Stand Up for Justice

The Conservative government of Canada is squirming under public scrutiny of the total boondoggle of the cost of F-35 fighter jets. Originally insisting that the cost to taxpayers would be nine billion dollars, some estimates now stand at forty-five billion, including maintenance over the life of the planes.

It is a couple of years since I presented a letter to the court of Oshawa Presbytery about the Canadian purchase of fighter jets. I co-chair the Mission, Outreach, and Advocacy Committee and part of our mandate is to be a burr under the saddle of governments about issues of social justice. The discussion was lively, and at least one member of the court suggested this was partisan politics, which it was not. In the end we agreed to send the letter to Defence Minister MacKay. Some weeks later we got a "blah, blah, blah, thank you but go away" response. Here is a portion of what we said:

Dear Mr. MacKay

We write as Canadians who have a deep and abiding appreciation of those who  serve in the Canadian military.  We also believe that our military personnel must be well equipped in order to be effective in the  realities of modern warfare and protecting sovereignty.

Nonetheless, we want to express our strong concern about the current  proposal to purchase  F-35 fighter jets.  Our concerns include the lack of a proper tendering process,  the necessity and effectiveness  of these jets in the current realities of NORAD and the prohibitive cost.  Recent reports suggest that the actual price tag for this purchase exceeds the original estimates by billions of dollars

Most of all, we are aware that there are unfulfilled commitments  in other areas of Canadian life which have not yet been addressed by the Canadian government. These include the resolution of land claims and treaty rights with our Aboriginal peoples and the need to provide a reasonable standard of health care,  education, and housing  in Native communities. 

 

When I am labouring over these letters I do wonder at times why we bother. I never thought that we would get a "by golly, you have a point there -- the purchase is off!" reply. But from my perspecitve there are occasions when we just need to stand up and go on the record, to be faithful, even if our efforts seem amusingly quixotic at best, and hopelessly naive at the worst.

What do you think?  Is this Mission, Advocacy, and Outreach stuff a waste of my and our time?  Where you even aware that this is an aspect of my ministry, which you support? Is social justice an important aspect of the United Church of Canada "brand?" Is justice "gospel" or should we stick to bringing people to Christ, to use a phrase more popular in conservative Christian circles? Are political cartoonists the new prophets?

Can there be a decent novel about climate change? http://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.ca/2012/12/flight-behaviour.html