Government sell out to Islam

MPs will not be allowed to drink alcohol at their temporary premises    Source: Sunday Express

The Sunday Express reports that MPs are to be rehoused temporarily in Richmond House while Parliament undergoes much-needed repair. But the building, 91 metres down the road, was transferred from the British Government to wealthy Middle Eastern businessmen and banks under an Islamic bond scheme, called Sukuk, in 2014 in George Osborne's bid to make the UK a global hub for Islamic finance.

The lease terms stipulate the building is governed under Islamic law - which includes the banning of alcohol on the activities. Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen said he could not believe parts of Whitehall are being governed by Sharia law.

Mr Bridgen will not be alone in his disbelief. Mr Osborne would have done well to recall 1 Timothy 6:10. 

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

It is not the alcohol, it is the principle. Perhaps Mr Osborne is too busy to notice how Islam features in Syria, Iraq, Greece, Germany, Calais, etc, etc.

What a sell out.

Postscript [04.03.2016]

Five Whitehall buildings held by wealthy businessmen now operating under Sharia rules:

The historic Admiralty House and four other Whitehall buildings are now operating in accordance with some sharia rules – including a ban on alcohol – after they were used as part of an Islamic bond scheme. The properties must comply with some aspects of sharia under the terms of special bonds known as sukuk, announced by George Osborne two years ago when the UK became the first Western country to issue them. - Independent report here.

The road to ruin

The Bishop of Willesden, the Rt Rev Peter Broadbent, having a laugh.     Source: The Telegraph

From The Telegraph: Dress-down Sundays: Church considers making clerical dress optional.

"Heavenly hoodies? Church of England takes first step to relaxing clerical dress rules in effort to become more “relevant” to 21st Century". Surely they mean irrelevant.

Also, from The Guardian: Church of England members back same-sex marriage. Poll shows for first time more Anglicans supporting gay couples marrying than opposing it, despite leadership’s opposition. "The lowest levels of support for same-sex marriage – 24% – were found among Anglican men over the age of 55, a group that dominates the church leadership." But for how long?

"Jayne Ozanne, a leading gay activist within the C of E, who commissioned the poll from YouGov, said this finding was “deeply worrying”. “Unfortunately, this is exactly the profile of those in the senior positions of power and influence within the church,” she said.

Meanwhile ready to fill the vacuum UK Mosque Open Day is being promoted on social media and lists of participating places of worship are being posted on Facebook "which organisers hope will bring in more young people, among others".

As the Church destroys herself by becoming "relevant to society" the so called religion of peace is busy spreading its influence. Is it any surprise that "Islam may soon become the most dominant religion in the world, eclipsing Christianity". One thing we can be sure of there will be no mention that Christians will have to convert, pay the tax or die (Qur’an 9:29).

Postscript

Poll spun to apply pressure to Church of England on same-sex 'marriage'.

Gender fluidity

Source: BBC

In March last year it was reported that there was a shortage of chicken sexers in the UK. The procedure can be read in the BBC report but suffice to say a bump makes the difference. If it has one, it is male.

Generally speaking humans are identified at birth as being either male or female by being with or without the bump which translates into being registered as a boy or a girl. That is not to say that behavioural differences go unnoticed in later life. Indeed many performers have profited by making capital out of contrary behaviour.

Julian and his friend Sandy in 'Around the Horn' on steam radio were the cause of considerable merriment in the 1960s but in retrospect many of us may not have fully understood the full extent of the innuendo, since translated into law. No longer the subject of humour, self-deprecating or otherwise, we are now expected to accept 'gender fluidity', an issue nicely put into perspective by Melanie Philips in The Spectator.

I have no desire to trivialise what may be a serious problem for a minority of people but gender fluidity is quickly becoming the new in thing after homosexuality under the sponsorship of Her Majesty's Government. In a government backed survey, children as young as 13 are asked to pick from a list of twenty-five genders: 

Source: Mail Online

Critics have accused the sponsors of ‘exploiting’ teenagers for political ends. Too right. Following on from the same-sex marriage debacle this smacks of another government campaign biased towards harvesting votes from minorities regardless of the consequences. 

To exploit the adult population for political ends was a disgrace but to exploit vulnerable children in the same manner is inexcusable.

Victims

Source: BBC/Welsh News Service

Readers who are a little longer in the tooth may recall holidays abroad when a tag was used to obtain services thus removing the need to carry cash. Indeed, in their student days they may even have experienced landlords economising on paint by using a uniform colour, green in the case of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Red has become the symbol of oppression for asylum seekers, something picked up by David Davies MP. No matter that many people in this country would be glad to have a roof over their head and be assured of meals without having to rely on food banks, as increasing numbers of people do in Great Britain today, wristbands it seems have become a sign of oppression despite being fashionable in some quarters and generally obscured from view unless revealed as in the illustration above. 

Baroness Cox knows only too well how difficult it has become to retain a sense of proportion regarding British values without someone complaining that they are being victimised as a consequence. The Baroness's Bill which seeks to protect women and challenge the application of sharia law in the UK has been approved by the House of Lords but it needs an MP to sponsor it and steer it through the House of Commons. Baroness Cox has already been accused of being Islamophbic so with parties fighting for votes from minorities the chances of success are not looking good.

So the strategy continues:

• Exploit the “victim” status;
• Use the sympathetic media;
• Confuse and neutralize the churches;
• Slander and stereotype [traditionalist] Christians;
• Bait and switch (hide their true nature); and
• Intimidation.

People are falling over themselves to say what they perceive to be the 'right' thing regardless of the circumstances, seemingly oblivious to what else is going on in the world so here is victim, reminiscent of Rochdale, Cologne, Denmark, etc, reported by the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA).

This poor 17-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan was killed by a group of Muslim men because she spurned their sexual advances after they shouted "How dare you run away from us! Christian girls are only meant for one thing – the pleasure of Muslim men."

Wilson Chowdhry, Chairman of the BPCA said the world is ignoring the treatment of Christian women in Pakistan, where an average of two women a day disappear and are raped, sold into sexual slavery, or forced to marry Muslim men.

Not only in Pakistan. Christian Refugees Live in Fear. 

It should be clear who the real victims are. What is being done about them?

A Tonic

A tonic for the weekend against the miseries that new Anglicanism has afflicted upon the faithful.

Peace, perfect peace

The Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol, Bangor. Source Wikipedia

An EXCLUSIVE from The Sun:

Cathedral, surviving on cash reserves, paying to re-home clerics

"A CHURCH is blowing nearly £1million to re-home two clerics after they whinged about noisy students. The pair say they are being kept awake at night by revellers from the neighbouring university.

Bangor Cathedral in North Wales has already bought a £465,000 four-bedroom detached house for Rev Kathy Jones. Now it is looking for a similar property for its Canon, Rev David Fisher."

The Rev Kathy Jones has been appointed as the new Dean of Bangor and Ministry Area Leader of the Bro Deiniol Ministry Area.

The Rev Canon David Fisher was installed as the Canon Precentor of Bangor Cathedral in 2013. His ministry is centred mainly on the liturgy and music of the Cathedral.

In July 2015 it was reported that Bangor Cathedral choir was to benefit from £30,000 grant which officials hoped would provide a "strong foundation for choral scholars from colleges in the area and Bangor University".

Perhaps they will include in their repertoire the hymn Peace, perfect peace for further reflection.

Peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.

Peace, perfect peace, by thronging duties pressed?

To do the will of Jesus, this is rest.

Peace, perfect peace, with sorrows surging round?

On Jesus’ bosom naught but calm is found.

Peace, perfect peace, with loved ones far away?

In Jesus’ keeping we are safe, and they.

Peace, perfect peace, our future all unknown?

Jesus we know, and He is on the throne.

Peace, perfect peace, death shadowing us and ours?

Jesus has vanquished death and all its powers.

It is enough: earth’s struggles soon shall cease,

And Jesus call us to Heaven’s perfect peace.

Sour grapes

Ex-Anglican priest and Shadow Cabinet member Chris Bryant, MP, otherwise known as "Captain Underpants" has announced that he is to quit the Anglican Church saying its stance on homosexuality would one day look as wrong as supporting slavery. Given his record it is hard to see that he will be a great loss. He tweeted: "I've finally given up on Anglican church today after its love-empty decision on sexuality. One day it will seem wrong as supporting slavery"!

An odd response since this statement appears in the Primates 2016 Communiqué: "The Primates condemned homophobic prejudice and violence and resolved to work together to offer pastoral care and loving service irrespective of sexual orientation. This conviction arises out of our discipleship of Jesus Christ. The Primates reaffirmed their rejection of criminal sanctions against same-sex attracted people."

As the Guardian put it: "Bryant’s comments came as liberal Anglicans expressed disappointment and anger over an agreement reached in Canterbury on Thursday that penalised the US church for its stance on gay rights and explicitly reaffirmed 'traditional doctrine' on marriage as a union between a man and a woman".

Bryant was not alone in his condemnation of traditional doctrine. Michael Curry, the new presiding bishop of the US Episcopal Church  said: "For many who have felt and been rejected by the church because of who they are, for many who have felt and been rejected by families and communities, our church opening itself in love was a sign of hope. And this will add pain on top of pain."

The vocal LGBT lobby which called for the Church to repent for not agreeing with their liberal agenda would have us believe that they know best, even if it leads to the destruction of the Anglican Church. For once they find themselves on the losing side, experiencing for themselves what they have inflicted on others as they have sought to bend the Church to their secular way of thinking.

Quick to claim a majority when it favours them, the fact that their views represent a tiny minority in the Church is irrelevant to them. Traditionalists have been frequently told that if they don't like new Anglicanism they should leave so perhaps the LGBT agitators should follow Chris Bryant's lead but that would lead to many less clergy.

The LGBT lobby should realise that they have never had it so good and stop agitating unless they want to see Anglicanism in this country follow the fate of the US Episcopal Church, banned from representation on key bodies and barred from voting on issues relating to doctrine or strategy.

Decline and fall

Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion Photo: OLI SCARFF

More bad news for the Church of England. "Attendance plunges to record low: Sunday attendance slumps by 22,000 to 765,000 as older worshippers die and Archbishop of Canterbury warns of struggle in ‘anti-Christian culture’".

Ironically much of the anti-Christian culture will be seen by the majority of the world's 80 million Anglicans as of the church's own making in liberal leaning provinces.

But there is another twist in a story which continues to dominate the media.Yesterday half the BBC's 10 o'clock news bulletin and the whole of Newsnight (I presume as I switched it off) was devoted to the death of David Bowie,"the creative force who changed Britain" as the BBC's Home Editor, Mark Easton, put it.

He wrote: "My parents' generation are puzzled by Bowie-mania, and there is another group of thirtysomethings who remain rather baffled by the attention devoted to his passing". That includes me, not as one of the 'thirtysomethings' but of his parents' generation who will have noted his death rather than his passing which is more reminiscent of driving tests.

Easton continued: " Britain has become far more tolerant of difference. And David Bowie helped us reach that place.....Would gay rights, gender equality legislation or same-sex marriage have enjoyed the broad support they do today without Bowie's androgynous challenge all those years ago? I suspect not. He gave space to oddity… and made it cool".

Gay rights and gender equality have become so skewed that what was tolerance has become intolerance and anyone retaining a sense of balance is condemned as being out of touch. It is not cool. It is a disaster.

Enough is enough (2)

Ugandans take part in an anti-gay protest in Kampala. The Church of Uganda has been
prominent in the Anglican realignment movement. Source: Independent AFP/Getty

From Christian Today:

Church must repent of 'second class' treatment of gays, Anglican leaders warn Primates:

More than 100 Anglicans including the Dean of St Paul's have written a letter to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, urging repentance for "second class citizens" treatment of gay people as the leaders of the 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion meet in Canterbury today in the hope of avoiding further schism of the Church.

The cheek of it. Reminiscent of the campaigns for the ordination of women priests and bishops under the 'second class citizen' banner, many commentators who read this blog will find the claim hard to swallow again. Far from being second class citizens gay people are very much in evidence at all levels in the Church in England and Wales and in one diocese very well known to commentators they hold sway.

In my Enough is enough entry on Bonfire Day in 2012 I included a video in which the Bishop of Worcester claimed that if the measure to allow women bishops did not pass it would be a disaster for the Church's mission. Poppycock! Passing the measure was the disaster, aligning the Church of England and Church in Wales with the ultra liberal US Episcopal Church (TEC). Feminism has become entrenched leading to ever more relaxation.

Women priests, women bishops, gay bishops, same-sex relationships and gay marriage have nothing to do with the mission of the Church. It is all about seeking the blessing of the Church to justify personal preference at the expense of Mission .

There are 80 million Anglicans worldwide. The minority who live in Great Britain are no longer representative of the Anglican Communion. If anyone needs to repent it is these self-interested minorities.

Christian today but what of tomorrow?

"Christianity is being quietly erased from public life. What are we going to do about it?" Good question but very little where it matters, if anything. The question was posed in Christian Today:

"A strange and troubling paradox is now glaringly evident in society today. On the one hand the UK Government is praising and giving funding to Christian initiatives in communities and recognising the rich contribution the church makes to national life. On the other it is proposing measures to tackle extremism that could privatise Christianity. As we enter this New Year, it is clear 2016 will be a critical year for Christian freedoms. This week former Whitehall mandarin William Nye talked of the "secularising spirit" now permeating the machinery of government. After 20 years of working at the highest level he sees the gradual "squeezing out of Christianity" from our national life despite the public expressions of support from ministers. The chilling effect has been that more and more Christians are afraid to speak out and feel disenfranchised."

If we value our heritage we must do something about it. While Christianity is being marginalised, Islam continues to gain ground. From Patheos:

"Christians may be the most persecuted group in the world, and their persecution is on the rise. As Islamic extremism takes hold and repressive governments step up their campaigns against Christianity, the Pope has been moved to warn of “a form of genocide”, and for campaigners to speak out over “religio-ethnic cleansing.” Organisations that monitor religious persecution have rung alarm bells worldwide, from South America to sub-Saharan Africa and from Asia to the Middle East, warning of a rapid increase in attacks and repression".

Despite the well documented evidence of how Muslims oppress others in Islamic countries, do-gooders with no apparent comprehension of the threat of an Islamic Supremacist ideology press for more and more concessions for Islam. The latest from the Mail Online: "Sit exams early to fit in with Ramadan: Pupils taking GCSEs and A-levels face timetable shake-up to accommodate fasting Muslims". Quite a contrast with the option offered to Christians in many Muslim countries - convert, pay the tax or die.

In Belfast, "Following yesterday’s ruling which found Pastor James McConnell not guilty of a “hate crime” for referring to Islam as “heathen” and “satanic”, the Belfast Islamic Centre, which reported the pastor to the police, has said that they “disagree with the verdict”. The Islamic Centre is calling for a blasphemy law in Northern Ireland, by demanding that “insulting” a faith be punishable under Irish law. However, shortly after the ‘Satanic Islam’ sermon, Dr. Raied al-Wazzan, the executive director of Belfast Islamic Centre, made remarks that were not only insulting to some Christians, but appeared to support a banned terrorist organisation."

In Birmingham a former teacher at two schools linked to the Trojan Horse scandal could face a lifetime ban from the classroom after he told pupils that Christians and Jews were 'ignorant' and Muslims have 'the true religion'.

This is a Christian country but for how long? Christian belief is that there is only one way to the Father. The Bible warns about false prophets but still many of our bishops and even archbishops encourage the spread of Islam instead of seeking to make disciples of all nations. Encouraging other faiths denies them the real truth. Meanwhile, Christians in the United Kingdom are facing increasing marginalization and oppression under new laws originally intended to safeguard equality. The position abroad is worse, serving as a warning to those who condemn as Islamophobic anyone who seeks the truth about Islam.

If we do not stand up for what we believe our children and grand children will become part of the Dhimmitude as Islam expands and Christianity becomes a minority religion in the UK. Leaders who persist in regarding Islam as just another faith similar to others have had a rude awakening following the terrorist attacks in France by supposed refugees and the more recent attacks on women in Germany on New Year's Eve but bishops still persist with their deluded embrace of an alien culture which seeks our demise. They may believe that they are following the Gospel but Jesus gave short shrift to those who deserved condemnation.

'Refugees' or 'migrants', the vast majority of immigrants are Muslim. They do not leave their ideology behind. Christians in refugee camps who have not fled the persecution there continue to suffer at the hands of Muslim refugees while others who have sought safety by sea have been thrown overboard.

There is no escape from an ideology which regards the kafir as worthless while Muslims try to buy their way to heaven doing what they believe to be the will of God, even if it means killing the innocent, something our political as well as religious leaders need to grasp.

The best Archbishop we never had, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, summed up the problem of convincing the ill-informed when he responded to Boris Johnson's claim that "we should counter anti-Islamic scare-mongering by recalling our debt to the culture of Muslim Spain". Bishop Michael said: Boris Johnson points out the achievements of Muslim rule after their conquest of the mostly Christian and Jewish Middle East, North Africa and Spain (Comment,3 January). In fact, if they had not been stopped at Tours by Charles Martel, Mr Johnson might have had a more direct experience of such rule. [My emphasis - Ed.]. Read Bishop Michael's full response here and about the Battle of Tours (732 AD) here:

"Had Martel fallen at Tours the long term implications for European Christianity may have been devastating. His victory there, and in the following campaigns, may have literally saved Europe and Christianity as we know it, from conquest while the Caliphate was unified and able to mount such a conquest." - And today they are invited in to spread their supremacist ideology!

A Happy Christmas to my Orthodox readers

I need no excuse to indulge myself in the glories of the Russian Orthodox Church but their celebration of Christmas on 7 January is an opportunity too good to miss.

In the above video the congregation, male and female, young and old, rich and poor, are engrossed in the liturgy. There is a sense of spirituality lost in some other churches. Contrast their piety with that of many Anglican congregations in Great Britain today where reverence has been replaced by the familiarity of  'Other Forms of Worship' in which the Altar is no longer the focus of attention.

It is hardly surprising that congregations have dwindled when there is no sense of otherness. We are 'of this world' but losing the other worldliness of mystery and awe exhibited by our Orthodox brothers and sisters is a great loss.

Limited view!

David Davies (centre) has challenged Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan (left) and Archbishop
 of Canterbury Justin Welby (right) over their stance on refugees and people entering the UK

Wales Online today carries a report: 'This MP says the Archbishops of Canterbury and Wales are wrong about how to approach the refugee crisis'.

Monmouth MP David Davies said the Government is following the example of the Good Samaritan by caring for people in the 'nearest place of safety' and that if the archbishops listened to their “rapidly diminishing flocks” they would learn that people “want to help genuine refugees” but are “deeply concerned” about the implications of an “open door immigration policy”.

Mr Davies added, “Thousands of the most vulnerable will be rehoused in the UK. Yet nothing will be enough for campaigning clerics who contrast our policy unfavourably with that of the good Samaritan. 

He suggested that they “should re-read the parable: When the Samaritan came across the Jew on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho he didn’t take him on to Samaria, instead, he paid for him to be looked after in the inn – the nearest place of safety just as we are doing today throughout the Middle East in our refugee shelters.”

A Church in Wales spokeswoman said: “We warmly welcome Mr Davies, and anyone else with a limited view of the scope of the ministry and concerns of the Church in Wales and the faith on which it is based, to join us and find out more. Our clergy serve every community in Wales.” 

"Limited view"! As ever the Church in Wales exhibits no sense of proportion.