It would be facile to imagine that we could pluck values ‘from the sky’ and get any kind of agreement on them.  Nor would this be necessary.  For the great advantage we have in Britain is a heritage of values that continue to have a strong resonance and which could, if reinforced and reinterpreted for the modern age, command widespread agreement.  They will have a force not just because they are intrinsically good, but because historically they are ours.

Today’s fault-lines

The fault-lines in our present culture that need to be addressed are:

• A fundamentally selfish, and self-centered, culture – we are told daily, taught indeed, that we must satisfy our wants; we are not told very often that we should look after the needs and wants of others!
• Rabid materialism – our culture reinforces the idea that it is things we acquire that will make us happy, and even give us status, diverting us from what might really bring lasting satisfaction.
• Self-indulgence is promoted – how we feel is emphasised, to the point where we worry about how we feel, instead of just getting on with it (which actually makes us feel much better!).
• A lack of commitment in relationships – the emphasis, in our culture, on getting what we want means that what we actually most need (secure and loving affirmation) is denied to us; and then denied by us to others!
• A severe lack of truth and integrity – so that, in politics, advertising and even in relationships, we are encouraged to gloss over the truth to get what we want, causing justifiable distrust and widespread cynicism.
• The preponderance of violent images and examples – so that kindness and consideration are downplayed, and the expression of anger and self- assertion are glorified; and sensitivity to the hurt caused is dulled.
• A reducing work-ethic amongst many – the idea (especially amongst boys), that it is ‘un-cool’ to study and that reliability and diligence are a sign of weakness, is ruining the futures of many.
• Generational mistrust – the lingering idea that parents and other authority figures are to be resisted, has led us to feel obliged to do the opposite of the wisest advice from those who care for us the most!
• A confusion between image and reality – so that we see constant images of apparent ecstasy and rapture (in sex, music, even ‘having fun’) giving rise disappointed expectations and ultimately severe disillusion.
• Commercially-driven manipulation – with highly effective techniques used against us, to make us feel we need what someone is selling, and will be inadequate without it.  This is a form of control.

Few would argue with the above.   As a major recent study concluded, after a quarter century in which real incomes have risen by 70% and government spending on health services, education and various forms of social services have virtually doubled, happiness has not increased.  “It suggests that the pursuit of ‘consumption’ as an end in itself, regardless of the ‘value’ of the objects being consumed, or of prudent calculation of future needs, may in fact be a powerful generator of personal misery, failure of rational discipline, social pathology and economic disorder and decline”. (Professor Jose Harris, ‘Social evils’ and ‘social problems’ in Britain, 1904-2008, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2009, p 15).  From another perspective, a September 2007 poll by ComRes for the BBC found that 83% of the 1,000 respondents agreed that "Britain is experiencing a moral decline", while only 9% disagreed.

The 10 Commandments

What may be more surprising to many is that in the 10 Commandments, the foundation of Judeo-Christian morality and indeed of historic British values, we find a set of axioms that respond quite accurately to the problems that we now face.   Thus, starting with the last first, we find the following injunctions, with the following wider relevance:

• ‘Don’t covet’.  It’s relationships that matter, not ‘things’.  In other words, don’t set your heart on things, material possessions.  And don’t compete for possessions with what someone else might have; your value doesn’t come from what you have but from who you are; and relationships are harmed by the competitiveness founded on today’s version of “keeping up with the Jones’s”.
• ‘Don’t give false testimony’.  Trust is what we need for good relationships – and for a sound economy.  Lying betrays trust, and therefore diminishes trust.  When trust is diminished, the lie doesn’t even achieve its objective, because it isn’t believed in the first place!  After all, we do all know which of our friends can be relied on to be truthful and which cannot.  We have to assume that we are equally transparent to others!
• ‘Don’t steal’.  Work brings its reward and it is deeply unfair for that reward to be taken by someone who didn’t do the work.  Who would work, if the reward often went to someone else?  Stealing is unjust, economically destructive and hurtful of trust.  Economies that are known for their corruption are unsuccessful economies. Successful ones have a strong work ethic and applaud honest achievement.
• ‘Don’t commit adultery’.  When a man and a woman pledge themselves to each other for life, it is vital that this ‘institution’ should be respected by all those around them.  We need society to help us make a success of marriage, for brokenness and pain result from its failure.  Marriage represents the decision to commit and true long-term commitment is the only secure foundation for our children.
• ‘Don’t murder’.  That we each have value is expressed most fully in the understanding that we are created and cherished by God.  That gives human life its sanctity and absolute value, which no-one is entitled to disregard, be it out of convenience or out of anger.   We are all vulnerable and this clear ethic is a key protection – and a clear guarantor of the intrinsic value of each individual in every aspect of life.
• ‘Honour your father and mother’.  The pivotal family link between children and their parents is not only biological, but also clearly central to happiness (on both sides) and ruinous when it falls apart; as such, it requires something of us: that we learn, and are clearly taught, to treat our parents with respect and kindness, especially when it’s not easy; and this principle will safeguard us when it is our turn to be parents!
• ‘Remember the Sabbath day’.  We need a rhythm of life, with rest as well as work.  Genuine rest is profoundly lacking in our commercially-driven culture.  This being the case, it makes most sense for that rest day to be shared, so that families and friends can enjoy it together, rather than having rest days on different days of the week from each other.  A family day, in particular, is an important basis for bonding and a counterweight to the forces that drive families apart.
• ‘Don’t misuse God’s name’.  There really should be things that are ‘sacred’ – or all life is devalued and the poorer for it.  We demean ourselves by bringing the name of God, and of Jesus, into the gutter and we devalue ourselves by respecting nothing at all and, in effect, cherishing nothing.  As a society we need to guard against a spiritual and emotional poverty, in which nothing has meaning and nothing is revered.   Cynicism is never attractive!
• ‘Don’t make idols’.  The celebrity culture does this constantly!  The celebrities themselves can’t handle it (they are weak and fallen like everyone else and frequently buckle under the pressure put upon them); and it tilts us away from reality.  The truth is that few, if any, of our ‘idols’ are truly worth the adulation, or the money, they receive and that the reality of their lives is far from the image they are groomed to project.
• ‘Don’t have other Gods’.  In the figure of Jesus we arguably do find one who genuinely is to be admired and followed – and one who gave his life to demonstrate his selfless commitment to us.  Equally, in the Christian belief in a loving Father in heaven, countless generations of believers have been able to find healing and affirmation; and also find, in the commandment-giver, guidance and direction.

(NB The 10 Commandments can be found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5.  Jesus’ restatement of them can be found, for example, in Luke 18, 20.)

It is remarkable how many ‘bases’ are touched by the 10 Commandments, which reach into every problematic area of our contemporary society.  These do give us a basis for a set of values that will speak to our present condition, not least because they are already firmly rooted in our culture and (directly or indirectly)  in public consciousness.

Two New Testament commands

Additionally, alongside these Commandments from the Old Testament, which Jesus clearly reaffirmed, we have two key additional principles from the New Testament teachings of Jesus, which have the status of foundational commandments and which have also been fundamental to British values.

The first of these is the “new commandment” Jesus gave, which is to “love each other as I have loved you”.  This revolutionized the morality of his age, which was steeped in the language of power, pride and revenge – and ultimately introduced British society to the concept of love, humility, gentleness and concern for the welfare of others – especially the poor and the needy.   Concern for others was not an automatic feature of human society.  It had to be taught and the teachings of Jesus (for example, “in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you”) were and are fundamental to our own society’s concept of morality.

The second is the principle of forgiveness, equally central to the teachings of Jesus.  The principle is that, just as we can receive forgiveness from God, even though we don’t deserve it, we have to pass on the same gift to others.  “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us”.  A capacity to forgive is widely regarded as a major key to social harmony – and, arguably, to inner harmony at that!  One of the features of a self-indulgent culture is that people are quick to criticize others and yet are highly resistant to admitting their own shortcomings.   The reaction to being criticized is often one of anger and defensiveness.  Two major themes running through the Old and New Testaments are the need to receive forgiveness and the need to give it.  The humility of admitting “I was wrong” is as much needed as the generosity of spirit to extend the forgiveness we then receive to others.  Not being able to extend it is normally a symptom of not having been able to receive it!

These values run through British history and society and have never been more relevant than they are today.

The question is how to frame them for today’s world, in a way that directly speaks to our society’s ills.  These we seek to address in Values for today’s world.