our own family and locality and this widens out to include our region, very important for many such as those from Yorkshire or Cornwall, and our country. It is one of the overlapping identities which make us what we are, and it is natural to take pride in one鈥檚 own country and cheer its sporting achievements. Flags themselves are morally neutral, it is a question of how we use them. For as we know all too well, national identity can become destructive. Instead of just binding us together with a sense of what we share, it becomes a hostile force directed against those who are thought of as opponents. Then its malign power is stronger than all other loyalties, including those of religion. It was of course a significant factor in bringing about the two World War and the dangers of this kind of nationalism are all too obvious in the world today. But it need not be like that. Historians point out that what it was to be British was shaped by a particular set of factors from 1707 to 1837, the fact that we were a Protestant island with a world class navy, as opposed to catholic France, and in a similar way what it is to be English has changed, is changing and will change further. Indeed George Orwell ended his famous pamphlet England your England written in 1941 saying that it would change beyond all recognition. Now is a period of flux and we must be mindful that a healthy level of nationalism does not tip into something more sinister and idolatrous. This can happen when something finite, limited and potentially good, is given ultimate importance, overriding all other considerations. But just because this is a period of change and uncertainty it is also a time when what it is to be English can come to be associated with good characteristics and worthwhile qualities, with friendliness to outsiders for example and respect for opponents.