On FLAGS
Maoriland Worker, Volume 12, Issue 237, 20 July 1921, Page 2
About this newspaper
On FLAGS
The following. article was written r by tile Rev. Conrad Noel and appear- « ed in the London "Daily Herald." , Conrad Noel is flic Vicar of Thaxted and is well known yin the British So- . cialist. movement. In his church at Thaxted he lias hung the Red Flag, the Sinn Fein FJag and. the Flag of 1 &YG<§6~rge, but he refuses to put up < the Union Jack. In'this article he ■ defends himself against jingo attacks, j -Among many bother na*gs and ban- j ners in Thaxted Chui'ch are to be seen the nag of St. George, the flag of - the Irish nation, and the flag of the , world's workers. 1 The flag of Saint George Is the flag ■ of old. England.' Many noble deeds 1 have been done in its shadows; many ' evil deeds also.. But the evil was -< done in spite of it when „its ] meaning was forgotten, while the 5 good things were done because of it- j For it was chosen hundreds of years - ago by our forefathers, at a time ] wnen they loved Just dealing and ] freedom. The Union Jack.is not the < old flag of this country. It is mod- - era. It is the flag of a brute-force Empire. The Union Jack was made to cele- ■< brate the triumph of a swollen, < greedy empire. The. motto of old 1 England and the true loyalists is j "Right i» Might." The motto oii the 1 late Kaiser,- the Prussian Empire, the ; British Empire, and all empires - founded on brute-force, swank, and - grab, is "Might is Right." Noble deeds have been done under the 1 shade of the Union Jack; evil deeds , also. But the noble deeds have been done in spite of that flag; the evil has been done because of it. For consider the origin of these two flags. The flag of St. George was made with its great red cross to remind us of the Christian George, who was made a. saint because he pulled down a cruel proclamation . against the workers, posted up by the empire of his day, and tore it into shreds. The Union flag was made for the first time in the year ISOO to glorify the forcible union of Ireland with, England. Tbe Union of Tyranny We have tried to hold down the Irish nation by force for hundreds of years. Now we destroyed her parliament and ground to powder the last vestige of her liberties. This brute-force Act of Union was described by Gladstone as one of the blaek| est transactions- In the history of I man. The Union Jack was created |to glorify it. That is why the Union ! Jack has been turned out of Thaxted ' Church these many years, and the 'Flag, of St. George has long since ! taken its place. The Sinn Fein Flag. Sinn Fein is an Irish word meaning "ourselves." It means self-determination. It means that as England has the right to govern herself without the inter- : ference of outsiders, as Belgium has : the right to govern, herself without ! the interference of Germany, so Ire- | land has the right to govern herself. We believe in the freedom of: i nations--tha.t is what we are sup- j ! posed io have fought the war for.! Therefore, any one who approves of : holding down Ireland by force is aj traitor to the object for. -which the ; Kaiser fought. The Sinn Fein flag , is used by man--- who believe in fight-i in?-,' for their country. It is also ■ used by those who believe that all j armed resistance is wrong. It is . i used by those who agree with our ; ; late Allies, the French and the Am- erieans. in desiring a republic under : ■ a president. But all who range ': themselve-j under it believe in the ; I right 'of nations to freedom.' If you !do not believe in that, right, at least : ; you might have the decency not to . Ibe a hypocrite.. You might give up I the pretence or being a Christian. j The i-'htir of Freedom The Red F!;;i' No nan who refuses to fight for the overthrow of a world . built on greed and swank, brvite- . force, wage-sin very, class-distinction, ; aud other sentiments of the dung heap. Ims any right to the name of l-Christirtn at all. The Christian is .pledged to tight for the new world. : built on the -principle of "God and . ray neighbour" —a kingdom of God's : justice---a commonwealth of the worker:', with all shirkers, profiteers and bloodsuckers cast into outer darkness.. You can differ as to how yon raav best get, this new world., You can believe it will come slowly. You may hope' it will come swiftly. i-'ut if you don't want it to come at all, the;-. y«»u are on the side of the devil, and" if you insult Cod by coming to worship in your parish ; churches, you do so at your peril. ,We have to convert .as many as possible io believe in this new world. Millions of the workers will believe :in it. A few people of goon will from : the "comfortable- classer* will fight for it. The Red Flag is its ensign. Th« ! blood of the Lord Christ, -shed for •I the freedom of the nations, is of the ; same colour. He was (slaughtered . Ibv the Government of the rich and jlhftlr cowardly toadies among tho poor. He was killed because He ■ preached good tidings to the poor. i Because He preached God's freedom 'and the international they destroyed .! Rim. Every parish church which re, I fusof* to follow Him la ' apostate. Those are the reasons why the three • Hags are used in Thaxted Church, ; and why we do not Intend to remove [ them. : _
