A Paper Spoken to by David
Kilgour
at a Panel Discussion Sponsored
by Augustine College and Redeemer
College
Saint Paul University Amphitheatre,
Ottawa, March 2, 1999
Two good questions have been
put to us three panelists
(others: Dr. Justin Cooper,
President, Redeemer College;
Dr. John Patrick, Professor,
Augustine College) so I’ll
attempt to deal with each
immediately. It is hopefully
clear to all that I’m
speaking in a personal capacity
rather than on behalf of the
government.
(1) What is the place
of Christian faith at the
end of the second millennium?
An answer at one level would
be that Christianity has probably
never been stronger around
the world since AD33. Statistically,
one reads estimates (source:
The Universal Almanac 1997
on World Religions) that there
are worldwide today 1.5 billion
Christians in a total population
of 5.8 billion. By region,
the estimates are: Europe
– 420 million; Latin
America – 392 million;
Africa – 236.3 million;
North America – 227.2
million; South Asia –
125.9 million; former USSR
– 102.2 million; East
Asia – 22.3 million;
Oceania – 21.5 million.
It has been my immense good
fortune to travel widely since
the Cold War ended in 1989.
In virtually every country
I’ve been, including
China, Vietnam, Malaysia and
Taiwan in Asia, Russia, Ukraine,
Belarus, Turkey, Bulgaria
and Albania in Europe, approximately
25 countries on the continent
of Africa and most nations,
large and small, in the Americas
(including the Caribbean),
I’ve been struck by the vigour, confidence and optimism
of local Christians.
This is not to say for a
moment that in some of these
lands Christians have it easy
– quite the contrary
– but at least there
is now more tolerance and
growing congregations even
if they must meet in secret
as in the days of the Roman
Empire. For example, several
of us Canadians were permitted
to speak of Christianity at
a private dinner with National
Peoples’ Congress officials
in the Beijing room of the
Great Hall of the People in
China’s capital. In Moscow,
the Christian Embassy of Canada
hosted a brunch for members
of the State Duma. One of
those attending had earlier
distributed Bibles to a fairly
large number of members of
the Russian army.
The collapse of ideological
competition has virtually
everywhere made it easier
for both Christians and other
faith communities. The "crisis
of the soul", to use
the phrase of Aleksandr Yakovlev
(the advisor to Mikhail Gorbachev
and former Ambassador to Canada),
which inflicted the Russian
people for decades has clearly
begun to change. There are
plenty of bumps on the road,
but an important process has
begun.
No one here needs to be reminded
that the persecution of Christians
is undiminished in other parts
of the world. A recent series
of very troubling articles
in the Ottawa Citizen by Bob
Harvey reminded us that fully
half the Christians who have
died for their faith since
AD33 probably have done so
since 1900. The estimate of
those martyred in the 20th
century is more than 35 million
– about 163,000 per year
at current levels. Harvey’s
recent pieces on the treatment
of Christians in Sudan have
distressed many readers of
the Citizen greatly.
If all Christian denominations
around the world were to speak
out everywhere with one voice
on this phenomenon, we’d
have a far greater impact
than speaking as individual
denominations. Why not establish
an inter-denominational task
force on persecution in all
countries with significant
Christian populations?
For Canada herself, a fair
answer to the question is
also difficult. None of us
is prevented legally from
practising our Christian faith.
The Charter of Rights protects
freedom of religion, but believers
of most faiths, including
our own, have plenty of constant
critics in the media and elsewhere.
In fairness, both the Ottawa
Citizen and the National
Post today show a good
deal of positive interest
in religious issues. Ottawa
Christian News is a welcome
addition to the scene as is
Ottawa Christian radio station
CHRI 99.1.
Statistically – they
are particularly dangerous
in the hands of politicians
– I understand that more
Canadians attend church services
weekly than sports events.
Lots who don’t are non-practising
believers, although others
would argue that it’s
impossible to be a Christian
all by yourself.
Last year, this community
enjoyed a very successful
crusade by Billy Graham and
members of many Christian
denominations worked to make
it a great success. In the
past two years or so, I’ve
seen two very large Evangelical
churches open in the Mill
Woods suburb of Edmonton.
One seats about 1,400 and
it was almost full at the
dedication service recently.
Some denominations, as we
know, are not growing; unfortunately,
some are even losing members.
A national opinion survey
in 1993 found that eight out
of ten Canadians believe in
God. Regular attendees of
religious services were more
likely than others to say
they are happy and satisfied
with their lives. The author
Ron Graham concluded in his
book, God’s Dominion,
several years ago that "for
all the talk of Canada as
a secular and materialistic
country there seems to be
more and more attention to
spiritual issues". Do
you not agree here too with C.S. Lewis: "I have discovered
that the people who believe
most strongly in the next
life do the most good in the
present one."?
In summary then, this is
the place of the Christian
faith at the end of the second
millennium as I see it.
(2) How will Christians
engage the issues of politics
and society in the third millennium?
A short answer here is "carefully".
More seriously, I think a
strong case can be made that
the institution of democratic
government and civil society
in this and other lands ultimately
depend upon, and come from,
religious principles shared
by many of the world’s
great religions, including
our own. Marxists, for example,
are rarely democrats and vice
versa.
It seems to be little known,
for example, that there are
quotations from the Bible
carved on fully three sides
of the Peace Tower on Parliament
Hill. Elsewhere in the public
square, numerous Canadians
before and since Confederation
founded schools, colleges,
universities, and a host of
other institutions out of
religious convictions. The
YMCA and YWCA are but two
of many such institutions.
The Christian faith sustains
many of these bodies down
to the present time.
Interestingly, however, one
of the myths Christians of
all denomination must often
dispel today is the notion
that being religious makes
one intolerant. The American
pollster, George Gallup, demonstrated
years ago that practising
Christians are much more accepting
of other creeds and philosophies
than are non-believers. Gallup’s
study also indicated that
people of what he termed "strong"
religious convictions were
more ethical in personal dealings,
more tolerant of persons with
different backgrounds, more
apt to perform charitable
acts, more concerned about
the betterment of society
and happier than others.
Data gathered by Reg Bibby,
the Canadian researcher on
religion, indicates that teenagers
who attend church services
regularly "are considered
more likely than teens who
never attend services to place
a higher value on such traits
as honesty, forgiveness, concern
for others, politeness and
generosity". Any thoughtful
parent, teacher, legislator,
social worker or young person
should be interested in such
a conclusion. Should we believers
not share such information?
Sadly, Canada has one of
the highest teen suicide rates
in the world; only New Zealand
and Finland evidently are
higher. The number of teen
suicides in our country, moreover,
has been rising steadily and
has in fact increased about
four-fold since 1960. Psychologists
point at problems with relationships,
depression and poverty as
probable causes. Youth pastors
and other Christians can often
be helpful here.
Family issues generally,
moreover, will continue to
be important in the new millennium.
One expert with 60 years of
experience, Benjamin Spock,
thinks voters in the U.S.
and presumably elsewhere should
influence legislators through
letters, visits, etc. to assist
mothers/fathers who would
prefer to stay home with young
children. He thinks American
children get their consumerism,
competitiveness and brutality
from television. Spock: "parents
can make a profound difference
by teaching social and spiritual
values – helpfulness,
cooperation, generosity, love
throughout childhood."
The
Public Square Today
It is probable that a large
majority of elected individuals
in many representative democracies
around the world today would
identify themselves as Christians.
If asked how their religious
faith affects their daily
work, however, a good many
among this group might well
reply truthfully: "not
much". This nominal believer
phenomenon today is both a
challenge and an opportunity.
Early in the twentieth century,
Abraham Kuyper founded the
Christian Democratic Association
in Holland on the conviction
that there is no area in human
life where Christ does not
say "mine". Near
the start of the 21st
century, even politicians
who take their religious faith
seriously often differ on
what the scriptures say on
a host of contemporary issues.
The Bible makes it clear that
various acts are sins, but
Jesus also warned his followers
not to judge others. Are Christians,
moreover, not to ‘hate
the sin and love the sinner’?
We also have a duty to be
fair, especially when it involves
applying our principles in
the political arena (where
truth is often the first victim).
In my view, believers should
avoid saying: "the Christian
view of issue X must be Y"
on issues where it’s
difficult to say with real
confidence what Jesus himself
would say. I believe it harms
Christianity if its followers
insist that the Bible requires
us to favour one side or the
other. On some issues –
"ethnic cleansing",
child pornography, slavery
and environment degradation
come readily to mind –
Christians, like believers
of other faiths, can be more
confident.
My own view, doubtless induced
partly by a long experience
in the religious/cultural
climes of Canada, is to be
cautious about mixing church
and state. If one wishes to
make the case, say, that Hollywood
values ("If it feels
good, do it") have wreaked
considerable havoc across
the English-speaking world,
why not do so on an empirical
or common sense basis? There
is good evidence that the
media’s constant glamourization
of violence has had very serious
ripple effects, especially
among the young. Is it not
better advocacy to support
tougher laws to fight, say,
child pornography on the evidence
of what it has probably already
done to our communities? Believers
of virtually all religions
are already convinced on such
issues.
In an age of almost daily
regional violence somewhere
in the world, believers are
achieving much to resolve
disputes peacefully. For example,
in South Africa before the
1994 elections which brought
Nelson Mandela to the presidency,
a bloodbath was probably avoided
when Chief Buthelezi agreed
at almost the last moment
to allow his Inkatha Freedom
party to compete at the ballot
box. Buthelezi, who might
have missed a crucial meeting
with a fellow Christian (Washington
Okumy of Kenya) if his aircraft
had not developed mechanical
problems in the air, later
used the Jonah experience
in the Bible to explain how
God had brought the two of
them together. A South African
MP later reminded an astonished
Canadian parliamentarian:
"Eighty percent of South
Africans are Christians."
An important book, Religion,
The Missing Dimension of Statecraft,
offers other case studies
from Asia, Europe, Central
America and Africa in which
spiritual factors played an
important part in resolving
conflicts and achieving non-violent
change. In former East Germany,
for example, where religion
was persecuted severely for
decades, a number of churches
positioned themselves to play
a major role in the peaceful
revolution of 1989-1990. Part
of the eventual success came
from a steadfast insistence
by their leaders following
World War II that in view
of the Hitler experience Christian
churches must not be compliant
partners of governments of
any political stripe. A period
of schizophrenia for some
denominations occurred, but
during the '80s a genuinely
independent peace movement
grew up among many East German
believers. By 1988, large
prayer meetings were being
held weekly in a dozen cities
across the country and the
Evngelische Kirche was daring
to call for the rule of law,
limits on state authority,
democratic elections, free
media, and environmental protection.
The "Magna Carta"
for the revolution of 1989
was in this fashion prepared
largely by Christians.
On October 9, 1989, fears
of a Tiananmen-like massacre
swept through Leipzig when
several thousand police took
up posts outside five downtown
churches, most notably "St.
Nicholas’ Church".
An estimated 10,000 men and
women met inside for their
weekly prayers. The beatitudes
were read and sermons stressed
peaceful protest only. The
crowd outside eventually swelled
to 70,000, but miraculously
the only violence was attempted
by security officials of the
regime seeking to incite the
crowd. It was soon stopped
by the protesters. The authority
of the churches, which counted
for more than all the government
troops placed around the city,
thus became a key factor in
encouraging the peaceful transfer
of power to the democratic
side. A banner was later hung
across a Leipzig street, evidently
by non-believers: "Wier
Danken Dir, Kirche" ("We
thank you, church").
Conclusion
In summary, there is probably
a greater need for committed
Christians in every walk of
life today than at most other
points in human history. Christian
politicians everywhere can
help by acting as a brake
upon forces that daily threaten
to overcome civilization.
In addition to speaking out
or voting, we believers in
our own lives must place a
high value on the empathy,
kindness and numerous other
qualities associated with
Christianity. Our lives must
somehow manage to remind others
that there is a Redeemer for
our "tormented public
and private world."
Should Christians each in
our own way and space not
also attempt to do what the
Apostle Paul and millions
of lesser-known believers
have done down through the
ages? We could use C.S. Lewis
as a model for our age. If
Lewis was the twentieth century’s
most influential Christian
author, was he not also, as
Dorothy Sayers put it, "God’s
terrier"? Believers in
any situation should be terriers
for our Saviour too. Each
day presents new opportunities
for ministry.
Thank you.
