Are Churches Losing Relevancy?

A letter to the editor that appeared in our local paper asked whether or not churches are relevant in today's social/political landscape. You can read the letter here and I offer my response below:

By Marlon Bartram
I'm sure religion and church still play very important roles in lives of many people on an individual level, but as a force in society I would have to say it has indeed lost relevance. A perfect example can be found in their non-response to the issue of abortion.

There’s a story that has become known as “Sing a Little Louder” in which pro life activist Penny Lea tells of what an old man tearfully told her after a pro life presentation she gave some years ago. The man lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust and attended a small church situated near a set of railroad tracks.

After the extermination of the Jews began, the tracks behind the church were used to transport loads of moaning, screaming Jewish people to their horrific destiny. Church members, disturbed by the sounds coming from the train but unsure of how to react, learned that if they just sang a little louder the disturbing cries would be drowned out, and their consciences eased.

Today, church leaders avoid speaking about abortion so that no one sitting in the pews donating dollars is disturbed or offended. Their bands play loud praise and worship music and much singing and clapping ensues.

Meanwhile just a few blocks away, tiny unborn babies and the deceived women who carry them meet their own horrific destiny. In a few brief moments of suction-powered violence, babies are dismembered to death and women are sentenced to live forever with the fact that their own child has been lost.

Only a small handful of our 99 churches dare to get involved and speak out against the taking of innocent human life in our community. The rest turn a blind eye, refusing to acknowledge the tragedy in our midst. It seems they would rather just sing a little louder.

Harper, Oh Harper What Have You Done?

How many times can one man be let down before you call him a fool?

For years, social conservatives across Canada have supported Prime Minister Harper, all the while hoping that the other side is right and he does have a “hidden agenda” to advance pro life legislation and restrict the practice of child-killing in Canada. Well if he does have such an agenda, he is doing a great job of keeping it hidden.

The fact that our Parliament failed to enact legislation protecting vulnerable women who choose to give life to their babies is one thing, watching Stephen Harper turn his back on these women and vote against the legislation is quite another.

You know, we can accept defeats. We have become accustomed to losing political battles. We reason that it took a couple of centuries and countless lost battles before the abolitionist movement brought full legal protection to black human beings, so surely we will lose many battles before we are successful in bringing full legal protection to unborn human beings.

Losses such as the defeat of Roxanne’s Law, although very disappointing, don’t deter us. We take them in stride. We take the hit, feel the sting, and get right back up to fight another day. No matter how many times we get knocked down, we won’t turn our backs on our unborn brothers and sisters, nor the mothers duped and coerced into killing them, ever.

We should learn, however, to turn our backs on politicians who string us along. Politicians who give us just enough scraps to keep us interested, but who will never deliver on what we really want.

I have supported and defended Harper through it all - his continual insistence that he will never “reopen” (as if it is closed) the abortion debate, his weak-kneed and avoidant responses to inquiries about his position on abortion, and his ever-present eagerness to appease the centre and centre-left – but voting against such common-sense, pro-woman legislation like Roxanne’s Law? Sorry Mr. Harper, but that is something I just can’t stomach right now.

I know this government has done some good things, and I acknowledge and appreciate them. I know the alternatives are much worse. I know we vote for our M.P. and not our P.M., but this changes things. Before the vote on Roxanne’s Law, I strongly believed Stephen Harper was the best person to lead the Conservative Party and Canada.

Now, not so much.