Stephen Lowe was an archdeacon in Sheffield diocese when I was ordained in Sheffield cathedral back in '86. Nice to see what he has said about I vow to Thee my Country. I once disuaded a couple from having it at their wedding [he was an soldier, I think] on the basis that it was not sufficiently Christian for a wedding [not helped in my case by the fact that some hymn books include it]. I did once come across an alternative set of words to the same glorious tune; began something like "I/We give to you our Saviour ...". Anyone know it 'cos I'd love to find those words again. Probably from Spring Harvest in the late 80's or very early 90's.
Anyway +Stephen says that the hymn appeared to call for "unquestioning allegiance to what a country does, whether right or wrong. In particular, people's views on our involvement in Iraq may be at odds with government. In a democracy, we need to be critical of government."
Quite so.
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