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Wednesday 31 December 2014

The Islamization of Britain in 2014


Fast food giant Subway has removed ham and bacon from stores, halal only - Pamela Geller


Some 2014 headlines:
  • "Britain remains the world's leading recruiting ground for al-Qaeda." — Con Coughlin, Daily Telegraph.
  • "When she sought help from the police and a lawyer, 'the family of the defendants were insulted that she had gone to the law. They wanted her back within the family fold... Therefore, it was decided that she should be forced to comply or be killed'." — Prosecutor of Ahmed A-Khatib, who murdered his wife for becoming "too westernized."
  • "British school teachers are afraid to teach their students about Christianity out of fear of offending Muslims." — Roger Bolton, BBC Radio 4's Feedback program.
  • "Rather than taking steps to protect British children, police, social workers, teachers... and the media deliberately played down the severity of the crimes [of Muslim sexual grooming gangs] in order to avoid being accused of 'Islamophobia' or racism." — From the report "Easy Meat: Multiculturalism, Islam and Child Sex Slavery."
  • "A group of British lawyers launched a website, Sharia Watch UK. The group called Sharia law 'Britain's Blind Spot'."
  • "After Adebolajo, who murdered and tried to behead British soldier Lee Rigby with a meat cleaver, was given a 'whole-life' prison term, his brother said his sibling was the victim of 'Islamophobia'."
  • "The problem of honor-based violence and forced marriages in England is "worse than people think." — Claire Phillipson, Wearside Women in Need

"The Muslim population of Britain reached 3.4 million in 2014 to become around 5.3% of the overall population of 64 million, according to figures extrapolated from a recent study on the growth of the Muslim population in Europe. In real terms, Britain has the third-largest Muslim population in the European Union, after France and Germany.

Islam and Islam-related issues were omnipresent in Britain during 2014, and can be categorized into four broad themes: 1) Islamic extremism and the security implications of British jihadists in Syria; 2) the continuing spread of Islamic Sharia law in Britain; 3) the sexual exploitation of British children by Muslim gangs; and 4) Muslim integration into British society.

In January, an analysis of census data showed that nearly 10% of the babies and toddlers in England and Wales are Muslim. The percentage of Muslims among children under five is almost twice as high as in the general population. By way of comparison, fewer than one in 200 people over the age of 85 are Muslim, an indication of the extent to which the birth rate is changing the religious demographic in Britain."

For a chronological review of some of the main stories involving the rise of Islam in Britain during 2014 click HERE.

This is not Islamophobia. It is what is actually happening in Great Britain. The reality of Islamic expansion which is changing our culture at an alarming rate. Denial contradicts reported facts. We have become so paralysed by accusations of racism and prejudice that "Asian gangs" (no mention that they were Muslims who are taught that non-Muslims are inferior) were able to abuse at least 1,400 children in Rotherham alone (report here) resulting in this condemnation:

 "On August 31, the Independent on Sunday reported that a House of Commons committee would launch an investigation into whether Tony Blair's Labour government knew about the Rotherham child abuse scandal as far back as 2001, but refused to act because of his government's desire to pacify Muslim communities."

"On November 10, the BBC reported that police in Rotherham not only ignored, but actively obstructed investigations into child abuse victims, apparently because the perpetrators were Muslim. On November 19, the Birmingham Mail reported that the Birmingham City Council "buried" a politically incorrect government-funded report that revealed to sexual exploitation of young white girls by Muslim men. The author of the report, Jill Jesson, told the newspaper that the report was never published and all copies were to be destroyed."

To view how British Islamist Abu Waleed thinks Muslims should humiliate Christians in order to make them convert to Islam click HERE.

A few more statistics from Fr. George Rutler interviewed here:
"There have been 5.3 million fewer British-born people describing themselves as Christians, a decline of 15% in just a decade. At the same time, the number of Muslims in England and Wales surged by 75% – boosted by almost 600,000 more foreign-born followers of the Islamic faith. While almost half of British Muslims are under the age of 25, almost a quarter of Christians (Protestants and Catholics) are over 65."

Pray that in 2015 HM Government abandons political correctness for reality for the sake of our children and our children's children and that political parties do not harvest cheap votes from Muslim communities by ignoring obvious problems.

Meanwhile, from Cranmer (here) "SOPHIE WESSEX AND THE FASHIONABLE BURQA". - God save us! - And all Muslim women.

A Happy New Year!

Monday 29 December 2014

Queen's speech 2014




Should we be surprised at the headlineQueen beats Archbishop of Canterbury as ‘most moral leader’ in new poll?

HM The Queen: "For me, the life of Jesus Christ, the prince of peace, whose birth we celebrate today, is an inspiration and an anchor in my life.

A role model of reconciliation and forgiveness, he stretched out his hands in love, acceptance and healing. Christ’s example has taught me to seek to respect and value all people, of whatever faith or none." You can read the Queen's speech 2014 in full here.

The Bishop of Buckingham (for example): "The Church of England is still guilty of “serious institutional homophobia” and has yet to overcome “inertia and ignorance” towards same-sex couples, an Anglican bishop has claimed. Alan Wilson, the bishop of Buckingham, praised gay members of the clergy for showing “considerable courage and determination” as they fight deeply ingrained prejudices to marry. “In very few years people will wonder what the fuss was all about,” the bishop says in a Christmas sermon for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community recorded for Pink News. He adds: “But for now it’s a path that calls for considerable courage and determination. So please spare a thought this Christmas for them." Full article here.

If the Bishop of Buckingham wants a proper example of “considerable courage and determination” he need only look to the 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England'. One can only imagine what the Queen must be thinking with all that is going on in the Church of England and in Government especially when the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 received Royal Assent.

The Bishop of Buckingham is not a lone voice in the Anglican Church. Rather, he reflects the move away from liturgy to a particular view of social justice which relegates worship almost to an optional extra and "Christ’s example" is distorted to justify just about any secular fancy. One has only to look at the fate * of the Episcopal Church (TEC) for an example of how this trend develops into litigation and dilution of the faith resulting in a church in name only:

"Why is the Anglican Church in North America growing (now over 110,000) while TEC is in decline? Why has ACNA overtaken the Anglican Church of Canada in Average Sunday Attendance? It's all about the message - one of the transforming love of Jesus Christ to all sinners. There is almost no difference in the way a TEC parish functions from that of an ACNA parish. A visitor would see no discernible difference in worship forms, liturgy (though there is a greater use of the 1928 Prayer Book in ACNA parishes). The difference is what is proclaimed from the pulpit each Sunday. Preaching endless sermons about inclusion, diversity, the joys of pansexuality, the need for women priests/bishops, the Five Marks of Mission, MDGs and a whole host of so-called hot button issues does not change lives just opinions and not always that. TEC needs to radically rethink who they want as next generation priests. Second career aging lesbians won't cut it."

All is not gloom in the Church of England. Part of the package which saw the appointment of the first woman bishop included 'broad church' provision so that Evangelicals and Anglo Catholics have the opportunity to prosper.

Not so in the Church in Wales. Their bishops proposed legislation that would have made statutory provision for those opposed to the ordination of women on grounds of conscience but this was swiftly dropped after a successful plot by the devious Archdeacon of Llandaff and her sidekick the Area Dean of Llandaff which enabled the bench sitters to do as instructed by their unscrupulous Archbishop.

Looking at the success of ACNA and the failure of TEC it is not difficult to see why Dr Morgan stamps out any opposition to his view of Anglicanism. So much so that one has to wonder what is "an inspiration and an anchor" in his life. Where did Dr Morgan come in the 'most moral leader' poll? So far, I have been unable to find any reference to him!

* Update (30/12/2014)
See also here, an interview with Fr. George Rutler, pastor of the Church of St. Michael in New York City .

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Christmas greetings


The Nativity (1858)                   Arthur Hughes




Joy to the world!


Best wishes for a
Blessed and Peaceful 
Christmas
and for
2015

Sunday 21 December 2014

Why there will be no Merry Christmas wishes from 'ordinary' Muslims



Christians who are accustomed to scripture being interpreted in different ways often mistakenly assume that the Quran can be read in the same way. But verses in the Quran are not optional. Later verses may abrogate earlier verses where there has been a change of mind on the part of the author but that simply enables dissimulation to confuse the unwary and the ignorant.

Many of us will be wishing each other a "Merry Christmas!" over the festive season but in Islam that is "worse than fornication, drinking alchohol or killing someone", as eloquently expressed in the above video.

Western governments and the media have a habit of dividing Muslims into ordinary and extreme so consider the response to an 'ordinary' young Muslim promoting the secular view that Christmas is just a time for exchanging gifts. He had the timerity to ask Dr Zakir Naik, the founder and president of the Islamic Research Foundation, what the problem was in wishing someone a Merry Christmas.You may be surprised by Dr Naikl's response here. Essentially it does not differ from the initial video or from the more extreme response here or from the summary here.

Bizarrely, anyone who "criticises Sharia law" could soon be branded an “extremist” under sweeping new powers planned by the Conservatives to combat terrorism so it may be timely to establish some facts about the spread of Islam around the world and how it affects unsuspecting populations until they discover it is too late. If HM Government doesn't understand true extremism they should take a look at this frightening video of Muslim aims unencumbered by political niceties.

Deference is not confined to Governments. Christian leaders should know about false prophets but they do not practice what they preach. While Islam claims to be the only true religion liberal Christian leaders constantly water down the faith and embrace Muslim leaders on equal terms in ignorance or denial that Islam will use any device including cultural jihad to gain advantage over them.

HRH Prince Charles describes here threats to Christians in the Middle East as "an indescribable tragedy". He made the comments in a message at the launch of a report by the Catholic charity 'Aid to the Church in Need' but implicit in what he had to say in his video introduction is the presumption of a level playing field in which Islam plays by the same rules, ignoring obvious Islamic aggression which political and religious leaders sweep aside as extremism. The reality can be found in "Religious Freedom in the World - 2014" Executive Summary. For regular, up-to-date information click here or the links in the RH column of this blog.

Many readers will remember Lebanon as a vibrant Christian country. No longer, but the Christian share of the population is still put at a relatively healthy 41%. How long before they share the same fate as others Christian communities in the Middle East which have existed from the birth of Christianity, long before Islam was even thought of yet Muslims talk of reconquering Muslim countries! Communities are disappearing before our eyes while Islam expands in Europe as though it were some kind of benign institution which just happens to treat women as inferior and consigns non-believes to Dhimmitude for their own good.

If these views are thought "extremist" just look at the facts. Consider how much has changed in the UK and what more is being demanded by Muslims, not for assimilation but for the expansion of a culture which seeks the demise of all others.

Watch the following video to see how the numbers stack up. How long before our number is up? If to question is extremist, so be it. The threat must be taken seriously or there will be no "Merry Christmas" for our children or our children's children.


"Merry Christmas"!

Postscript

Latest - "Yazidi women tell of sex-slavery trauma" here. "ISIS reportedly selling Christian artifacts, turning churches into torture chambers", story here

But hush! Don't mention Islam. "HOW WESTERN MEDIA ENABLE ISLAMIC TERRORISM" here.

A woman walks inside a damaged church in Maaloula. The Christian town was attacked last spring by "extremist forces".              (REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki)

Friday 19 December 2014

The blood of innocents


The bloodstained floor of an auditorium in the school in Pakistan where 132 children and nine staff
members were killed.                                              Credit Basit Gilani/European Pressphoto Agency


We should not be surprised that bad press following the worst atrocities brings condemnation from the most unlikely sources. Taqiyya is simply another weapon to defeat the infidel. The religious hardliners who organised the slaying of the innocents in Pakistan claimed afterwards that the massacre of young children was simply a misunderstanding; only the older children should have been slain!

Whether it is in Pakistan, Africa or the Middle East it is rare to read of such barbarous acts of bloodshed, abduction or persecution without the perpetrators proclaiming the cause of Islam. Jihadists have been flocking to the self-styled 'Islamic State' group, or ISIS, to enforce their policy of covert to Islam or die. Many have perished yet Muslims claim that Islam should not be blamed and the the phrase "Islamic terrorist" should be banned in case it puts "ordinary believers" at risk. 

'Ordinary' believers must believe the same as other Muslims if it is part of their faith, lying to protect themselves when necessary to do so. This device has been so effective that senior politicians constantly repeat the phrase that Islam is a religion of peace in ignorance that peace means peace under Sharia. Watch a basic eight minute explanatory video here or, preferably, more comprehensive coverage "Islam - What The West Needs To Know" (1hr 38min) here for an explanation. 

As one writer put it in the aftermath of the Australian cafe siege, "it is a lethal mistake for western leaders to differentiate ISIS from other Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas, Hizballah, Boko Haram, or Al Shabaab. Those Islamic terrorist groups are motivated by the same underlying motivations behind ISIS: to kill as many of their infidel enemies as possible and impose Islamic supremacy. The only difference is that ISIS has declared itself to be a global caliphate; the other groups are focused on becoming regional caliphates."

The Australian Herald Sun put it this way. "Denial of Islamic fundamentalism puts us in danger: "By screaming “racist” rather than allowing debate, our academics, commentators and politicians deafened us to the warnings until it was too late".

Not all Islamic attacks are armed. Ignoring the brutality of Islamic regimes around the world towards other religions and even to members of their own in some cases, groundless accusations are made using 'deliberate lies' at enormous expense to the tax-payer: 

Allegations of murder and torture made against British soldiers by Iraqi detainees were "deliberate lies", a five-year public inquiry has ruled. The £31m Al-Sweady Inquiry found claims that up to 20 Iraqis were killed and mutilated after a 2004 battle were "reckless speculation". The murder allegations were withdrawn from the inquiry earlier this year. The report also found British soldiers mistreated nine Iraqi detainees, but it was not deliberate ill-treatment.

If you can bear it, look here at what is left of some maimed and disfigured soldiers who did not completely lose their lives. Deprived of sleep and kept hungry would be a luxury by comparison.

Deference to Islam implies credibility for an ideology which is totally alien to Christianity. Islamic dress is now commonplace. Bigger and grander mosques are built while charges of Islamophobia are all but forgotten now that critics have been effectively silenced. 

But respect does not work both ways. Read this article in today's TabletIraqi prelate says his London church is treated with 'profound disrespect' by Sunni Muslims

"They come, they spit, they swear. When they pass the church, they cover their eyes or turn their faces away. They don’t like to see the cross." Women in his congregation had been harassed in the street, he said. “Muslim men hear them speaking in Arabic and call out to them 'Why aren’t you wearing the hijab? Why are you unbelievers? You’ll go to hell.'"

The reverse in Pakistan would no doubt result in charges of blasphemy and imprisonment if the mob did not stone the offenders to death first. Yet in the aftermath of the massacre of the Pakistani school children even some of their own countrymen have, despite some cracks, said enough is enough*. But will it be enough to question those aspects of their religious ideology which perpetrators use to justify violence in the name of Allah?

For the rest of us keeping quiet for fear of reprisals is not the answer. Governments should actively investigate Islam rather than accept the platitudes offered by Muslims who are not bound to tell the truth. 'Ordinary' Muslims need to know the Truth. At Christmastide "Peace on earth and good will toward men" is especially poignant for Christians. The shedding of blood happens at Calvary. End of story and the beginning. Why hide it?

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward menLuke 2:14


* Update (29/12/2014)

Pakistan: Christian couple burned, buried alive after allegedly burning Qur'an pages
Full report here. 

"Pakistani authorities arrested around 50 individuals in the mob who were deemed as directly involved in the crime. The suspects were arrested under the country's Anti-Terrorism Act.

In this case, "Terrorism" means "the use or threat of action where ... The use or threat is designed to coerce and intimidate or overawe the Government or the public or a section of the public or community or sect or create a sense of fear or insecurity in society", as stated by the law. 

The defendants were charged by the state itself, which means the government will ensure that each of them will not go unpunished for their crime. This could be the nation's first step in making a firm justice that will condemn violent acts, especially against Christians. Still, the authorities gave the accused the right to seek legal counsel."

Thursday 18 December 2014

Have a revolutionary Christmas!


Credit: negativityscene.com


Fresh from losing the race to appoint the first woman bishop in England and Wales Archbishop Morgan has come out fighting. In his Christmas message he hopes that the "revolutionary" nature of the Christmas message will be put into context by regarding the Holy Family as "immigrants".

While reminding us of the poor and needy this Christmas, Dr Morgan takes the opportunity to advance his personal revolutionary topics: women bishops and his next big project, the "advent of same-sex marriage". That sounds like another foregone conclusion to me. Story here - but not the Christmas story.

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Loser


"Rev Barry Morgan, Archbishop of Wales at the vote for women bishops."      Photo: WalesOnline

According to media reports today (here) the Church of England’s first woman bishop has been chosen. That must be one in the eye for the Archbishop of Wales. The Church in Wales won the race in the vote for women bishops but Dr Morgan has lost the chance to appoint the first woman bishop in England and Wales.

To recap, the Archbishop expressed delight at the result when Church in Wales voted to accept women bishops adding ominously that "he now hopes the church will have the courage to embrace further change". From the WalesOnline report after the vote:

"This time, the bishops proposed a two-stage process – holding a vote on the principle of women bishops but not appointing any until the constitution was amended to establish provisions for traditionalists. But Archdeacon Peggy Jackson and Canon Jenny Wigley tabled an amendment which opposed this two-stage compromise. Under their proposal, women could be appointed a year after the vote and the bishops would establish a code of practice to ensure that “all members of the Church in Wales” have a “sense of security in their accepted and valued place. When asked if he tried to persuade them not to take this action, Dr Morgan said: “It’s not my job to persuade people to do things which are against their conscience." [My emphasis - Ed.]

It was suggested that the 2008 rejection of female bishops in the Church in Wales was one of the most disappointing moments in Archbishop Barry Morgan’s time at the helm of the Anglican church. Perhaps that accounts for his vindictiveness towards anyone who disagrees with him by simply excluding them.

Postscript

And the winner is.................................


Source: Getty Images
The Reverend Libby Lane who lists her main interests as being a school governor, encouraging social action initiatives, learning to play the saxophone, supporting Manchester United, reading and doing cryptic crosswords. Par for the course! Reports here and here.

Also said to be in the running for the post were the Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, 53, chaplain to the House of Commons and a chaplain to the Queen, the Very Rev Vivienne Faull, 59, Dean of York Minster and the Very Rev Dr Jane Hedges, 58, Dean of Norwich.

One would have thought a mere suffragan post beneath them so a case for discrimination seems unlikely to arise.


Sunday 14 December 2014

Liberal values


Women in waiting                                                                                                Photo credit: Telegraph/Jane Mingay

From today's Sunday Times (here £) "Most bishops... do not automatically qualify for a seat in the Lords and there had been fears that it would be a decade or more before a churchwoman sat on parliament’s red benches. Now, in a historic move championed by Nick Clegg, the law will be rewritten so that female bishops jump the queue when a place among the 'lords spiritual' comes up. The first could be appointed to Westminster’s upper chamber as early as next year."

Last year Mr Clegg was awarded an A-plus for hypocrisy in this Mail Online report: "This week it’s the announcement that he — an atheist and the leader of a party that has pledged to make faith schools more inclusive — has succeeded in getting his son into one of the most over-subscribed Catholic state schools in Britain. Entry to the London Oratory School is dependent on at least one parent not only being Catholic, but regularly attending Sunday Mass at the Brompton Oratory for at least three years. Even with these strict criteria, the school had 800 applicants for its 160 places. How very fortunate that the Cleggs were, as the Deputy Prime Minister put it himself yesterday, ‘lucky’ enough to get one."

Mr Clegg is an atheist married to a Catholic. He told the Mail Online that he wouldn’t impose his political will on his wife when it came to educating their children. But that has not prevented him from imposing his political will on religious matters.

In a radio phone-in Mr Clegg said that he would like to see the disestablishment of the Church of England which would lead to the Queen's removal as the head of the church: "In the long run it would be better for the church and better for people of faith, and better for Anglicans, if the church and the state were over time to stand on their own two separate feet." Mr Clegg believes that the Anglican Church would “thrive” if no longer “inhibited” by its role at the heart of the British constitution.

The Anglican Church in England and Wales was supposed to "thrive" following the ordination of women to the priesthood but last month the Bishop of Truro warned that the Church of England has only "five or six years" to save itself. Previously, when the Bishop of Blackburn launched a 12-year-plan to attract younger people to the Church he feared that unless the Church reinvented itself in his own diocese, it would disappear like the region’s textile industry.

An elected House of Lords has been a "long-cherished goal of the Lib Dems" but plans to reform the second chamber had to be abandoned after the Conservatives "broke the coalition contract" (here).

Perhaps Mr Clegg is getting his own back, doing the same for the House of Lords as women's ordination has done for the Church, steady decline.

Monday 8 December 2014

More lies, damned lies and statistics


WATCH: "To choose a bishop based on one specific view, held by only a small group, can only serve to be divisive."                                       Photo Credit: PA


Following on from Saturday's entry, Just about Eve, a response from Women and the Church (WATCH) to the announcement of a 'headship' bishop has been published (here) - HT to Anglican Mainstream.

The Chair of WATCH, Hilary Cotton, said: "We have never accepted the appointment of any bishop on the grounds of a particular minority belief: this is distinctly un-Anglican and unorthodox. This goes far beyond disagreement about the ordination of women: it is about bishops recognising each other as bishops. If we lose that, what kind of unity are we demonstrating as a national church?"

This double speak is designed to fool the man or woman in the street who has little if any interest in religion by appealing to their ignorance. According to the Church of England's own estimates of attendance in their self-congratulatory Facts & Stats, 'one million participate each Sunday'. That is just 1% of Anglicanism. For the vast majority of the 80 million Anglicans who hold to the Apostolic faith of the Church, unity really does matter so selfish desires are put aside in the interests of genuine Church unity.

WATCH, along with ECUSA, the Church in Wales and other marginal, liberal dominated Provinces,  hold to a specific, divisive view which gives them dominance in their national church. But that is to the detriment not only of  the Anglican Communion but to the unity of the Holy Catholic Church which is again gathering pace following the declaration signed on the feast of St Andrew (20 Nov 2014) by Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew. As Erasmus succinctly put it in The EconomistHello ladies, goodbye Communion?

As feared, these disgruntled feminists cannot help rubbing salt into the wounds which others have been trying to heal. As Erasmus pointed out, to get the women bishops legislation through "the feelings of low-church evangelicals who oppose women bishops have to some degree been assuaged by a promise that one of their number will be appointed to high office". Just as the bishops of the Church in Wales have done these women and their supporters were prepared to go along with any procedure which guaranteed them victory, saying anything, promising anything to get their own way, then renege. The statement added:

"In a separate development, we are keen to know whether the Archbishop of York will consecrate the newly appointed Bishop of Burnley, Rev Philip North, who opposes the ordination of women. It would seem to us bizarre if a suffragan bishop declined to be consecrated by his own archbishop and even his own diocesan bishop, because he did not recognise them as bishops."

Conscience is not a word that has any resonance for the duplicitous. While the Church of England strove to achieve an honourable solution to resolve conscientious differences, WATCH along with Barry and his bench sitters in the Church in Wales remain determined to achieve unity by exclusion.

This is "distinctly un-Anglican and unorthodox".

Saturday 6 December 2014

Just about Eve


Creation of Eve, Sistine Chapel ceiling                                                                          Michelangelo


At its meeting on 4 December the Dioceses Commission unanimously agreed with a proposal received from the Archbishop of Canterbury to fill the vacant see of Maidstone. The see, which had been vacant since 2009, had been identified by the Archbishop as one that should be filled by a bishop who takes a conservative evangelical view on headship. - CofE News Release; see also Ruth Gledhill on 'headship' bishop here.

One small step after the Church Society had called for the appointment of 12 Conservative Evangelical Bishops given the proportion of worshippers attending evangelical parishes in the Church of England.

A report in The Economist in 2012 claimed "The rise of evangelicalism is shaking up the established church". But not proportionately according to these figures:

"As the number of people who are actively committed to the Church of England falls, the proportion of churchgoers who are serious about their faith—and its implications for private and public life—is growing. Peter Brierley, a collector of statistics on faith in Britain, reckons that 40% of Anglicans attend evangelical parishes these days, up from 26% in 1989. That is against a background of overall decline; he thinks the number of regular worshippers in the Church of England will have fallen to 680,000 by 2020, down from about 800,000 now and just under 1m a decade ago. The lukewarm are falling away, leaving the pews to the more fervent."

Given the calls for so-called equality in the Church one would have thought that an established movement based on scripture and reason would take priority over a religious novelty based on feminism and relativism. But not so. The feminist movement has seen its rise to dominance in a steady progression through the deaconate to the priesthood and now the episcopacy while a sizable chunk of the Anglican Church is left marginalised and largely ignored.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, predicted that in 10 years, half the Church of England’s bishops might be women. "Ten to 15 years would be reasonable. It depends when people retire," he said after the vote. Abp Welby said the church was working to train women as potential bishops. "The aim is that you end up with a big pool of people where gender is irrelevant. We are going to take this very, very seriously." - Working to train women as potential bishops, then fast-tracked into the House of Lords. Seriously indeed - but only on terms acceptable to the ruling liberal elite!

Gender may be irrelevant in the new Church of England. So too it seems is belief when 40% of Anglicans are not properly represented. But it is not really about equality. It is just about Eve.