Saturday 29 May 2010

"Going towards the role of a god"

Well now that we're firmly into life in "Coalition Britain" I thought it was time to pick up the digital quill again, so to speak.

I suppose the nature of a blog like this one necessarily picks up on things controversial. I trust that I don't treat such topics for the sake of it. My intention is more to draw attention to trends and developments that have the potential to shape our society and think about how we the church might respond.

From a Christian perspective, one of the most serious and controversial developments in recent days was the Marie-Stopes advert on Channel Four on Monday evening. Although the advert didn't directly encourage abortion, the implications were all there. Airing such an advert at any time, but especially at that time of the evening has the effect of "normalising" abortion - if such ever really can be normalised. Unfortunately "Are you late? Marie-Stopes can help" becomes as normal as "You should have gone to SpecSavers". By "normalising" something so serious in this way - and what young women like those in the advert are feeling when they unexpectedly fall pregnant should never be reduced to a soundbite and an offer to contact an abortion agency all in the space of a 32 second advert - you can end up trivialising it.

To claim that the advert didn't actually promote abortion is rather empty. After all, the only reason anyone advertises anything is to persuade them to take a particular course of action - to promote a service or product. "Promotion" is a very fitting term for what was happening here and it reveals a sea change that has taken place in the way various ethical issues are now presented. There was a time when, it was claimed, people merely sought permission to live a certain lifestyle or to practise certain things - hence the term permissive society. However, we're a long way from the permissive society now. Permission has given way to promotion. And "normalising" seems to me to be the launch pad for promotion. You can see similar developments with the way in which euthanasia is presented. One can only hope that promotion does not eventually become prescription.

One of the heartening things about the abortion ad issue was that one could hear similarly critical voices coming from both the right and left.

Bonnie Leander Johnson's piece in The Guardian was thoughtful and to my mind very perceptive. She raised some of the real issues surrounding the subject; some Christians who lean more to the right could learn a lot from the way she articulates her views and concerns. Some good links here to articles from a secular perspective questioning what has now become a seemingly out of control industry.

Ed West in The Telegraph had a good discussion about what it tells us about the land we live in, pointing out the hideousness of the advert being shown during a game show: "Make a fortune and have an abortion". It's the stuff not worthy even of a bad taste black comedy.

How ironic that at a time when we're promoting the destruction of unborn life, we are also celebrating the creation of synthetic life.

According to Julian Savulescu, a professor of ethics at Oxford University, the brains behind the creation, Craig Venter, " is creaking open the most profound door in humanity's history, potentially peeking into its destiny. He is not merely copying life artificially ... or modifying it radically by genetic engineering. He is going towards the role of a god: creating artificial life that could never have existed naturally."

What a strange world. So creative yet at the same time so destructive. I've just finished watching a family movie Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs. It's a little morality tale about a boy who is told he'll never amount to anything yet longs to be a scientist. He succeeds with an invention which brings about a kind of food paradise. But the paradise quickly turns into a kind of hell. In the end he has to destroy the monster he created and save the world.

That really is the story of the world. And it's one worth reminding ourselves of at such a strange time in history. One man thought he could become like God and create an even greater paradise. In the event, he unleashed the forces of hell. And One Man came from heaven into that hell to redeem the race from destruction. Whatever way things go in our society, we can be sure that One Man from heaven will prevail in the end.

You can view the Marie-Stopes advert here and Venter's talk at TED here .

CareConfidential is a helpful resource for anyone who is struggling to face up to an unplanned pregnancy or is trying to deal with post abortion issues.

Monday 3 May 2010

Awkwardness, Anger, Grumpiness - and the call to leadership

By this time next week we might well have a new government or at least the haggling between the parties in the event of a hung parliament will be well under way.

The efforts of Christians who want to mobilise their faith community to influence national affairs has been admirable; I was one of tens of thousands who signed the Westminster Declaration.

I think, however, that as we enter the final phases and then the aftermath of the election campaign we should reflect on what sorts of things we should be doing if we really want to have an impact on our communities.

One thing that I believe is important is that we think again about the whole concept of leadership, especially in the political sphere - though what I say here applies to other apsects of life as well.

When you read the cvs and backgrounds of the leaders of the main parties, one of the first things to strike you is how incredibly clever they all are. And they often come from well-connected backgrounds. It can leave you with the impression that you have to be a high flyer at university or in business to be an effective leader. I would suggest that this is reinforced in Christian circles because we add to the mix an undefined but intense sense of calling and destiny. For most people that sets the bar way above anything they could ever aspire to, and therefore they disqualify themselves from taking an active part in the affairs of their community.

Perhaps we need to think about leadership in terms of a determination to get things done for the good of the people amongst whom we live. That is why I have posted the above video. Councillor Jenkins might not ever become leader of the Liberal Democrats. He might not hold high office in national politics. But it's peple like him who actually get things done in local communities. And to my mind he has highlighted some of the qualities needed to get those things done. Awakardness, anger and gumpiness aren't the most attractive qualities in the world, but sometimes they belie a real concern about the bread and butter issues of every day life. A career in local politics might just be a way to redeem them!

Sometimes as Christians we take on huge issues - sometimes in a very confrontational way - and whilst we might bring a prophetic dimension into the politics of the nation, our influence is often minimal and ultimately we change very little. Certainly, some people are called to that kind of role and I for one would not try to dissuade them. However, if we were to encourage people to become involved in local politics in the mainline parties and begin to build a reputation for getting things done, maybe, just maybe, we would position ourselves better to discuss some of the bigger issues that concern us. It is often the case that what really does concern people are things like the state of the pavements, or the lack of children's play facilities in the local park, or drug dealing taking place in the local church car park after hours (not by the church members, one hopes). Dealing with such matters certainly helps create an environment in which we can live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness (1 Timothy 2.1).

So if you've been feeling a bit negative about the whole political process, why not at least consider what you could do to translate your frustration into something positive. You never know, what you thought were a clutch of negative emotions might be a call to local politics.