Losing our virtue

Matthew Syed is one of the most insightful columnists writing today. A couple of his recent articles in The Sunday Times really made me think. In one he argued, ‘All the policy in the world won’t save us if we can’t rediscover patience’. Easy access to money has ‘taken the waiting out of wanting’. Both governments and individuals prefer to borrow to spend now, rather than save up and purchase goods more cheaply. Government debt is unsustainably high, at 100% of GDP and those Klarna bills soon mount up. We need to learn once more that patience is a priceless virtue.

In another piece Syed reflected on a key lesson from the Grenfell Tower inquiry, namely, ‘Today’s disasters aren’t caused by lack of regulation, but simple dishonesty’. Governments can pass as many new regulations as they wish, but if building contractors dishonestly subvert health and safety rules, more disasters are likely to happen. As with patience, fidelity to truth pays economic dividends. Countries where people are more likely to be honest are typically wealthier than lands where lies and corruption are the order of the day.

It is difficult to gainsay the points made by the columnist. Theologian David Wells spotted the trend he highlights more than two decades ago. In Losing our Virtue he suggested that where populations widely adopt civic virtues like honesty and consideration for others, governments can give people a considerable amount of freedom to live their lives. Where such virtues are scarce, the State is forced to try and  maintain order by regulating its citizens' conduct ever more tightly. As Wells put it, “What was once an open space between law and freedom, one governed by character and truth, is now deserted, so law must now do what character has abandoned.” And so Community Protection Notices are being used to force unruly members of the community to behave in a neighbourly manner. 

But as the writer’s point about Grenfell shows, more government regulation isn’t necessarily the answer. Especially when the State has lost its moral authority. The idea that our political leaders can form us into more virtuous citizens is laughable. The last lot never recovered from ‘Partygate’. Sir Keir Starmer pledged to lead a ‘government of service’. A noble sentiment, but to many it seems more like a ‘government of scroungers’. The PM and some of his senior ministers have faced a barrage of criticism for accepting hordes of freebies; from expensive clothing to pricey concert tickets.

Syed has certainly diagnosed the cause of many of our ills today, but he prescribes no cure. How may we regain our virtue? It is increasingly recognised that the ‘Christian Revolution’ had a transformative effect on the moral and spiritual climate of the ancient world. This was not a top-down imposition of morality by regulation, but a matter of personal regeneration. As Paul wrote, ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.’ In the New Testament believers are frequently urged to shun their old vices and display the virtues of truth, self-control and hard work. So, Vive la Christian Revolution!