Folly

Jewish-Muslim-Christian temple heralds Pope Francis' 'Abrahamic House'. Source: Church Militant

 

My in-tray receives  regular reports of Christians around the world being oppressed for their faith. Links in the right hand column to International Christian Concern and to the Barnabas Fund regularly highlight the dangers faced including kidnapping, rape and murder in countries such as Nigeria. 

Leaving aside state persecution such as that suffered by the Uighurs in China, I do not receive similar reports about oppressed Muslims. That is because they are regularly carrying out the persecution if not identified as such.

In an article Nigerian kidnappings reach crisis point there is no mention of Islam or Muslims, just a reference to Boko Harem, an Islamist group among the worst of oppressors.

Similarly in Great Britain grooming gangs who regarded young British white girls as "easy meat" were often referred to as of Asian Origin.

Islamist brutality is constantly swept under the carpet while any perceived criticism is branded as Islamophobia, defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as "Intense dislike or fear of Islam, esp. as a political force; hostility or prejudice towards Muslims".

As kind as many individual Muslims may be, plenty of people, particularly such as those Christians in Nigeria have good reason to fear Islam's political ideology.

It came as no surprise that Professor Swaran Singh's report on alleged anti-Muslim sentiment found that 

"Anti-Muslim sentiment 'remains a problem' within Conservative Party". 

Professor Singh "analysed 1,418 complaints relating to 727 separate incidents as recorded in the Tories' complaints database between 2015 and 2020" but complaining is encouraged among Muslims while Christians in this country are prevented from speaking.

The inquests into the Fishmongers' Hall terrorism attack clearly illustrate that there is much to fear from Islamic fundamentalists yet apologists constantly ignore the reality, promoting Islam on a par with Judaism and Christianity despite all the evidence that it is utter folly.  

Betrayal of trust

Martin Bashir and Lord 'Tony' Hall

Inclusivity and diversity, the current watchwords of church and state were eagerly taken on board by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as is abundantly clear from their current output. 

Vacating his post as BBC Director General in 2020 Lord Hall said there had been "big, big changes" at the corporation since he took over in 2013. His tenure as director general began at a time the corporation was "in crisis".

He referred to "tense" negotiations with the government around dropping free TV licences for the over 75s, the 'n-word' controversy and gender pay equality.

Diversity of thought was needed within the BBC in addition to racial diversity, said Lord Hall.

What of integrity?  

The BBC has betrayed our trust.

The crisis referred to by Lord Hall pales in the light of the Dyson inquiry which found that the BBC fell short of "high standards of integrity and transparency" over Martin Bashir's 1995 interview with Princess Diana. Bashir was found guilty of deceit and breaching BBC editorial conduct to obtain the interview.

An internal investigation by Tony Hall before he became the BBC's director general was said to have been "woefully ineffective". There was a "covering up".  

Bashir joined ITV in 1999 but in 2016 he returned to the BBC as religious affairs correspondent, despite his apparent dishonesty and deceitful behaviour, qualities not unknown in the Church of England.

Described in the Mail as the 'pointless' Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has been criticised for turning his back on a school chaplain who was reported to a terror unit after questioning his school's new LGBT policies

The Rev'd Dr Bernard Randall was sacked because he had delivered a sermon in which he told pupils they were allowed to disagree with the school's new LGBT policies, particularly if they felt they ran contrary to the Church's values.

The Christian Legal Centre, which has taken up Dr Randall's case, appealed for Archbishop Justin Welby, along with the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, and the Bishop of Derby, Libby Lane, to publicly support Dr Randall. All three senior figures declined to give Dr Randall their backing

So Dr Randall becomes yet another victim of a Church that has betrayed its traditional Christian beliefs for inclusivity and diversity.

Another betrayal of trust.

Blinkered promotion of Islam

Covid: Eid celebration marks Wales' first trial event for crowds in Cardiff Castle                                                                                                        Source: BBC

"Any act of worship that follows the Islamic rules of prayer can be said to create a mosque, whether or not it takes place in a special building." (Wikipedia)

The threat in Great Britain is not the same as in France where 'one mosque is erected every 15 days while one Christian building is destroyed at the same pace' but the softly, softly approach to affirm and to avoid offending Muslim sensitivities is similar.

This side of the channel while churches and chapels are closing mosques continue to expand. Islam is given a favourable press by promoting the notion that it is a religion of peace while ignoring the threat of the Sword. 

Cardiff Castle may now be regarded as a mosque under Islamic rules, the culmination of promoting Islam by the BBC and others during Ramadan.

On 2 May the BBC marked "one of the most important festivals of the Islamic calendar, Ramadan". 

Its S4C programme Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol (which translates into English as Start singing, start praising) presented a mixture of Christian hymn singing while promoting Islam as a way of 'getting closer to God'.

Muslims do not sing hymns yet Amazing Grace was sung by a choir as if to suggest the redemptive love of God is somehow comparable with submission to Allah.

Promoted as the religion of peace through cultural jihad, no connection is made with violent Jihad which results in the atrocities regularly reported around the globe.

Addressing the Combined Threat of Violent Jihad and Cultural Jihad the authors found that "cultural jihad may be an equally long-term threat to the West" as violent jihad.

A learning support co-ordinator at Swansea's Gower College said "We make a big fuss [at the college] about Christmas and Easter, but we need to reflect the other faiths and communities."

A wider perspective is needed. Whether by violent jihad or cultural jihad the desired outcome is the same: Rights of Non-Muslims in an Islamic State. 

Love is the way!

 

In retrospect, when watching the above video clip one can only speculate on what the actress may have said to the presiding bishop for him to be so gushing about love while the actress looks on, looking as demure as she possibly can.

In reality the presiding bishop's concept of love has proved to be just an act.

An article by David Virtue on his VirtueOnline blog, reveals how revisionist Episcopalians led by bishop Curry trash churches they leave behind after losing court cases while orthodox Anglicans clean and leave the keys under the door.

One commentator wrote in response to the blog entry: "Yep. TEC has become the epitome of vindictiveness and hypocrisy. No real love for God or for their neighbors."

On this side of the pond there are no similar arguments about property. In the Church of England orthodox Anglicans have The Society to look to with WATCH left to harry in the background. 

Orthodox Anglicans in the Church in Wales have been left with nothing. Archbishop Barry Morgan saw to that vowing that there would be alternative Episcopal oversight 'over his dead body'. A policy continued by his successor, the recently retired Archbishop of Wales, John Davies.

In a widely circulated retirement statement archbishop Davies said the pandemic had highlighted the "goodness, kindness and love" in communities. People's compassion towards others "must not vanish" after the coronavirus pandemic.

Archbishop Davies and his bench of bishops have shown no goodness, kindness or love towards orthodox Anglicans. Only to revisionists who, like themselves, have been prepared to 'go along to get on'.

We should not be surprised as the Church in Wales uses TEC as its model. They sent the first two Church in Wales women bishops to former TEC presiding bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, archbishop Morgan's heretical mentor as part of their training!

Love (charity) is the way. Sadly some do not know the meaning of love.

Money to burn in Bangor Diocese?

 

The Very Revd Kathy Jones to be ex-Dean of Bangor                                    Source: The Bangor Aye

The Bangor Aye reports that the Very Revd Kathy Jones is to leave her role as Dean of Bangor to take up a new role of Family Support Leader to Katharine House Hospice in Stafford.

Readers may recall that the dean was unhappy with the accommodation the deanery house provided her with, despite the former dean spending £89,000 on refurbishments. More to her taste was the £465,000 four-bedroom detached house purchased for her. 

Likewise, the Canon Precentor of Bangor Cathedral, the Rev Canon David Fisher, was provided with new accommodation because the town centre was 'too noisy'. 

In July 2018 it was announced that Canon Fisher was leaving the Church in Wales following his appointment as Priest-in-Charge (Rector Designate) of All Saints, Carshalton, by the Bishop of Southwark.

 The total bill for the two new homes which, it is claimed, could be up to £1m, is well above the average house price in the area, which is around £160,000.

This may seem like small beer to the Bishop of Bangor, the Rt Rev Andy John, who is the 'lead bishop of evangelism' in the Church in Wales and now the most senior bishop in the Church in Wales following the retirement of Archbishop John Davies.

The Evangelism Committee of which bishop John is a member oversees the spending of a £10m fund set up to 'breathe new life' into its churches.

Last gasps are more in evidence.

It's not cricket (2)

Oxford graduate Imran Khan was an international cricketer before he entered politics. Now as Pakistan's prime minister he has a plan which is definitely not cricket.

According to a report in MailOnline Imran Khan has a plan for Muslim-majority countries to force Western governments to criminalise insulting the Prophet Mohammed which he claims will work .

He said "lobbying Western nations, the EU and UN to adopt blasphemy laws with a warning of a trade boycott if they do not do so will be 'effective' in achieving their goal.

"He said leaders of Muslim-majority countries should call on the West to 'stop hurting the feelings' of Muslims across the world with their current freedom of speech laws, reports Pakistani newspaper Dawn." 

Britain's former foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told MailOnline that trying to force Western countries to bring in such a ban would be 'a pretty foolish decision. It is not countries that insult the Prophet Mohammed, it's individual citizens'.

Meanwhile, International Christian Concern highlights the case of "a Christian accused of blasphemy in Pakistan [who] was tortured into making a false confession while spending more than two months in police custody." 

Such reports are not uncommon.

In As Good as Dead, the impact of the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Amnesty International concluded:

    "Pakistan’s blasphemy laws are routinely used to target vulnerable people on the basis of false accusations. There is broad scope for their abuse which means that anyone can level an accusation of blasphemy, which can lead to criminal charges. Inadequate safeguards then mean the accused have few means to defend themselves. In a perversion of the justice system, the accused are often presumed to be guilty, on the basis of little or no evidence.

    "As the accused struggle to establish their innocence, they often face serious threats to their lives. Many people have been threatened and killed in revenge attacks after accusations of blasphemy were made against them. As Pakistan’s Supreme Court has acknowledged, the majority of blasphemy accusations are false. However, this does not prevent angry crowds, aroused by clerics and their supporters, from taking the law into their own hands while the authorities routinely fail to prevent these abuses and, by doing so, enable a culture of impunity.

    "This report documents cases which illustrate the broad scope for human rights violations and abuses, in order to highlight the need for urgent repeal of the laws and – until their repeal – the need for effective procedural safeguards to be put in place."

Need one say more!