... the headline of a profound article written by Daniel Finkelstein in today's Times. The piece could be deemed an obituary, as he begins by telling us ...
The great ideologies dispossessed my father. It was democracy that let him live and die in safety and contentment ... a little more than a week ago my father lifted his arms and did something that he had done countless times before, blessed his children as he ushered in the Sabbath. But he was doing it for the last time. When he had finished, his hands fell to his side. He died the next day, with the blessing as his final act.... although I enjoyed the prose, for those with an on-line subscription it can be found here, it is the final paragraph that explains a great deal of my own politics, he wrote of his father ...
Unlike those of us born here, my father became British on purpose, as a conscious act, one that he had thought about deeply. He never thought Britain’s leaders corrupt, or that the country was going to the dogs, or that our society was collapsing, undermined by its moral decay. He lived here proud of a nation that let him live, let him learn, let him teach, let him practise his religion. And ultimately let him die in bed, loved by his family.... and so when I reply to the shallow question of nationalist politics "... and what nation do you belong to ? ", I am quietly confident that being "British" is more than sufficient, but when you reply "British-Welsh" there is a certainty that nationality is a matter of choice, just as Daniel Finkelstein's father chose to be British, those of us who choose to be "British-Welsh" can be certain that when the "separatist agenda" attempt to attach the label "anti-Welsh", to somehow make you less than a patriot, less than Welsh, be thankful because they have lost the argument completely.
Saying I am "British-Welsh", it's a little like saying "I do" when we marry .....
No comments:
Post a Comment