In June 2015, close to the memorials at Runnymede, preparations had been made for a large number
of invited guests, including the Queen, for the Magna Carta 800th anniversary celebrations
on Monday the 15th. The site was overwhelmed with a large soundstage and rows of outside
broadcast vans, and high security was evident. But we didn't have an invitation to that event.
So we took the train to central London instead, reflecting, as we travelled,
on the sweep of history before and after that great charter and its significance on 21st century Britain.
As former lawyers, we were thinking about the evidence of its legacy in our current culture,
noting that today some personal rights and freedoms have become legally more important
than others, one set of rights literally trumping another, equality under the law for some, but
not others. The great charter secured rights for the barons against a tyrannical king, but ordinary
people had to wait until 1225. Being in our own political capital city reminded us that Magna Carta
sounded a voice for justice and freedom down the centuries, which many nations in the world heard,
welcomed and embraced. But that voice is now being distorted in modern Britain and even ignored or
silenced, particularly in relation to the spiritual heritage of Magna Carta, which was unashamedly
Judeo-Christian. Is it possible to sever the underlying philosophy from a legal concept
and still retain its nature and intent? Just outside the houses of parliament,
a group of people were gathered to address that question. The size of the assembly didn't matter,
for it was clear that those gathered there represented many different ministries and
denominations in the British church, but all were essentially speaking with one voice about the way
that religious freedom is being marginalised in our nation today. Linda Stanley, a leader of the
Maranatha community, began by explaining the Christian concept of freedom, which motivated the great
reformers in the past. They were for the oppressed, they were for the victims of injustice. That's the mark of the Christian approach to freedom and Christian rights and human rights. It's not about us. It's about the message of Jesus Christ. The truth sets us free. And it's our expression of that truth, not the letter of the law, but the manifestation in lives that are laid down for the sake of
that grace and truth. It's the way that we live that is the mark of our witness here in Britain today. Our freedom must never be at the cost of someone else's freedom.
The Magna Carta, the building blocks that are our foundation, all emanated from the single most important message
of the Bible, which is that every single human being is made in the image of Almighty God. And as such, every single human being is of infinite value and equal work. Whether that's the unborn child in the womb or an elderly person suffering from dementia in a nursing home, every single human being has equal value and work in the sight of Almighty God.
And that has been the basis of the freedoms, all the freedoms of this society.
Christian politician Alan Craig focused on the recent loss of democratic freedoms.
Those lights of freedom, those lights of democracy have gone out one by one. Bit by bit, they're going out especially, especially for those of the Christian faith and who want to exert their religious freedom.
Alan used two specific examples of undemocratic legal processes, which were contrary to the spirit of freedom from abuse of power in Magna Carta, the first in the redefinition of marriage legislation.
I don't mind which way you voted. I don't mind which way you thought. There'll be people on both sides of the debate here. What I want to talk about is the process. The process which was a complete denial of democracy.
The Magna Carta legislation was in none, none of the party manifestos in 2010. Indeed, our current prime minister said just before that election that he had no intention of bringing in insane sex marriage. The legislation was proposed, there was no consultation whatsoever about the legislation itself, no consultation, no white paper, no green paper, and the act was railroaded through Parliament.
A second example related to the constitutional changes in the European Union.
We won't have any more referendums. They cancelled the Danish referendum and they reintroduced exactly the same legislation, exactly the same, but they called it a treaty instead of a constitution. And treaties apparently don't need the say so of the European people.
My hope for us today is we leave this place recommitted to the idea that we are going to have our voice. We are going to have our freedoms. We are going to have our liberties.
Paul Tully, General Secretary of the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child, reminded everyone of the opening words of Magna Carta.
First, it declares that we have granted to God and by this present charter have confirmed for us and our heirs in perpetuity that the English Church shall be free and have its rights undiminished and its liberties unimpaired.
This recognition of the Church and implicitly of the values and interests of Christianity precedes all the other legal and commercial and social clauses in the Magna Carta.
Paul spoke of a recent case involving two Scottish midwives who were dismissed from their jobs for refusing to supervise late abortions on disabled babies on the labour ward.
Mary and Connie have not been refused due process of law. Their case has been heard by the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court just over there in Parliament Square.
But the decision of the court is corrupted by its failure to recognise the first principle of Magna Carta, the freedom of the Church to guide people in matters of right and wrong.
The court has insisted that an institution, a state-funded institution, can disregard the rights of Christians and to follow their conscience and disregard the teaching of the Church, upholding the right to life of every person.
Robert Harris, a voice for justice, started off with a question.
Just how free are we today? For practicing Christians who want to be law-abiding, more stories surface daily about rights and freedoms being curtailed because someone complains of being offended.
He then focused on the way that the Equalities legislation has effectively made some sectors of society more equal and thus more free than others, contrary to the spirit of the law that flowed from Magna Carta.
What's ever happened to competing rights and accommodation? Have we become so intolerant and self-righteous as a society that the rights of certain groups are effectively recognised in a superior class to basic fundamental rights like freedom of belief?
Christianity isn't, I should explain, something you can wear like a jacket to be removed once you leave your home for work. This is not Christianity. Neither is Christianity confirmed to the four walls of the Church building.
Christian practice, far from being a list of do's and do's, is living out an identity 24-7, actively loving everyone, even our enemies, so it has nothing to do with your feelings or your likings.
How democratic and diverse are we if we say Christians can have their beliefs as long as they don't practice them in public?
The European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Declaration on Human Rights both affirm the fundamental right to both hold and practice religious belief.
Ladies and gentlemen, on this wonderful occasion of the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta.
Ale Baba Tunde, who came to this country 23 years ago from Nigeria, placed Magna Carta in its wider context.
Britain has sown. If there is something we need to do, we need to go back to the God of our Father. Up till today, Britain, a lot of people in this country don't understand that this nation was built on Christian principle.
Well, I find a lot of people want to be politically correct. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm an historian. I have studied the history of this nation.
This is a Christian nation. If you look at our parliament, there is a room there called Moses's room.
If you look at our monarch today, the coronation is almost like you are ordaining a minister of the gospel. Look at our judiciary. The framework of our laws in this country is from the Bible.
Wale did not just refer to our past. He also spoke passionately about the future.
I am not a pessimist. I believe with all of my heart God will once again visit our nation. I believe the kind of revival that came during the time of John Wesley, that changed this nation.
I believe once again God is going to send that revival. Can I appeal to us? Can I just beg us? Please don't let Great Britain die through your neglect. Don't let this nation die through your neglect.
God is looking onto each and every one of us. It's time we speak up. It's time we join the movement.
As a sociologist, Dr Clifford Hill pointed out that our freedoms have been threatened by over rapid change.
Social institutions have been changing at the same time and this has created a highly unstable condition in the nation.
The foundations of the nation are shaking like this place here. What is God saying to us now? Shaking our mother of parliaments so that we've got to spend billions of pounds just to deal with the cracks in the place.
What has happened though is right down in the foundations of our nation, the value system has been shaken. That is a sociological fact, but it is also a theological fact because we have turned away from the word of God.
Dr Hill then spoke from Scripture, including Psalm 11 verse 3.
When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? I can tell you, the Hebrew actually says, what have the righteous done?
And that's a very different question. When the foundations are being destroyed, what have the righteous done? How are we responsible for what has happened? It is because we have turned away from the word of God.
All our value system is crumbling today and the only way we are going to restore this is by coming back to the basic values that are part of the very nature of God, of love and justice and truth.
Truth was important to Baroness Cox, who is active in Parliament, and she warned of the dangers of the growth of a parallel system of law in this nation, Sharia law, which is also threatening the principle of equality before the law.
It's for women in our country. We must speak up for women in our country today who do not know their rights, who are being denied the freedoms through which they are entitled. Many are suffering in ways that make the sufferer jets turn in their graves.
Moreover, the way in which many Sharia councils and courts operate appears to be a fundamental threat to another of the great principles in Shia and the great Magna Carta, the principle of one law for all.
Friends, it has been rightly said that the price of freedom is eternal. The freedoms we enjoy in our country have been hard for women. Many men and women have paid the price for their preservation with their lives.
On this day, a commemoration of the signing of the Charter, which laid the foundations for the ensignment of these freedoms in our nation's laws, underpinning our fundamental values and our confidence.
It has met ourselves to passing the law, undermining the suffering of generations.
Finally, Linda Rose of Voice for Justice drew the rally to a close with a clear statement about our freedom to choose.
We have to choose today which side we are on and we either choose life and God and we stand for Him or literally we face annihilation. It's as stark as that.
We want you to stand on your rights under the law of this land to say, this is my freedom of religion, this is my freedom of conscience, this is my right to free speech.
We have simply highlighted some of the rally speakers here. In fact, as you've heard, amplification was a problem as there was no properly working sound system.
Perhaps a sign that this particular voice for justice and freedom is struggling to be heard. Nevertheless, this is a prophetic voice and God has his own ways of communication.
From all the evidence that we heard and from our own experience as Christians in this nation, we concluded that it's not possible to sever our legal foundations from their Judeo-Christian roots
and still preserve the centuries-old freedoms which Magna Carta represents. But you, the viewer, are free to conclude otherwise.
For us, this was not the end of our journey looking for evidence and truth about Magna Carta and its influence today. We went on to the British Library to explore their excellent exhibition.
Later, we returned to Parliament, to a committee room in the House of Lords, though filming wasn't allowed, for a book launch of Magna Carta Unraveled by Wilberforce Publications with a number of distinguished contributors.
Some had spoken at the rally. We're also contemplating further short videos to explore some of the Magna Carta themes more fully.
Thank you.
