Courage and Innocence

Have you ever been arrested for doing what is right?  Have you ever had to go to court to prove your innocence?  Or gotten a call from a loan shark looking for someone who shares your name but not your credit rating?  If you are truly innocent, you probably took it calmly and cheerfully.  Hopefully it didn’t end up in court, where a judge had to make a difficult decision of who is telling the truth.

Both scriptures sound like somebody is going to court.  John’s gospel even had Jesus describing the Holy Spirit in legal language.  “The Advocate” in the original Greek, was the term used for lawyers in charge of protecting a defendant. When we pair these two scriptures up, we hear the call to live lives of truth and honesty.

Our world needs innocent and good people now more than ever.  But how do we be brave and trustworthy?

When we face challenging times like these, some people try to ignore everything bad.  Just do your job, keep your head down, and mind your own business, they might council.  

Some people might rage and join in the conflict, going below the line in anger to prove that they are the smartest person in the room.  They blame, judge, complain, even lie or exaggerate.  They don’t like it when they get a letter telling them to cease and desist or when a judge rules against them.  

Then there’s the third group of people.  They are taking the command to be innocent and courageous to heart.  Even when they know that bad actors might have their personal addresses, they still make the tough calls in the courts or tell how they really feel about current events.  Not everyone who is brave and honest gets their five minutes of airtime, but some folks might just surprise you with their courage.  One such courageous action that recently took place was an organized letter against an event in Red Deer.  This event wanted to connect politics with right wing Christianity, excluding all other faiths.

By the time the Alberta Christian Leadership Summit with Danielle Smith took place on May 4 in Red Deer, 205 faith leaders had signed the Statement of Conviction. It started with 50 signatories on April 20. I was part of the original 50.

The statement read in part: 

We are faith leaders from across Alberta - from many traditions, many communities, and many ways of understanding the sacred. What we share is a conviction that faith, at its best, moves us toward one another - toward the neighbour who looks like you and the one who doesn't. It calls us to lead with humility, to welcome the stranger, and to stand with those the powerful would rather ignore.

We also believe in pluralism - not as a compromise, but as a gift. Alberta is home to people of many backgrounds, many faiths, and many ways of living a good life. That diversity is not a problem to be managed. It is what makes our communities more honest and more compassionate. A public life that only makes room for some voices is diminished for everyone.

The Premier's Annual Christian Summit… claims to bring faith into public life... But the event's structure - its cost, its curated guest list, its exclusive framing - means that many voices will simply not be in the room. Smaller congregations, racialized communities, younger leaders, and those without means or connections will be absent. That is not a gathering shaped by the values of welcome and humility. It is a gathering shaped by access and privilege.

We are also concerned by what this event represents more broadly. When any government aligns itself with one religious identity, it diminishes the independence of every other faith community - regardless of tradition or theology. No single tradition, congregation, or political movement speaks for all people of faith. And the faith we know - across our many traditions - has never been most itself when it is closest to power. Rather, it has been most itself when it is closest to the people that power overlooks.

This letter was drafted by Affirm United, which is an organization that includes churches that publicly choose to welcome and include people that are not always welcome in other churches.  They reported that 

“Those 205 people didn't just push back against one event. They stood for something: a vision of faith and public life in Alberta and across Canada that is expansive, pluralistic, and unwilling to let one narrow interpretation of one religion set the terms for everyone. That's the opposite of what was being promoted in that room in Red Deer, and it needed to be said out loud, by name, on the record.

"It also appears to have had some effect. Since the statement was released, the summit made three changes without explanation: the lowest ticket price dropped from $349 to $199, the application-and-approval system was replaced with direct public purchase, and the event's name changed from the Premier's Annual Christian Summit to the Alberta Christian Leadership Summit. We're not claiming sole credit... But 205 faith leaders speaking clearly and publicly has a way of making things harder to ignore."

Another minister, who also leads an affirming church in Northern Spirit Region, The Reverend Blaine Gregg, attended in his rainbow shirt.  To put this into context, there were some 700 attendees, and mainstream reporters from the CBC, the Edmonton Journal, CTV and the like were not allowed in.  Talk about brave and innocent! Blaine wrote an article for Broadview Magazine, and said, 

"I noted four areas of concern: banning abortion; restricting or eliminating medical assistance in dying; promoting anti-transgender views; and opposing changes to federal legislation, including Bill C-9’s religious exemption in anti-hate laws…There was a clear sense… that ‘real’ Christians shared the same… opinions on societal issues and ethical values, and that aligning with the provincial government would translate those beliefs into policy.

"This… included a palpable shared fear and worry that… Christianity was losing the battle for the soul of the nation. "

Blaine went even though he knew he might not be welcomed.  He went even though the other people were potentially hostile.  He took Peter’s words to heart, “Who is going to harm you if your goal is to do what is right?"  But even if you do suffer for what is right, count it a blessing. Don't fear what they fear.  Don't be afraid, and don't worry.”

When we play small, or if we lash out in anger, we act as the world expects us to act.  But when we intentionally do our best to live out values of compassion and justice, our witness threatens those who would bully the vulnerable, attack the rights of minorities and intimidate those who are isolated.  When we speak out, we discover we are not alone, and the bullies are silenced, the powerful are challenged and the selfish face justice.  Christianity is not a private club for comfortable people, it is a call to stand up for those who have no voice.  When we are brave and innocent, we will find that God is our judge who will dismiss the case against us.  God is with us, we are not alone, thanks be to God!