Honey from the Lion's Belly - Theological perspectives on Scottish Nationalism

Doug Gay is a lecturer in practical theology at the University of Glasgow. He's also a thoughtful and persuasive apologist for a form of regenerate Nationalism from which its worst deadly sins have been excised, and replaced with what he calls seven lively virtues. This was the tone and direction of a superb lecture Doug delivered on behalf of the College on Tuesday night:

'Honey from the Lion's Belly. A Theological Perspective on Scottish Nationalism'.

The overall approach was generous to other viewpoints, honest about the dangers and excesses of Nationalism, responsive and thoughtful about how biblical stories and principles guide the discussion in surprising directions, and was an important piece of constructive, practical theology attempting to build a framework within which Christians actually talk about and contribute to, the nature of citizenship and the direction of our political future.

The first part of the lecture identified the need for metanoia, a turning away from certain characteristics of nationalism which have had a baleful and harmful impact on social and political history. Stripped of absolutism, essentialism and imperialism, an open and generous nationalism need not demonstrate ethnic divisiveness, or encourage national hubris, or foster an exclusive spirit, or excuse any diminution of the value and worth of the other. It is possible to be nationalist and also inclusive, welcoming, affirming of difference, viewing other nations with mutual regard and respect. It is also possible to think of national independence as an exercise in taking responsibility, owning our own decisions, and acting with autonomous maturity in the expression of who we are as a people on these shared islands, in Europe and in the wider world.

The attitude of metanoia, of self-scrutiny and turning from mistakes and distortions such as absolutism, imperialism and essentialism requires of Christians political attitudes that are embedded in the Gospel. Christians resist the absolute claims of any nationalism by their acknowledgment of the absolute Lordship of Christ; imperialism is resisted by a commitment to equal and mutual regard; essentialism is opposed in Christian thinking by ensuring ethnic origins, linear descent and other characteristics are not made essentials of national self-definition. What was being argued was an open, soft, receptive form of nationalism, in which negative historic characteristics are purged and creative social virtues are incorporated.

In Doug's vision of a nationalism capable of being a vehicle for the rich cultural, historic and social dynamic that is modern Scotland he identified seven lively virtues which can both release and regulate the energy, passion, vision and humanity of a people who are both secure in the knowledge of who they are, and are committed to deeply formative values and practices in the community of nations. The following list was how I heard Doug - I hope it also reflects what he said and meant.

1. HUMILITY - the balance between inferiorism and hubris, so that we have a sense of personal worth and legitimate pride not based on competitive comparisons
2. PEACEABLENESS - friendship on a national scale, and as an assumption on relations between the nations
3. HOSPITALITY - a nation admired for its welcome, and alert to that urge to exclude those who 'are not us'.
4. EQUITY - a commitment to social inclusion that is unabashedly biased in favour of those at present on the margins, including the poor, the old, the stranger.
5. MUTUALITY - the pursuit of the national interest, regulated by an awareness of the interest of the other nations, and thus a capacity to engage in reciprocal benefit.
6. SUBSIDIARITY - A capacity to listen to the voice of the people, and for the voice of the people who make up the nation to have a proper degree of autonomy.
7. ECOLOGICAL STEWARDSHIP - a love not only for the nation and the nations, but for the land and for the world as our created, organic and fragile home.

This is a vision of what an independent nation could be. But for such virtues to take root they must be sown. It is in our day a crucial part of the witness of the Church by its own proclamation, practices and commitment to Christian citizenship to sow, propagate, nurture and bring to healthy fruition, attitudes that would ultimately result in a converted form of nationalism. Cleansed of the ambivalence and toxic influences that make nationalism a dangerous mindset, fortified by the inculcation of seven lively virtues, a Scottish Nationalism could create the political, social and ethical context within which national life, culture, economic development, international relations, would be conducted differently.

That is my attempt to summarise a persuasively argued vision. Of course there are questions, serious hesitations about achievability, ongoing concerns about the politics of independence or interdependence and the relations between the two.

But what do you think? Those who were there, what issues need more discussion? How viable does a vision have to be to be valid? Is the toxicity of nationalism able to be syphoned off in the competitive adversities of modern politics? Doug is pushing forward a discussion - it would be good to participate in such a discussion of Christian citizenship that is pushes us out of ecclesial strategies and personal pieties.

Posted by Jim Gordon