Lecture given by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Visit to the Diocese of Chelmsford

I am delighted to be with you all this evening and to meet so many representatives of different organisations in the life of this county. May I on behalf of the wider community thank you all for what you do. I think you, more than most, will have an interest in my theme tonight, which I have called, 'Towards a Wise and Just Society'.

In 1934 one of our greatest poets, T.S. Eliot, wrote a poem which challenges the so-called 'advances' of the Information Age with eerie prescience. In "The Rock", Eliot wrote:

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

How relevant that is! Where, indeed, is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information? Fax machines, mobiles, lap-tops, voice mail, email, 'The Net'…We are a generation that possesses an amazing capacity for generating - and accessing - information at the touch of a proverbial button. Indeed we have access to so much information that people now complain of information overload. Rather than a boon, it is in danger of becoming a burden; rather than giving us clarity and understanding, it can breed confusion and indecision. Finding true wisdom is no easier now than it has ever been-and it is about that challenge that I want to address you tonight.

'Towards a Wise and Just Society'. Let me unpack those three words: 'towards', 'wise', and 'just'.

Towards. Perhaps it seems strange to begin a lecture with an extended reflection on a preposition, but I think it's worth musing about where we as a nation - and, indeed, as a world - are going and how we are getting there. Does it not strike you that we have at times become so caught up with the ends we pursue (success, wealth, prestige…) that we have forgotten about the means to those ends? Yet both need to be subject to moral testing. And like T.S. Eliot before me, I want to challenge the validity - and dare I say health - of this very human 21st century tendency of thinking about the product to the exclusion of all thoughts about the process.

Now, please do not misunderstand me. There is certainly nothing wrong with setting goals for oneself. I know full well that growth and progress only happen if we are willing to stretch ourselves, striving toward a desired objective. Did not someone give us a rather jaundiced ninth Beatitude in: "Blessed is he who expects nothing - he will not be disappointed"? Or, as John Adair says in his book on Great Leaders: "If you aim for nothing you will hit the target." Clearly St Paul knew the importance of such motivation when he wrote in his Letter to the Philippians, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3.14)

Yet how we are getting there matters, too. How are we running the 'race'? Do we even pay attention? Do we run keeping true to our values, or do we push ahead frenetically toward success at any cost? I believe that this is the question we each must consider as we face and embrace this new millennium - if we are to regain any of the 'wisdom' we have lost in our 'knowledge'.

Hear Eliot's warning again:

The cycles of heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.
The lot of man is ceaseless labor,
Or ceaseless idleness, which is still harder,
Or irregular labour, which is not pleasant.
I have trodden the winepress alone, and I know
That it is hard to be really useful, resigning
The things that men count for happiness, seeking
The good deeds that lead to obscurity, accepting
With equal face those that bring ignominy,
The applause of all or the love of none.
All men are ready to invest their money
But most expect dividends.
I say to you: Make perfect your will.
I say: take no thought of the harvest,
But only of proper sowing.

So, you see, if we are to move 'towards' the wise and just society, then we must take seriously not only our goal but the ways in which we are aiming to get there. The modern world needs to heed Eliot's warning. As difficult and at times unrealistic as it may seem, we need to learn to pay as much attention to the seeds that we are sowing for our own and future generations as we do to the 'harvest' of reward we hope or expect to receive.

Now let me turn to my next word: Wise. If Eliot is right and we have, in fact, lost some of our wisdom in our pursuit for knowledge - and in turn have lost some of our knowledge in pursuit of information - then where does this leave us? Where are we to turn for guidance? What does it mean to be 'wise' in the year 2000?

I believe that Eliot can help us here once again:

The world turns and the world changes,
But one thing does not change.
In all of my years, one thing does not change,
However you disguise it, this thing does not change:
The perpetual struggle of Good and Evil.

Like it or not the fabric of our society, like all others, is an intermingling of good and bad. The challenge of separating out the strands, and making judgements and choices from them, is seldom a simple one. It is not often a matter of black and white - night and day - there are indeed many shades of grey of dawn and dusk in our world. Sometimes the choice is not between the obviously good and the self-evidently bad, but between the good and the less good, the less desirable and the least desirable. One of the great challenges for us all is developing sufficient wisdom to read the signposts aright in such difficult terrain.

That well-known and much-beleaguered figure from the Old Testament, Job, faced this very issue himself. In the Book which bears his name, Job asks:

"Whence then comes wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?"

And from his own experience he answers: "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." (Job 28:20,28)

Of course, I realise that not everyone believes in - much less fears - the same Lord. And so to say that fear of the Lord is a prerequisite of 'wisdom' may seem off-putting or exclusive. But, regardless of differences in belief or tradition, I suspect that many here will agree that the truly wise person holds and embodies certain values for living that derive from his or her deepest convictions. Honesty. Integrity. Kindness. Generosity. Tolerance. Forgiveness. Commitment to the common good. This is to name but a few. But whichever values we list as priorities on our own personal inventories, the point is that - taken together - these values comprise the very fabric of our individual and corporate character.

In his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech in Washington, DC in 1963, The Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr envisioned a time in which people would be judged not by colour or religion or socio-economic status, but first and foremost by "the content of their character." Well, I share that dream for our nation and our world. We are responsible for shaping the character of our society. We must embrace and live up to that challenge.

But how? How do we go about running this 'race'? I want to suggest that the only way we can move forward is by placing our faith in something other than - greater than - ourselves. For one of my predecessors Archibald Tait (and indeed for Christians down through the centuries), that 'something' was Jesus Christ. Archbishop Tait warned his society over one hundred years ago of the dangers of drifting away from the values of the Christian faith. He wrote: "I hold that any school of philosophy which dogmatically asserts that man has no soul, and that there is no God, saps the very foundation of morality." I know some will point to the violence and suffering that have been inflicted down the centuries in the name of religion. But when one thinks in our own century of the devastation wreaked by the secular messianic regimes of a Hitler or Pol Pot - I am convinced that Tait's declaration deserves to command our respect.

Likewise, Francis Fukuyama, in his most recent book The Great Disruption, acknowledges the importance of religion to the maintenance of moral values. He argues - quite properly in my opinion - that religion is not the only guardian of moral values. But he also underlines that its contribution to what he calls 'social capital' is very great. Looking to the future, Fukuyama writes: "Instead of community arising as a by-product of rigid belief, people will come to belief because of their desire for community. In other words, people will return to religious tradition not necessarily because they accept the truth of revelation, but precisely because the absence of community and the transience of social ties in the secular world make them hungry for ritual and cultural tradition."

It is an interesting thought and one we should ponder as we seek to assess what it is that holds this world of ours together. For the use of the term 'social capital', so popular now in sociological writing, actually points to something that voluntary organisations, churches and other religious communities have always been offering. That is to say, the power of association, friendship and belonging.

So, let me explicitly recognise and pay tribute to the great contribution your organisations make to the social capital of this country. But let me specifically concentrate upon the special role of churches in the community and pick out several features.

First, the family. In the Christian faith the family has a special place. That the union of husband and wife and their children is not merely one form of family life but the ideal of family life. Let me quote Fukuyama again: "It is not clear that there is a good substitute for reproduction outside nuclear families and this in turn explains why changes in family structure have been so consequential for social capital" (38). He goes on to explain that fostering the healthy social capital of any community depends upon the health of all those bonds which transcend individualism: love and loyalty to the family; friendship and bonding in church life; and the many associations which form community. And these vigorous forms of community living, he argues, form strong defensive barriers against crime, vandalism and racism by increasing the social capital of virtues like honesty, goodness, kindness and respect.

Now, of course, not all intimate associations increase social capital. There are families which are destructive. Equally there are others where the ties of kinship are so strong that they work against the community. The Mafia is a case in point where the code of honour and trust stops at the family. Outside, you trust no one else. But these are distortions of a pattern for life which, at heart, is positive. We as churches should do all we can to sustain this kind of sharing for the greater good of our society.

Likewise, of course, there are those selfish associations of people that do nothing except for themselves and diminish rather than increase the stock of social capital. But, at our best we are open communities, reaching out into the world; eager to be growing families, eager to embrace and include. William Temple was correct to describe the church as the "only organisation that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members." That is to say, we are essentially missionary bodies: we are eager to share our life, witness to our beliefs, and to be available to all.

And that leads me into a second area of important work for the Church, and indeed for us all: namely, work with young people. The Bishop of Chelmsford, in his 'Millennium Charge' to the Diocese last November spoke about the importance of young people and insisted that "young people are not the church of the future but of the present." He will agree with me that our young people are not only the Church of the present, but they are the society of the present, as well. We must ensure that they are protected and taught and nurtured well - for everybody's sake. Too many are sleeping rough in our cities and towns; too many young men cannot get work; too many children still go to school hungry. The answer is not charity or a return to the Victorian Workhouse, but a genuine sharing of resources, with all of us offering from the social capital I spoke of earlier. I am delighted to know that you have two youth centres in the Chelmsford Diocese - at St Mark's Audley End and Ashelden - that devote themselves to sharing their 'capital' with the young society of the present.

In church life too we must strive even harder to focus on children and young people and make them a focus for our endeavours. Last year I shared in a marvellous youth event called 'Time of Our Lives'. It brought together several thousand young people from our dioceses in a weekend celebration of faith. A number said to me how good it was to have their concerns heard at that weekend and to feel valued rather than merely tolerated. It reminded me yet again of the idealism, faith and hope of young people. I believe we need to make a new pledge to our young people. We need to say to them: "You matter to us because you matter to God. Let us work together and find new ways of serving one another." The practical implications of such a pledge will demand some hard choices - including choices about priorities for resources. It will also demand new kinds of co-operation. But the benefits can be significant. Christianity began as a young people's revolution. Jesus embraced the young and said, "of such is the kingdom of heaven." We dare do no less.

I have spoken about being a society moving 'Towards' a common goal; I have reflected upon the nature of the truly 'Wise' society. Now allow me to speak for just a moment about the society that is 'Just'.

One of the things that will strike you about youngsters is their sense of fair play. "That's not fair!" we will hear them cry. Young people are among the first to sniff out hypocrisy a mile away. That sensitivity to what is just and honest is a valuable commodity that should be cherished in any worthwhile community. It was the great Augustine who said 1600 years ago: "Take away justice and what are kingdoms but mighty bands of robbers." That is why justice is so pivotal to democracy, to a decent society, and to the ordering of community life. But this, in turn, demands from us all - especially from those of us in public life - rigorous standards of behaviour and conduct. We must do right and be seen to be doing right. For just ways of living demand that.

This is why morality, for Christians, is indivisible; after all, at the end of a service, we do not say go in peace to love and serve the Lord - except at work or in your private life. The idea that we can switch off concerns when we venture from hearth and home, or switch them on in public but off in private, is nonsense. So I think it is pretty clear from my viewpoint that no matter how you try to untangle the knot, morality and politics remain bound together tightly.

It is clear that, in terms of media interest, questions of personal and public morality often begin and end with sex. The question has been asked often enough whether in the Church's view sexual sins have any relevance to standards in public life. I do not believe they can be disregarded - issues of deceit and betrayal are often involved and they are infectious. The question reasonably arises in the public mind, why should we have confidence in someone in public life who cannot be trusted not to cheat in their private life. The point is not just that bad private behaviour leaves the individual vulnerable (for instance to media intrusion), but that it undermines the respect that we need to have for politicians if they are to enjoy our confidence.

But justice also demands that an honourable society protects the weak and gives opportunities of education and human rights to all. It seeks to put right anything that challenges the principle of equality, whether in the eyes of the law, or in the way we treat each other.

But because we live in a global village that sense of fair play should pervade the way in which we see the world. Back in November, I went to Washington to work with the President of the World Bank towards a common goal: seeking to find new ways of bringing together world religions and global financial authorities in the cause of international development. It is an exciting and unique initiative. No Christian, indeed, no caring person of whatever faith or none, can be casual about a world in which there are such inequalities. 1.3 billion people live on under one dollar a day; 3 billion people live on under two dollars a day. In Africa, you will find two thirds of the world's 33 million cases of HIV/AIDS. In Africa too 1.5 billion people lack access to safe water and 2.4 million children die each year of water-borne diseases.

These figures are simply appalling and it is not enough for us to get concerned when suddenly another catastrophe is shown on our television screens. That is why the cancellation of unpayable debt has been taken up by the churches in such a powerful way. Jubilee 2000 has been very effective in drawing attention to the vast discrepancies between third and first worlds.

But cancellation of debt must also be part of a wider goal; to reduce abject world poverty by 50% by 2015. That will be difficult to achieve, but not impossible. Just as reducing illiteracy, empowering women and offering people the basics of dignity and hope are not impossible. Here let me pay tribute both to the Chancellor and to the Secretary of State for International Development who have helped to keep these issues alive on the world's agenda. They, in their turn, have underlined the significant contribution of the Churches and other faith communities.

Well, let me draw to a conclusion. You may have noticed that in setting out some thoughts and challenges regarding the 'Wise and Just Society', I have sketched a trajectory with a clear direction: away from the self, the individual, and towards the greater world. This is no accident. For while we each pride ourselves on our individual achievements and successes, we were not created to live in isolation. We were meant to live in community, caring for each other and the world around us. This is not to suggest that being a community is easy. Far from it! Community requires struggle and negotiation and compromise - but above all, it demands openness and mutual respect.

The German philosopher Schilling once remarked: "A person grows as he sets higher goals." That is true also of communities, societies, and nations. Let us strive ever forward 'Towards a Wise and Just Society' which can - and, for the sake of our children, must be - ours.