Coronation thoughts

Their Majesties King George VI, Queen  Elizabeth II and King Charles III.  Source: Wikimedia Commons

I remember the shock of hearing that King George VI had died. It was a time of great sadness. 

Along with Prime Minister Winston Churchill the king set an example of fortitude which did much to encourage those of us huddled around the wireless listening to the endless WW2 news broadcasts, so many in fact that I wondered how the BBC would fill the airtime after the war. 

My lasting memories of Queen Elizabeth's coronation are of the Westminster Abbey entrance procession to Parry's, I was glad, and of Queen Sālote of Tonga shunning the rain, smiling and waving to the crowds from her open carriage in a procession of carriages with tops firmly closed.

Charles III's coronation will be different. It has been scaled down. Security is a greater risk but the processional route is much shorter. 

It will be a multi-faith occasion. I understand the motives but, as I mentioned in my previous entry, I doubt the wisdom of including believers of different faiths and none in what is essentially a Christian service.

On a more positive note, Pope Francis will be represented inside the abbey this time. When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned. the papal representative had to observe the ceremony from 'an especially-built stand outside Westminster Cathedral', because he was not allowed to enter a non-Catholic church.

Pope Francis has also sent a coronation gift, two shards of wood said to have come from the cross on which Christ was crucified. The shards have been incorporated in The Cross of Wales, a new processional cross presented by King Charles as a centenary gift to the Church in Wales.

An ironic choice since the bishops of the Church in Wales have abandoned the received faith of the Church in favour of secularism. 

The Pope's apparent obsession with taking the Catholic Church down the same path as the Anglican Church, deciding doctrine by committee, is not encouraging. He has only to look at the Church in Wales to see where that leads. Neither has the Church of England heeded the lesson, allowing revisionists to change Church beliefs for their own ends. 

They achieve this by introducing change gradually so that people become accustomed to it. It has happened in Church and State. A glaring example will be the crowning of Queen Camilla alongside King Charles. 

Much has changed since I heard of the death of King George VI. I can't imagine what the world will be like when Prince William is crowned, assuming the monarchy is not abolished.

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.

Westminster - a plea

The suspected Westminster attacker being tended by medics                                     Source: Sky News

The Westminster attack has already triggered the response on BBC Breakfast programme, "This has nothing to do with Muslims".

Perhaps not but it has everything to do with their Islamic ideology. Some progress has been made since world leaders such as Barak Obama, Tony Blair and David Cameron claimed "Islam is a religion of peace" - see  my earlier entry Spitting in the wind - but people are mistaken when they accord Islam the same standards as Christianity.

From The problem with belief:

"Muslims believe that, unlike Moses and prophets who heard from God directly, Muhammad heard through an intermediary, Gabriel. In these revelations Allah changes his mind many times leaving followers with the problem of abrogation which results in taking the more recent (violent) verses in preference to earlier (peaceful) verses. Consequently the religion of peace in the Quran gives way to the sword:  "The later verses, known as the “Sword Verses” (9:5 and 9:29), were considered by Muslim scholars to have cancelled the previous verses mandating kindness and persuasion. Expansionist jihad became the explicit norm."

By contrast with uncorroborated revelations received by Muhammad, Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of eight Old Testament prophesies. The probability of fulfilling all eight prophesies has been calculated as 1 x 1028 or 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000."

The Sky News picture shows the suspected attacker receiving the same medical assistance as his victim would have received. That is because we live in a Christian country. In an Islamic state he would be more likely be tied to the back of a truck and dragged through the streets.

There are regular reports form Pakistan, Egypt and the like about Muslim mobs attacking Christians for no other reason than they are not Muslims. If not attacking Christians they are attacking each other for being the wrong sort of Muslim.

Islam is a supremacist ideology. We must stop making excuses. Instead of saying it has nothing to do with Muslims we should be saying that it has everything to do with Islam and explain why. There is only one way to the Father. If we not believe that, how can we convince others?

Postscript [27.03.2017]

Taken for a Ride? Islam and Religious Liberty

President Erdogan, who is rapidly turning Turkey into a Caliphate, once said that “Democracy is just the train we board to reach our destination.” Is religious liberty also a train that Islamists ride until they reach their stop?....Full article here.

What the halal is going on here?

I am not a Daily Mail reader but I picked up this unsettling piece thanks to Cranmer (see Blog List). How many people in Great Britain, other than Muslims presumably, knew that we were eating meat slaughtered in the name of Allah, that is, animals having had their throats cut and left to bleed to death while ritual prayers are recited? I didn’t nor did many who have said they will vote with their feet and give New Zealand lamb a miss along with any other halal products they can identify. But the problem is identifying them. Even the apologists for political correctness must recognise that we have been victims of a subterfuge in the absence of proper labelling.

I suspect this revelation has been more of a shock to people than the frequent calls to sacrifice our Christian identity for inter-faith understanding. In our increasingly secular society the suggestion scarcely raises an eyebrow when we are told to celebrate CHRISTmas as a winter festival. That is hardly surprising when Christianity in schools has given way to all-faith teaching. That of course changes when the majority of children are Muslims. Christians who protest at the loss of our Christian identity are roundly condemned for their intolerance. It took Pope Benedict XVI during his recent visit to explain the dangers to Parliamentarians meeting in Westminster Hall that “There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.”

Before the Pope’s visit I received a video clip Three things about Islam which confirmed my impression that inter-faith understanding was a one-way traffic so far as Islam is concerned. Christianity preaches love and forgiveness so when told that Islam is a religion of peace we accept that ‘assurance’ from a Christian perspective. Watching the video shows that view to be seriouly mistaken. Conscious of the dangers of accepting one piece of evidence as ‘gospel’, the friend who sent me the link had spoken with ex-Muslim contacts who confirmed the veracity of the views expressed in the video. Islam's idea of peace is 'peace' under Sharia law which would then dominate our lives. Freedom of expression would be what was permitted under the Koran.

Like most Christians I let the matter rest but after reading the Mail Online article and more unsettling reports of Sharia law ideas of justice, I viewed the video again. Looking for further evidence I have watched reports of children being executed, some for so called homosexuality, one at the age of nine, stoning people to death on trumped up charges and more, all in the name of religion but the most alarming video confirms what is said in Three things about Islam can be viewed it HERE. If you need more click here.

Pass this message to other Christians with the warning of the fate that befalls us if we allow others to impose their will. Spread the Word.

POSTSCRIPT

In the soup:

"As part of Campbell Canada's commitment to diversity and extraordinary, authentic nourishment for all, our selection of Halal-certified products are here to help you meet your Islamic dietary requirements." - Another small step!

But at least one step in the right direction. We must stand up for what we believe, Muslims do.

Game, set and match?

I watched the election of the new Pope as an interested Anglican but when Pope Benedict appeared on the balcony I had an overwhelming but inexplicable feeling that we were witnessing something truly holy. This is now clear. During Pope Benedict’s official visit to Great Britain the public were treated to the spectacle of a genuinely holy man humbly proclaiming the Christian message and warning of the dangers of putting Man before God.

In Britain we are used to spectacular events with all the pomp and ceremony that the State can muster. That was evidenced by the service of Evening Prayer at Westminster Abbey after the Pope’s historic address to Parliament in Westminster Hall. Yet none of this could match the grandeur of the Mass in Westminster Cathedral and the beautiful simplicity of the open-air Mass in Birmingham where Cardinal John Henry Newman was beatified, combined with the evident enthusiasm of their devout young people.

Those who have come into contact with Archbishop Rowan have often fallen under his spell. His natural authority is reinforced by his commanding voice which contrasts dramatically with Pope Benedict’s quiet, but assured conviction. Here is the puzzle. Both men are extraordinarily clever, learned and holy, yet they see things differently. The most sort-after prize is Christian unity but the synodical decision of the Anglican Church to go-it-alone and ordain women has seen probably the best opportunity in generations lost. For Anglicans, the evident joy of the celebrations was tinged with sadness. If only we could have been celebrating unity too! Instead there was the same, sorry spectacle of fellow Christians divided at the altar.

Dialogue will continue but many face an immediate dilemma. The Anglican Church has long provided a haven for those who, like Rowan Williams, have difficulties of conscience about crossing the Tiber. There are those in the Church of England who have ignored their Archbishops’ wishes arguing that making acceptable provision for ‘traditionalists’ would be creating a church within a church, blind to the fact that they are already a church within the Church. If Archbishop Rowan can persuade Synod to match Pope Benedict’s ordinariate offer, something of Anglicanism’s rich heritage can be preserved within the Church of England. If not, it is game, set and match to Pope Benedict.

POSTSCRIPT
I was able to add an interesting postscript to my previous post. Now from The Anglo-Catholic blog there is a helpful piece for those struggling with their consciences about crossing the Tiber here.