Categories
Observations

One Rule For You

A couple of days ago, I was surprised to hear One Rule for You, by the mighty After the Fire being played on Radio 2. For those to young to remember ATF (or who were never interested in British Christian Rock in the late seventies) they were the cool Christian band in the UK for a number of years. They had one relatively big hit in Britain (though the b-side was better) and they toured the UK with people like U2.

The words to One Rule for You were always good, but I was struck by how appropriate they are these days –

What kind of line is that you’re giving me
One Rule for you, one rule for me
Too many people try to tell me that I shouldn’t say the things I do
I know that you would only do the same if it meant as much too you
What kind of line is that you’re giving me
One Rule for you, one rule for me

They say believe in what you like as long as you can keep it to yourself
I say if what I know is right, it’s wrong if I don’t tell somebody else
What kind of line is that you’re giving me
One Rule for you, one rule for me

Today, the Christian Union at Exeter University are going to court to defend their right to Free Speech and religious groups in Northern Ireland have effectively been forbidden by the government from speaking about issues of human sexuality. I have no objection to people having the liberty to proclaim any sort of lifestyle or religion they want – but I do want Christians to share that liberty and to be able to speak to issues as they see them. It seems I want a bit too much.
One rule for you, one rule for me, indeed.