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Class War issue 80: A Vicar Writes
To whom it may concern,
I was interested to see one of your stickers on our church notice board recently. It seemed strange to me that an organisation that is against repression should engage itself in such an anti-social way.
It is no doubt true that every human organisation is guilty of repression, and that includes the church, but your campaign seems to be blind to self-evident truths. The church has been at the forefront of most of the achievements in the western world over hundreds of years. These achievements have done much to set people free from sickness, ignorance and slavery. Witness the church's major role in the setting up of hospitals, schools, not to mention the activity of committed Christians in the campaign against slavery, the Samaritans, the Hospice movement, OXFAM and more recently Jubilee 2000.
I know very little about your organisation, but from what I have seen on the sticker, you have a very simplistic view on things. Things are rarely black and white, and to have a blanket campaign against religion seems to have a very blinkered way of doing things.
I am actually not too disturbed when people campaign against religion, or even Christianity in particular, because history shows that where the church is persecuted, it grows more.
Grace and peace to you,
Revd Jonathan Evans, Beverley, East Yorkshire
CW Reply: Whilst a whole book could be written about what the Revd Evans has left OUT of his letter (the role of the church in justifying slavery and colonialism in Africa, the role of the Dutch Reform Church in maintaining apartheid in South Africa, the abuse of children in church schools, the oppression of women's rights to control their own bodies etc etc) it is perhaps fairer to criticise what the Reverend has actually put in his letter.
The church has NOT been at the forefront of most achievements in the western world, PEOPLE have been. It is people who have invented cures from disease, people who have fought ignorance or slavery, people who allow schools and hospitals to function. People do this because it is in our nature to care and share for each other. Religion, sadly has been one of the ways that people have been divided and lead away from their true natures. Even the supposed triumphs of Christianity are in fact illustrations of mankind's ability to create. After all did God come down to build the Cistine Chapel or was it built by human beings?
Class War has and will continue to campaign against religion for the reasons given above. Whilst we're on Rev, any chance of your bell ringers showing some love for their fellow men and not making such a bloody racket when other people are trying to have a well deserved lie in on a Sunday morning?
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