Some welcome words

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby (left) with His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Church, at the
papal residence in Cairo. Photo: Lambeth Palace Source: Anglican Journal

Some welcome words for a change from Justin Welby, not something that can often be said of the current Archbishop of Canterbury who is noted more for his wokery than for his Christian leadership.

Calling for social care reform he said the government needed to start with the person, not financial costs. I would go along with that but what of people's spiritual health. Anglicanism is becoming increasingly secular.

How refreshing, then, to read the words of His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt's Coptic Church:

"In an interview broadcast by an Egyptian television station on Friday, January 7th, on the occasion of Coptic Christmas, the patriarch of the largest Christian community in the Arab countries repeated in a few sentences the reasons why the Catholic Church and all the churches of the East do not have the faculty of conferring priestly ordination to women.

"The priesthood in the Church is reserved for men only, according to the will of Christ himself, who, during his public life, as highlighted in the Gospels, chose his apostles from among men, while not even the Virgin Mary 'wanted to be a priestess'. This was emphasized by the Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, pointing to the source of the teaching on the priesthood that the Catholic Church shares with all Orthodox churches and the ancient churches of the East."

A timely intervention when the Catholic Church seems hell bent on following Anglicanism on a path to destruction. 

The movement for the ordination of women is part of a job lot which starts with ordaining women deacons then 'progresses', step by step, to women priests and bishops accompanied by all the gender baggage that goes with it.

The Church ends up with lesbian bishops who claim justification for their position by interpreting scripture in a way that enhances their role based on secular views of social justice.

Hope and despair

His Beatitude Raphael Sako and Chaldean Bishop Shlemon Warduni celebratingthe first Mass  in
 Mosul since 2014, with Syriac Catholic Archbishop Mouche and Syriac Orthodox Archbishop
Nicodemus Dauod Matti Sharaf participating.  Source: ACN UK

Aid to the Church in Need reports: "The bells rang out in Mosul for the first time in more than three years when a church in Iraq’s second city opened its doors for Mass on Christmas Eve.

Up to the last minute, plans for the service at St Paul’s Church in Mosul’s Al-Mundshen suburb hung in the balance – until a group of young Muslims helped clean the church and make it ready – including erecting the cross [my emphasis - Ed.]

This is not what we have come to expect. Individual Muslims and Christians have lived peaceably side by side in many areas of the Middle East for generations but Christianity and Islam have fundamental differences - see Muslim-Christian Relations summary - which have led to endless conflict resulting in the death of many Christians and destruction of their churches.

In May last year, Egypt carried out airstrikes in Libya after at least 26 people, including children, were killed and 25 wounded in a gun attack on a bus carrying Coptic Christians south of Cairo, the latest in a series of terrorist incidents targeting the religious minority (here).

More than 100 Christians have been killed in Egypt in the past year. Most attacks have been claimed by 'IS militants'. In December, Coptic Christians in Egypt experienced a different version of Islam than that experienced by Christians in Mosul when nine people were killed in two attacks on Coptic Christians in Helwan district, south of Cairo, according to Egypt's interior ministry (here).

Egypt is regarded by many Christians as the home of Christian monasticism. Christianity in Egypt dates back to the beginnings of Christianity itself (here) but Christians, mainly Copts, are now a minority, estimated to be between 10% and 20% of the population.

Believed to be funded by religious leaders with cash from Saudi Arabia, Christian girls in Egypt are being targeted for kidnapping, forced marriage and conversion, according to Release International, which supports persecuted Christians around the world.

Coptic Christians in the south of Egypt renewed calls on local authorities for an end to discrimination after a number of churches were closed down it was reported last October. Two churches in two separate villages in the southern province of Minya have been shut down by the authorities, a statement by the Minya diocese said. It said worshippers were harassed at both churches and pelted with rocks at one of them.

While faithful Christians abroad risk their lives to attend church services, church attendance continues to dwindle in Great Britain. Photographs are cropped to exclude empty pews and video coverage, such as it is these days, invariably shows a few old ladies comprising congregations.

In most churches, gone are the daily Eucharist and the alternative service on Sundays for those mainly young people unable to attend the main service so they drift away, unlikely to return. I hear that even the Cathedral church in Bangor closed after the service on 31st and apart from a funeral Friday will remain closed until next Sunday.

Many of the old ladies making up Anglican congregations will be dead by 2035 when according to the Pew Research Center "Babies born to Muslims will begin to outnumber Christian births".

The plight of Christian minorities in Muslim countries should be plain for all to see. Individual acts of kindness are outweighed by repression and ruthless action in Islamic states, even against Muslims who seek free expression of their religious human rights.

The Pew Center forecasts that "In the next half century or so, Christianity’s long reign as the world’s largest religion may come to an end... Muslims will grow more than twice as fast as the overall world population between 2015 and 2060 and, in the second half of this century, will likely surpass Christians as the world’s largest religious group."

The spread of Islam needs no help from Christian leaders, examples here, here and here.

The Washington National Cathedral and five Muslim groups hold the first celebration of Muslim
Friday Prayers, Jumaa, in the Cathedral's North Transept in Washington, Nov. 14, 2014.
Larry Downing | Reuters | BDN

"Once a place has been used for Muslim worship it is ipso facto a mosque"

Writing for the International Business Times Yasmin Alibhai-Brown portrayed Muslims as the victims, "Why do Muslims get picked on at Christmas?" She finishes her piece with the words "Christ for us Muslims is a messiah sent by God. Why would we not remember and celebrate his story?"

Because, according to Saudi cleric Sheikh Abd Al-Aziz Fawzan Al-Fawzan , "while there is more leniency regarding secular or national holidays, participating in Christmas celebrations, congratulating Christians on their holiday, and sending them gifts is not permitted because Christmas 'is based upon a corrupt dogma that was refuted by the Quran'." His comments were broadcast on the Kuwaiti Al-Resala TV channel on December 3, 2017. More clerical objections here and here.

As the Saudi cleric says in his video broadcast, individual acts of kindness are just that but instead of challenging an ideology which is anti-Christian, from Archbishops downwards Anglican clerics are embracing Islam as a valid alternative faith.

Census figures for England and wales show that "the percentage of Muslims among the under-fives is almost twice as high as in the general population". Validating Islam in the wake of immigration and high birth rates is likely to make the ideology more acceptable when leaked documents reveal even ISIS recruits have poor grasp of Islamic faith.

Perhaps when the country is predominately Muslim sympathetic Anglican clerics will abandon their Christian faith altogether as they have scripture and tradition to become Imams.

Postscripts

[05.01.2018]

EX-MUSLIMS TO POPE: ISLAM NOT A RELIGION OF PEACE

[06.01.2018]

Egypt's Coptic Christians to consecrate huge new cathedral

[07.01.2018]

Europe’s Growing Muslim Population

Muslims are projected to increase as a share of Europe’s population – even with no future migration.

Source: Pew Research Center

Welby's Muslim charm offensive

Click here for Archbishop Welby's understanding of Islam, a faith which denies that Jesus died on the cross, a faith that has no time for unbelievers in its political ideology, a political system which is explained here in a 5 minute video for those prepared naively to accept claims that Islam is a religion of peace.

Justin Welby says, "We can show the world around us that it is possible to differ and yet to support and care for one another very, very profoundly. That is particularly important for me and has been growingly so over the last few years when it comes to the unacceptable expression of Islamophobia which is totally against what anyone who professes to have their own faith should do."

The Archbishop then gives his blessing: "May God bless you and protect you as you dedicate yourselves to this time of fasting and discipline. I wish you a very good Ramadan. Ramadan Kareem."

On the same day, the Archbishop of Canterbury said: 'We mourn, we lament, we cry out for the injured and bereaved in Manchester' here. He fails to see the connection. Some leaders, political and religious, would have us believe that such attacks are our own fault, that Western foreign policy is to blame but Islam needs no such excuses.

I find Welby's comment about Islamophobia particularly offensive. It is a word conjured up to avoid any critical assessment of a supremacist ideology. There is nothing irrational in fearing such an ideology which has spread its influence through conquest for 1400 years. Accusations of Islamophobia also serve to obscure the fact as Alexander Boot put it in his blog Massacre, Manchester, Muslims that "Over 300 verses in the Koran explicitly call for murdering infidels, specifically Christians and Jews".

 Regardless of all the evidence to the contrary, Islam is being affirmed by the leader of the Anglican Communion as a great religion on an equal basis with Christianity which Islam is fighting to eliminate as illustrated by the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt, a pattern being repeated in many other Muslim majority countries.

How can that be? Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me".  He warned us about false prophets, "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

Welby is not alone in his charm offensive. See Manchester chief of police posing after bomb attack with the Koran which legitimised the killing. Of course there are many Muslims who would not act as soldiers of Islam but there are many who are prepared to die for their religion and take innocent people with them.

The way to defeat Islam is not by affirming it but to confront the ideology that drives followers to present the ultimatum: convert to Islam, pay a religious levy or face death. The Great Commission is the key.

Corbyn the crass

In advance of Jeremy Corbyn's keynote election speech in which he linked the Manchester bombing to British foreign policy, former Home Secretary Charles Clarke last night explained the threat posed by Islam in terms which even Mr Corbyn should be able to understand. Sadly he and many others refuse to listen or choose to believe what they are told unaware that lying is a weapon being used as part of the deceptive claim that Islam is a religion of peace.

Despite all the evidence to the contrary it was claimed that the Manchester bomber "was a terrorist, not a Muslim". Muslim leaders in Manchester reported a rise in Islamophobic incidents. This has become a regular pattern after such incidents.

What foreign policy in Egypt was responsible for the latest atrocity in which a bus carrying Christians was blocked by three vehicles before militants opened fire? At least 26 Coptic Christians were killed and dozens injured including children.

It is often claimed, as Corbyn does, that the presence of Westerners in Muslim lands leads to terrorist attacks. These attacks have been going on for 1400 years. The so called 'Muslim lands' were home to Christians long before Islam came on the scene. Many Christian communities are being wiped out and face extinction within ten years. That is the reality.

Lands that have not been conquered by force are now subject to occupation by stealth with immigration and high birth rates. Read Maybe It’s Time For Some Reverse Creeping Sharia .

We do not need to look for excuses such as poverty and marginalisation, or whether the perpetrator was mentally unstable. No rational person would blow up him/herself with others in the expectation of a reward in paradise. Why would God want an ignorant savage to destroy what He had created?

Not all terrorists are Muslim, not all Muslims are terrorists but authority can be found in Islamic ideology to permit such acts of violence against Jews and Christians. It is that ideology that needs to be challenged without complaints of Islamophobia.

Update [27.05.2017]

From "Islamist Ideology, not Western Foreign Policy, is why ISIS Attack Us"

"We hate you, first and foremost, because you are disbelievers; you reject the oneness of Allah … and you indulge in all manner of devilish practices. … Furthermore, just as your disbelief is the primary reason we hate you, your disbelief is the primary reason we fight you, as we have been commanded to fight the disbelievers until they submit to the authority of Islam, either by becoming Muslims, or by … living in humiliation under the rule of the Muslims. … We hate you because your secular, liberal societies permit the very things that Allah has prohibited …"

Full article here.

Take it or leave it!

Churches coming together (CNS)                                                                                                         Church moving apart (Church in Wales)

     

As the Catholic and Orthodox Churches continue to come closer together the Anglican Church in the UK drifts further away from the unity of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church with every ill-advised congregationalist move it makes.

During his visit to the Coptic Church in Egypt, Pope Francis joined with the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, spiritual head of the Eastern Orthodox churches, in placing flowers, lighting a candle and praying at the site where dozens of Coptic Orthodox Christians were killed by an Islamic State militant last year. Video here.

Christian Today reported: "As Christians face an increase in violence around the world and especially in the Middle East, there are significant signs that the major Churches are coming together, with the blood of martyrs acting as the 'seed of unity'." - But not the inward looking Anglican Church.

The contrast could not be greater. Coptic Christians are regularly attacked and killed in Egypt. Christians throughout the Middle and far East are constantly targeted by Muslims but in Great Britain Islam is affirmed as a religion on a par with Christianity while the Anglican Church pursues its fixation with secular matters.

As Scottish Anglicans move towards same sex marriage their leader has warned that GAFCON should "stay out of our territory" while the Church of Ireland is split over whether it should liberalise its stance on same sex marriage. Meanwhile the Church of England continues its shared discussions before its expected capitulation to the LGBT lobby in opting for secularism.

The bishops of the Church in Wales will still be smarting over their failure to lead the charge towards same sex marriage but they lost the plot years ago. Many congregations are elderly with little sign of younger people joining them. Indeed, for many youngsters in Wales religion has become a no go area. Some are even petitioning for an end to compulsory prayers in Wales' schools. They gained more than 870 signatures of support in less than two weeks. Without new blood collapse is inevitable.

Perhaps the experience of readers is different to mine but from what I hear, any faith visits to children in their formative primary schools are often carried out by female Methodist ministers, sometimes by an evangelical nonconformist but never by a traditional male Anglican priest.

I had hoped to be more positive in my outlook after Barry Morgan's retirement but I fear I was too hasty in my April entry, A promising start, when I reported that the bishop of Swansea and Brecon, the senior bishop on the bench of bishops, told the Governing Body to "put evangelism at heart of ministry".

My positive outlook crashed with the appointment of the bishop designate of Llandaff who has made it clear that her priority is to appoint more women to senior roles until parity is achieved. That is feminism, not evangelism. An appointment which, incidentally, has been met with a stunned silence in Llandaff after the clamour created by claims of homophobia, subsequently disproved, because the Dean of St Albans failed to secure the votes he needed.

So no new broom to address the disillusionment created by Barry Morgan as he bent the church to accord with his own views. Just more of the same. Take it or leave it. Many have decided to leave it, doubtless with more to follow. As Church of England rejects have been appointed in Wales the best of Welsh talent has left for England while the laity have opted simply to leave altogether.

One wonders how all those clergy who abandoned their former colleagues and faithful parishioners for a career in the Church now feel as they look at the state of the Church in Wales and see that they have no prospects in Wales.

Many more clergy and laity will be examining their consciences after the appointment of two female bishops. Doubtless many red lines will become distinctly pink but for others it will be the end of the road. A sorry, unnecessary predicament. In that, Morgan and his bench sitters have been cruelly successful. Opposition has been virtually wiped out in some areas, but at great cost, ignoring the expressed wish of the majority in consultations for alternative provision, leaving the fate of the Church to the Jackson/Wigley/MAE Cymru cohort.

Does anything matter anymore in the do-as-you-please Church in Wales? What of those who broke their Llandaff Electoral College oath of silence and the shameless campaigners including the unnamed bishop who put LGBT issues before the Church? No doubt that will be swept under the carpet by the bench along with everything else.

While some will find reasons to stay put, others will continue to leave. Evangelism is fine but for what? A church in which faith managers have shattered the parish system, interpreted the Bible to justify their own secular desires and ignored the wishes of its members when asked for their views while still claiming to be members of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

How many more must leave before the bishops get the message? Without acceptable alternative provision, leaving is the only option for anyone who wants to keep the faith.

Spot the difference?

Sheikh Mohammad al Hilli, Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi
Ephriam  Mirvis,  Sheikh Ezzat Khalifa, and Cardinal Vincent Nichols Archbishop of Westminster
(Photo: PA)

The above picture was published in the Mirror in the aftermath of the London terror attack on Westminster Bridge and at the Carriage Gates entrance to the House of Commons, killing and maiming innocent victims. Predictably faith leaders came together to express their horror. As is their custom, Muslim leaders washed their hands of the events as having nothing to do with Islam.

The hand wringing is different in Muslim majority countries such as Egypt where Muslims attacked Coptic Christians on Palm Sunday. That was because there are still some Christians left in 'their' Muslim country. In Muslim majority countries, non-Muslims are faced with the choice of convert, pay the jizya or die.

Security personnel investigate the scene of a bomb explosion inside Mar Girgis church in Tanta EPA

According to a Pew Research Centre report The Changing Global Religious Landscape, babies born to Muslims will begin to outnumber Christian births by 2035; people with no religion face a birth dearth. Perhaps by then Christians in Egypt will be no more. While Christians invite Muslims into their churches, Christians and other non-Musims in Islamic states are being systematically purged.

It is not as if we have not been warned but the way things are going the Church of England along with the Church in Wales will be as dead as Christians in the Middle East. There is no escape unless people recognise the threat posed by Islam. 

Those with no religion will not be exempt from choice of convert, pay the tax or die. The religion of peace will have reached its goal. Affirming Islam merely advances the day when Sharia rules. The only sensible solution is to challenge Islamic ideology but too many Christians are too busy challenging their own faith to be aware of the danger.

Worldwide Persecution of Christians

A Guardian article sourced by data from Open Doors in July 2015 reported that "Converts from Islam have faced persecution in Egypt for many years, but until recently the indigenous Coptic Christians have largely been left alone. After the overthrow of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, however, there was a sharp increase in attacks, with 65 churches, convents, Christian bookshops and schools attacked. There are fears these attacks will increase as radical Islamist groups gain power in the region."

Yesterday it was reported in Christian Daily that "Orthodox Coptic Christians thought that they would experience less discrimination from Muslims after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak five years ago, but the post-Arab Spring years have only seen the attacks against them rise."

Persecution of Christians is widespread in Muslim countries (details here) which makes it all the more extraordinary that Islam is being allowed to extend its influence in the Western World with shocking consequences for the victims of a culture which regards women as second class along with non-Muslims, or kafir. Worries have been expressed over the Government's desire to make the UK the centre for 'Sharia compliant' Islamic finance even though it is 'inherently discriminatory' against women and non-Muslims and about BBC plans to increase Muslim influence at the expense of Christianity, the foundation of British law and our culture.

With friends yesterday I found myself in conversation about the BBC's plans to downgrade Christian programming in favour of increased coverage for Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh faiths. The Director-General of the BBC, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, is reported to have said that he will increase the coverage of other faiths and could broadcast Friday prayers from a mosque along the lines of Songs of Praise because there have been complaints that the Corporation was ‘too Christian’. One can imagine how such complaints originate when different values are in evidence. 

It was put to me by a nominal Christian that the BBC should allow Friday prayers to be broadcast because 'Imams in the UK have explained that Islam means peace and love of others'. This is a well used tactic to hoodwink the ill-informed. If the BBC were to increase their coverage by taking a critical look at a religious ideology which encourages such deception while bringing death and destruction around the world, people would be better informed about Islamic ambitions for world dominance under Sharia.

The Open Doors Watch List consistently reports persecution, repression, killing Christians and destruction of their churches along with persecution of others such as the Yazidis, greatly adding to the refugee crisis. In some countries such as Saudi Arabia Christians must keep their faith completely secret. If not executed by the state, they risk becoming the victim of an honour killing by a family member because leaving Islam is regarded as a great disgrace. 

Islam is Islam. Many Muslims live peacefully, ignoring what is done in their name but the essential difference in the attitude of devout Muslims to non-Muslims is if they are in a minority rather than a majority. 

While Islam is allowed to flourish and more mosques are built in Britain and Europe, often financed through the Saudi Connection, Christianity is being systematically destroyed in the Middle East with attempts to obliterate all evidence of ancient pre-Islamic civilisations such as the Assyrians.

The persecution of Christians must be stopped. You can help by signing a petition against the BBC proposals here.

Postscript [18.11.2016]

"Donald Trump’s Pick For National Security Adviser Loves To Stoke Islamophobia" - Huffington Post:

Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s pick for national security adviser, has stoked Islamophobia by calling Islam a “cancer” and saying fear of it was “justified”. In August, Flynn said that Islam, which has around 1.6 billion followers around the world, was a “political ideology” that “hides behind being a religion.” He also described it as a “cancer” because terrorist groups instructed followers to “get into the bloodstream of the opposition.” He has tweeted that fearing Muslims is “rational.”

Doubters should look at the map. Non-Muslims living in Muslim countries know what fear is. The evidence speaks for itself. Are they are guilty of Islamophobia?

Leaving Islam

This video by an ex-Muslim neatly sums up how people use religion to satisfy their human desires. It considers the basic question of why any Creator would want some of those he created to destroy others he had created. It makes no sense except when the messenger wishes to distort the message for personal gain, sucking in the ignorant and ill-informed to believe that they too can benefit from the suffering of others. How could such a cruel God be worthy of worship?

Christianity is often accused of perpetrating evil acts similar to those now being carried out by warriors for Islam today. There is no denying that, in the past, appalling acts of cruelty were perpetrated in the name of Christ but the errors were of the messenger, not the message. With Islam it is both the messenger and the message and it is not history. It is being inflicted now in the name of one regarded in Islam as the perfect man which raises the question of how much Muslims really know about their messenger.

The following video lists twenty problems with the this belief:

If Muslims know but deny these facts it raises serious questions about their honesty. If they do not, they are being used unwittingly to support jihad against non-Muslims and need to escape before they too find that they are on the list to be cleansed for being the wrong kind of Muslims.

The 2014 Memri TV clip here shows the 'right kind' of Muslim (in their eyes), a Russian ISIS fighter justifying Islamic State massacres based on texts from the Quran. Some quotes from the transcript:

"With regard to the Islamic State, the Caliphate and the numerous accusations we have been accused of by those who sit idly by instead of going on Jihad, or those who do nothing for the religion of Allah, except for praying the five prayers, believing that by doing so, they are helping the religion of Allah… You are not helping yourselves or the religion of Allah. Anyone who sits idly by and does not help the Islamic State today will be held accountable on Judgment Day.
[…]
"You accuse us of the mass killing of Muslims, saying that we are blood-shedding murderers. Didn't the Prophet Muhammad and his companions shed blood? Haven't you read his biography, written by Ibn Hisham, which says that the Messenger of Allah killed 700 people in a single battle? He slaughtered 700 people – that is our Prophet and our religion.
[…]
"I say to all our Muslim brothers and sisters: Join the Islamic State. Join your brothers. Do not wait until death comes to you. Do not wait until the path is blocked. As long as you can, perform hijra. The hijra is a duty. If you read any book on Islamic faith, you will see that it is a duty to perform hijra from Dar Al-Kufr to Dar Al-Islam. Do not procrastinate. Do not delude yourselves. Do not say to yourselves that you will perform the hijra tomorrow or the day after."

More recently there has been an obsession in the media with how 'Jihadi John' was radicalized. He didn't need to be radicalized. Based on his knowledge of Islam he simply responded to the  claim "Anyone who sits idly by and does not help the Islamic State today will be held accountable on Judgment Day". He has been following the message of the messenger without any pretence that Islam is the 'Religion of Peace' in the normal accepted sense of the word peace. Despite his heinous crimes attempts have been made to portray Jihadi John as the victim. Similar efforts were made in respect of the deluded youngsters who set off to join the IS group in Syria. Like their founder, among others, this group believes that a girl of nine is of marriageable age! The IS guide to life for female jihadis is here. Any female who wants to embrace such a regime must be severely deluded or must have been indoctrinated by an ideology which rewards the guilty at the expense of the innocent.

Islam has been at war with non-believers since the seventh century, falsely claiming that the West has invaded their lands. They are not Muslim lands. They were obtained by conquest. For years the plight of the Copts was ignored. Now we are witnessing The Twilight of Middle Eastern Christianity. The message is blindingly obvious but there's none so blind as those who will not see - something of which President Obama is persistently accused.

It doesn't have to be like this. Muslims are held captive by fear. Execution for apostasy is still regarded as acceptable in Islamic states. Apart from accepted abrogations, "No change can there be in the Words of Allah (Sura 10:64) "There is none that can alter the Words of Allah (Sura 6:34). So if the religious ideology cannot be adapted to allow Muslims to live peaceably with others in the twenty-first century, its adherents must change if the carnage is to stop.

Listen to an Ex-Muslim terrorist who has found what other Muslims seek and follow his example. Eternal life, without slaughtering the innocent.

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Bounty of $60M for the most wanted infidel

If Islam is a Religion of Peace, why is there a bounty of $60M on the head of a Coptic priest who explains the plight of minority Christians in Egypt which was one of the early centres of Christianity prior to her conquest by Muslims?

The proportion of Copts living in Egypt is roughly the same as the proportion of Muslims in France but there the similarity ends. Muslims in France have freedom of worship. In Egypt churches are destroyed, Christians killed for being Christians and their daughters converted to Islam by forced marriage with Muslims. Read about The Plight Of Egypt’s Coptic Christians here.

Egypt is far from unique. "Events in Iraq form part of a broader pattern of increasing persecution of Christians and other religious minorities. In many countries, including Syria, Iran, Nigeria, Mali, CAR, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Somalia and Afghanistan, well-armed Islamist extremists are not only persecuting Christians severely, but are also violating the rights of all who do not share their restrictive dogma." The facts here.

Today's 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world's population. But their birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and all other believers. Muslims will exceed 50% of the world's population by the end of this century. Details here.

From the New York Times: 'After Week of Terror, French Muslims Ask: What Now?'
Reprisals against innocent Muslims are to be deplored but so is dissimulation and prevarication. Whether attacks are termed euphemistically as Islamist, Islamism or plain Islamic, the root is the same and the problem is the same. Jihad, armed or cultural, has to be addressed honestly and openly without hiding behind claims that aspects of the Muslim faith are too sacred to be held up to scrutiny by non-believers.

In 2011 the motion "Islam is a religion of peace" was debated on US television. A vote taken before the debate showed: For 41%, Against 25%, Undecided 34%. In another vote after the debate in which both sides were allowed free expression the vote was For 36%, Against 55%, Undecided 9%.

Opponents of free expression should be aware that on current trends, by the year 2050 Britain will be a majority Muslim nation leaving our descendants to suffer the persecution of minorities currently endured in Middle Eastern countries unless there is a change in attitudes.

But for now the civilised world is united with France in shock and sorrow at the events in Paris. 'Je Suis Charlie' must be a watershed moment ending denial.

Pour la France et le Peuple de France.

Vive la République!

St George's Day

Photo: Belfast Telegraph

Today is St George's day. Reported in the Belfast Telegraph is a call by multi-faith campaigners for St George to be a symbol of unity. "The hijab, or headscarf worn by Muslim women, should be as welcome as "bangers and mash" in England, religious groups and campaigners have said in a St George's Day appeal for unity." The declaration said the saint needed to take his "rightful place" as a national symbol of inclusivity "rather than a symbol of hatred! As patron saint for England, St George is there for everyone living in England," they said.

I am all for unity but not as the result of subjugation. Panorama last night investigated the 'Secrets of Britain's Sharia Councils' highlighting the disgraceful way Muslim women are treated by self-appointed judges outside the law. As hellish as that must be for the women involved, at least the protection of the law is available for them. Not so in Egypt. In an article "An Islamist Declaration of War Against Christianity" an account is given of the attack on St. Mark's Cathedral. Named after the author of the Gospel of the same name who brought Christianity to Egypt "some 600 years before Amr bin al-As brought Islam by the sword" is not simply “just another” Coptic church to be attacked and/or set aflame by a Muslim mob. Instead, it is considered "the most sacred building for millions of Christians around the world—above and beyond the many millions of Copts in and out of Egypt. As the only apostolic see in the entire continent of Africa, its significance and evangelizing mission extends to the whole continent, including nations such as Sudan, Ethiopia, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, to name just a few. As an apostolic see—the actual seat of an apostle of Christ—the cathedral further possesses historical significance for Christianity in general." There has been no outcry from the media similar to the hysteria surrounding any inferred even trivial act against Islam. 

Put another way, "this jihadi attack on St. Mark Cathedral is no different for Copts than a jihadi attack on the Vatican would be for Catholics. Or, to maintain the analogy, but from the other side, it would be no different than a “crusader” attack on the Grand Mosque of Mecca for Muslims. While one can only imagine how the world’s Muslims would react to a “Christian/Western” assault on their most sacred of shrines, “post-Christian” Western leaders, as usual, stand idly by (not unlike Egyptian state security, which stood idly by as the Muslim mob opened fire on the cathedral)."

In Britain the UK head of an international Catholic charity has attacked a government report on human rights violations, saying it "glosses over" the growing problem of persecution against Christians (here). The great chasm between Christianity and Islam cannot be ignored. St George defended Christianity. So must we. Happy St George's Day!

Postscript

See "The Qu’ran is facing a blistering attack from contemporary scholarship" on the Christian Medical Comment blog here.

Mixed messages from No 10 on issues of faith

Photo: EPA

  Yesterday in his statement to the Commons on the Algerian crisis, the Prime Minister referred to the threat of Islamist terrorism inspired by an ideology that is an 'extreme distortion of the Islamic faith' which holds that mass murder is not only acceptable but necessary in an attempt to divide the world into a clash of civilizations. Convinced that democratic principles are the answer to Islamic ideology, previous attempts to impose Western democratic principles including the West's backing of the Arab Spring have backfired for Christians in Islamic countries. As Metropolitan Hilarion put it [see previous entry under 'Media Ignores Religious Persecution']: "In Iraq only one tenth of a million-and-a-half Christians that lived there ten years ago have survived. In Egypt we are witnessing a mass exodus of Christians. There are practically no Christians left in Libya. Ninety five percent of Christians have abandoned Homs in Syria." 

Alexandria was one of the earliest centres of Christianity. In Egypt today Christians are persecuted simply for being Christian, not by terrorists but by followers of Islam, as they are around the world. So why do politicians continue to peddle the myth that Islam is a religion of peace? Tony Blair struggled to answer when he was asked in an interview what he knew about Islam [advance to position 39.00 but preferably watch the whole video]. I suspect Dave would fall into the same trap if he were asked.  As Coptic priest Fr Zakaria Boutros explains here, it is a mistake to compare Muslims with Jews and Christians, it is what the religion is based on, or, in the case of Islam, the ideology that matters.

Bishop Nazir-Ali came to Britain from Pakistan in the 1980s because his life was in danger.  In a statement to the European Court of Human Rights last year he argued that laws originally designed to protect basic freedoms are instead being used to strip British society of its Christian foundations while upholding the rights of minorities. He said: “The Christian faith and our Judeo Christian values are the cornerstone of our freedoms, prosperity and liberty in Europe” and warned that Christianity is now under threat from a “human rights agenda” which he argued is denying Christians their rights while upholding those of others. The result of the case here.

While the 'Islamic faith' is talked up, Christianity is constantly talked down and adherents put under pressure; examples here and here. In evidence to the European Court the UK Government had argued that wearing a cross is not an essential tenet of Christianity so it was not a breach of human rights to refuse permission to wear a cross; a helpful technicality! Youth organisations are not exempt from being targeted by secularists even if the organisation was founded on Christian principles such as the Scouts and the Guides. The Air Cadets is the latest organisation to drop God from their promise leaving a spiritual vacuum which others will not hesitate to fill to their own advantage whenever the opportunity presents itself. A good example of exploitation here.

So what is the Government doing to protect our Christian heritage and values? Well they will not force churches to perform same-sex marriages, that can be left to the European courts. Currently they are rushing through legislation that has not been properly thought through to change the law of succession - but not to the satisfaction of one Labour MP who is gathering support for an amendment that will 'extend the protection' to include the eventuality that the child is gay or lesbian. If by then we are a Muslim nation the heir is, in that event, more likely to be hanging from a crane than sat on the throne.

What next for Egypt and the Copts?

Muslim Brotherhood's Khairat al-Shater

Egypt was a cradle of Christianity long before Islam took hold after the Muslim invasion in the 7th Century A.D. The Coptic Church has since been persecuted to the extent that Christians are now a small minority under constant threat - the plight of Christian communities throughout the Middle East. You can read of their plight here. Egypt's Arab Spring advanced the cause of the Muslim Brotherhood aided by their vow not to contest the Presidential elections. That has been changed raising fears that they cannot be trusted. Some suggest that the Muslim vote will split  as a consequence but whatever happens, if minorities are not protected the Muslim Brotherhood will be seen as betraying the trust of those who supported them.


Postscript
Shariah Law Is Ultimate Goal of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Presidential Candidate.

Lords debate: Situation of Christians in the Middle East

An interesting debate took place in the House of Lords yesterday. Opened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, he drew this tribute from Lord Mackay of Clashfern: "My Lords, I would like very warmly to thank the most reverend Primate for the opportunity of having this debate in your Lordships' House, and for the scholarly and profound speech with which the debate has been opened." Well deserved praise echoed by subsequent speakers, often in short supply outside the House.

Speaking in the debate (at 12.23) Lord Sacks' contribution was also praised by many speakers. He felt as a Jew in Christian Britain that he could not be silent. He quoted Martin Luther King saying, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends". Lord Touhig quoted his late old friend Leo Abse who, on his retirement as an MP, gave only one piece of advice to his successor. He said, "Tolerate everyone, tolerate everything but never tolerate the intolerant". 

Replying, Lord Howell of Guildford said, "This has been a hugely enlightening debate, unlocking the vast stores of wisdom that are to be found in your Lordships' House on the issues that we are addressing, on the history behind them-the hinterland of knowledge-and on the prospects for the present and the future in a very turbulent world. We have had some excellent speeches." The speeches clear up many misunderstandings about Christians in the Middle East and are well worth the time reading or listening to them. I particularly liked this aside from the Archbishop of Canterbury: "A Palestinian Christian friend of mine was wont to say when asked by westerners, 'When did your family become Christians?'  'About 2,000 years ago' was the reply." 

In his contribution to the debate, Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon quoted his mother saying: "The Abrahamic faiths are that Judaism lays the foundations, Christianity builds the walls and Islam is the roof. We all have the same origin and the same destination. Together we build a single house of worship". The reality is different. Mosques are demanded while other places of worship are destroyed. The plight of Coptic Christians is well documented. One of their priests gives a clear insight into their problems here. Translating their situation to Great Britain, the "silence of our friends" is contributing to the demise of Christianity while Islam is in the ascendency. The suggestion that Islam is the roof is used to claim that Muhammad was the last in a line of Jewish prophets of which Jesus was just another, raising the prophet above the Son of God. That is unacceptable to Christians. Leo Abse's advice "never tolerate the intolerant" is particularly apt.

There is a video link to the debate here. Highly recommended.

Are we already an Islamic country?

"Christian Britain is dead" said The Rt Rev Paul Richardson, a bishop of our established church, the Church of England. But the Queen is still Defender of the Faith, a faith based on love which shaped our nation, a love that now dare not speak its name.

The latest incident of alleged religious discrimination highlights the case of a Christian worker who lost her job after being 'targeted' by Islamic extremists at Heathrow Airport. In his Blog, Cranmer raises some important issues here. Whatever the facts of this new case, there is a perception that only Islam is beyond question with legitimate questions about the treatment of Christians being met with cries of 'Islamophobia'. 

Endless excuses are made but if we look abroad,for example, in Egypt,  the home of our Christian Desert Fathers, there are regular authentic accounts of the persecution of Christians and the destruction of Coptic churches but where is the condemnation from the 'Religion of Peace'? The answer is neatly summed-up by the Coptic priest Fr Zakaria Botros here. Those involved in inter-faith talks please take note. 


Postscript
Pakistan to review list of obscene words that includes 'Jesus Christ'.

"This England..."

Bangladesh

Tower Hamlets

People may be forgiven for believing that there is a hidden agenda among many immigrants  to impose alien cultures, sometimes alien to their own, in ghettoised areas simply to impose their political will on British society.

Here we have another example. "You became a viper in our midst willing to go to as far as possible to strike at the heart of our system. You purport to be a British citizen but what you stand for is totally alien to what we stand for in our country. - Mr Justice Royce, jailing Bilal Ahmad at Bristol Crown Court.

This England never did, nor never shall,

Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror.

William Shakespeare, "King John", Act 5 scene 7

Postscript

Were it not so serious this might appear a sick joke given its hypocrisy. Thanks to Voice Of The Copts (see Blogs to the right) I picked up this video, Islamic Emirate Project, which claims to be the Muslim response to the tragedy in Norway by calling for the Sharia in Britain, Europe and the World. Dismissed as nutters, extremists often take matters into their own hands as demonstrated here with the declaration of Britain's first Sharia law zone. 

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. "

Sharing Tables event in Shotton, Flintshire

A group of Christians and Muslims have shared a meal to show "solidarity" in an area that has seen protests about plans for an Islamic cultural centre.

Meanwhile, in Milan, Italy,

No illusions there!

With the best of intentions many Christians in this country are blind to the threat of Islam. Islamists are trying every trick in the book to dominate the world. There is only one way to the Father. We forget it at our peril.

Postscript

Read Voice Of The Copts and their suffering under Islam. Why do we pander to this alien ideology that would see our demise? We must be mad.