What’s In A Name? 名稱有何意思？

The latest point of discussion for Hong Kong has been brought about by Beijing’s decision to re-shape the political landscape of Hong Kong to ensure that there will be no opportunity for an anti-Beijing political movement to take control of the legislature and Chief Executive election. And while there has yet to emerge a clear picture of exactly what shape this will take, there has been considerable discussion of the intention for Hong Kong to be led by patriots at all levels of political responsibility. Questions have circled the issue of what constitutes a patriot. Opinions have swung widely from those who would say it must include having love and respect for the CCP, to those who suggest that some among the former group of democrats might qualify as patriots.

The debate on patriotism has also caused ripples in the UK where the Labour Party leader Keir Starmer has said that he considers himself to be a patriot, much to the disgust of the former leader Jeremy Corbyn to whom the very term seems to be anathema to the whole idea of UK socialism. Most dictionary definitions will speak about patriotism in its simplest form as ‘love for one’s country’ but others will also include loyalty to the leadership of the country in addition. In real-life situations, these definitions will clearly be coloured by the political system being be adopted by the country and the political climate prevailing at the time.

 The prevailing cultural and political climate was also a factor affecting the development of the early church in New Testament times. Followers of Jesus sometimes referred to themselves collectively as ‘The Way’, or others referred to them as the ‘sect of the Nazarenes’. But it wasn’t until they had become firmly established at their base in Antioch in the Greco-Roman setting of Asia Minor that they began to stand out as a distinct community. In some ways, the distinction was not a flattering one, but one of disdain. It was at Antioch that believers ‘began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. (Acts 11)’. The use of the word ‘Lord’ three times in these verses should give us some indication of the good news that was being preached and the impact it was having in the city. To many in the city, the believers were seen negatively as those who were worshipping another Lord rather than the Greek gods or Caesar. So later in the same chapter, Luke records that ‘the disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.’, and the implication is that it was not a term that they had chosen for themselves but which was being spoken against them by others. The apostle Peter draws the same inference when he says to the believers. ‘However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name’ (1 Peter 4). For the early church, it was an insult to be called a Christian. 

Yes, words and names do change their meaning determined by the context of their setting, but it is unlikely that the early Christians would have qualified as patriots. Indeed, later on in their history, they became easy targets for Nero to blame for the burning of Rome even though they were innocent. For the majority of us in Hong Kong who are not involved in government or politics, the question of patriotism is unlikely to have great consequences in the short term, but many of us will be stirred by the debate to reflect on our feelings of loyalty to Jesus and Hong Kong. This is not a simple issue, even when the question of ultimate priority has been firmly decided in our mind. As the political landscape shifts and expectations of society increase, we can expect this kind of reflection to be more frequent as we try to resolve the inevitable tensions that will arise.

近期香港社會的關注，在於北京決定重塑香港的政治面貌，確保任何反北京的政治運動，都不會有機會控制立法會和行政長官選舉。同時，雖然我們並不清楚北京將會如何重塑，但社會上議論紛紛，關注北京背後的用意是在各個政治層面上都由「愛國者治港」；其中不少疑問都圍繞著「愛國者」的意思，有些意見認為愛國者必須敬愛和尊重中國共產黨，也有些意見認為民主派中的部分人士也可被視為愛國者，莫衷一是。

英國曾出現有關愛國主義的辯論，引起社會迴響。現任工黨黨魁施紀賢（Keir Starmer）認為自己是愛國者，但此說令前黨魁郝爾彬（Jeremy Corbyn）非常反感，因為他認為愛國者這個字是對英國社會主義觀念的咒詛。多數字典都將愛國主義簡單定義，取其「愛自己的國家」之意，有些則會補充「忠於國家領導」的意思。在現實生活中，這些定義顯然會加入該國政治制度的色彩，並受當時的政治氣候影響。

新約時代，文化和政治氣候也是影響早期教會發展的一大因素。耶穌的跟隨者有時會將自己統稱為「道路」，別人也會將他們視為「拿撒勒人教派」，不過要到他們在小亞細亞希羅處境中的安提阿站穩陣腳後，才真正成為出眾的群體──這樣的出眾不一定是褒義，亦可以帶有輕蔑的意思。信徒到了安提阿後，「也向希臘人傳講主耶穌的福音。主的手與他們同在，信而歸主的人數很多」（徒十一）。「主」字在這處經文中出現了三次，提醒我們曾有人宣講福音，而福音的影響也在城中出現。信徒惹來城中的人非議，認為他們敬拜其他主，而不敬拜希臘神明或凱撒；所以後來在同一章中，路加記述「門徒稱為『基督徒』是從安提阿開始」，其意思就是，基督徒不是他們為自己選擇的稱呼，而是別人對他們的負面命名。使徒彼得向信徒分享時，也提出同一推斷：「若有人因是基督徒而受苦，不要引以為恥，倒要因這名而歸榮耀給神。」（彼前四）對早期教會來說，基督徒的名稱是個侮辱。

的確，字詞和名稱的意思會視乎處境而改變，早期基督徒亦不可能有資格成為愛國者。其實，後來在他們的歷史上，他們也成為尼祿順手拈來的怪責對象，即使他們與羅馬帝國被焚之事無關。我們大多數處身香港的人，沒有參與政府事務或從政，愛國主義的問題在短期內都不會對我們構成重大影響，不過我們會受到這些討論刺激，反思自己對耶穌和香港的忠誠。即使我們已在心中決定了終極優次的問題，這個議題也絕不簡單。隨著政治面貌的改變和對社會的期望增加，加上我們嘗試疏解其中無可避免的張力時，這類反思預料會更常出現。