Bullying? Stand up!

When I was a kid, I remember being bullied a fair bit.  I was small for my age, bespectacled, shy.    The teachers didn't help by putting a target on my back by making me Vice Head Prefect.  I would get my stuff just taken away from me by bigger kids, dragged out into the field to be tickled until I collapsed (much less fun than it sounds), and pushed into the storm drains.  Not all the kids were full-blown bullies of course.  But I remember some of them standing by, and politely holding my spectacles (so they wouldn't be broken) while the bullies did their work on me.

Most of this stopped when I got to secondary school, where a much larger proportion of my fellow students were now just as nerdy!  And of course I grew up too.  I don't really look back on those days with any kind of animosity, because I think it never occurred to me that it was unusual.  But I do think my experience made me a bit more sympathetic about people around me who are being bullied.

When you get older, you (generally) stop getting bullied by being pushed into drains.  But you can still get bullied by people deliberately isolating you, talking behind your back, or simply being rude to you.  You've seen that I'm sure.  This social bullying, as opposed to physical bullying, can be just as painful.  The boss who chews out his subordinates and junior colleagues.  The socially awkward colleague whom everyone makes jokes about behind his back (or to his face!).  The guy who has lost favour with senior management, and whom everyone bypasses for discussions and avoids for lunch.

When my kids were small, I used to tell them bedtime stories.  Because one cannot read in the dark, I would make up stories.  One of my favourite stories involved the kid being put to bed, walking along a beach/park/street and seeing the sibling/other imaginary kid/kitten being bullied by some other kids.  The protagonist kid would then ride to the rescue and scold the bullies.  By putting my kids in the story, I thought it would inspire my kids to grow up seeing themselves in that light - a protector of the weak.

So I was very proud to hear my daughter tell me about how she is sticking up for a schoolmate who is awkward, even irritating, by telling her friends to stop the badmouthing, isolation and all the thousand little hurtful cuts that make up social bullying.  It's not easy to do this, because when she sticks up for the weak, she risks being associated with them, and a target for bullying herself.  And there is no doubt that this is a legitimate fear in her mind.  But I am happy to report that she is determined to see this through, and her Daddy will support her all the way!

On a broader scale, bullying still occurs in many spaces today, in high places and in low.  Back in about April 2014, the Mozilla CEO was forced to resign, simply because, back in 2008, he voted with his conscience to support Proposition 8, a Californian law that barred same sex marriages.  So what they were saying is, if you don't support the LGBT view, you don't deserve to have this job.  Incredibly, much of the Western media took the view that this was the right result.  According to them, the alternatives were: a. "recant" from his personal views, "sincerely apologise" and "donate to LGBT charities" as remediation; or b. resign.  Notice how no one said, "respect his personal religious views".

For the last few hundred years, Christian values have been in the ascendancy, to the extent that today, they form the basis of the laws of most countries around the world, and the cornerstone and foundation for civil society.  Fundamental stuff like the right to property.  The right to compensation for loss.  The right to due process.  Social stuff like monogamy and the prohibition against incest.

The establishment of Christian values has mirrored the rise of the West over that same time period.  Today, however, the West is falling away from Christian values.  Enamoured with Western media, the rest of the world is following suit, and sneers at Christians in particular, often with great venom. They are emboldened by the fact that the Christian faith teaches us to turn the other cheek, and dictates that we continue to love our enemy, just as Christ loved us and died for us, even while we were still his enemies, and mired in rebellion against him.

It's easy to be a Christian when you are in the majority.  But maybe today, Christians increasingly find themselves in the minority.  Our our children might.  This is the point at which we will be tested - will we have the backbone and the courage to stand up, and stand up publicly, when we are in the minority?  I love this quote by CS Lewis - "Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."

Will you pass the test?

The truth is, for most of Christian history, Christians have been in the minority. Scorned, imprisoned, martyred.  It still happens in many parts of the world today.  So the question for us, the present generation, is this - will we be able to live up to the legacy of the fathers of our faith, or will we choose to sway with popular opinion and fall away?

No!

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed...  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."  2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-17

Therefore keep speaking up.  Be determined to be the light wherever we are.  Encouraging, truthful, caring, strong, courageous, holding firm to the faith no matter the cost.  And critically, stand up and protect even those who disagree with us.  We may not agree with them on many things, and will lovingly but firmly hold our position.  But if they are bullied, stand up for them too.  These are the exciting times when faith will be tested - and proven!

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."  Matthew 5:10-11