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Brown calls for 'moral society' | |
(about 10 hours later) | |
Gordon Brown has been setting out his vision for a society governed by a shared "moral sense". | |
The prime minister was addressing the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. | |
It is 20 years since Margaret Thatcher gave her "Sermon on the Mound" at the Assembly, arguing a theological basis for her free market thinking. | |
Mr Brown, whose father was a Kirk minister, said he shared the church's "enduring vision of the good society". | |
The prime minister said he had never forgotten the lessons he learned in the Kirkcaldy parish manse he grew up in. | |
We are not moral strangers but there is a shared moral sense common to us all Gordon BrownPrime Minister | |
He added: "Like so many here today, my father lived on a ministerial stipend. | |
"But he also brought us up to believe that the size of your wealth mattered less than the strength of your character; that a life of joy and fulfilment could be lived in the service of others; and that to be tested by adversity is not a fate to be feared but a challenge to be overcome. | |
"We find that from the timeless wisdom of all the great religions - from which billions across the world derive daily inspiration - there is a consistent ethical core that propels us to act encapsulated in the golden rule that informs not just Christianity and Judaism but also Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam - showing that we are not moral strangers but there is a shared moral sense common to us all." | |
Mr Brown argued that the joining together of the information revolution and the human urge to co-operate for justice made it possible for the first time in history for the dream of a truly global society to be realised. | |
He called for people everywhere to discover their shared values, communicate with each other and join together with people in other countries in a "single moral universe to bring about change". | |
'Mighty stream' | |
"This is the irrepressible revolution of our time - a billion voices for change. And I'd like to think that acting together we can become the generation to address climate change," he said. | |
"Acting together, the first generation in the history of mankind to abolish illiteracy and give every child the right to education; acting together, the first generation to eradicate tuberculosis, polio, diphtheria, malaria on the way to eradicating HIV/Aids. | |
"And to honour the dream of the scriptures: that justice will roll like water and righteousness like a mighty stream." | |
Mrs Thatcher won few converts in Scotland when, at a time when industry was being hard hit, she quoted St Paul saying: "If a man will not work he shall not eat." | Mrs Thatcher won few converts in Scotland when, at a time when industry was being hard hit, she quoted St Paul saying: "If a man will not work he shall not eat." |
When she had finished, the then moderator presented her with Kirk reports on housing and poverty, interpreted by many as a polite rebuke. | |
Mr Brown's spokesman said that nothing should be read into the fact that the prime minister's speech came 20 years after Lady Thatcher's famous address. | |
The General Assembly runs until 21 May. | The General Assembly runs until 21 May. |