Radicalism of Diggers and Levellers not dead in Scotland
Religion important to social justice, says writer Alastair McIntosh
Theology has played an important part in securing social justice in Scotland, according to new research by the Quaker writer Alastair McIntosh. Alastair, along with fellow researcher Rutger Henneman, found that religious factors had played a major part in the run-up to the Land Reform (Scotland) Act in 2003. They say that ‘biblical challenges to landlordism can help to legitimise land reform’.
Alastair insists that the influence of Christian theology on radical land reform movements did not end with the nineteenth century. He suggests that ideas such as ‘the Earth is the Lord’s’ can still have great relevance, even in a largely secular country.
The researchers quote Donald Macleod of the Free Church of Scotland, who said that land reform is ‘driven by the most irresistible of all forces: the divine spark of discontent’.
Others involved in land reform said that they found a spiritual dimension to their campaigns through a deep sense of connectedness with the land, even if they did not think of this in explicitly religious terms.
The link between theology and land reform goes back a long way for Friends. In 1649, Gerard Winstanley, who later became one of the first Quakers, insisted that the Earth had been created as ‘a common treasury’ and that ‘not one word was spoken in the beginning that one branch of mankind should rule over another’.
‘We are living in an era where theology has a new-found political relevance’, said Alistair, ‘but often in regressive ways. Our research hints at progressive possibilities that help to regenerate communities and give life.’
He added that the radicalism of ‘the early days of the Diggers, Levellers and Quakers is not dead yet. It inspires us in Scotland and may spread again in England.’
