³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ

Good morning. In 2020, a group of activists, legislators, campaigners and councillors organised pre-election primaries in Hong Kong. They were aiming to win a majority in the general election, and thereby force the dissolution of the legislature and resignation of the chief executive. Yesterday 45 of the group were jailed for conspiracy to commit subversion. They’re facing up to ten years in prison.

They join a great tradition of those who’ve made the struggle for democracy their deepest calling. William Lovett faced prison for leading the Chartists in England in 1839. Christabel Pankhurst was sent many times to jail in her quest for women’s suffrage before the First World War. At his Rivonia trial in 1964, Nelson Mandela called a democratic and free society ‘an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’

We can imagine the debates and heart-searchings among the Hong Kong activists as they weighed up the likelihood of their success, the potential wider impact of their campaign, and the consequences of its likely failure. Over the mantelpiece at home, I have a vivid Italian painting called ‘The Fourth Estate,’ depicting a woman holding a baby while pleading with her husband to desist from leading a workers’ march during a strike. Such struggles can divide families and communities.

One of the most fascinating moments in the gospels comes when Jesus tells his disciples he’s turning towards Jerusalem. The disciples protest, ‘You’ll face hostility and likely death’; but Jesus insists he’s going anyway. It’s hard to tell from the story if he comes across as a headstrong activist, unwilling to be restrained by reason, patience and strategy, or as a humble servant, faithful to his calling, regardless of the consequences.

Given we’re still talking about him and many are shaping their lives around him 2000 years later, it’s hard to say he made the wrong decision. But he takes the opportunity to articulate a remarkable vision. ‘Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life … will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?’ He’s saying he understands the impulse to preserve one’s existence: but some things are more important.

Not everyone finds themselves facing the prospect of death or long-term imprisonment for their commitment to make the world better for others. But many people face a threshold when they’re drawn to comfort and well-being for themselves – yet hear a voice inside or beyond that’s saying, ‘This is the moment for which your life has been a preparation. You’ve stumbled upon and been confronted by something you can’t ignore: an idea for which you’re prepared to die.’

Show less