That's rich bishop!

Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes         Source: Christian Today

The bishop of Liverpool,  Paul Bayes has criticised American religious leaders who support Donald Trump, saying they cannot justify their Christian faith.

Bishop Bayes told the Guardian: “Some of the things that have been said by religious leaders seem to collude with a system that marginalises the poor, a system which builds walls instead of bridges, a system which says people on the margins of society should be excluded, a system which says we’re not welcoming people any more into our country.

That's rich coming from one of the Church of England's senior bishops who is to chair a new charity aimed at promoting greater acceptance of LGBT people.

Most of the bishops of the Church of England along with the bench of bishops of the Church in Wales have no problem with marginalising faithful Anglicans, building walls to exclude them for remaining faithful to scripture and tradition.

The Bishop of Liverpool is to chair a new charity aimed at promoting greater acceptance of LGBT people by working with religious organisations around the world. He has been named as chair of the Ozanne Foundation, whose director Jayne Ozanne is a high-profile Anglican activist for LGBT inclusivity.

The Ozanne Foundation believes in a world where "all are accepted and equally valued", implying that they are not despite their over representation from bishops' thrones to church pews chairs based on the most recent statistics of just over 1 million (2.0%) of the UK population aged 16 and over identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB).

The charity's trustees and council of reference include the Dean of St Paul's, David Ison, Rev Steve Chalke, Ben Bradshaw MP and the Dean of St Albans, Jeffrey John, someone well known to readers for his personal interpretation of scripture in support of personal preferences.

Bayes said: "The Church of England has committed herself to what our Archbishops have called radical new Christian inclusion, and has publicly stated that we are against all forms of homophobia. If we mean this, and I believe we do, then we need to find appropriate ways of welcoming and affirming LGBTI people who want their love recognised by the Church."

The duplicity is mind blowing. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are not excluded from the church. They appear to be in the driving seat. To claim that their 'love' is not recognised by the Church without a shred of supporting evidence is disgraceful when same sex marriage is clearly the objective.

Love has many forms. To imply that love is not recognised by people who are opposed to the redefinition of marriage is not just unworthy of the bishop, it is difficult to understand how people holding such views can justify their Christian faith.

Illiberal liberals

Christian Tim Farron pushed to resign leadership of the LibDem Party. Source BBC

It has been widely reported that Tim Farron resigned as the leader of the Liberal Democrat party because he could not continue in the face of continuing questions over his faith. He said that he had been torn between his Christian faith and serving as a political leader. 

Earlier it was reported that former gay bobby, now Liberal peer Lord Paddick had quit as Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson following the "furore" over leader Tim Farron's views on gay sex. Intentionally or otherwise Paddick's action put enormous pressure on an "honourable and decent" man - the words of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

During the General Election campaign journalists continually baited the Lib Dem leader over his Christian faith implying that the lifestyle of 1.7% of the population was far more important than the faith which not only underpins British society but on which our system of government is based. Tolerance and fair play has no place in the politically correct world of people who have nothing to offer but political correctness and their constant cries of '....phobia' to curtail any rational discussion.

Since the election government talks with the DUP have been dogged by complaints that the DUP is against same sex marriage as if it were the Holy Grail. As an example the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, among others was quick to distance himself from the DUP policies on last Sunday's Andrew Marr TV show.

This has prompted the Coalition for Marriage (C4M) to protest that there has been a sustained attack on DUP MPs simply because they are socially conservative. "Two issues are always quoted – their opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion":

The BBC in particular has seemed far more interested in pursuing this than asking about the DUP’s policy on Brexit or the economy. Even if, like C4M, you are not party political, I expect you are outraged by the media’s actions.

John Humphrys laughed on Monday morning when a former DUP assembly member explained they are a compassionate party. Humphrys immediately claimed that “most people” think their stance is “intolerant”, citing opposition to same-sex marriage as an example. And yesterday, the BBC reproduced a long series of satirists’ cartoons lampooning the DUP.

In response to the whole controversy, Roman Catholic commentator Dr Tim Stanley (who does not support the DUP in general) defended the DUP’s right to hold religious beliefs and argued “it has become politically toxic to be a Christian”.

So dominant has the issue become that the Scottish Conservative leader who plans to marry her same sex partner soon has been told by the Prime Minister that any Conservative deal with the Democratic Unionist Party will not affect LGBTI rights as though there is something intrinsically wrong in the traditional belief that marriage is the union of one man with one woman.

We are supposed to be a Christian country but Christian values based on biblical teaching are ridiculed. Christians are mocked for their faith. Lord Paddick's sexual preference is his own affair but as a liberal one would have thought that he would regard Tim Farron's faith as his affair. Instead he chose to advance the LGBT agenda at the expense of the leader of his Party. How very illiberal.

"There are no atheists in foxholes" still holds true when tragedy strikes. Whether the merciless attacks on innocent people or events such as the tragic London tower block blaze, in times of need people expect the church to be there. But how much longer? Christianity in this country is under threat. Where will people turn when it has been extinguished by illiberal liberals and their like?

Postscript

Former Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil, David Laws, claims that Tim Farron was right to resign because "he held prejudiced views". He said, " As a gay man, I do not wish to be 'tolerated'. I wish to be respected for who I am. And I want a party leader whose respect for human equality comes before outdated and frankly offensive religious views."

Mr Laws would earn more respect if he did not misrepresent the meaning of human equality and the views of opponents of same sex marriage. Many of us welcomed civil partnerships but gay marriage is a red line. Frankly, it is Mr Laws' prejudiced views as a gay man which are offensive but opponents of same sex marriage are no longer expected to hold a contrary view.

The gays have it.

Source: Premier

General Synod has voted to reject the bishops' sexuality report after a move to vote by Houses. 

The fact that the House of Clergy voted 93 in favour and 100 against with 2 abstentions and less than two thirds majority in the House of Laity indicates the situation in which the Church of England now finds herself after so much appeasement. 

It was clear that the gay lobby would accept nothing less than capitulation. Endless sob stories and references to 'moving forward' as the Church had done with the admission of women to the Episcopate made it clear that the LGBT+ lobby is on a journey, not to travel hopefully, but to arrive.

The 'silent middle', the stepping-stone of blessing gay patrnerships, was the tear-jerker of the day moving the bishops to apologise yet again. Apologise for what? The Christian faith?

The Church should stop apologising for upholding the faith of Christ crucified before there is nothing left to defend. 

Postscript [16.02.2017]

The gays have it, or do they?

Lies, Damn Lies and Synodics - What exactly did Synod not vote for last night?

Listen to the Rev Peter Ould HERE. Excellent.