Bye bye Boris, now what?

Boris Johnson's announcement that he will not run for the leadership of the Conservative Party will be welcomed by many in the party who regarded him as too divisive.

Theresa May made an outstanding unity speech quashing the notion that we must have a Brexit candidate leading the Brexit negotiations. It is important that we do not fluff the opportunity offered by Brexit but life goes on around Brexit. 

What the country needs is a competent leader who believes in his/her ability. Michael Gove has previously admitted that is not him. However, he would be a skilled, committed negotiator as a dedicated Secretary of State. 

With Theresa May at the helm and Michael Gove carrying through detailed negotiations, could that be the dream team? 

And now the smears...

Source: Evening Standard

Many of us are used to smears if we hold an opinion contrary to the received wisdom. To misogynistic, homophobic and Islamophobic I can now add xenophobic and racist.

I was horrified when I read that the Polish and Social Cultural Association (POSK) in Hammersmith had been targeted by vandals who had sprayed yellow paint on the front of the centre saying "Go Home".

Do these idiots not understand that after Poland was overrun by the Nazis in WW2 many Poles gave their lives fighting with the Allies and many of their pilots fought in the Battle of Britain?

In Prime Minister's Question Time today David Cameron assured the House that all possible steps will be taken to tackle the problem of a few extremists exploiting the Brexit vote but it does not help the situation when Ministers and others brand people as racists simply because they take a balanced view of immigration and the inherent risks to stability of an open-door policy which will bring further chaos to our over-stretched public services.

Writing in the Guardian Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, writes "Brexit has given voice to racism – and too many are complicit". Self proclaimed Brexit defector and former Conservative Party chair, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, cited "hate and xenophobia" as the reasons for changing her position. Tell Mama is devoted to "Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks" inviting complainants to submit reports. The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has compiled "over 100 incidents reported of hate crimes following the referendum result" according to figures on their web site. For a world view click here.

As Archbishop Cranmer wrote: "Brexit may have spurred a few racists but the heartbeat of the nation is unity and tolerance". All violence is to be deplored, from whatever source. We are constantly told that Islam is a religion of peace and that extremists do not represent true Islam despite all the evidence to the contrary in Islamic states where the Dhimmi status of non-Muslims is thought acceptable.

From Archbishops down, or up depending on one's point of view, Islam is being affirmed as if it were an acceptable religion on a par with Christianity. Justin Welby hosted an iftar this week at Lambeth Palace - a breaking of the Muslim fast of Ramadan.  Addressing the Muslims there, he said: "Your faithfulness in observing Ramadan in this way has been an example of what it means to take faith seriously"!

When I first clicked on the Welby link there was a link to another page "Soldiers beheaded, churches destroyed and constant fear: Syrian Christian on life under ISIS in Raqqa". Will we ever learn?

Earlier I read a report that the WATCH 'F-word' advocate, now Rector of St James' Piccadilly "opens doors for Muslims, hosts grand Iftar". So much for the claim that "there will be no repetition of the March 2015 Muslim prayer service held at St John’s Waterloo".

While Anglican clergy are busy affirming Islam, MCB and their supporters are busy playing the victim. Again from Cranmer: "There are undoubtedly some vile people out there who are abusing Asians, Muslims, Poles and Romanians, but it seems particularly crass for Remainers (including some senior clergy) to smear all Brexiters with the whiff of racism (not to mention stupidity)."

A sense of proportion please.

Who are they?

Photograph: PA

I recognise the much leaner former Lord Chancellor, 'Charlie' Falconer (top right), ex-Anglican priest and gay activist Chris Bryant (3rd down) for banging on and on about gay people being the same as everyone else but deserving special privileges, and, to his left, Stephen Kinnock mainly for being Stephen Kinnock. The MP above Bryant looks familiar but I can not put a name to the face.

Years ago many of my contemporaries knew most if not all members of the Cabinet and their Shadow ministers. As an elderly friend often reminds me, that is when we had statesmen in government. That does not necessarily imply anything about their relative competence but one thing does. That is to know when their time is up.

Jeremy Corbyn is the surprise 'Leader' of the Labour party who is stuck in the past. He and his supporters see this as a breath of fresh air, a new kind of politics! Few had heard of him until an electoral wheeze backfired and horrified Labour MPs realised what they had done in broadening the field for the sake of appearances.

On Monday the Guardian reported: "Jeremy Corbyn is preparing himself for a leadership contest following a fresh wave of resignations, with 15 members of the shadow cabinet walking out and calling for him to step down from the helm of the party...A source close to Corbyn said the number of resignations was destabilising but ultimately irrelevant unless someone triggered a leadership election. 'In many ways, the shadow cabinet is now stronger. There is no shortage of good people who want to do these jobs. The only way to try to replace Jeremy is to stand against him in a democratic contest,' he said, adding that was now 'likely to happen'."

A report this morning indicates that "more than 40 Labour MPs on Corbyn's front bench and in his shadow ministerial team" have quit.

Ignoring all appeals from fellow MPs who have pointed to his lack of leadership skills and what they regard as his dismal performance or even 'sabotage' in the EU Remain campaign, Corbyn says he will stand again in a leadership election claiming support from the rank and file of the Labour Party. As he faces a No Confidence vote has he thought to ask himself, where were his 'loyal supporters' when he was supposed to be galvanising support for the Remain campaign?

Does it matter one jot if Momentum successfully retains Corbyn as leader if he does not command the confidence of the country? Of course not. Power often involves compromise. It was a hard lesson for Labour to learn but now apparently forgotten again. If they fluff it again they will have only themselves to blame.

Corbyn must make way for someone who is able to lead the Labour party as an effective Opposition and possibly into Government. 

Update [28.06.2016]

Jeremy Corbyn has lost a confidence vote by 172 votes to 40 with 4 abstentions.

Steady she goes

Angela Merkel will host talks with Francois Hollande and other EU leaders today. Credit BBC/AFP

Windy weather boys, stormy weather, boys

When the wind blows we're all together, boys

Blow ye winds westerly, blow ye winds, blow

Jolly sou'wester, boys, steady she goes.

- The Fish Of The Sea

Encouraging news this morning. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande have said they are in 'full agreement' on how to handle the fallout from the UK's decision to leave the European Union. Mr Hollande warned that 'separated, we run the risk of divisions, dissension and quarrels'."

Brexit is not about division, it is about government. Our friends in France, Germany and elsewhere in the EU have had similar doubts about the direction the EU is being propelled in by self-perpetuating bureaucrats. They are the problem. Merkel and Hollande know that too.

George Osborne has emerged with more credit than many of the Remainers following his speech designed to calm the markets this morning. It turns out that he had not been keeping his head down. On the contrary he had been doing what Cameron should have been doing, making contact and calming fears.

Steady she goes!

Can Dave be a true Brit?

In a personal appeal from the steps of No 10 for the "Remain" campaign before the historic EU Referendum vote, David Cameron told us, "Brits don't quit". The next time he appeared on the steps of No 10 he announced that he was doing just that, quitting!  How very un-British. Intentional or not his action looks like an act of vindictiveness to make Brexit voters suffer for ignoring his appeal regardless of the consequences for the UK.

A communications man through and through, this time the PM came unstuck. His luck ran out but the very time his communications skills are most needed for our country rather than party, he has thrown in the towel adding to the difficulties of the EU after his claimed allegiance to the European cause. Definitely not his finest hour.

Another sour grapes loser, political opportunist Nicola Sturgeon can't wait to take advantage of the situation to split the UK. This tedious self assured minnow deserves another resounding rebuff for putting party dogma before unity.

Following the PM's resignation sadly the UK’s EU Commissioner Jonathan Hill also quit. Now the Labour party is in disarray but the one person who should go, Jeremy Corbyn, seems determined to stay regardless of the consequences. As Hilary Benn said, "he is a good decent man but he is not a leader".

The Brussels bureaucrats led by the grossly overpaid Jean-Claude Juncker are in their element, exhibiting the very traits that have angered many across Europe. In contrast German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said the European Union has "no need to be particularly nasty in any way" in the negotiations with Britain about its exit from the bloc so people need to keep their heads and not act irresponsibly.

Dave says that he wishes people to remember him for gay marriage. How sad but given his utter failure on the European question perhaps it is not surprising.

One Tory MP who did not vote for gay marriage is Andrea Leadsom. A prominent advocate for Brexit with a formidable financial sector background. I expect we shall be hearing a lot more about this former Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Prophets of doom

Credit: BBC

"We're doomed, doomed" became the catch phrase of Private Fraser in Dad's Army, the TV comedy hit about the Home Guard defending Britain in our hour of need.

Fast forward to 2016, enter Anna Soubry  HM Government's Small Business Minister offering similar sentiments in the wake of the decision of the British people to govern their own affairs: "This is a dreadful day, on two fronts. A dreadful day for our economy and I think it’s also a dreadful day for our country." 

Andrew Neil rebuked her: "Is it wise to say it’s a dreadful day as a business minister? To talk it down?"

Earlier we had been treated to the spectacle of the weary looking Member for Leicester East, Keith Vaz, with a face having the appearance of a slapped plaice: "The EU referendum result is a "crushing decision" which will have catastrophic consequences for the UK and the EU". Always eager to offer his opinion whether invited or not Vaz added, "This is a crushing, crushing decision. It's a terrible day for Britain, and a terrible day for Europe with immense consequences. In 1,000 years I would never have believed the British people would have voted in this way and they have done so - I think emotionally rather than looking at the facts. It will be catastrophic". Clearly not a suitable candidate for any negotiating team.

I had retired early on Friday morning in the belief that Remain had secured the victory they so desperately wanted by whatever means. Amber Rudd MP was gloating over their presumed success. But one result was not as expected. Could this be a re-run of the General Election results? Yes it was. Rising early I switched on the TV to hear that Remain had lost. A horrified Amber Rudd was in retreat, probably regretting her personal attacks on Boris Johnson, possibly the next Tory leader.

On retiring I had planned to write a piece expressing relief that Remain had won, not that I had changed my views, but out of sympathy for the many young people who wanted to remain. After all, it is their future. But having listened to their reasons such as wanting to travel freely around Europe in a friendly, multicultural society, it became obvious that many are deluded. Multiculturalism has not worked. Make-belief is no substitute for the facts.

Remain lost many voters because of ludicrous, scaremongering claims. Sadly these are being perpetuated by ungracious losers, the Business Minister among them, with claims of, we told you the markets would 'collapse' apparently oblivious to the need to restore confidence.

I shall be profoundly sorry if I made the wrong decision in the interests of my children and grandchildren but the last thing we need is "I told you so". The decision has been made. We are not doomed. We have an opportunity. We must grasp it and make it work.

Stability

David Cameron delivers a statement on the steps of Downing Street
 CREDIT: Telegraph/DAN KITWOOD/GETTY IMAGES

Desperate Dave makes another appeal from the steps of No 10: "Brits don't quit", he says. An odd claim having surrendered so much to Brussels. He also says that we should vote for our children's future. I agree. Brexit is a vote for their future. To regain our sovereignty before we are swamped by irreversible changes brought about by people who can not tell the difference between race and ideology.

UKIP could prove to be the nail in the coffin for Brexit because of a re-hashed Conservative Party poster campaign which Remain have cynically turned to their advantage following the sad killing of Jo Cox MP. Stephen Kinnock's reference to the tragedy in his Common's tribute when he said that Jo Cox would be "disgusted" was in particularly poor taste when his family has done remarkably well out of their European connections after failing so badly in British politics. Persuading people to vote out of emotion rather than facts is a regrettable act of desperation which is to be deplored.

Win or lose I would expect David Cameron to stay on as Prime Minister. Despite what many troublemakers have suggested to grab a catchy headline, the best person to negotiate exit if electors vote that way is he who caused the problem in the first place. Conversely it should be up to him to salve the wounds he has caused. Stability is the order of the day, not more upheaval.

In my view, the person who got us into this mess should sort it out whether we are IN or OUT. So win or lose, over to you Dave.

If you haven't yet made up your mind check out Full Fact, the UK's independent fact checking charity, while there is still time.

Postscript [22.06.2016]

I am indebted to a Spectator commentator for this clip "The message that comes out is fear, fear, fear". Brilliant.

Demonising

The great and the good (in their own eyes), the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, prominent among them, have taken to the moral high ground to condemn Brexit for demonising immigrants. In fact they are demonising Brexit voters for taking a reasoned look at the problem and the dangers for our children and grandchildren of uncontrolled immigration.

Some more facts. Brexit is FOR immigration but in a orderly, controlled manner. In stark contrast to the Prime  Minister whose failure to answer a direct question admits his own failures, when asked if he thought there should be an upper limit on immigration the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn frankly replied, ‘I don’t think you can have one while you have free movement of labour’.

Dr Morgan complains about the "language of fear" in apparent ignorance of the reality of what has been happening in the world while he has been promoting same sex marriage. If we remain in the EU our UK borders will be open to around half a million immigrants already waiting in Europe to qualify for Europen citizenship with many more to come.

According to leaked estimates from the German authorities, each person granted asylum is likely to be followed by between four and eight family members. Meanwhile Christians are assaulted by Muslims in refugee camps because they are Christians. Some have been thrown overboard by Muslim immigrants to drown before they reach the camps.

Many immigrants are young, unaccompanied males unaccustomed to the freedom of women in the West to dress as they please. This has been taken as an invitation to molest and even rape them while the authorities cover up many of the stories to avoid spreading alarm. A son of immigrants, Lawyer Nazir Afzal is so worried about the situation that he has expressed his concern that the influx of young, male migrants risks tipping the whole balance of European society.

Branded an extremist and banned from the UK for exposing the truth about Islamic ideology, the lead video shows Robert Spencer explaining that while there are moderate Muslims, there is no moderate Islam.

In another video 'moderate' Muslims all agreed that "the punishment described in the Quran and the Sunnah whether it is death, whether it is stoning for adultery, whatever it is, if it is from Allah and his Messenger, that is the best punishment ever possible for humankind and that is what we should apply in the world". These Muslims do not regard themselves as "radical extremists" and none of them liked "extreme Islam".

The irony in this situation is that while the Archbishop of Wales condemns people for demonising immigrants he is closing their eyes to the dangers we face. His latest pet theme is the furtherance of LGBT causes but the biggest threat to gays is Islam. What is more, Dr Morgan claims to stand up for minorities while he ignores minorities in his own church who oppose his secular notion of religion. He can't have it both ways.

We can not properly protect ourselves and our children unless our Sovereignty is restored.

Brexit: Facts Not Fear

A video by Toby Young Associate Editor of The Spectator.

Fear strengthens the resolve of the British people so listening to endless dire warnings against leaving the EU from the Prime Minister, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, it is not surprising that there is panic in the 'Remain' camp as Brexit voters show increasing determination not to be browbeaten into submission by guesswork.

The threat by George Osborne of a mini budget as a Brexit punishment has caused even more problems for the Remainers with 57 of his own colleagues threatening to rebel and rising.

The Remain side's concentration on the economy is understandable because the forecasts are based on what has been fed in whereas Brexit voters prefer facts to fear.

Toby Young explains how the British people were deceived in 1975 when we were give a guarantee that no law could be imposed upon us without the consent of our elected representatives. We now slavishly legislate based on laws thought up by unelected European bureaucrats.

Sovereignty and immigration are foremost in the minds of Brexit voters in wanting UK independence restored so that we can vote out our law makers if they make a mess of things.

Toby's video explains how we will be even worse off if we remain after David Cameron's failed negotiations. As for immigration most of us simply have to look around us to see the effects of mass uncontrolled immigration. It can only get worse if we remain.

The lesson from Orlando and Magnanville, confront the Islamic ideology

Within a few days of the Orlando massacre the world has had to come to terms with an awkward reality.

Questions were asked immediately after the mass killings in the Orlando gay club and many made up their minds on the basis of incomplete evidence. Was the shooting a terrorist attack? Was it a hate crime against the LGBT community? Many opted for the latter before it was revealed that the perpetrator was himself gay and had been a regular visitor to the club. So what had Islam to do with the tragedy? That is the question that those in authority refuse to address.

After Orlando there was Magnanville. Two loners with a common cause. The link? Islam. Both killers thought they were doing the work of Allah. So why the reticence? Is it fear, stupidity or apathy?

The man who killed a French police couple at their home near Paris was acting on an order from so-called Islamic State (IS) to "kill infidels". The Orlando killer pledged allegiance to the Islamic State which then claimed responsibility. Does it matter one iota to the slain whether the IS claim was true? The father of the Orlando killer illustrated Islam's attitude to gays when he broadcast a statement that it was for God to punish homosexuals, presumably ignorant of the fact that his son was gay.

Claims and counter claims abounded. In New Zealand their Prime Minister John Key was taken to task because he would not "admit the Orlando attack was a homophobic hate crime". At home gay columnist Owen Jones walked out of a TV debate for a similar reason. His assertion that LGBT people will prevail over Islam is little short of farcical. Of course there are gay Muslims but the penalty for homosexuality in Islam is DEATH.

Continuing their LGBT guilt trip, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York issued a joint statement calling for solidarity with LGBTI people after the attack in Orlando while the Church in Wales offered a prayer composed by the liberal Dean of Southwark.

Only last month the Archbishop of Canterbury told believers not to talk about their faith unless they are asked but clearly there are exceptions. Meanwhile Muslims continue their acts of violence taking authority from the Quran.

One of the most reasoned analysis I have heard so far came from the Rev Peter Ould on Anglican Unscripted in 'Politically Correct Suicide' when he spoke [@7.50] of "not being willing to critically engage with different paradigms, with different philosophies. This unwillingness to say your belief is wrong."

One of the interviewees after the Orlando attack trotted out the usual "Islam is a religion of peace" when clearly it is not based on all the evidence to the contrary. Adding credence to Islamic ideology through silence is not the answer, it must be challenged. A gay Muslim film maker admitted that the Orlando shooting "shows that Islam is 'No Religion of Peace'. Tolerant Muslim leaders say tentacles of Wahhabism have made the claim of peace a joke".

A prominent gay journalist Milo Yiannopoulos wrote in Breitbart: "Remember, the shooter in Orlando was working at G4S and said he wanted to kill all black people. He didn’t get fired. Why? Because he’s Muslim. One was scared. Do they want a world in which Muslims get to do and say whatever they want and these tragedies become common place?" Shades of Rotherham, Rochdale, etc, etc.

If others can see it why can't our spiritual and political leaders? The majority of Muslims are peace loving but their ideology is not. We owe it to them to share the Good News.

"Gay marriage is here to stay",

thus says the Bishop of Buckingham (hat tip to Anglican Mainstream).

Well know for his trendy social intercourse the Rt Rev'd Dr Alan Wilson graced the Queering Paradigms network to deliver the keynote speech in which he claimed that "nothing bad happened in the UK after the introduction of same-sex marriage two years ago and that the Church of England is slowly accepting the concept" before adding the latest LGBT clerical mantra, "it was merely a matter of time before the controversy surrounding gay and transgender unions would turn to acceptance everywhere, even in his church".

The fact that same sex marriage is tearing the Church apart is obviously irrelevant to +Buckingham.

The Queering Paradigms network is "dedicated to examining the current state and future challenges of Queer Studies from a broad trans-disciplinary and polythetic perspective, and by interrogating numerous social, political, cultural and academic agendas". Professor Bee Scherer introduces himself as the founder of Queering Paradigms and Professor of Religious Studies and Gender Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University.

In the video the professor explains Queer Theory as "An academic area challenging traditional concepts of binary genders and other ideas around sexuality". He described it as "a daring and rebellious form of thinking about who we are and assumptions about fixed gender". Rebellious indeed.

That anyone can hold such a position let alone indoctrinate our young people with such notions is bad enough but to be supported by a bishop of the Church of England expounding views contrary the Church's position on marriage shows the level to which some of our bishops have sunk. Will any stand up for the faith?

Digging their own grave

                                                                  Photo: Church in Wales

Saturday witnessed an unexpected milestone, over 900,000 page views for the Ancient Briton blog which was started in 2010 after some friendly banter about the way the world was going. My aim was to air the grievances we had discussed while attempting to avoid being left behind by the grandchildren as technology advanced. Clearly I am not alone. My thanks to all the commentators who have added their views in support or to the contrary.

Inadvertently a platform has been provided for free speech for Anglicans who have become marginalised in their own Church as ambitious clerics drive their own liberal agenda. "If you don't like it you can leave" used to be the response to traditionalists. For those who have remained their resolve is being tested further.

Also on Saturday the Church Growth Modelling blog published Conversion to the Diversity Ideology
Part 2 - Justification of Hypotheses. Here is an extract:

The Church in Wales is an Anglican church, and like many UK denominations, is indicating decline to extinction [8].  Last year the attempts by its leadership to introduced same-sex marriage were stalled by significant opposition from diocesan representatives. Since then the bishops of the church have issued a pastoral statement that indicates the Church’s conversion to Diversity in the public sphere [9].

Notably there was the display of the rainbow flag as the identification badge (C).  The unenlightened laggards within the church are subtly discredited with statements like  “the Church is not yet ready to accept same-sex marriage” (D). There is a general confession of, and apology for, past damage the church has done to gay people (B). Though the actual offences, and the people involved, are not identified, leaving the reader to re-write history for themselves in order to make sense of the statement (A).

We 'unenlightened laggards' are regularly condemned from on high for holding a contrary opinion to the new Diversity Ideology. "Lacking in love and understanding" we are the new sinners according to devotees of the Queer Bible, yet these are the people who will have "killed off" the Church within a generation. 

It's a funny old world which is why I started blogging in 2010 and have continued to do so despite the many gagging attempts of people who have no interest in free speech from the top down.

International Gin Day 2016

A dry Fr Brown?

Today, 11 June 2016, is World Gin Day, one of the most important days in the calendar for Catholics. The sun has gone down over the yardarm so time to celebrate with a G&T in true Anglican/RC style. 

Cheers to all my readers and traditionalists everywhere!

Scottish Episcopal Church votes to consider accepting SSM

The bishops of the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC).                                                                                                                                          Source: SEC

"Today the Scottish Episcopal Church, meeting in its General Synod in Edinburgh, takes the first step in a process which may lead to same sex couples being able to marry in our churches and to our clergy being able to enter into same sex marriages [SSM]. It is a two-year process. In 2016, the voting needs to produce a simple majority in each of the three 'houses' – laity, clergy and bishops. The second and final stage in the process will be reached in 2017 when two-thirds majorities will be needed in each house". - The Most Rev David Chillingworth, Bishop of St Andrews,Dunkled & Dunblane and Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Full report here.

Bishop Chillingworth writes: "Within churches, human sexuality issues have the capacity to expose deep fault lines in our understanding of faith. Some see the full inclusion of LGBT people as a matter of justice. Jesus was a person always open to those excluded by others – the lepers, the adulterous woman, tax collector and sinners. Would he not have been also open to LGBT people? Others point to the authority of scripture which in some places warns against same sex relationships. They call us to an understanding of God's law and life as it has been understood from the creation. So this is an important moment for our church. "

The problem with the 'full inclusion' argument is that Christ healed the sick and told the sinner to sin no more. In what category does LGBT fall? LGBT people can hardly claim to be excluded when they are driving the agenda. The legal effects of a civil partnership are almost identical to marriage. To agitate for SSM is counterproductive.

The bishop concludes: "It is not just about whether we can find agreement, it is about whether what we do is within our understanding of our faith."

Unfortunately for Anglicanism, faith has become too malleable. Ultimately will there be anything left if SSM in church is adopted?

Postscript [11.06.2016]

GAFCON offers alternative oversight to Scottish Anglicans

Indoctrination

Early in May the Anglican Diocese of Liverpool announced the "Historic Appointment of Bishop Susan Goff as Assisting Bishop of Liverpool", an appointment criticised by many as  having "crossed a line" for recruiting a pro-same sex marriage bishop.

The above video was recorded three years ago when +Goff visited Liverpool before the Church of England voted in favour of admitting women to the Episcopate. Her message was that people should hold on because it was "going to happen" after seeing a woman in a purple shirt and a mitre!

We now have women  bishops in England and approval in Wales where the faithful in the dioceses of St Davids and Llandaff hold their breath in trepidation at the thought of one or other of ++Barry's feminist prodigies being thrust upon them. The campaign driven by WATCH for women deacons, priests and bishops is being mirrored by the LGBT lobby as gay clergy work towards same sex marriage in church.

At the end of May Jeffrey John, Dean of St Albans, preached at Liverpool Cathedral on the healing of the centurion’s servant (Luke 7) claiming that there was a likely sexual relationship between the two so Jesus must have approved of it, thus turning the healing of the sick into a case for same sex marriage (SSM). He went so far as to claim that those who oppose SSM are inhumane and un-Christian and should just get on with it as Christ did. His theory has been expertly dissected by Psephizo on his blog.

Advocates of SSM like to claim that it will be accepted in the same way that re-marriage in church after divorce is regarded as normal today. Jeffrey John expects the CofE to offer gays a "half-way dedication service" before fully accepting SSM in the church. He concludes by quoting a gay priest who preached a similar message in the 1970s implying that, given time, SSM in church is inevitable, a line regularly preached by gay clergy led by the bench of bishops in Wales and fed to impressionable young students in a process of secular indoctrination.

The Catholic Church is reported to be on the slippery path trod by Western Anglicanism. Pope Francis has announced he will create a commission to study the possibility of allowing women to serve as deacons in the Catholic church, "signaling an historic openness to the possibility of ending the global institution's practice of an all-male clergy".

This is the thin edge of the wedge. Starting with women deacons, Anglicanism has, drip by drip, resulted in the admission gay and lesbian bishops who are calling for SSM in churches. Giving an inch leads to disaster.

Postscript [13.06.2016]

Sri Lankan Theologian Blasts Jeffrey John's Interpretation of Centurion and Servant Sex

Major error: another shade of grey

John Major an Edwina Curry. She felt 'forgotten' when Major was premier.                 Source: BBC

Sir John Major, ex-Premier and holder of England's highest award for chivalry, The Most Noble Order of the Garter, is the latest has-been to be rolled out by the 'Remain' Campaign.

"Deceiving the public and verging on the squalid" sounds like an act of contrition for his four-year affair with former Conservative minister Edwina Currie when he was a whip in Mrs Thatcher's Government and she a backbencher.

Not a bit of it. He was attacking the Brexit campaign.

Pot calling the kettle black?

Postscript [06.06.2016]
Edwina Currie gives John Major reason to blush

Yesterday's clerics' errors

 Lord Harries of Pentregarth, former Bishop of Oxford                                Picture credit: Endeavour Public Affairs

The former Bishop of Oxford, Lord Harries of Pentregarth, features in the Oxford Times "weighing in on EU vote". He is among 37 "faith leaders" who in an open letter to the public have called on Britain to stay in the EU. Lord Harries is a former collaborator of the Archbishop of Wales Dr Barry Morgan who together with Dr Morgan's predecessor and former Archbishop of Canterbury, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, signed the open letter. Considering this trio's judgement on the ordination of women and their liberal agenda resulting in the parlous state of Anglicanism, particularly in Wales, it is difficult to afford much credibility to their opinions on the European Referendum.

As for the former Bishop of Oxford, an ardent promoter of same sex marriage, his opinions would be better left in the ivory towers of Oxford. This is the cleric who suggested that the Coronation of Prince Charles should be opened with a reading from the Koran, as a ‘creative act of accommodation’ to make Muslims feel ‘embraced’ by the nation.

There will be plenty to 'embrace' based on report from Migration Watch, "The Refugee and Migrant Crisis in the EU – The Potential Implications for the UK". It claims that up to "half a million refugees and their relatives" could move to Britain after 2020 in a "secondary flow of refugees" because of EU rules on the free movement of people. While Germany, Greece and Italy had borne the brunt of Europe's refugee crisis, those granted asylum could settle in the UK in the coming years once they had acquired EU citizenship.

Based on his 2015 Christmas plea the Archbishop of Wales will be thrilled to read that Cardiff, Swansea and Newport have been named as three out of 10 places in the UK with the highest number of asylum seekers per head of population.

The 2011 census recorded 45,950 Muslims in Wales, far more than the 30,468 average Sunday attendances in 2014 reported by the Church in Wales. Most of the Muslims in Wales are spread between Cardiff (23,656), Newport (6,859) and Swansea (5,415) with smaller communities in the valleys and across rural and North Wales.

In their appeal to the electorate the faith leaders claim that "faith is about integration and building bridges, not about isolation and erecting barriers. As leaders and senior figures of faith communities, we urge our co-religionists and others to think about the implications of a Leave vote for the things about which we are most passionate."

TOSH! As the former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks rightly pointed out on the BBC Newsnight programme last night, "multiculturalism has been a failure". He referred to the warning by Trevor Phillips, the former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, that "British Muslims are becoming a nation within a nation". Trevor Phillips said we are "in danger of sacrificing a generation of young British people to values that are antithetical to the beliefs of most of us, including many Muslims".

The Remain campaign has lost much credibility by basing their claims on scare stories, foggy forecasts and guesstimates. There may or may not be problems if we leave but these pale into insignificance compared with the ramifications of uncontrolled immigration which have not been properly addressed.

Still in denial of the genocide of Armenian and other Christian minorities in the years 1915 and 1916, Turkey hopes to join the EU. That would result in 78 million mainly Muslim people, and rising, eligible to go where they please in Europe compared with Turkey's population of less than 30 million in 1960.

As Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan says, "Family planning not for Muslims". In Great Britain Census figures reveal a ‘startling’ shift in Britain’s demographic trend with almost a tenth of babies and toddlers born in England and Wales being Muslim'. Combining immigration figures with the higher birth rate it is understandable that some forecasters predict that Christianity is set to be a minority religion in Britain by 2050 as Islam and atheism rise.

The Justice Secretary Michael Gove has claimed that he has been forced to allow terror suspects to enter Britain because European Union rules left him powerless to intervene. During his time in the Cabinet Mr Gove "experienced frustration" at Britain’s "inability to refuse entry to those with a criminal record and even some who are suspected of terrorist links".

The only way to bring order to our borders is to "quit the EU", says former Tory leader Ian Duncan Smith.

Postscript [06.06.2016]

From the Rev Dr Peter Mullen: Bishops are no laughing matter