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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 20, 1982
PAGE 11
mouthed by Argentine lips as well as the British (according to
the BBC) ••..
It is evident that the forces who were held at bay when the Task
Force was sent south have triumphed in St. Paul's [meaning those
calling for negotiation and not sending the troops off to war ].
Those who were unable to prevent the military expedition are
turning their hand to the creation of a sense of guilt in its
backers.
But we now face an absurdity.
Either it
was, or
it
was not, a
just war; either we were right, or we were wrong, to engage in it.
If it was just, if those who gave their lives to repossess the
Islands died in a righteous cause, then let God be thanked. If,
however, we conclude that it was unjust, prosecuted to gain a
victory that was undeserved, it is not thanksgiving but humilia
tion and repentance that should sound from the Cathedral. But
what real comfort can it be to the bereaved, to tell them that
their sons and their husbands have died gaining a victory for
which we cannot thank God?
Rewrite
the
National Anthem Too!
Many political leaders as well as ordinary Britons have also been critical
of an unofficial new version of the national anthem, "God Save the Queen,"
written mainly by Anglican churchmen. The new version, intended as an al
ternative (but not a replacement) for the traditional anthem, changes the
line about the Queen--"send her victorious, happy and glorious" to a vague
sentiment reading "guard us in liberty, bless us with unity."
One conservative MP charged that "the Church of England is now peopled by
buffoons." Another conservative MP lashed out: "These people are ashamed
of
being
born Englishmen and are full of
guilt
and want
to
water
everything
down they can."
In a piece of biting satire in the August 3 DAILY TELEGRAPH of London, a
writer suggests, fancifully, another new anthem in order to eliminate re
ferences to "God," "Queen" and "our land." A new anthem could be sung as
follows: "Hopefully, the evolutionary principle Iinstead of "God"] inher
ent in our biospherical environment [replacing "country"] will ensure a
relevant meaningful relationship of the head of state [the Queen] with her
responsibilities in a global context." The writer admitted that it might
be a bit difficult to mesh those words with the notes of "God Save the
Queen" or any other tune for
that
matter.
"I know Ephraim," God says in Hosea 5:3, but "they do not know the Lord"
(verse 4); "They do not direct their deeds toward turning to their God, for
the spirit of harlotry is in their midst" (The New King James Version).
Chasing once again after Rome, Ephraim no longer knows how to thank God for
His blessings and occasional deliverance.
--Gene H. Hogberg, News Bureau