Notes on 'British Values'

 

Notes on 'British Values'

British values are in summary, 'democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.' 

A big question I have is whether these are uniquely 'British' values, or whether they are universal values. Britain is not unique in valuing such things, so to suggest that these are uniquely 'British' values seems to hint at a kind of 'cultural snobbery'.

Democracy

Democracy has its roots in ancient Greece. Although the UK is a leading democracy, democracy is by no means a uniquely British value, although it is important that British citizens value everyone's right to have a say in how society is run.

Rule of law

Again, Britain has been pioneering in developing the concept of the rule of law, but the UK isn't the only country that has respect for the rule of law. Traditionally, 'rex lex'- the king, or leader of a country dictated what the law was to be. In the UK however, this concept came to be turned right-side up, to say that 'lex rex', the law is king, and no one, not even the head of state, is above the law. 

In theory, this might sound good, that a country is governed by lawmakers rather than by a dictator. Despite the advantage of a separation of powers, even this kind of system isn't infallible. If power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts, then it is good to have checks and balances. But even with a plurality of lawmakers, they can be wrong, and laws made are the product of flawed people.

So personally, whilst I respect the rule of law, I am also aware that not every manmade law is necessarily good and right. I'm not going to go out of my way to break the law, but if I fundamentally disagree with a law, my conscience trumps a lawmaker's dictate.

As a Christian, I believe that the only laws that are inalienable are God's, and they are in summary to love God and to love others. Of course, I don't believe that people should be forced to love God as I understand Him as revealed in the Bible, but I suspect that the vast majority of people could say 'amen' to the principle of loving others. Of course, this needs to be defined.

Who is the 'other'? Do unborn children count? Terminally ill people? People of different ethnicities, beliefs, and sexualities to ourselves? Of course. But what does it mean to love others? I don't think it necessarily means to accept their choices. If someone believes they should kill in the name of their god for example, I don't think that has to be accepted.

Individual Liberty

Once again, Britain is a very individualistic country, and we love our liberties, but these are not absolute. I might be free, but that doesn't mean to say that I am free to be unloving or to harm others. Having said that, sometimes we must be cruel to be kind, and it's okay to hurt someone's feelings if they're not feeling good thoughts. So, if someone feels that they should kill in the name of their god, then I am within my rights to disagree with that and to challenge that.

It doesn't surprise me that individual liberty is characterised as a 'British value', but it's not necessarily particularly Biblical. It doesn't necessarily contradict the Bible; the Bible's emphasis is more on our responsibilities rather than our rights to liberty.

Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

I'm sure this is carefully worded, and I like how it's written. We are to respect and to tolerate everyone, regardless of their faiths or beliefs. However, this doesn't mean to say that we should respect and tolerate faiths and beliefs that we disagree with. Once again, I come back to the example of the person who thinks that they should kill in the name of their god, according to their beliefs. I like the fact that we should respect and tolerate individuals, because even someone with abhorrent beliefs is made in the likeness of God, and therefore has inherent worth and value.

 To love others might not necessarily mean to agree with them, but it does mean to respect and to tolerate them. Of course, if their faith or belief drives them to want to break the law and murder people, that is a matter for law enforcement agencies, not for individual citizens to go all vigilante! I feel like the example I've kept coming back to is rather extreme, but hopefully it illustrates my point.

Conclusion

In summary, maybe I've been a bit facetious about 'British' values. I do pretty much subscribe to them. I might quibble about terminology and application, and I might suggest that these should be intrinsically universal values due to our inherent dignity and worth as people made in God's likeness, but to be honest, I pretty much say 'amen' to them, even though I am a rather equivocal kind of person.