Why I'm occasionally sympathetic to Bertrand Russell

I don't know if influential philosopher Bertrand Russell's reputation extends to my faithful readers (assuming that I have any). So by way of quick summary, Russell was born in 1872 in England, lived for 98 years, married four times, wrote prodigiously, and was ahead of his time in a number of areas of human thought and endeavour. Among other things, he was an avowed atheist, considering religion to be superstition related to our fear of the unknown and our need for an "elder brother" to stand by us in our troubles. His theological thoughts can be read in his famous book entitled "Why I am Not a Christian" published in 1927.

So why is a professing Christian (my good self) indicating some connection with Russell (aside from the fact that Russell is my middle name)? Why would I even contemplate the idea of rejecting the Christian faith? It's because of stories like the one that follows. It reeks of hypocrisy and the inability to live by one's professed principles. It gives credence to the old saying about the church being like Noah's ark: "If it wasn't for the storm outside, one couldn't stand the stench inside."

This story is recent and related to me by one of the key players. I will, of course, disguise some of the details to protect the innocent.

The scene: A goodish sized, conservative evangelical church in small town Canada. The church shows a commitment to the well-being of young people in a number of ways, including the provision of various clubs and sports camps.

The church's pro-life position: The church supports a local pregnancy counseling agency, including the provision of church members who serve on its board, raise money and do some of the counseling.

The church's commitment to babies: The congregation is young and many babies are born every year. The church puts on elaborate and generous baby showers on these occasions. A class on parenting is offered as well.

Sounds pretty good so far. But what happens when the unmarried daughter of two of the church's members has a baby? Well--nothing. No shower, no support, no joy, no nothing! Just big time rejection.

Was the girl some kind of disgusting sinner that she should be treated this way? She is not a Christian herself, so was not violating her own principles in having premarital sex (not that she should have been rejected on that basis in any event). She did not resort to an abortion. 75% of abortions are performed on unmarried women, but this young lady made the life choice and kept hers. She did not flaunt her situation, actually staying away from the church while pregnant (no wonder!).

One of the members, a devout evangelical with several adult children, sprang into action. She approached the teacher of the parenting class about holding a baby shower for the young woman in her home. The church leaders, some of whom were privately sympathetic, made it clear that the shower could not be held in the church but could go ahead as long as if was off-site. A number of supportive people attended, gave various gifts (including a generous amount of money), and generally made the girl feel appreciated.

But the official position of this alleged pro-life church was that the young woman would not realize the warmth and support of her parents home congregation because of having had a child out of wedlock. It makes me want to cry.

As my friend said, "The church finds it easier to support a pro-life position in general terms than to support non-Christian girls who want to keep their babies....They want to condemn these girls for premarital sex, so they cannot support their pro-life position....I guess we think that some actions are worse than others when in fact some are more obvious than others. Jesus had more cutting things to say about the Pharisees than about the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11)."

Well said, dear friend. It's because of people like you that some of us still hang in there with the local church. I actually embrace my faith wholeheartedly (if somewhat confusedly at times). But there are days when I feel safer in bed on Sunday morning.