Plough Quarterly No. 25 - Solidarity, Gurney James, Katongole Emmanuel, Sacks Rabbi Jonathan

Whatever else they do, pandemics show us we are not alone. Covid-19 is proof that, yes, there is such a thing as society; the disease has spread precisely because we arent autonomous individuals disconnected from each other, but rather all belong to one great body of humanity. The pain inflicted by the pandemic is far from equally distributed. Yet it reveals ever more clearly how much we all depend on one another, and how urgently necessary it is for us to bear one anothers burdens.

Its a good time, then, to talk about solidarity. The more so because its a theme thats also raised by this years other major development, the international protests for racial justice following George Floyds death. The protests, too, raised the question of solidarity in guilt, even guilt across generations. By taking up our common guilt with all humanity, we come into solidarity with the one who bears it and redeems it all. In Christ, sins are forgiven, guilt abolished, and a new way of living together becomes possible. This solidarity in forgiveness gives rise to a life of love.