Sermon on the Mound
"Sermon on the Mound" is the name given by the Scottish press to an address made by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on Saturday, 21 May 1988.
[4] In Scotland, Thatcher was particularly unpopular, and in the 1987 general election, the Conservatives lost more than half of their seats north of the border.
[a] The assembly had convened for its first session of the year at 10 a.m. but paused its business to allow the timing of the Prime Minister's address to coincide with the television schedule.
[10] The Margaret Thatcher Foundation, which reproduces the full text of the speech on its website, characterises the nickname "Sermon on the Mound" as tasteless.
"[15] Choice played a significant part in Thatcherite reforms, and she claimed it as a Christian value by linking it with the idea that Christ chose to lay down his life and that all individuals have the God-given right to choose between good and evil.
[20] When Thatcher finished speaking, the Moderator, James Whyte, formally presented her with church reports on homelessness, poverty and social security, which was interpreted in the press as a polite rebuke.
[21] One of these, entitled Just Sharing: a Christian Approach to the Distribution of Wealth, Income and Benefits, advocated heavy taxation on the rich and a revived Beveridge Report for the poor.
[24] The following day, the professor of practical theology at Edinburgh University, Duncan B. Forrester, objected on Radio Forth that the church had never countenanced the idea of an "individualist's paradise".
Much resentment was caused by the message "If a man will not work, he shall not eat" from a prime minister who had presided over an unprecedented rise in unemployment.
[11] Holding this speech before the Scottish church at a time when the Conservative party had just lost seats in Scotland and Thatcher's approval ratings north of the border were particularly low has been described as "political suicide".
[14] One journalist recalls: "It's said that this speech marked the beginning of the end for Conservative rule in Scotland, with many voices raised in opposition to what they regarded as an alien creed that abused classic Christian ideas in an effort to fashion a political manifesto.
"[11] In 1989, the novelist Jonathan Raban made a detailed analysis of the address using the methodology of literary criticism, in particular studying how the vocabulary resonates with the language of English Methodism and of Scottish Presbyterianism, as well as its place in Thatcher's own political rhetoric.
Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of Her Majesty's Government, being present, was invited to address the General Assembly.
The following reasons for dissent were adduced: -- The Moderator then welcomed the Prime Minister, invited her to address the General Assembly, and thereafter thanked her and presented her with a memento of her visit.
