This seems to be "get at Giles Fraser" day. Nostalgia and homesickness are not the same thing, Giles: unherd.com/2019/10/why-is…
But interestingly this piece exposes the emotional roots of his nationalist, nativist creed. That poor young boy, sent to boarding school by his parents.
But interestingly this piece exposes the emotional roots of his nationalist, nativist creed. That poor young boy, sent to boarding school by his parents.
Because Giles didn't like being sent away to school, he now wants everyone to live and work where they grew up, and castigates those who seek a better life elswhere. Except for his immigrant wife, that is.
Presumably, Giles's parents sent him to boarding school bcs they thought it best for him. He thinks his homesickness means they were wrong. But in this piece he argues parents should do what they think best for their children even if the children hate it. unherd.com/2019/12/our-mo…
I am struck by the extent of the double standards exhibited in this selection of recent pieces.
I am also wondering how Giles's insistence that people should live and work in the places where they grew up fits with Jesus's call for his disciples to leave their homes and families, and his sending out of the disciples to spread the word across the Roman empire.
Are Christian priests an exception to Giles's "stay where you grew up" rule?
And finally. Giles quotes the well-known first line of Psalm 137: "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion". Perhaps we should also remember how it ends:
"O daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us -
the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks."
Homesickness can result in a desire for cruel revenge.
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us -
the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks."
Homesickness can result in a desire for cruel revenge.
In fact, thinking about it, I am appalled by Fraser's abuse of Psalm 137 to support his nationalist, nativist agenda. Psalm 137 expresses the terrible grief of people dispossessed by war and held in captivity against their will. People who have suffered terrible atrocities.
.....people to whom many of those who share Giles's nativist, nationist beliefs would refuse a place of safety.
unroll please @threadreaderapp
