Calamity

 "Men do not know their time - like a fish caught in a net, or an animal in a snare, so is the evil that falls suddenly upon them". Ecclesiastes 9:12.

The evil that men do is at its worse when what it does, supposedly, is in the name of what is 'good'. So much of what is now beginning to unfold concerning the various policies and requirements of the past two years unveils that behind all the rhetoric of 'doing what was best' for others, there was a clear program of abuse and manipulation, still being so wickedly expressed in the 'official actions' now taking place on the streets of places like France, New Zealand and Canada.

Watching a human chain put in place on a major crossing into America yesterday as those placing their bodies between the police and the truckers loudly said the Lord's Prayer spoke volumes about the nature of the humanity at the core of this vital action. The world has indeed witnessed something astonishing in these past few weeks, and yet, the majority of Christian groups remain not only silent, but actively avoiding any proper support for these everyday men and women seeking to restore freedom to their normal lives.

Stultified by their warped allegiance to a miss-application of the opening of Romans 13, these church groups have done something far worse than remain silent or 'neutral' in this lengthening struggle - they have actively supported a regime which is intent on the execution of truth and the end of the proclamation of the image of God.

The depth of the wickedness involved in this process is shocking - a deliberate series of actions which have intended to abuse the church's message in regards to the God-given autonomy of people in respect to their identity and value, evidenced in every facet of the official 'social controls' deemed necessary for 'health' purposes.

Further enquiry into Megan Basham's astonishing piece last week has unveiled just how deliberate and evil this scheme was amongst Christians, and, just like prior times when such abuse has steered entire movements into diabolical error, this current marriage of church and state has killed the church's cardinal role into a broken and needy society at the very moment when it was most required.

As Rod Dreher notes in his own analysis of the Basham revelations, the disclosure "shows how we can allow ourselves to be used and deceived by those we place in authority... whatever your belief, if you rely on the particular role of certain authority figures, you are likely to discover you have made a very terrible mistake. Such 'grit' runs very deep in such institutions". Christians, he notes, are supposed to do much better than this because of the very clear message that scripture gives us, but the terrible truth here is that so many have, on this occasion, as with others, clearly, naively assumed that they just accept the rules from 'on high' as the Christian thing to do and thereby not engage with the truth - the depths and imperatives this crisis has produced - nor 'test' for themselves what has been the truth behind the guise of 'necessary' public policy.

It shows that the church has learned nothing amidst this storm. The few voices that have sought to speak out have been marginalised and ostracised by the general consensus, and are now excluded from the mainstream denominational expressions, which continue to remain silent yet vehemently holding on to their arrogant stance - there is no repentance here.

The brightness of what is good and necessary has now moved elsewhere. Ottawa has shown that, and that is why its radiant message of 'good will to all' has been the infection that has danced out across the world. People have been wanting - needing something that brings better health than the crushing weight of social incarceration, and it has now broken out outside of churches that merely added their voices to the call for such terrible chains.

The days ahead will be marked with struggle. The church in general will remain 'closed' in all but name. God will work elsewhere, as history shows.

Christ calls us to go out with good news, to gather in joy, to live richly together. May that be the beauty we see arise amidst these troubled days.