Perhaps I am unjust to the learned sage and the activists that support him. He protests his innocence of crimes defined by secular law. That is his sole concern; nothing more. Perhaps that accounts for this supporters’ silence too: to defend his innocence in the face of secular laws alone, and remain silent on moral matters absolutely, despite everything they know. Perhaps that is their right and I am the great unjust. But I must admit that it makes me nauseous: to see the self-proclaimed defenders of faith pretending to be secularists, defending secular principles, in defence of a friend, when for all others they claim to be the foremost advocates of God’s law, rallying against every backslider and Uncle Tom without end. Daily they condemn the celebrity reformers in our midst for calling to a faith stripped of its core, and yet for a friend they do the same. Run to his aid, they petition us. But the Book says: “Do not be an advocate for the deceitful.” Perhaps they are more pragmatic than I. Perhaps I only see fields, and they the whole farm. I once learnt: the shepherd who pastures his flock around a reserve will soon pasture them in it too. Perhaps they see the bigger picture. To them their way, to me mine.
Last modified: 22 February 2020
