East Leake Evangelical Church

East Leake, South Nottinghamshire

The State of our Nation 06/03

THE ANSWER TO PREJUDICE IS PREJUDICE

It is an amazing day when the gay historian and atheist David Starkey says something that is in line with Christian thinking, but that has happened this week.  He argued on BBC’s Question Time that ‘penalising Christians for their beliefs about homosexual behaviour is intolerant, oppressive and tyrannical’.  His assessment is absolutely correct.

Yet this week a Christian couple, who have faced difficulties in their application to Derby City Council to become foster parents because of their views on homosexuality, were refused permission by the High Court to challenge the Council’s approach.  The judges pointed out that Parliament has enacted equality laws containing competing legal rights such as those based on sexual orientation and those based on religious beliefs.

This is partly an issue of badly framed law and policy being pushed through in Parliament and ministers ignoring advice given that predicted these exact outcomes.  Similar confusions exist in other areas of legislation that have been designed to prevent discrimination.  People involved in education can highlight a number of instances.  There have been numerous comments about this aspect in the Media over the past week.

But there is another aspect that we must note.  The judges also made the following comments, “There is no place in British law for Christian beliefs, despite the country’s long history of religious observance and the traditions of the Established Church.”  They argued that ‘Britain was a largely secular and multi-cultural country in which the laws of the realm do not include Christianity’.  So it is alright to be a Christian on a private basis but do not expect the law to defend what you believe.

In the same week President Obama made decisions that may well lead to the acceptance of same-sex marriage across the USA.  A famous actress complained that children in Britain are being brought up with no morals.  And Natalie Portman, an actress, won an Oscar for her portrayal of a character in a film called the Black Swan who engages in much that is sordid and unseemly as she explores what is euphemistically called ‘the black side of her personality’.  A review of the film complained that many young girls are being encouraged by magazines and films to explore this ‘dark side’ and so to engage in the most dreadful moral corruptions.

It all shows the depravity and decline of Western society and Britain in particular.  How has this come about?  Let me suggest three things that might give some explanation.

  • A Particular View and Emphasis about History – One of the ideological drivers of the changes in our society’s thinking has been the idea that history reveals a progressive liberation of those who have suffered oppression.  Anyone studying Social Sciences will have heard this argument.  The idea is that history is slowly moving towards justice and fairness in the behaviour of men.  So they site all manner of social changes – slavery, emancipation of women, racial integration and civil rights, better treatment of the mentally ill, and so on.

At the back of this idea is the notion that we are slowly evolving morally and are superior to previous generations.  Of course, it is a distorted view of history and ignores many of the factors that led to those changes that we would not complain about in any way.  It also turns a blind eye to the social injustices of our own day that would shock our forefathers.

 

But it leads to a particularly supportive approach to homosexuality, for instance, and also to an unreasonable and distorted rejection of religion, and especially Christianity.

  • An Extreme View of Individualism – The concept of personal individualism is central to much of the thinking of our age.  Human rights, individual liberty to choose one’s own lifestyle and beliefs, and personal responsibility are all loudly proclaimed.  But for many people it goes even further.  Many believe that they have the absolute right to define themselves.  Personal identity is a matter of individual choice.

In previous generations a number of factors went into determining a person’s identity, not least being the relationship with God.  Some of those factors have thankfully been removed, but so also have the issues of community value and more significantly the influence of the Divine.

  • The Dismissal of Moral Absolutes – The idea that we live in a moral universe which is ruled by a moral law given by a Divine Judge and Lawgiver has long been discarded.  Now all moral principles are being seen as the outcome of social constructs.  This relativism does not just affect individual thinking but as a consequence of evolutionary thought it is also seen to be dominant in social values as well.  The voice of the people is the determining factor.  Sadly it is usually a small liberal intellectual elite who dominate the Media and have an excessive influence on popular thinking.

These influential ways of thinking have gained ground as the influence of Judeo-Christian thought (based on Biblical thinking) has declined.  The greater problem is why has this change taken place?  William Cowper explained that in the most profound way -  “When nations are to perish in their sins, ‘tis in the church the leprosy begins”.  In other words the only hope for our nation is reformation and revival within the church.  This week declares that fact more powerfully than ever.  Then we must apply ourselves to prayer that God may help us.  “Our help is the name of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.”