Tuesday 11 November 2008

Oh God, Our Help In Ages Past

Although I ferociously defend the place of Christianity in our national life, I do have misgivings about the role of the churches in Armistice Day events.

The Second World War was one thing, but the First was quite another, and the very considerable number of conscientious objectors (leaving aside whether they were right or wrong) was disproportionately motivated by Christianity of an unusual seriousness.

The strong participation of the Free Churches, and perhaps above all of the Methodists, seems particularly odd, considering that no mention is ever, ever made of those who held fast to the Nonconformist pacifist tradition of Lloyd George himself during what was then the very recent Boer War, but who nevertheless did sterling, invaluable work as medical orderlies and other things.

Does anyone know of a monument to, for example, the Friends [Quaker] Ambulance Brigade, or the Friends' War Victims' Relief Committee? There really ought to be one, unveiled by the Queen.

The Second World War was one thing.

But the First was quite another.

2 comments:

  1. But weren't they participating in the War in things like the Friends' Ambulance Brigade and the Friends' war Victims' Relief Committee? How did they square that?

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  2. I'm not sure. I could guess quite well, but I'll see if I can track down the Quaker or the radical Methodist theology on this. The latter, at least, would be within the bounds of Trinitarian and Christological orthodoxy.

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