..The moral formation I received from my school beatings was almost entirely the opposite of what was intended. They gave me a lifelong problem with authority and a kneejerk identification with victims. Which is probably why I am prepared to be a little unfair about the archbishop and his proximity to these horrible Christian camps. He is a decent man.
But my problem is with the whole idea of evangelical decency. It takes me back to the so-called decency of the man who caned me, and the sickness I felt in my stomach as a little boy, waiting outside that chapel in a gloomy wood-panelled corridor. This was more than 40 years ago ”“ but I still don’t have it in me to forgive him for what he did to me.
I admit I did wonder what had started Fraser on his path to becoming the typical public school rebel. How awful – just shows the value of not judging before ‘walking a mile in another man’s mocassins.’
May he find peace, assurance, healing and joy in the hands of Him who never lets us down, and couldn’t be further away from the description of the false deity of Fraser’s abuser.