A comment
caught my eye in the Tablet recently
about the Irish referendum to change the Constitution so as to allow for
legislation legalising abortion within limits yet to be determined.
“All referendums seem to have a tendency to force moderate
opinion to migrate to one extreme or the other, so that by the end of the
campaigning, the centre ground is deserted.”
This is a
striking observation. Those against the
change argued passionately about the right of life of the unborn. Those in
favour of change argued passionately for the right of women to make up their
own minds without being told what to do by either church or state. Neither side seem to have struggled to find a
middle ground; they were not listening to each other.
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere
anarchy is loosed upon the world.
W.B. Yeats, The
Second Coming
I arrived in
what is now Zimbabwe 52 years ago into a deeply divided country. Although the two sides were unequal in terms
of political leverage, neither seemed willing to seriously explore the middle
ground. The result was a “migration to
the extremes” and a war that left about 60,000 people dead.
It seems to
take unusual insight and courage to promote the middle ground. It is easier and “clearer” to hold an extreme
position. We can see this happening
again in Europe today where a growing number of countries in the Union are
opting for a “simple” solution to the migrants: keep them out. Pope Francis, on the other hand, is saying
“welcome, protect, promote and integrate” them. He is criticised as his tiny
country, the Vatican, obviously cannot do what he is telling others to do.
But that is
not his role. He is a spiritual leader
and his task is to shine the light of the gospels on the issues of the
day. This year we celebrate the Birthday
of John the Baptist on a Sunday so John is pushing what would normally be the
Twelfth Sunday aside, as the Church sees John as a key figure. But John’s role was to wake people up: he was
a bit of an extremist! He preached
judgement: “Brood of vipers,” he told the Pharisees and Sadducees, “who warned
you to flee from the coming retribution?” Yet when Jesus came he judged no one. He fulfilled the words of Isaiah: “He will
not break a bruised reed or quench a smouldering wick.”
Jesus is not
an extremist, in the sense of being a fundamentalist. He takes us where we are now. But he is
demanding: he asks us to move to new ground where we are reconciled with our
brothers and sisters. This means
exploring the “middle ground”. This
seems to be so difficult for us. We find
it so much easier to exclude others and build a wall around us to keep others
out. But this is not the way forward.
24 June 2018 Birthday of John the Baptist
Isaiah 49:1-6 Acts 13:22-26 Luke
1:57-66, 80
