It barely seems possible that only 40 hours ago a young MP was murdered on the streets of a quiet West Yorkshire town known previously for science (Joseph Priestley) and the Brontes. I spent much of the last two days in Birstall, doing media interviews and trying to support the local vicar and church. I make the following brief observations not for the benefit of the wider world (as if…), but in order that I should not lose for myself the impressions of the last couple of days.
- Jo Cox was an unusual MP because she represented the place she grew up in and the people among whom she grew up. She not only did not forget her roots in Yorkshire grit, she returned to live among them. Hence the emotional impact locally – she was one of them.
- The thoughts that keep,me awake have little to do with politics and everything to do with her husband and children. This is a grievous loss – an unimaginable cruelty to them as well as to Jo herself.
- The man charged has now owned in court his far right, nationalist motive: he gave his name as “death to traitors, freedom for Britain”. Although speculation about motive was unhelpful in the early hours after Jo's death, there was one observation that merited consideration: the political discourse in this country is poisonous – and recognised beyond our borders to be so. To put it bluntly: if the linguistic and cultural pool we swim in is poisoned day after day – with opponents in the Referendum debate being dismissed as dishonest, corrupt, abusable and our European partners being daily written off as corrupt, incompetent and (their real crime) foreign – then we shouldn't be surprised when some people, for whatever broken and destructive reason, push language to consequent action.
- If you haven't seen it, watch the German film Die Welle ('The Wave').
- I am so proud of the local church in Birstall and the vicar, Paul Knight, who, never having been faced by anything like this before, did what the Anglican Parish Church is there to do: created space for all-comers to come together and share shock and grief. But, this space was not empty space – the few words spoken by Paul, by me and by the Bishop of Huddersfield were intended to do two things: (a) offer a vocabulary for grief and lament, and (b) to offer a framework for living for a time with unspeakable reflection not only about Jo Cox and her family, but also about our own mortality and fragility. Civilisation is thin. But, it is not bishops who do this day by day in a particular place; it is clergy and their people who, confident that the cross speaks of looking the real world in the eye (with all its brutality, injustice and agony), make space for grief in the context of resurrection. This violence and appalling destructiveness do not and will not have the final word.
- Many of Jo Cox's fellow MPs were there at St Peter's, Birstall on Thursday evening. I feel strongly for them. For several of them – young parents themselves – the fragility was clear. As I said in the vigil: MPs do not simply curse the darkness, but light a candle to dispel it. They commit themselves to a vision for which they then work amazingly hard. What they get from a public fed by a cynical media is abuse, suspicion and sneering resentment. This must stop. Social media do not help in this, but consideration must now given to the potential legal consequences for those who threaten and abuse on social media.
Enough for now. I have a family celebration to go to in Liverpool. And I am not insensitive to the poignancy of this.
June 18, 2016 at 11:21 am
So many of our supposed leaders have bought in politics of ‘the other’, by abusive language, practised disdain etc. most obvious at PMQ’s. Then, when something like this happens it is a ‘mental illness’. Had the man been a Muslim, it would have been ‘terrorism’. When will we learn to think before we speak, then think again. Thanks for this Nick.
June 18, 2016 at 12:00 pm
Thank you Bishop Nick for putting our bewildered thoughts into words. There is so much for us to enjoy in our beautiful world, how have people become so embittered? Sometimes prayer seems so weak but we have to persevere because faith tells us God WILL conquer through love, in the end.
June 18, 2016 at 4:35 pm
They commit themselves to a vision for which they then work amazingly hard.
It would be more accurate and honest to say that some of them do. Whether Jo Cox was the rule or the exception is a very large question indeed.
June 18, 2016 at 4:58 pm
“You gotta kick at the darkness ’till it bleeds daylight”
I think your observations and analysis are spot on. The politics of division, fear and selfishness, neoliberalism, have a lot to answer for. It has sociopathic traits. I believe it is an abberation, and humanity’s default is to altruism to its tribe. Getting across the notion that we are one tribe in our global village is the battle of our time.
June 19, 2016 at 9:18 am
Well said Nick. Noone’s been left untouched by this event. So shocking. So close to all our hearts and homes. God be with you and yours. Hope to meet up again soon! Heather.
June 19, 2016 at 9:29 am
Thank you Nick for your insightful thoughts. I am with my daughter’s family this weekend as she gave birth to our second granddaughter on Friday evening. As I sat with this lovely young family and listened to tv reports of the aftermath of a truly dreadful event I sensed that same poignancy.
Later watching a Euro football match the “Respect” armbands the players wear seemed to have a deeper significance.
Over the years I have worked with many politicians, some self-seeking but mostly genuinely committed to the service of people around them. Surely that is merely a reflection of the human condition and probably the one thing most people desire for themselves is respect – the one thing that seems to be most withheld in our society.
Jesus said “do unto others as you would like them to do to you” the starting point for true respect perhaps.
June 19, 2016 at 2:00 pm
Reblogged this on hungarywolf.
June 20, 2016 at 8:48 pm
🙏🏻😞
Words have failed me. Thank you for being the voice of our nation Bishop Nick!
Joe Cox made things happen in life and has the power in death that brought the whole world together to unite in grief!
She can now Rest In Heavenly Peace! She was an Earth Angel. Thank you for all you have done for the very meek. You’ll never be forgotten. 😞