Britain’s “Death Parliament” and the Urgent Call for Biblical Courage

In recent days (and within days), the British Parliament rushed through legislation to legalize medically assisted death for terminally ill adults and passed a bill to “decriminalize” late-term abortion. Led by the increasingly extremist Labour party, who are enabled by the moral confusion of a supposedly Conservative opposition, Britain is, as C.S. Lewis warned, progressing in the wrong direction. In response, Peter Hitchens asked, “Parliament votes for the abortion of the old, shortly after voting for the even more ruthless abortion of the unborn. Are we now ruled by a death cult?”

Speaking against bills like this is a bare minimum requirement of following Christ today. As Stanley Hauerwas has often challenged, “In a hundred years, if Christians are identified as the people who do not kill their children or the elderly, we will have done well.” In the U.K., however, with few qualified exceptions, there’s been mainly silence. As Andrew Walker quipped, “The Church of England: proudly offering chaplaincy services to a culture it lost, a Parliament it is cravenly established to, and sermons to laws it won’t challenge.”

The Church of England is not alone in this guilt. In 2008, with important exceptions, efforts to equip and mobilize Colorado pastors to oppose doctor-assisted suicide failed. Those of us working on the issue were told it was too political for the pulpit. The bill passed overwhelmingly. Now, of course, the state of Colorado is pushing legislation that would not only allow children to be permanently harmed by puberty blockers and hormone treatments without parental consent but force citizens to participate in various ways. Fifteen years ago, I doubt many pastors would have said that state-sponsored sexual abuse of children was “too political” to speak out on, but many of the same voices remain quiet today.

In fact, in the years between 2008 and today, some pastors and Christian leaders did take more of a stand on the issue of same-sex marriage. Many said that they would never be coerced by the government to officiate same-sex weddings or to hold ceremonies in their church. Unfortunately, many never made the connection that if pastors shouldn’t be forced to participate in a same-sex “wedding,” then neither should parishioners be forced to bake a cake, arrange flowers, or design a website for one.

But, as it turned out, it was the parishioners who were asked, and then harassed, and then threatened, to participate. Tragically, some were abandoned by their church families while their pastors stayed away from the mess. Missed along the way was the revolutionary idea recaptured during the Protestant Reformation that our work belongs to God, whether considered sacred or ordinary. This is the idea of vocation, that all callings are sacred. If true, then pastors should speak up for those working outside of church walls as much as inside.

On the most recent culturally divisive issue, there were loud and courageous voices. J.K. Rowling advocated for women on social media. Chloe Cole told her own story of deception and abuse, speaking up as a detransitioner harmed by progressive medical interventions as a minor. Riley Gaines loudly protested not only how she and other women swimmers were treated unfairly but also how they were subjected to privacy violations by the NCAA.

There were others, and the story has yet to be fully told. But did enough pastors and Christian leaders speak out? More importantly, how many parents were abandoned because the topic was “too political”? How many Christian voices spoke out but then were told to stay out of it?

In addition to a theology of getting fired, perhaps it’s time for a theology of saying what’s unpopular. Rather than allowing everything we say to turn on the hypothetical risk that it will “turn people away,” perhaps we should ask what it will mean to not live by lies? Perhaps we need to consider where the good intention of not offending people devolves into accommodating what “itching ears” want to hear.

In James 3, the Apostle wrote that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” Most of the time, this means what not to say. But there’s also the reality that such leaders have been called to a particular time and place, “for such a time as this,” to speak God’s truth to God’s world.

Pastoral leadership is always needed, but especially now. In the U.K., little else can keep the current British parliament from going down in history as the “Death Parliament.” Everywhere else, it’s a matter of God’s people testifying to what is true. We ought always speak the truth in love, but that can never be done unless we actually speak the Truth.

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.