Actions of ‘self-righteous’ come as no surprise

I have spoken three times at Tyndale College in Toronto, arguably Canada’s leading evangelical university and seminary. What was 20 years ago a virtually moribund Bible school, with very little academic reputation, has been transformed by remarkable Christian leaders such as Brian Stiller into a serious educational institution.

So I was incredulous, saddened, when I heard that a breakfast speech to Tyndale supporters by George W. Bush had suddenly been cancelled. Whatever one thinks of the former U.S. president, anybody interested in knowledge and history would be fascinated to hear from such a man. That he was also speaking on “Christian Education” made the event even more compelling.

The reason given by Tyndale was a “scheduling conflict,” which sounds about as convincing as a Saudi Arabian hockey league. Bush’s appearances are planned well in advance, with massive preparation and security. He charges around $150,000, and his schedules are simply not allowed to “conflict.” When I approached the communications department of Tyndale, a young woman repeated the phrase “scheduling conflict” to me five times, whatever question I asked. Not the best way to communicate I would have thought, and a little disturbing in that it came from a Christian entity.

What actually happened is that a group of fashionably leftist types with links to Tyndale formed a petition explaining that President Bush was dreadful, a war criminal, ate babies, Nazi, racist, blah, blah. Some members of staff also made their critical views known, and suddenly there was a — yes — “scheduling conflict.” It all looks awful of course, and Tyndale’s reputation in the United States, where they take freedom of speech rather more seriously than in Canada, will be eviscerated. It has also severely embarrassed many extremely wealthy and generous patrons, one of whom subsidized this extraordinary occasion.

But what does it say about the Christians involved? That self-righteous individualists will try to silence opposition is nothing new, and it’s genuine Christians such as pro-lifers and Catholics who live out their faith who have felt this most aggressively. I know personally of some of those who signed the petition, and their theology is teenage and petulant. The standard model would be non-urban, unworldly, white, middle-class, from a closed background soaked in evangelical sub-culture; suddenly in the city, and excited by what is absurdly known as the “emergent church” and a liberal interpretation of the Gospels.

Part of the implosion of Protestantism is that every person assumes they know what Christ meant, when Christ actually made it abundantly clear that it was the pope that He left us who should be in that business. The “personal relationship” with Jesus that evangelicals claim can be productive, but too often it leads to Christ having to resemble the follower, and not the follower resembling Christ. So it’s regrettable that these signatories should behave thus, but not altogether surprising.

What is surprising is that the administration appeared to collapse under pressure. Or perhaps they were dealing with an event arranged some time ago, and were only too happy to appear to collapse. I do not know, because nobody will speak on the record.

George W. Bush was not a complete success as president, but he was remarkable in his work against poverty and disease in the Third World — it’s why people such as Bono will not criticize him — and he saved many lives in his banning of partial-birth abortion and his defence of the unborn. He led his country through its greatest attack since Pearl Harbour, stood firm in support for the family and empowered Christians. The war in Afghanistan was completely justified, and while we can argue about Iraq, a defence of that conflict does not make someone a pariah, at least not to an informed Christian who takes Christian teaching seriously.

The whole episode oozes cultural Marxism and bully politics, and Catholic colleges have also suffered from this dysfunction over the years. For the time being, it appears Tyndale and freedom have had what is apparently known as a “scheduling conflict.”