Dear David Cameron
The speech you gave at the 400 year anniversary celebration of the King James version of the Bible was mostly a fitting tribute to one of the greatest books in the English language. It gave a warm reminder of how this translation infused so many masterpieces from the works of Shakespeare and Tennyson to the words of Martin Luther King. What you said was also a timely focus of the value of that book, along with an appreciation of the long list of idioms and phrases composed within it that are still used today.
The speech was also a strong reminder of the values of Christianity that have shaped Britain and made it one of the safer places in Europe for people of other religions. I whole heartedly support that Britain is a Christian nation, as numbers attending regular organised service is no reflection on a person’s religiosity, which can only be self-defined and a private matter between themselves and their deity.
Surprisingly though, when you began to talk about these Christian values you opened by quoting Margret Thatcher and then listed a rather vague list of words staring with ‘Responsibility’. Odd, considering you’d spent the earlier part of your speech extolling the wisdom to be found in lines of the Bible. I was expecting a few quotes from the great book, hoping for a strong indictment of some of society’s deep, underlying problems; but the quotes were not forthcoming and the examples you used were oddly chosen and lacked truth.
Why did you focus on the ‘on-going terrorist threat from Islamist extremists’, when the number of these recorded attacks in Europe has dwindled to 1 in the last year? Why not focus on the far right and separatist groups that account for nearly 200 attacks over the same period? Or better yet, why not mention that if ALL terrorist attacks from all spectrums are accounted for over the last 15 years, it equates to some 10,000 lost lives, which is less than the amount of people killed in that time on Britain’s roads through drink driving alone, let alone the hundreds of thousands who perish from alcohol related illness. Why not challenge this and remind Christian Britain with one of Bible’s lesser known quotes: ‘Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise’ (Proverbs 20:1) or a dozen other references on the same issue. Alcohol abuse is bigger terror to British society than international terrorism could ever be.
I was disappointed also to see you talk of lack ‘responsibility’ leading to flawed ‘moral code’ which ultimately ‘allowed some bankers... to behave with scant regard for the rest of society.’ Why not be more forthcoming and hold the long held Christian position of usury and interest being inherently anti-Christian: “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. (Exodus 22:25) A few rogue bankers may have blindly toppled the tower, but it was built on nothing but anti-Christian interest in the first place.
The points you mention distracted from real issues and needlessly brought this idea of ‘Islamic’ ‘terrorism’ back on to the agenda after a year when communities, police and other agencies managed to bring that designated groups attack count down to 1 and death count down to zero. Why pour such cold scornful water on all their hard work and show the ‘passive tolerance’ towards the underlying issues that plague society, like excessive alcohol consumption and the entirely flawed banking system to name but two? This is akin to complaining of a drafty window when your roof is shattered.
If you really want society’s ‘moral code’ to change with or without faith as a ‘prod in the right direction’ (and I well know how tied your hands may be) may I suggest taking ‘responsibility’ as Prime Minister and clearly prioritising what the countries problems are and then telling that to British public who are deserving of the truth. It is not the big bad banker, or the ghost of Bin Laden under the bed, but the needed overhaul of a system that’s surely losing its post-war socialist heartbeat to a capitalist pacemaker that can flat line at will.
Put the people’s real needs first, then you can tuck them in and tell them some of those exaggerated ghost stories.
Sincerely
Loay Leon Hady
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