Archbishop of York: ‘Be proud to be English.’
By Ruth Gledhill, Timesonline
Another brilliant speech from the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu, at The Sunday Times Literary Festival in Oxford, in which he celebrates ‘Englishness’, calls for a new form of English identity to be created that takes into account cultural changes, and suggests making a formal celebration of St George’s Day. It is similar in tone to the first interview he did just before his enthronement in 2005 in York, although takes his ideas further.
Today was heaven, sitting in a beautiful garden on the most perfect English spring day surrounded by the scent of blosson and bulb and wondering ‘what shall I read now’ when this perfect speech landed in my inbox. My only puzzlement rests in the question of why it still takes a bishop born in Uganda to tell us what we should not need telling, but do.
The Archbishop of York said: ‘Let us recognise collectively the enormous treasure that sits in our cultural and spiritual vaults. Let’s draw upon the riches of our heritage and find a sense of purpose for those who are thrashing around for meaning and settling for second best. Let us not forego our appreciation of an English identity for fear of upset or offence to those who claim such an identity has no place a multi-cultural society. Englishness is not diminished by newcomers who each bring with them a new strand to England’s fabric, rather Englishness is emboldened to grown anew. The truth is that an all embracing England, confident and hopeful in its own identity, is something to celebrate. Let us acknowledge and enjoy what we are.’
He continued: ‘Where there is no awareness of identity, there is a vacuum to be filled. Dissatisfaction with one’s heritage creates an opening for extremist ideologies. Whether it be the terror of salafi-jihadism or the insidious institutional racism of the British National Party, there are those who stand ready to fill the vacuum with a sanitised identity and twisted vision if the silent majority are reticent in holding back from forging a new identity. When hateful and vile slogans are shouted at returning soldiers as they march through our towns, Joe and Jane public should gather in large numbers to demonstrate peaceably that such bigotry has no place in England’s green and pleasant land. To be patriotic, is to appreciate and be grateful for all that is valuable in the country you live in. It does not require you to be a xenophobe or a blinkered nationalist.’
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