27th October 2011
Open Letter to the Chapter of St. Paul’s Cathedral and to the General Assembly of Occupy LSX
Mark Hanson
As someone who has a keen interest in politics, protest and civil liberty and who comes at these issues from a firm Christian perspective, the situation that has developed around St. Paul’s is of great concern to me.
I would want to encourage Occupy LSX on their commitment to peaceful means of protest and their many moves to facilitate a safe and peaceful environment, and I would want to encourage the Cathedral in its initial moves to welcome the demonstrators and engage in dialogue. I myself took great encouragement from the initial response of the Rev. Giles Fraser who rightly saw that the protest was peaceful and that there was no need for the Cathedral to have police protection. I was also encouraged by the Right Reverend Graeme Paul Knowles commenting that “there is something profound about protest being made and heard in front of this most holy place: a gathering together of those concerned about poverty and inequality facing the great Dome of this Cathedral Church.”
I can understand, however, that the semi-permanence and growth of the Occupy camp may have come as a surprise to the Cathedral authorities and that there may be legitimate health and safety issues, although in such a case it should be well noted that Occupy LSX have made many improvements to the camp in order to comply with regulations and needs and it is imperative that the health and safety report be made public in order to appease those who are claiming that the decision to close St. Paul’s was politically motivated. It is encouraging that Occupy LSX and St. Paul’s have been able to re-engage to enable a hoped-for re-opening of the Cathedral on Friday 28th October.
I appreciate that St. Paul’s must abide by regulations and would be unwise to ignore serious advice, and I must also state that I believe civil disobedience to be a measure of last resort and so am myself somewhat uncomfortable with the flouting of civil laws governing the erecting of semi-permanent camps.
Having said that, however, I would like to remind the Chapter that Christianity has a long tradition of being a subversive religion, and St. Paul’s itself has played its part in that tradition of obeying God rather than men. It would be a great disservice to the traditions of our faith if St. Paul’s and by extension the Christian faith were to be seen to be complicit in a forceful eviction of demonstrators that have a large degree of support. Protest is part of the vital fabric of a working democracy, and in my work with Rabel Christian Civil Liberties I have seen many of the democratic safeguards already being taken away. It would be a disservice to the Christian faith and to the people of this nation if the Church supported those who advocate further suppression of democratic expression.
Yet as I see it, there has been a breakdown of communication between St. Paul’s and Occupy LSX, and the apparent refusal of St. Paul’s to continue to liaise following the Cathedral’s closure needs to be reviewed. Equally, the messages, some rather hateful and some untrue, that Occupy LSX was publicly sending at the time St. Paul’s withdrew requires an apology.
I would like to urge both Occupy LSX and St. Paul’s Cathedral to continue in their return to dialogue based on mutual respect and an attempt to understand and be understood. It is a possibility that specific liaison groups could be set up within Occupy LSX and St. Paul’s staffing team.
There needs, in my view, to be an appreciation of the desires on both sides: St. Paul’s to provide the service of both a religious place of worship and a leading tourist attraction; and Occupy LSX to remain at the heart of the financial district of London in order to be a constant reminder to those trading in the City. The position of the Occupy LSX camp is telling: in the heart of the City, the initial intended recipients of the expression of dissatisfaction are able to be given a daily nudge as to how a large number of people feel about the economic system that has failed so many; the position at St. Paul’s should be a reminder that the principles of caring for those oppressed by the financial systems of the world is a concern for the Church, and that the Church and Christ should be a concern to be sought by those who care for justice.
To demand the full disbanding of the Occupy LSX site, with an implicit threat of possible forceful removal, does not lend understanding to the purposes and aims of the movement. It is for this reason that the news that the Reverend Giles Fraser has resigned comes with great sadness, and I would urge those of the Chapter to consider prayerfully his reasons and motives.
I would like to suggest for discussion a compromise that would see the St. Paul’s site of Occupy LSX made smaller, especially as another Occupy site has now been set up in Finsbury Square, yet that would still see Occupy LSX remain at St. Paul’s in an effective and vibrant manner.
I would like to hope that peacemaking can occur and that, whilst there may be profound differences in some areas, the liberal democratic principles of the UK (themselves developed from the Christian worldview) and the Christian values of love, justice and mercy may prevail.
