No special defence
Today has seen the first ‘Not Ashamed’ day here in the UK. I’m not sure where to begin in trying to outline my unsease with the whole project. But why not with this:
The 1st December has long been established as World Aids Day. So it seems pretty bad manners to launch something you want to garner national press attention on the same day. Either bad manners, or perhaps it indicates an ignorance of the meaning of World Aids day for humanity worldwide.
But mainly, I really object to people of faith, not just my own, who make demands on the democracy in which they live for ‘special defence’. Get over it.
Did God demand special defence? Or did God mix it up with us in all our mixed up ways, laws and cultures?
Giles Fraser gave a ‘Thought for the Day’ that touched on this issue way back on the 16th of March 2006. (Go to the listing of his ‘Thoughts’ here and scroll down to the entry for 16/03/2006. The transcript is here.)
In summary he argued that the Christian God is not a God who needs protecting from humiliation. The incarnation speaks against that notion through all its messy engagement. Fraser concludes:
No, those grim-faced, placard-waving Christians who get so easily outraged give the impression that they’re trying to transform Christianity into something that it’s not - a wholesome and protected space that affords sanctuary from a rude and nasty world. This, emphatically, is not the earthy religion of the word made flesh. For a religion that finds the almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, beginning human life in a smelly cowshed should never to be so easily offended.
Those who are championing the ‘I’m not Ashamed’ campaign are, I think, attempting to create such a ‘protected space’. They are, in some senses, denying the incarnation.
Get real. Please.
