Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Learn from or eradicate past?
I write to endorse Hubert Pragnell’s comments [Letters, Gazette, June 25] in which he attempts to educate Will Parsons. Throughout the history of the world empires, e.g. Akkadian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman (to name but a few) have enslaved, subjugated and abused people of other races. Indeed, African and American Indian tribes often enslaved other tribes. Yet, today, we try to celebrate the various cultures of these empires and tribes.
Are we to eradicate history or should we learn from it? Hitler’s Nazi (National Socialist) Party endeavoured to destroy all literature and people they did not believe appropriate for the new world order, yet we remember, by international ceremonies, the negative and positive memories created by the international conflict.
The greatest sorrow, I feel, is we (humanity) are not learning from the past but perpetuating aggression, hostility and prejudice shown by recent examples in Myanmar (oppression of Muslims) and China (re-education of 1 million Muslims, Christians, Kazakhs, etc).
All lives matter, learn before humanity destroys itself and hands the planet over to another species.
Brian Butler
New House Close, Canterbury
■ The latest fashionable fad is to go around the country seeking out statues to topple, should they be deemed to have any connection with slavery, however remote. But how many of those fashionistas are active in any way in seeking to combat modern slavery?
Britain did more than any other country in its time to fight slavery, at a time in history when slavery was considered quite normal and acceptable. Wilberforce and others ran right against public and economic interests in their courageous fight.
Yet today there are, around the world, more people in slavery than there have ever been in human history. Right now there are an estimated 40.3 million victims trapped in modern-day slavery, including in our own country.
Human trafficking and modern slavery do not discriminate; they affect men, women and children of all ages. It is a multi-billion dollar industry, generating $150
billion annually.
Black Lives Matter UK has raised over £1 million for its coffers in recent weeks, raised by 34,000 Brits, despite the fact that it is completely opaque about its leaders, and how it is spending the money. It does not appear to have its own website and is not a registered charity, and resists calls to become one.
In contrast, the National Modern Slavery Helpline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but is in danger of having to close through lack of funding. So, it seems that the woke amongst us are becoming near-hysterical about slavery links of some 200 years ago, but apparently unconcerned about those enslaved all around us right now. Does this not strike one as hypocritical? Martin Collings
Canterbury
■ Once again the Archbishop demonstrates just how out of touch he is with ordinary people by suggesting we need to “review” the statues and monuments in our Cathedral; having provided no spiritual support or guidance during the pandemic and shutting the
churches, the Archbishop now proves his “woke” credentials by climbing onto the latest left wing bandwagon.
I can’t think that I’ve ever seen a memorial which says “this man was a slave owner” or “slave trader”, mostly you look at them and haven’t got the faintest idea who they are or why they deserved memorialising, then you move on. Are we some kind of communist church which decides to rewrite history, creating non-persons? What next, dig up their bodies and put them on trial for crimes against the 21st century?
This kind of thing epitomises why I quit the Canterbury Diocesan Synod, a lack of spirituality in the Cofe and an obsession with being relevant and up to date, which actually means embracing the mores of secular society, especially if they’re a bit left of centre. For 40 years the Cofe has sought to be “relevant” and this is just more of the same. What being “relevant” hasn’t achieved is increased congregations. Perhaps this would be a good time to try spirituality?
Bob Britnell
Orchard Close, Canterbury
■ The BBC has been criticised recently by John Cleese,(he of “Don’t mention the war, I did, but I think I got away with it” fame) for showing too many repeats during “lockdown”.
The Archbishop of Canterbury The Most Rev Justin Welby may have offered a solution to both of their problems.
Instead of considering the removal of statues, memorials or images that may have links with colonialism or the slave trade, they should be left in place in our cathedrals, churches and abbeys. The Archbishop has made it clear that the decision to remove statues was not his which means that any decision must be the responsibility of the Director of Cathedrals and Churches within the Church of England. When the Archbishop said Jesus commands us to “repent and take action” it doesn’t necessarily follow that by taking action Jesus would approve of the removal of what are considered to be offending images in these magnificent buildings. This is where the church authorities and the BBC could come together. Justin Welby could be asked to present a BBC TV series in which, week by week, he could, I’m sure, present the viewer with a scholarly dissection of the dubious characters chosen, who after all are strangers to many of us, that are displayed in effigy in our places of worship.
He could perhaps explain their actions in a Christian setting in the past whilst at the same time highlighting the difference between human experience centuries ago compared with our own in the 21st century.
I’m sure that the series would be both educational, visually stunning, and who knows, may even lead to more visitors to our beautiful Cathedral in Canterbury. A title for the series? How about “Holy Innocence”?
Michael Clark
Meadow Close, Bridge
‘It seems that the woke amongst us are becoming nearhysterical about slavery links of some 200 years ago, but apparently unconcerned about those enslaved all around us right now’