See no evilmp3

“Our soldiers need better preparation for life after death, says army chief” ran the headline in this week’s The Times. It was written in response to comments made by Sir Richard Dannatt, an evangelical Christian and head of the British Army, at a conference hosted by the Evangelical Alliance amongst others. The Times reported him as saying, “In my business, asking people to risk their lives is part of the job, but doing so without giving them the chance to understand that there is a life after death is something of a betrayal.”

The General has his work cut out though. As we all know, encouraging people to face the reality of death is not an easy task. Even those who know they are going to die, often just do not want to address the issue. They would prefer to keep their eyes closed and hope it will go away.

A similar attitude was highlighted by this week’s Channel 4 Dispatches. The program took a courageous look at the abortion issue by actually presenting the views of those who feel the current time limit of 24 weeks is too high. In particular, it broadcast footage from the US of a foetus aborted at 16 weeks which clearly demonstrated well formed limbs.

Despite the fact that the program was shown late at night, before each segment was aired, a warning message was given that the program contained images that some viewers would find distressing. What remained unsaid, though, was that the reason these images were disturbing was not the visual impact of dead bodies – our graphic TV ensures we’re far too used to that – but rather the reality that some doctor has willingly and lawfully done this. Once again, then, we are allowing ourselves to be shielded from things we would prefer to ignore.

Abortion happens, but our society wants to keep its awful reality under wraps and away from view. Similarly, death is a certainty that we will all face. Yet, once again we would prefer keep our head in the sand and pretend that we do not have to address it.

All of this is a reminder that in our witness we sometimes need to confront people with painful truths. Now, I am not convinced that means we should wander round with placards showing aborted foetus parts, or messages that read “death is nigh; judgement is coming”. Such techniques are usually far from effective. All they do is alienate people, rather than win them over. It does, however, mean that in the context of a genuine relationship where we are trusted, and where our friend knows that anything we say is driven by love, then sometimes it is necessary to gently and respectfully (1 Peter 3:15) draw their attention to that which they would otherwise wish to ignore.

For some of us, that may be what we need to do this weekend.

Justin Thacker, Head of Theology

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