Remembrance

Two women were lost on D Day, Sister Mollie Evershed and Sister Dorothy Field, Standing With Giants.     Source BBC News

 

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning, 

We will remember them.

Guard of shame

London, the Cenotaph guarded by police                                                                                                         Source: The Sun

As The Sun put it on Armistice Day: "HOW HAS IT COME TO THIS? The Cenotaph will be kept under 24-hour police guard for the first time during Remembrance commemorations as PM appeals for calm. More than 1,000 cops are being drafted in from across the country to assist the 2,000 Met officers at today’s Armistice Day march."

From X (formerly Twitter): "The Metropolitan Police say there has been 'no issues' with the protest for Palestine, which was repeatedly called a 'hate march' by Suella Braverman. Meanwhile hundreds of far right thugs are 'intent on confrontation' and violence against the main march." Photo here.

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove MP, may have had a different view of the 'protest for Palestine' march after being mobbed by Palestine protesters at Victoria station as may some of the police on the ground.

Victoria station also witnessed the sorry state of charity volunteer poppy sellers having to retreat from a rowdy mob of pro-Palestine protesters.

The march itself may have been relatively peaceful but there were ugly incidents as illustrated here and here. X shows some demonstrators wearing terrorist headbands while another could be heard shouting "death to all the Jews".

Some ugly banners were also shown on X. One with a swastika incorporated into the Star of David Another called for 'burning a British flag on Remembrance Day'.

Despite there being 'no issues' in the view of the Met they have requested assistance using X. Examples here and here.

Hopefully the public will cooperate but it is worrying when increasing numbers attend gatherings which cloak illegal activity. Activity which is difficult to contain given the weight of numbers. The Met's solution is surveillance followed by arrests where possible. The problem with that approach is that offenders appear to get away with it. 

How has it come to this? The problem is summarised here by bestselling author and columnist Douglas Murray.

Suella Braverman was correct when she said: "This can’t go on. Week by week, the streets of London are being polluted by hate, violence, and antisemitism. Members of the public are being mobbed and intimidated. Jewish people in particular feel threatened. Further action is necessary."

Postscript [19.11.2023]

How the West was lost (Part 3)

Remembrance

We will remember them.

 

Remembrance Sunday

For the Fallen

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

Remembrance Sunday 2021

Lest we forget

 

For the Fallen

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Remembrance Sunday

 

Lest we forget

VJ Day 75th Anniversary

Source: CWGC

VJ DAY 75:THE RISING SUN

VJ DAY 75: PRISONERS OF THE JAPANESE

VJ DAY 75: VICTORY, LIBERATION AND REMEMBRANCE

Legacy of Liberation

Lest we forget

Remembrance Day 2019

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

Lest we forget.

Remembrance Day 2018

Armistice Centenary

Source: MailOnline

WW1 soldiers going into action.

 Source: ITV

72,000 shrouded figures commemorating the men who died in the

 Battle of the Somme whose bodies were never recovered.

"At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them."

 Lest we forget

Remembrance Day 2017

December 19, 1916: A French officer stands near a cemetery filled with recent graves of soldiers
killed on the front lines of World War One, at Saint-Jean-sur-Tourbe on the Champagne front,
eastern France REUTERS/Collection Odette Carrez/IBTimes

A mother plans to be reunited with her only son. Source: GETTY/Express

We will remember them

Islamic finance and persecution

"In response to customer demand, NatWest bank has launched its first mortgage product compliant with Islamic Shariah law. In accordance with Shariah law, the product will not charge interest." - NatWest Business Banking

'Sharia compliant' finance is not only permitted in Great Britain, it is encouraged by HM Government which is committed to making the UK the 'Western hub of Islamic finance'. This video by 'Christian Concern' explains that accommodating Sharia finance makes it hard to object to Sharia in family law or other areas even though it is 'inherently discriminatory' against women and non-Muslims. The aim of Islamic finance is to create a separate, rival financial system serving to prevent the integration of Muslims into Western societies [my emphasis - Ed.]. 

I was shocked to hear a prayer in the Intercessions at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance [@01:18:30] on Saturday night praying that Her Majesty, as Defender of the Faith, should 'protect the freedom of other faiths. Are our public servants and religious leaders ignorant of false prophets and the charge that we should "go and make disciples of all nations" in the knowledge as Christians that there is only one way to the Father? Do they not recognise the supremacist ideology in our midst that condemns to death apostates and beheads and crucifies people who refuse to convert to Islam?

Why should Her Majesty protect a faith based on a religious ideology that has no regard for other religious beliefs? Nissar Hussain converted from Islam to become a Christian in 1996. He has since faced aggressive behaviour and violence from members of the Muslim community where he lived in Bradford, reported here. There is graphic coverage in the MailOnline of the beating he received in 2015 after being targeted as a 'blasphemer' because he converted from Islam. He suffered a broken kneecap, a fractured forearm and concussion.

Despite evidence from the world over of the attitude of Islam to non-Muslims, leading Anglicans continue to pander to 'interfaith cohesion' interpreting the Quran in a way that some misinterpret the Bible to suit their own ends.

The hand of friendship offered by the Muslim Council of Wales in Great Britain is not mirrored in Muslim dominated countries. When Muslims form a majority churches are closed or destroyed and Christians are persecuted or killed. Peace in Islam means when everyone has been converted, if necessary by the sword.

It has been estimated by Open Doors International that 100 million Christians worldwide endure some sort of persecution each year with 7,100 Christians killed for their faith in 2015 alone. 

Encouraging and protecting the freedom of Islam is the last thing we need if we value our own freedom. Christians are the victims of 80% of all acts of religious discrimination in the world. Please find the time to watch the short documentary, Under Caesar's Sword (HT Anglican Mainstream).

Late News [14.11.2016]

From MailOnline:
BBC will increase religious coverage for Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs after it was slammed for being 'too CHRISTIAN'.

Postscript [15.11.2016]

Petition to Protect Christian programming and coverage at the BBC

Voice for Justice UK has organised a petition via CitizenGo calling on Her Majesty’s Government, and in particular Karen Bradley, Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, to exercise due oversight of the BBC and to reject any attempt 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, has said he will increase the coverage of other faiths and could broadcast Friday prayers from a mosque along the lines of Songs of Praise. He says he will do this because there have been complaints that the Corporation was ‘too Christian’.

In 2011 a survey conducted by the BBC itself found that of the 4,500 people approached, the overwhelming feeling was that the BBC was anti-Christian, and that the Christian faith was consistently misrepresented. In 2012, the then Director-General, Mark Thompson, himself admitted that Christianity was treated ‘less-sensitively’ than other religions. Since that time there have been numerous similar complaints of clear bias against Christianity, some coming from employees at the BBC themselves. Full report on Anglican mainstream here. You can sign the petition here.

Translation of the Dedication that appears in the entrance hall of Broadcasting House:

This Temple of the Arts and Muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors of Broadcasting House in the year 1931, Sir John Reith being Director-General. It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace or purity may be banished from this house, and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful and honest and of good report, may tread the path of wisdom and uprightness.

Remembrance Sunday

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Armistice Day 2015

For your tomorrow, we gave our today.                                                                                   Image by Carolyn Haslett

At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month.

We will remember them!

VE Day remembered

Churchill waves to crowds on 8 May 1945 from the Ministry of Health balcony.

Those of us old enough to remember recall with gratitude the inspirational speeches of Winston Churchill in WW2.

We give thanks this weekend for our deliverance and especially for all those who did not return to celebrate "our hour".

Churchill's victory speech:

"My dear friends, this is your hour. This is not victory of a party or of any class. It's a victory of the great British nation as a whole. We were the first, in this ancient island, to draw the sword against tyranny. After a while we were left all alone against the most tremendous military power that has been seen. We were all alone for a whole year.

There we stood, alone. Did anyone want to give in? [The crowd shouted "No."] Were we down-hearted? ["No!"] The lights went out and the bombs came down. But every man, woman and child in the country had no thought of quitting the struggle. London can take it. So we came back after long months from the jaws of death, out of the mouth of hell, while all the world wondered. When shall the reputation and faith of this generation of English men and women fail? I say that in the long years to come not only will the people of this island but of the world, wherever the bird of freedom chirps in human hearts, look back to what we've done and they will say "do not despair, do not yield to violence and tyranny, march straightforward and die if need be-unconquered." Now we have emerged from one deadly struggle-a terrible foe has been cast on the ground and awaits our judgment and our mercy.

But there is another foe who occupies large portions of the British Empire, a foe stained with cruelty and greed-the Japanese. I rejoice we can all take a night off today and another day tomorrow. Tomorrow our great Russian allies will also be celebrating victory and after that we must begin the task of rebuilding our hearth and homes, doing our utmost to make this country a land in which all have a chance, in which all have a duty, and we must turn ourselves to fulfill our duty to our own countrymen, and to our gallant allies of the United States who were so foully and treacherously attacked by Japan. We will go hand and hand with them. Even if it is a hard struggle we will not be the ones who will fail."

You can listen here. Thanks to The Churchill centre

The supreme sacrifice

The 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' project by artist Paul Cummins

On 11 November, Armistice Day, the last of 888,246 ceramic poppies will be planted, filling the moat of the Tower of London with a sea of blood, each poppy representing the supreme sacrifice of a British or colonial soldier during the WWI conflict which began 100 years ago.

Remember also the living dead. The maimed, battle-scarred, blinded, limbless, shell-shocked survivors. The widows, the fiancees and girl friends who never married after losing the one they loved.

We will remember them!

We are all partakers of the one bread

Normandie WWII                                                                                     Source: PhotosNormandie

The point of posting the 'Meditation on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass' video was to remember why we do what we do, not how we do it. I had intended to post the entry under the title 'Lest we forget' but then I recalled that I had already used it (here) to remember others who had made the supreme sacrifice.

As usual my wife expressed my own thoughts more succinctly when she said in response to some of the comments received, "there is beauty in the simplicity of a said mass in the early morning or late evening when maybe only a few are gathered together but there is also beauty in the splendour of a solemn mass, the colours of the vestments, the music and singing. There is no need to be 'pro' or 'anti'. Each has its place." 

Generally worshippers are able to choose between a simple said service and a sung service or they can choose another church where the style of worship is more to their liking. But there is now a more serious dimension. Church members who are unable to accept the ministry of women as priests and bishops must still be permitted to respond in good conscience to Christ's invitation:

 "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."

This is the challenge for the 'enlightened' Anglican Church. It must not fail.

Remembrance Sunday

The memorial service commemorating the fourth anniversary of World War I
Etaples, France, 4 Aug 1918

Etaples today. The largest CWGC cemetery in France with over 11,000 burials

WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

Armistice Day

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: 

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. 

At the going down of the sun and in the morning 

We will remember them."

The 'religion of peace'

Another report of the burning of a Coptic church in Egypt has appeared on the Voice of the Copts blog (see blog list).

Looking at the scale of this attack perhaps that is what Emdadur Choudhury  had in mind when he described his punishment for burning our national symbol of Remembrance as 'trivial', claiming that it was "only £10 more than a parking ticket".

Lest we forget...

We will remember them