Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, has recently written that a major cause of the global financial crisis was a lack of proper regulation and supervision. Giving the financial sector a large measure of freedom, he wrote, eroded the sense of caution and concern for the common good. Bankers did their own thing, taking ever greater risks and eventually, as we know, the bubble burst.
This preference for light-touch regulation is itself a reflection of the importance given to the rights of the individual in our society and political system today. In a nutshell, individualism would be useful if we all lived on our own on desert islands. But we do not. True, it is a barrier against tyranny, but there are dangers too. Individualism favours the belief that we are free to live as we choose. It can eat away at our sense of common values and undermine a belief that we have a responsibility for our neighbours.
Christian moral theology, on the other hand, starts from the premise that "it is not good for man to live alone" (Gen 2:18) and that "we are the body of Christ" (1 Cor 12:27). It emphasises virtues like faithfulness, honesty and kindness, holding that these are essential to living a good life. We can also add others, such as gentleness, generosity, patience and care. These virtues are seen in the way we relate to other people and to God. They also illustrate how he relates to us. As we approach Pentecost, we may recall these are all gifts of the Holy Spirit.
To promote these Christian virtues in the face of individualism, it is necessary to find common ground in which all can grow. This may mean giving up some of our cherished freedoms so that the body as a whole can flourish. Even Christians need to be reminded of this occasionally, even (or especially!) in the Church, where we are called to be a people, responsible for one another, and not a collection of separate individuals.
In this post-Easter season we focus on all that is life-giving and life-enhancing - those virtues that encourage us to find and cherish common ground.
Peter Potter