David Warren on Advent and Christmas

He fights manfully in this Ottawa Citizen column now posted on his website. May we also stand up for our faith like he does. He writes:

In the name of a redefined "tolerance" -- a virtue itself originally inferred from the explicitly Christian injunction to "judge not that ye be not judged" -- a campaign of progressive intolerance towards the Christian majority has become a feature of contemporary public life, throughout the "Western" -- i.e., originally Christian -- world. The bureaucracies of the European Union, too, have gone to tireless lengths to strip visible Christian symbolism out of public life across Europe, on the same grounds: that toleration today demands "zero tolerance." Not merely the anti-Christian tone, but the malicious inversion of the meaning of the word "tolerance" would have shocked our native-born ancestors only two generations ago. Many alive today are simply befuddled by the scale of this revolution in public life, and of the general inversion of societal values they have witnessed within their own lifetimes.

Elsewhere in the world, in many countries where they are minorities instead of majorities, Christians are actively persecuted. From what I can learn, this is the case in most countries where Christians are a minority. It is not as if our Western "secularization" were a response to some planetary trend, to soften public expressions of religious sentiment, for the sake of peace and quiet. To the contrary, especially in the Islamic world, but even in predominantly Hindu India, state sponsorship of religious identity has been dramatically increasing.

Against this background, it is incumbent upon Christians, everywhere, and as ever, to ignore intimidation. As the old parable goes, do not hide your lamp under a basket, but use it to cast light all around. Do not hesitate to make an example of yourself, or if need be, to be made an example of.

May you have the tears of joy that come with repentance, waiting, expectation and hope during this Advent Season.