Rant Number 581 9 April 2014
An independent Scotland and ‘the forces of darkness’. A peculiar conjunction. Yet one invoked by Lord (George) Robertson. Wot?! It made the priest sit up.
Lord George was once Tony Blair’s Defence Secretary and later NATO supremo. Hence he may be expert at the dark side, both of Britain and of Western militaristic hubris. As the dubious entity called ‘the West’ meddles in Ukraine and rumours of imminent war on Russia mount up, ‘forces of darkness’ may be indeed be gathering to do their worst. Thus Robertson spoke the truth – though not quite the truth he intended. Could the darkness be not outside but inside?
The Scottish nationalists (SNP) are unlikely candidates for the role of demonic agents. An ultraliberal, PC bunch, egalitarian, feminist, pro-gay, pro-capitalist, you name it, surely they stand for ‘the light’ – what else? Eric Salmond, their plump, urbane and canny leader – can you picture him as Darth Vader? Not even like a swashbuckling, heroic Braveheart figure a la William Wallace, aka Mel Gibson. No hint of romantic ideals, no patriotic rhetoric, no whiff of religious fervour in the dour SNP ranks. As a Stuart devotee and incurable Jacobite fan, I wish it was otherwise but…it ain’t. Whatever it may be, ‘dark’ Scottish nationalism is not.
What irks Lord Robertson? He spoke of ‘cataclysmic’ results if Scotland went solo. Guess one thing that worries him is the real possibility of an independent, SNP-led country shutting down the Faslane nuclear submarine base. Part of British nuclear deterrence. An alarming concept. Based on something called MAD – mutual assured nuclear destruction. You threaten to do holocaust on the enemy (enemy=millions of innocent civilians, geddit?) with thermonuclear missiles, so that he won’t incinerate you. Mad, mad, mad indeed. A humorous cartoon in The Scotsman makes the point. Entitled ‘The madness of King George’, it shows our peer crying ‘Beware the Dark Forces’. Actually, Robertson stands atop the turret of an ominously dark British submarine bearing the words ‘Project Fear – World Destruction Guaranteed’. Rather effective, methinks!
The priest is not a Scot – though he would love it if he were. He is neutral on the matter of independence – something for Scots to decide. So when interviewed by young Eisa Ali on Press TV on recent pronouncements by Caledonian churches vis-à-vis a new constitution for the country, he did not go in for the apocalyptic mode. He stressed the positive role of religion in an independent Scotland as community builders. Why not? Surely no danger of John Knox and Cardinal Beaton rekindling the fires of the Reformation, is there? Present-day Scots are perfectly Laodicean, lukewarm and laid back. Fanaticism is dead. At most, independence would be a mild refresher.
Still, Lord George’s use of language gave me a jolt. It lets the cat out of the bag. Truly a sign of the times. Because it beautifully illustrates the phenomenon of inversion. Typical of secular post-modernity. Concepts and imagery such as light and darkness, good and evil, apocalypse, cataclysm and the like belong to universe of discourse of transcendence. They are religious categories. But now they get hijacked and turned upside down by the enemies of transcendence. Not unlike a Black Mass by Satanists. All the elements in the holy ritual – white host, crucifix, male priest – are inverted and defiled by their opposites. Likewise in politics. The nations of the West, formerly associated with Christ and Christendom, rage in the name of dogmas repugnant to the true Faith. Serving only Christianity’s bitterest foes. Thus the putatively defensive NATO alliance conducts wars of aggression contrary to Christian ethics, driven by libido dominandi, hatred and greed. A tragic requiem for the West - also a warning: beware examples of glaring inversion in debased political language.
Does Lord George expect anyone to take him seriously when he targets ‘the annexers, the aggressors and the adventurers around the planet’? ‘Annexers’ is obviously a reference to Putin, the novel whipping boy of the West. But…wait a minute. The aggressors? The adventurers? Does it ring a bell? Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia. Whose ‘adventures’ were they? And who were the aggressors? The unhappy denizens of those countries are still paying the penalty of the horrors ‘the West’ inflicted on them. Ya Allah! The effrontery!
‘The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overcome it’, announces the Gospel of St John, 1:5. (Surely a coincidence the Greek word for darkness is ‘Scotia’…haha!) The darkness appears suddenly, to ensnare fallen human beings. It is in essential antagonism to the light, though the light’s energy and dynamism eventually carries the day. The conflict is not just planetary but cosmic. And it goes on. Lent, the sacred season leading up to Easter, is the right time to reflect on the real, supernatural forces of darkness and their minions on earth.
In two weeks’ time, on Holy Week, the Devil will think he has got his prize. Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God, is nailed to the Cross and dies. The Evil One, man’s eternal enemy, exults: ‘I have got my prize!’ It looks that way but, lo and behold, Jesus breaks the bonds of death and arises triumphantly from the grave. It is Satan who is caught!
Oh, the cunning of Eternal Reason! Oh, the unsearchable wisdom of God! Oh, the boundless mercy of Our Saviour!
The forces of darkness will not overcome.
Revd Frank Julian Gelli
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