Let’s go back to Babylon.

I notice that some young people refer to certain countries as Babylon. Google comments as follows:

“Modern songs sometimes use the metaphor of Babylon to comment on America. This comparison often critiques aspects of American society, such as how it is perceived in terms of materialism, moral decay, and political power. The lyrics employ symbolism, drawing parallels between contemporary America and the biblical Babylon, a city often associated with excess and corruption. This critique may address social issues and question the current situation. The analysis of this metaphor can be complex, requiring an understanding of both the historical context of Babylon and the specific societal name in view.

The interesting thing about the Biblical Babylon was the King of Babylon, and the fact that the King was a. the Lawgiver and b. the lawgiver was above the law and did not have to obey the law, though everyone else did.  What does that remind you of?  The following empire, after the fall of Babylon, that of the Medes and Persians, one notes the oft-quoted phrase, “the laws of the Medes and Persians, which don’t change, and the fact that the ruler was also subject to the law.” So, we are not going back there, but one step further back, one where rulers do not have to be subject to the law.

Babylon was rich, at least for some people, but one wonders how much the riches were created by slavery.

Interesting too is that the “Third Reich’s” main economy was a slavery-based economy.

The whole difficulty, for me, is the way in which we can undermine our humanity. So, we start to refer to groups of people in other ways, “blood poisoners”, aliens, or, if you like, humans are non-humans. We see this kind of rhetoric in war, where it’s not “dead people”, it's “collateral damage”.  In the Belfast troubles, it always troubled me that people were not killing people.  The one side were killing “Prods,” and the other side were killing “Papists”.  These are not humanoid words. It makes it possible to see people as “non-humans.”  At the very least, less than me, or at the very least, not nice people.

That is why I really object to the new Reform elected person saying, “Let’s put asylum seekers in tents.” It's a slippery slope to put one kind of person into a more deserving position than another. There is always someone at the bottom of the pile who is presented as a sort of “less than a human being.”

 

 I am reminded of that famous quote by German Lutheran Pastor Martin Niemöller:

“Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.”

 

So, I hope many will speak about Dame Andrea Jenkyns's nasty “tent” quote and let us hope that there are more sensible people around who will not vote to take us back to Babylon.

 

Adrianhawkes.blogspot.co.uk

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