A Thrill of Hope in a Hurting World

Raise your hand if you can name the first song ever sent over the air via radio waves.

Here’s a hint: it happened Christmas Eve 1906. Reginald Fessenden picked up his violin and played its melody after reading the Christmas story from the gospel of Luke. Radio operators aboard ships must have been shocked, for neither the human voice nor music had ever been transmitted this way.

Need another clue? The song’s lyrics were originally written in 1847 by a French poet named Placide Cappeau (who, incidentally, had his right hand amputated following a shooting accident at the age of eight).  

Adolphe Charles Adams composed the melody. To Adams, a man of Jewish descent, the poem represented a day he didn’t celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God. But he wrote the music anyway, at his friend’s request, and at first the song was embraced by the Catholic church. But then the original poet, Cappeau, left the church to join the Socialist movement and the church learned the composer was a Jew. They banned the song, declaring it unfit.

About ten years later, American abolitionist John Sullivan Dwight was so moved by the words of the third verse, he translated the entire song into English and published it in his magazine. If you know your Civil War history, you can see why it quickly caught on in the northern United States during that time:

“Truly He taught us to love one another,

His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.”

And if you hadn’t already guessed, now you know. O Holy Night, originally called Cantique de Noel, has remained one of the most loved and most recorded Christmas carols.

Did you see the Lincoln movie that came out last year or this year’s Twelve Years a Slave?  Abraham Lincoln remains a hero to many for taking the lead in abolishing slavery in America, but I can’t help thinking Lincoln would weep if he knew it has not been abolished at all. Oppression has not ceased. According to numerous reports, there are more people in slavery today than at any other time in history. Human trafficking runs rampant. 

This is probably not what you wanted to read in my Christmas column. The good news is, we can make a difference and we don’t have to fight this battle alone. Numerous organizations work hard to expose and abolish human trafficking. By buying fair trade, learning more about modern slavery, spreading the word, and joining a movement such as Free the Slaves, International Justice Mission, or ServantsAnonymous (among others), you as an individual can help.

Isaiah 58:6 says this: “I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the Lord. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused!”

DefendDignity leads a campaign to end modern day sex slavery and defend the dignity of every woman right here in Canada. I’m happy to say my church and its denomination (the Christian and Missionary Alliance) are partners of Defend Dignity. 

And finally, an invitation. I hope you attend your church’s Christmas services. But if you do not have a church home, please join me and my family at mine, PortageAlliance Church, on Christmas Eve at 7:00 pm. But come early – the place packs out! Spend an hour singing carols by candlelight. You may return home with renewed perspective on the hope that is ours because of Christmas. May it truly be, for you, a Holy Night.

Attention, Real Men.

A grown man first paid to use Trisha Baptie’s body for his sexual pleasure when she was 13 years old. That would continue for the next 15 years with no interference by anyone. She recalls being on a “date” one night, in the front seat of a man’s car. She saw him reaching under the seat for something and assumed it was his wallet. She remembers a crowbar coming through the air toward her head. The next thing she recalls is waking near a phone booth where someone was dialing 911. Then she remembers waking again, in a hospital. The first thing asked of her was, “what did you do to make him so mad?”

            After escaping this horrid life in 2002, Trisha found her voice when she covered the Robert Pickton trial as a citizen journalist from her intimate knowledge of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and her perspective as a friend of Pickton’s victims. (Courts convicted Pickton of murdering six women and disposing of their bodies on his pig farm. He may have killed as many as 49 victims in total.)

For this coverage, Trisha Baptie won the “Courage to Come Back” award. In 2008, she founded Honour Consulting, a resource for education, networking, and coordinating current events around the abolition of prostitution.

            Trisha tells an ancient Dene First Nations legend about some women working at the river together when they saw a baby floating in the water and rescued him. Naturally, they were astounded. But soon, they saw another and another. They continued to pull babies out of the river, dry them, warm them, and feed them. More babies came until the work became overwhelming. When one woman turned to leave, the others called her back. “What are you doing?” they called, as she walked upstream. “Come back here and help us!”

            “I’m going to find out who is throwing these babies in the river and put a stop to it,” was the answer.

            The point of Trisha’s story is not that prostituted women and children are helpless babies. The point is that social workers and rehabilitation professionals can only do so much. The real problem is upriver. The answer is to target the origin. “We need to stare evil in the face and say, ‘No more. Not on my watch!’” she says.

            Since 1999, Sweden, Norway, and Iceland have implemented Nordic Law, which penalizes the buyers of sex while decriminalizing those being sold. Each country has seen a reduction in prostitution and sex trafficking and an increase in the stigma of buying and selling of people for sexual acts.

            By contrast, in The Netherlands, where prostitution is legal, the attitude toward women in general has deteriorated. In 2010, Dutch female nurses launched a national campaign against demands for sexual services by patients who claim it should be part of their standard care. The prevailing attitude is, if prostitution is acceptable, why not extend the same expectation toward all women?

            But this is not just a women’s issue. This attitude sells both men and women short. Men, you are so much more than that. I challenge you to stand against this and all forms of violence against women. Teach your sons and daughters that they are so much bigger, and this is not okay. What would happen to human trafficking if no one was buying?

            If you are a man who is also a Christian, your responsibility is greater still. One of Jesus’ dearest friends was a prostituted woman he personally rescued, so you’d be in good company by doing the same. Isaiah 58:6 says this: “I’ll tell you what it really means to worship the Lord. Remove the chains of prisoners who are chained unjustly. Free those who are abused!”

            You can read Trisha Baptie’s powerful story on her website .  Better yet, you can hear her (and others) in person at the Defend Dignity Forum coming to Portage la Prairie. It will be at Portage Alliance Church, 2375 Saskatchewan Ave. West on Sunday, January 27, at 6:00 p.m.

            Please consider this my personal invitation to come and make a difference. Prostitution is not the world’s oldest profession. It is the world’s oldest oppression. Defend Dignity believes that together, we can end it in Canada. Let’s find out how.

Why You Don't Want to Read This

You don't want to read this week's column. But that's okay, I don't particularly want to write it. I'd just as soon stick my fluffy blond head in the sand and pretend this issue was make-believe. But I can't. You might succeed in playing ostrich, but at least I'll have done my part by bringing it to your attention. I admire my daughter Mindy who brought it to mine, and who is courageously volunteering like crazy to help bring an end to this travesty.

I'll start with five cold, hard facts. Did you know?

1. Human trafficking is the second largest business of organized crime.
2. The average age for prostituted females entering the sex trade in Canada is 13.5 years. (Because this is the average, we know many are younger.)
3. Prostituted girls and women have a mortality rate 40 times higher than our national average.
4. There is a direct correlation between pornography and violent sex crimes against women and children. These practices degrade men as well, by making it an acceptable part of being male.
5. Targeting the demand instead of the supply abolishes prostitution. In 1999, Sweden criminalized sexual clients and decriminalized sex trade workers. Street prostitution went down by 66%. By contrast, countries that have legalized prostitution have seen an increase in all crime.

I'm glad to say there is some good news. Numerous organizations are rising up to do something about it, and there are lots of ways you can make a difference. Here are just five:

1. Oppose the legalization of prostitution. Write your MP and encourage Canada to take the lead by following the Nordic example. We need to criminalize the purchasing of sex and decriminalize the person being sold.
2. Educate yourself and others about human trafficking.
3. Support the education of women and girls, especially in developing countries.
4. Protest the proliferation of "pimp 'n ho" culture. Movies, sitcoms, language, and video games that make light of pimps and prostitution are not okay! Challenge those who make such jokes or use terms like "pimp my ride."
5. Give to/ get involved with an organization already fighting human trafficking. Below are three excellent groups working hard to rescue and bring healing to victims.

Servants Anonymous Foundation: www.safoundation.com

Defend Dignity: www.defenddignity.ca

International Justice Mission Canada: www.ijm.ca

In addition, the Portage Friendship Centre is hosting a training course next month on combatting the sexual exploitation of children.  Contact them at 239-6333 for more information.

Thank you for considering what you can do. Next time you look into the eyes of a child you care about, remember the 27 million people, half of them children, forced into a life of sexual slavery somewhere on our planet--a planet you can make better today. I'm sure you've heard Edmund Burke's quotation, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

It begs the question: when good men do nothing, are they still good?