Simon Barrow (London, Ekklesia): Encouraging people to commit to social justice, human dignity, equality, civic participation and peace-building is the way to create good citizens, not attempts to impose symbols of state allegiance and inflated rhetoric about "national pride" which we can see manifest in Lord Goldsmith's publication on British Citizenship. Education for civic participation and reform of the constitutional system to encourage democratic accountability would be a much more meaningful way of encouraging common purpose than questionable nationalistic gestures. And making loyalty to the nation state our primary identity also raises deep questions for those who belong to communities shaped by global ethical commitments that go well beyond national or geographical attachments. Good citizens have a wider vision than flag-waving.
If you get children to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen, you are also getting them to pledge allegiance to the Supreme Governor of an Established Church, the Church of England. This will be difficult for many secularists, humanists, free church Christians and those of different faith backgrounds. If the government wants to promote citizenship it would be better to look at how we can work more effectively together to promote social justice, human dignity, equality, civic participation and peace-building.
The disastrous war in Iraq, the growing gap between rich and poor, threats to civil liberties, fear of cultural difference, and growing hostility towards people seeking asylum in Britain send out messages about the kind of divisions that require far more than anthem-singing to overcome. And while the Church has often colluded with oppressive power historically, a right understanding of allegiance to the way of Christ - which is the primary loyalty for Christians - questions all attempts to limit human solidarity by means of race, gender, nationality and ideology.
See also by Simon Barrow for Ekklesia: Which citizenship, whose kingdom?
