Good afternoon. Our first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is Dr Amanullah De Sondy, who is a senior lecturer in contemporary Islam in University College Cork’s study of religions department.
Good afternoon.
“We’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns.” That saying continues to grow stronger in its ability to bring us together in Scottish society. In a world in which divisions often lead to violence and death, we all seek ways of building bridges between us, no matter how large the perceived gulfs.
It may have been that very Scottish tradition to bridge to the unknown that led me to the USA six years ago. Having just completed my PhD at the University of Glasgow, I was ready for a challenge and so I crossed the pond.
The experience made me realise a lot more. Building bridges is a difficult business. Critical inquiry, such as we do in the academy, may lead to stronger bridges, but it can also make obvious the option of leaving a bridge well enough alone. It took me six years to realize that America is not the place in which I wanted to grow old as an academic. Do not get me wrong—I enjoyed living there, but there came a point at which I just could not bear being so far from Scotland.
For the past six years I have watched First Minister’s questions. Being an academic, I have thought about these things a little too much. Reflecting on the chamber’s structure, I see a semicircle of unity—a bridge, one might say—that brings together all the MSPs in the chamber, yet they are far from united. Each party contributes to the glorious colours of the Scottish Parliament, but at the end of the day each holds its own convictions.
As an ethnically Pakistani Muslim, I hold the conviction that Islam is the correct path to God for me, but I understand that that particular bridge—a religious bridge—is not for everyone. I have come to rejoice in the predicament of our colours. The impulse must always be to construct peaceful bridges between people, but surely that cannot mean losing sight of our own convictions. That is, indeed, the Scottish and the Pakistani way, for me.
The path of critical inquiry, and those difficult questions that trouble even the existence of God, are the very foundations of the way in which we think and connect as Scots. It is a way of thinking that builds upon our Scottish enlightenment giants, who taught us to build bridges but to hold strong to our convictions, even if they mark certain bridges as being clearly outside our own individual paths. What is common to us all is that we have no use for flimsy connections. When superficial bridges are built on platitudes and politically correct statements, they are of no use to humans or God. God bless Scotland.
Next
Business Motions