Was Brexit caused by a British crisis of compassion?

On that fateful Friday morning when it became clear that the UK had voted for Brexit, some people were acclaiming June 23, 2016, as Britain's Independence Day.

But I believe that this date will go down in history as a Day of Infamy and that, from a Christian perspective, Brexit is a cause not for nationalistic celebration and triumph, but for nationwide soul-searching, which should include a strong note of lament and repentance.

The Brexit vote is a symptom of an underlying 'Crisis of Compassion' in British society. There is a chronic deficit of compassion, solidarity and even basic courtesy in our public life. Without the necessary foundation of compassion, society degenerates into what Thomas Hobbes called a "state of nature" in which, according to the proverb, homo homini lupus est – "a man is a wolf to another man". If you prefer a literary analogy, just think of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The resurgence of the UK Independence Party and the dominance of hard-line Conservatism are clear manifestations of this regrettable phenomenon.

A related manifestation of this Crisis of Compassion is the resurgence of racist sentiments and fascist ideologies, which, if undetected and unresisted, will become progressively more mainstream. The Brexit vote has created alarming opportunities for the populists in UKIP, as well as for members of openly racist organisations like the BNP, EDL and Britain First. Dark undercurrents, which for decades had lain dormant, are now bubbling up to the surface of British public life. Racist attacks and hate crimes against immigrants and ethnic minorities have increased significantly since the Brexit vote.

British society is now reaping the seeds of fear and hate that have been sown by an irresponsible tabloid press. For decades, tabloid editors and columnists have been releasing toxins of fear, distrust, xenophobia and Euroscepticism into the bloodstream of British public life. As a result, many people in Britain, including those who profess Christian faith, have had their compassionate faculties inoculated by the constant assaults of the popular media on the values of truth, respect, dignity, humanity and compassion. Under a constant barrage of sensationalist headlines and malicious columns, tweets and social media posts, these moral and spiritual values have gradually eroded as power, greed, selfishness, falsehood and violence have triumphed over freedom, generosity, solidarity, truth and peace.

Original Quill wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:...yet another dig at Christians/English people/those who voted to leave the EU.

Your 'hackles-up' categories are ever-widening.  May I suggest: White/Christians/English people/other-people-hating/privatising/foot-stomping/austeritizing/those who voted to leave the EU.  Fatten it up there a little.  

veya_victaous wrote:

Tommy Monk wrote:No... it's obvious that you don't understand the things you are asking... or the wideer implications of each...


We don't need a trade deal to trade with the eu.


We are more than happy to continue trading under WTO rules.


Tarrif free trade in exchange for tarrif free trade is the 'quid pro quo' on offer...

nuh you are not in a postion to get that

tell you what remove all your tariffs om us and we'll reduce yours to 20%
take it or leave it
the rest of us are all in trading blocks already