The ‘mark no religion’ campaign championed by Jan Wyles (AI 3/8/11) displays little appreciation of history or regard for the future of our community. It has been said that ‘If we do not consider the errors of our predecessors we shall repeat them; if we do not contemplate their victories, we rob ourselves of our rightful heritage’. Do the campaigners really want us to return to the practices of abandoning unwanted children and widows whose awful fate was redeemed by Christians? Do they want a return to the subjugation of women, a downgrading of health care and a return to education only for the rich?
We would be unwise to forget our roots. Whether practising Christians or not, our society has benefitted enormously from the public restraint of moral law, personal self-control based upon reverence for God and above all, the greatest motivation and model for public service and individual sacrifice flowing from the example and death of Jesus Christ. The basis of sacrificial charity and selfless service is the notion of Christian love which loves others irrespective of personal cost or return or the attractiveness of the ones served. Our recent history, where these virtues are now replaced by public recognition, personal rewards or remuneration, ought to alert us to the folly of denying our history in the way advocated by the ‘mark no religion’ campaign.
There is a saying in the bush that we would be wise to ponder: ‘Never move a fence until you know why it was put there.’ The nourishment of the Christian gospel has benefitted the paddock we all live in. History, including our recent history, confirms this for those with eyes to see. The French proverb is apposite: ‘Be sure you want the consequences of what you want’.
Peter Brain,
Anglican Bishop of Armidale
