The Liturgy of "Ohhh Jeremy Corbyn"

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Are you unsettled by the chanting of Oh Jeremy Corbyn to White Stripes? I know I am.  I suppose you have admire the political genius of it all AND it is not as indigestible as the last adoption of a pop song by "New" Labour - 'Things Can Only Get Better' (by D:Ream).  It's very very catchy and I can imagine that even dear old Jacob Rees-Mogg has found himself whistling it, even if in ridicule. 

Yet, this troubles me. This because I cannot help wonder when does such adulation begin to border on worship and a personality cult? What does this adulation do to the psyche of a person in high office? It cannot be good for the ego? Furthermore, what I do not understand with Jeremy Corbyn is why he has allowed this to go on? He must be aware of the pitfalls. How does he square this mass singing of his name with his supposed humble exterior? What astonishes me is that in this video clip his understated response is to talk of this as  'very touching'. 

Last week the crowds at the Labour Party Conference had a White Stripes moment as the leader took the podium. What was interesting in those brief seconds of filming was watching those who obviously felt uncomfortable singing this. The same discomfort revealed itself when clenched fists were zealously raised at the Red Flag to conclude his oration.  So what happens to those lukewarm and worried individuals - some from what I could see on the TV were or have been big beasts in the Party?


I suppose that I could be accused of hypocrisy since religious people chant divine names all the time. The point is that these names are divine, not human. The Christian Church has for centuries of checks and balances on this sort of thing. The Bible gives a very careful grammar on who we are to raise adulation to. Essentially, in its strictest interpretation - no one bar God himself. We are in the words of the Second Commandment not to bow down to a graven image. Likewise, in the Third Commandment, we should not take the name of God in vain. This more than just employing God's name for profanity - it is about how we associate the name of God with our own schemes. 

The prophets warn Israel's Judges not to have a king but the masses are too keen to ape other nations. Reluctantly the Lord God gives in and the Old Testament story is a witness to some really rotten monarchs. When the perfect King, the Christ Messiah arrives he does from time to time receive adulation. However, Jesus seems particularly reticent about whipping up the crowd and withdraws when people tried to make him King. The Gospels in themselves are a warning to history that the man who is given adulation one week can find himself the next week in the middle of a hate fest. 

Paul says 'At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue confess him, Lord of all' (Philippians 2.10) So I suppose I would sing 'Ohh Jesus Christ' to White Stripes but NOT to any earthly man or woman, and sorry Jeremy not to you.

In the singing that is worship or borders as worship, I am giving of myself more fully. I am in a way vulnerable. This is not something that I do not do casually. The thought of being carried away with a crowd makes me nervous. It also feels a bit un-British.


This why the Church's liturgy - its official services - creates a kind of considered language -  a framework for my worship to fit in. Like a kite in the wind the Liturgy, both holds me back and lets me go. It allows me to flourish in naming Jesus out loud without destroying my personality. I can rise. It invites me to do this carefully and acknowledges that I have the right and duty to question why I am doing this. It suggests "creative doubt" but does not push mass hysteria. In this way the Liturgy is a courtship, a slow process where we freely have to decide whether or not we can go forward. This to me contrasts with using a politician's name for chant and is much healthier.

"The ancient liturgy, with its poignant symbols and innumerable subtleties, is a prolonged courtship of the soul, enticing and drawing it onwards, leading it along a path to the mystical marriage, the wedding feast of heaven. " Peter Kwasniewski - Liturgist






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