{"id":79955,"date":"2025-02-03T07:51:38","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T07:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/?p=79955"},"modified":"2025-02-03T07:51:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T07:51:38","slug":"certainty-the-enemy-of-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.taxresearch.org.uk\/Blog\/2025\/02\/03\/certainty-the-enemy-of-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"Certainty – the enemy of unity"},"content":{"rendered":"

I watched Conclave<\/a> last night and very much enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

There was a lot to consider. The Robert Harris book on which it is based must be good. I suspect I will not have time to read it.<\/p>\n

One section stood out for me. It was a homily by the supposed Dean of the Conclave, played by Ralph Fiennes, who said this when addressing the Cardinals before voting began ((I found the transcript<\/a> on the web quickly enough):<\/p>\n

Let me speak from the heart for a moment.<\/p>\n

St Paul said, \u2018Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.\u2019<\/p>\n

To work together, and to, er\u2026 to grow together, we must be tolerant.<\/p>\n

No one person or\u2026 or faction seeking to dominate another.<\/p>\n

And speaking to the Ephesians, who were of course a mixture of Jews and gentiles, Paul reminds us that God\u2019s gift to the church\u2026is its variety.<\/p>\n

It is this variety, this diversity of people and views which gives our church its strength.<\/p>\n

And over the course of many years in the service of our Mother the Church, let me tell you, there is one sin, which I have come to fear above all others.<\/p>\n

Certainty.<\/p>\n

Certainty is the great enemy of unity.<\/p>\n

Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.<\/p>\n

Even Christ was not certain at the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy God, My God, why are you forsaken me? \u201c<\/p>\n

He cried out in his agony at the ninth hour on the cross.<\/p>\n

Our faith is a living thing, precisely because it walks hand-in-hand with doubt.<\/p>\n

If there was only certainty\u2026and no doubt\u2026there would be no mystery\u2026and therefore no need\u2026 for faith.<\/p>\n

Let us pray that God will grant us a Pope who doubts.<\/p>\n

And let him grant us a Pope who sins and asks for forgiveness, and who carries on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ignore any religious connotation here. The context could just as easily be political. And I agree with what was said. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.<\/p>\n

Certainty is what makes 'isms' dangerous. That is why I am not a socialist or a capitalist. Neither is an answer when both the state and private sector are needed.<\/p>\n

Certainty pretends there are unambiguous answers when there are only better or worse ones, and they need to be worked out.<\/p>\n

Certainty permits and enables prejudice.<\/p>\n

Certainty denies the need for thought.<\/p>\n

Certainty is the precursor of conflict.<\/p>\n

Because I think those things, I find it hard when I am accused of intolerance. The only thing I am intolerant of is the denial of the need to find workable answers to the problems we face when seeking to live in communities of differing people, and that denial is worth being intolerant of.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I watched Conclave last night and very much enjoyed it. There was a lot to consider. The Robert Harris book on which it is based
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