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Light of the Son in a New Dark Age

How could it have happened in Canada? At the beginning of the 20th Century, we were a Christian nation, but within 100 years we were a secular nation. We now are even seeing social policy that is anti-Christian by design or in its application.

Nowhere is this more evident than in how the most vulnerable amongst us are mistreated. Rampant tax funded abortion is taking the lives of 100,000 unborn children annually. Now euthanasia and assisted suicide for the dying, chronically ill and severely disabled has been legalized.

Followers of Christ must put aside denominational differences and stand together in the present darkening age into which we are descending. We must speak for the sanctity and value of all human life. This is critically important.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world. His transforming light exists in sharp contrast to the New Dark Age. I believe we are being called to shine the penetrating light of Christ love and truth into that darkness.

I want to see grassroots Christian unity and collective displays of Christ-like love and determination to oppose abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide. We can work with secular groups like the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition whenever and wherever possible but our central and publicly proclamation is our loyalty to Christ and Biblical truth. 

We must be witnesses for sunlit uplands of Christ’s love on a confused, barren, darkened and increasingly loveless landscape. Only someone who has not experience the light of Christ would refer to our death culture as “sunny ways”. It is only sunny ways for the powerful, healthy, rich and loved. Christians must take the light of the Son to the powerless, the sick, the poor and unloved. It has always been that way.

As you probably noticed, there is a major lobby effort in bioethics, with secular politicians, the courts and supported by the media to embrace and normalize abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide for the unwanted, the sick and the disabled.

Followers of Christ must come together for the sanctity of human life and raise a chorus of voices to stem what seems like an unstoppable tide of darkness. Don’t be fooled. The darkness can be stopped by the Light of Christ. We must resolutely stand for the common good and human interdependence under Biblical Truth as truth.

We will be opposed and criticized. Expect it. Efforts will be made to silence and marginalize us. But our loyalty is to Christ and Christian love expressed and never with anti-Christian secularism enforced.

Reach out in friendship and Christian love to abortion minded women in crisis pregnancies. Show them a better a better life-affirming way that honors their lives and the lives of their children. Befriend people grieving acquired disability – whether physical or mental. Lift up their value and help restore their sense of self-worth so that suicide (assisted or otherwise) is not chosen. Use online communications to reach out to, and speak for, the most vulnerable amongst us, and pursue of life with dignity – even when life is near its end.

Dying can be seen as the last phase of living in which the bonds of humanity can be strengthened. It’s all a matter of spiritual perspective. The light of the Son can shine through our New Dark Age.


Mark Davis Pickup is chronically ill and disabled with degenerative multiple sclerosis. He is an advocate for life issues and disability inclusion across North America. He and his wife, LaRee, have been married for 38 years. They live in Alberta Canada with their two adult children and five grandchildren. Mark is available to address issues of euthanasia, assisted suicide, and issues revolving around suffering that often fuel calls for euthanasia. He writes regularly at http://markpickup.org and http://humanlifematters.org. For bookings, contact him by e-mail at MPickup@shaw.ca or telephone (780) 929-9230. Mark Pickup's bi-weekly column can be read in the Western Catholic Reporter (Canada) at http://www.wcr.ab.ca/.