Free to choose
1 May 08
“With freedom comes responsibility.” Eleanor Roosevelt
In December, Exeter university CU regained their right to meet as a normal student group. This right was suspended by the student union after a student complained that they could not sign the statement of belief. The CU was accused of contravening the Equal Opportunities Act and had to take their case to the European Court of Human Rights.
In the UK, we assume that everyone should have the freedom to debate any topic and to adhere to any belief, providing it doesn’t endanger anyone else’s safety or right to believe what they like. Freedom of speech is a basic human right that we often take for granted; and yet cases like this highlight the countries in the world where it’s not even considered. It’s been a painful and difficult journey for Exeter CU, and praise God that their freedom of speech has been restored! Yet what about the thousands of Christians around the world who’ve never seen 5 Christians gathered together, let alone had the privilege of belonging to a Christian Union with a 50-year history, banned or not? So many of God’s people would be astonished at the freedom we have here.
That shouldn’t make us feel guilty for having that freedom; it should spur us on to use it wisely. We’re all in the same war against the same Enemy; just God gives us different battles. What we can do is decide how we’re going to fight the battle God’s given us.
In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt referred to above, ‘with freedom comes responsibility.’ Are we exercising our freedom to reflect Jesus without being imprisoned, tortured or discriminated against? And if not – why not?