Ordination of women, the package

"July 16, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – There has been much concern among faithful Catholics about the upcoming Amazon Synod. Progressive Cardinals from Germany and the Vatican have already held a private meeting strategizing about how to get the Synod to approve a female diaconate. Cardinal Walter Brandmüller, one of the two remaining dubia cardinals, issued a strong critique of the working document of the synod saying its real intent is 'the abolition of priestly celibacy and the introduction of a female priesthood – beginning with female deacons'.”

"The Vatican’s working document for its upcoming Amazon Synod is 'politically correct nonsense', a venerable Catholic journalist, editor, and author has said.

"Damian Thompson, of late the former editor-in-chief for the Catholic Herald, said certain parts of the document are “garbage” and that given some elements involved in the forthcoming Pan-Amazon Synod, the assembly should be called off...

"The Amazon Synod’s controversial working document, or Instrumentum Laboris, aside, many fear that the synod is being used as a vehicle for abolishing the discipline of priestly celibacy and for ushering in female priests, using the remoteness of the region, its indigenous customs, and its religious practices as a rationale."

One would have thought that the innovation of ordaining women in the Anglican Communion would have provided the Vatican with sufficient experience-based evidence that, in general, women who seek ordination are advancing themselves not the Kingdom of God which has become a vehicle to further personal aspirations.

Using the Son of God as their model, they play on the various meanings of 'love' to legitimise their departure from the bible, twisting scripture to fulfil their particular desires. - Jesus loves me, therefore....

Their campaign has resulted in leading gullible women into believing that only love matters, excusing any excess. Familiarity leads to 'normality' and acceptability.  Opponents are regarded as disposable bigots. They are the odd ones out, despite having given decades of service to the Church and being among the majority in the Anglican Communion and the wider Church.

First and foremost the ordination of women is about women's rights and equality of opportunity in the workplace based on secular criteria. Their claims are not supported by scripture or tradition. They are based on criteria that permit ambitious women and their supporters to attack the Church as being out of touch for not moving with the times. As a consequence congregations have plummeted.

Regular attendance projections indicate collapse. The Church Growth Modelling blog indicates that the Church in Wales, Scottish Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Church of the USA are all firmly under the extinction threshold with some doubt about the Church of England.

The 'Historic Episcopate locally adapted' has resulted in do as you please provinces, some with women bishops, some approving of same-sex marriage. In Canada where same sex marriage has been defeated, some bishops have decided that they will ignore the decision and go their own way.

The Anglican Communion is unravelling but there is no indication among those responsible for the innovation of women's ordination that it was a step too far. They carry on regardless while Church in Wales bishops have admitted in private that it is finished but encourage congregations to dig ever deeper.

Women have shamelessly lied and cheated their way into the Church, misrepresenting Christ's teaching to satisfy their personal demands.

If what they claim is true, why the lies and deception? False accusations of bigotry, misogyny and homophobia designed to smear anyone who defends the faith against the false prophets as predicted.

It does not stop there. The complete package includes the full liberal agenda leading to LGBT+ clergy promoting so-called 'equal' marriage so that they can live with their partners with the apparent approval and blessing of the Church.

The Anglican experience is clear, progress step by step: Deaconesses leading to women deacons, women priests and women bishops leading to demands for the acceptance of same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.

There is the constant self-promotion of women clergy on Twitter with endless celebrations of women's ordination.

A recent Twitter example illustrates how the trail leads from a tweet to The Campaign for Equal Marriage in the CofE and onto the rainbow collar under the banner 'When in doubt, love'.

That is the ordination of women package. You don't get one bit without the other and the other and the other, etc. Are you listening Francis?

You couldn’t make it up if you tried.

Protesters aiding the spread of Islam

Source: The Conservative Papers

If you think the claim on the placard (above) is ridiculous, think again. Many Muslims are working hard to ensure that not only Britain but that ALL countries are governed by Sharia law which is already offering "rough justice" for Muslim women "in the shadow of British law".

“Give me a child until he is 7 and I will show you the man” said Aristotle. A practice put to good use by many but one which can be dangerous. The Trojan Horse scandal in Birmingham schools will be familiar to most people in the UK but there have been other worrying reports. In 2005 Muslim schools were accused of anti-Christian chanting in assemblies. The Christian Institute said that Ofsted and the Department for Education were not taking proper action to deal with some Islamic schools accused of bullying Christian pupils.

The Institute's director said it was "striking" that several official reports outlining examples of Muslim "intolerance" to Christians had gone ignored by Ofsted. "You will see they include anti-Christian chanting in assemblies, GCSE pupils who opted to learn Christianity being left to teach themselves, and Christians being called 'ignorant' or 'liars' by teachers," he wrote.

By comparison new figures have revealed that Muslim pupils outnumber Christian children in more than 30 church schools. One Church of England (CofE) primary school has a '100 per cent Muslim population'. In another 98 per cent of students are reported to come from a Muslim background and another has a 90 per cent Muslim population.

Their treatment is entirely different. The report refers to one CofE school where most of the children are Muslims. They begin each day with a school 'worship' recognising the place God in their lives. But which God? A vengeful god of fear who demands submission, the meaning of Islam, or the loving God of truth who sent Jesus Christ into the world bringing love and forgiveness to all prepared to listen.

In a CofE school where most pupils are Muslim, 'all children follow a course of Religious Education and observe both Christian and Muslim Festivals'. This is a fundamental to the problems facing Christians. Immigration and higher birth rates, added to by an estimated 20,000 polygamous marriages in the British Muslim community, is resulting in the growth of Islam while Christianity is waning. As many Christians desert the Church in despair of the leadership, Islam is treated with almost servile respect as a religion on a par with Christianity when in reality it is a supremacist ideology which threatens our way of life having been founded by a man who according to the Bible must be a false prophet.

As the Rev Jules Gomes put it in The Conservative Woman, 'Christian shepherds side with the Islamist wolf'. Not just Christian shepherds. Visiting Finsbury Park mosque during its open day, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn challenged the “demonisation” of Muslims and sent a message to Donald Trump that “drinking tea together is far more effective than pouring concrete to build walls to keep each other apart”.

Whatever Mr Corbyn thinks of President Trump his remarks betray a complete lack of understanding of the perils Islam present. Muslims may drink tea with non-Muslims when they are a minority but it is entirely different for non-Muslims, and for Muslims in minority sects, in Islamic countries.

Christians are being persecuted in Muslim countries around the world while church leaders and politicians prefer to take tea with followers of a faith which not only sanctions but encourages religious persecution and has done for 1400 years. Two recent examples. 'Fifteen Christian Women Raped By Muslim Mob In 'Revenge Attack' For Pastor Overseeing Conversions' (here) and 'Christians In Turkey: Attacked, Deported And Seen As A 'Threat Against National Security' (here).

The latest insult to British values occurred when a gang of UK Muslim men "systematically groomed" Rotherham teenagers. When they were convicted of crimes including rape, indecent assault and false imprisonment the sex abusers shouted 'Allahu Akbar' - 'Allah is Greater'. There was no mention of Muslims or Islam in the report, Neither was there in the BBC news report that I saw.

According a report here, "almost 90 % of all rapes and child grooming in the UK that was committed by Pakistani’s, resulted in a white girl under 16 being abused... Abduction and rape of young ‘kuffar’ (non-Muslim) children by Islamic Paedophile gangs is commonplace in areas near Muslim ghettoes in Britain."

While such behaviour is not be typical of all Muslims, it should signal the profound difference between an ideology in which followers are permitted to see such action against non-believers as being justified. This contrasts sharply with the 'love thy neighbour' movement where tolerance of others is permitted, even to the point of destruction of our own culture and values.

The Open Society movement in the US which has seen hordes of placard waving protesters demanding an end to immigration controls. That is not to say that I think Trump has approached the problem of 'dodgy' immigrants in a well-thought strategy but such protests used to be common in Europe until the penny dropped. The mood changed in Germany when 'Thousands took to the streets to protest Germany’s immigration policy following week of bloody violence'.

The Pew Research Centre says that the World’s Muslim population is 'more widespread than you might think'. The Centre estimates that by 2050 the number of Muslims worldwide will grow from an estimated 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.76 billion, or 29.7% of world’s population.

Jeremy Corbyn is one of many who succumbed to the Muslim charm offensive in the UK Mosque open day when "hundreds of Islamic centres across the country" welcomed visitors. Hundreds of people visited Finsbury Park mosque, which "gained notoriety as a centre of radical Islam in the late 1990s when the Egyptian cleric Abu Hamza became its imam". It is claimed that in 2005, the mosque underwent a change of leadership and is now considered "a model of community relations".

That may be so but the reverse is true when there us a Muslim majority in countries abroad:

 London mosque                                                                         Source; Guardian

Church in Turkey   Source: Christian Aid Mission

Whether the 'scales fall from their eyes' or not, one thing is clear. Christians have a duty to spread the Gospel, not to affirm other religions as if they were on a par with Christianity.

Islam has no problem denouncing Christians for believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, crucified, dead and buried. Christians should have no problem in recognising false prophets and must be prepared to say so.

'No religion' outnumbers Christians, the more so in Wales

The Ass Bishop of Llandaff, the Rt Revd David Wilbourne, the Very Revd Janet Henderson
the first female Dean of Llandaff and the Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan
Picture credit: CHURCH IN WALES

"Anglicans lose 12 followers for every person they recruit, the majority of whom are converts from other Christian denominations, rather than non-Christians or people with no religion."

The above photo in a 2013 Church Times article records happier times for the Archbishop of Wales before it hit the fan.

From the choice of photo it appears that Wales was regarded by modernisers as the place to be with Archbishop Morgan making a habit of appointing like minded acolytes to help him steer the Church in Wales towards his dream of a church moulded in his own image. He came badly unstuck when the briefly Dean Janet Henderson saw the light and resigned after just a few weeks.

Supporting figures in the article show that from a total of 4437 people polled, 1261 [28%] identified themselves as Anglican and 201 [5%] identified themselves as Muslims. The remainder identified themselves as Roman Catholic (354) [8%], Jewish (162) [4%], Baptist (58) [1%] and of no faith (1649) [37%] leaving 752 [17%] unaccounted for. New figures illustrate a greater decline of Christianity.

According to an analysis in the Guardian, the proportion of the population who identify as having no religion – referred to as “nones” – reached 48.5% in 2014, almost double the figure of 25% in the 2011 census. Those who define themselves as Christian – Anglicans, Catholics and other denominations – made up 43.8% of the population.

Wales showed the highest proportion of people saying they have no religion (nones) at 59.5%. The figures also show that around 13% identify as Anglicans in marked contrast to the 1% of the population of Wales who are recorded on their own figures as regular weekly worshippers.

To the "nones" should be added much of the Church in Wales hierarchy who claim to be Anglicans but show little if any of the traditional Anglicanism that would be recognised by the 80 million Anglicans worldwide now that the CinW along with the C of E have fallen in step with the US Episcopal Church's liberation theology.

A previous analysis showed that Norwich was the most godless city in England and Wales with 42.5% claiming to have no religion, well short of Wales' current 59.5%. The then Communications Director for the Diocese of Norwich the Venerable Jan McFarlane had a knack of turning disaster into triumph describing people who stayed at home as "doing their church going differently"! A successful ruse which has since seen McFarlane's appointment as the Suffragan Bishop of Repton.

One wonders what sort of a job she would have made of Dean of Llandaff. Clearly a catch not hooked by Dr Morgan but perhaps she is more savvy than the Ven Peggy Pilot who is still waiting in the wings and likely to remain there despite her vigorous opposition to anything smacking of scripture and tradition if current rumours regarding St Davids and Llandaff prove to be true.

After the same sex marriage debacle the appointment of the first woman bishop in Wales will result in further haemorrhaging of worshippers. It will be the last straw for many who have struggled to keep the faith in what now resembles a failing company run by incompetent directors who have long since lost sight of their aims and objectives.

The Spectator has this blunt warning: "Britain really is ceasing to be a Christian country. A landmark in national life has just been passed. For the first time in recorded history, those declaring themselves to have no religion have exceeded the number of Christians in Britain. Remarkably, the overall decline of religion in Britain has coincided with the arrival of three million migrants who tend to have more religious belief than British Christians. In particular, the visual impact of Islam, most obviously expressed in the proposal for a 9,000-capacity ‘super-mosque’ in east London that was rejected by planners last year, might give the impression that migration has brought a religious revival to Britain.

"Yet neither the growth of British Islam nor the huge influx of Christian immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe has spurred a revival in public Christianity. It is possible that the rise of Islamism has made casual believers less inclined to ally themselves with any kind of organised faith. Say ‘religious’ to many Britons and the next word that pops into their heads is ‘extremist’, or perhaps ‘bigot’ or ‘homophobe’. To the growing population of secularists, religion has become something to be treated with suspicion."

While Christianity is on the wane, Islam is made to appear more commonplace and acceptable through the wearing of Islamic dress, ever increasing Mosques and misguided promotion by those who should know better. Ignoring the Great Commission the Archbishop of Canterbury has said that Christians should not share their faith with Muslims and other non-Christians unless they are asked while Muslims attempt to convert as a matter of religious duty. Perhaps His Grace is unaware that in Islamic countries the question most likely to be asked is whether non-Muslims would prefer to convert to Islam or die.

Pope Francis has been preaching from the same sheet while the Archbishop of Wales is well known for being better disposed towards Muslims than towards those in his own flock who dare to disagree with his disastrous liberal policies which have resulted in Wales having more "nones" than any English region.

Two recent accounts of the reality of Islam:

Doctor who worked in Welsh hospital has left his family behind and joined Isis in Syria, and

Elderly Christian woman stripped naked and paraded through streets by mob

It is understandable that the uneducated are easily led by rabble-rousers but when the highly educated are taken in by false prophets it is time to proclaim the gospel.

One has to ask oneself if our spiritual leaders live in the real world. On current trends, how long before they have anyone to lead?

Spitting in the wind

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth  in him should not perish, but have everlasting life".   John 3:16

What links Barak Obama, Tony Blair and David Cameron?
Answer: Their claim that "Islam is a religion of peace" here. They should have checked the ideology (here and here).

The latest Islamic atrocity in Turkey bears witness to a corrupt ideology which puts Allah above everyone and everything while his holy warriors happily slaughter anyone to gain their supposed place in paradise with 72 virgins:

“Islam says: Whatever good there is exists thanks to the sword and in the shadow of the sword! People cannot be made obedient except with the sword! The sword is the key to paradise, which can be opened only for holy warriors!

There are hundreds of other [Koranic] psalms and hadiths urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.”

“Islam grew with blood . . . . The great prophet of Islam in one hand carried the Koran and in the other a sword . . . . Islam is a religion of blood for the infidels but a religion of guidance for other people.”

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

"In summary, there is no other conclusion except to admit that the overwhelming evidence shouts that killing is the big difference between Islam and all other religions". From 'Is It a Religion of Peace? Original Islam'.

Muslims base their faith on the Koran while Christians base theirs on the Bible which forms the basis of Britain's Christian values. Unlike the Bible which describes how Jesus shed his blood for all, the Koran dictates how believers must shed the blood of disbelievers and apostates to appease their god and ensure for themselves a life in paradise on the blood of innocents. Despite this glaring difference, equal weight is given to a religious ideology which condemns Christians and other disbelievers, regarded in Islam as "the worst possible crime", while ignoring the clear biblical warning about false prophets.

It is against this background that yesterday, Prime Minister David Cameron delivered a speech which outlined plans for a new Extremism Bill to prevent radicalisation. He was spitting in the wind. British values are anathema to Islam and British democracy is used as a tool for Islam's advancement. Our policy of equal opportunities for all encourages its growth while misplaced political correctness and false charges of Islamophobia allow Islamic influence to spread unabated, the worst excesses having been highlighted in Birmingham and in Birmingham's schools, in Rotherham where the most vile abuse of children has taken place and in Tower Hamlets where people were fearful of speaking the truth resulting in corrupt elections. Much of this was allowed to take place because the British people have been conditioned not to speak up for fear of being classed as racist, prejudiced and Islamophobic while Islamists 'run riot'.

Meanwhile Christianity is ridiculed in a manner that would not be tolerated if there were any hint of criticism of a Muslim's faith. Note how Liberal Leader Tim Farron was sneered at for his Christian faith on the BBC's Today programme and on Sky News driven to declare that his personal faith "will not affect his political decisions and that he supports equality".

Not content with having a Muslim heading the BBC's Religion and Ethics department, Mr Cameron's solution is to promote more Muslims to positions of power and influence in Great Britain, apparently ignorant of the fact that as Islam increases in strength, the danger to non-Muslims increases simply for being disbelievers. According to the Pew Research Center, Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group so they hardly need any help from the British Prime Minister.

Muslims can only accept Christian values if they become Christians. Islam recognises Jesus as a prophet along with Abraham and Moses but against all the evidence Muslims deny that Jesus died on the Cross. This is not only false teaching, it is clear deception resulting in millions of Muslims being condemned by their own religion. There is no virtue in pretending Islam is a religion of peace when all the evidence is to the contrary. That the majority of Muslims do not take up arms does not mean that Islam is a religion of peace. This notion was nicely shot down by Alexander Boot in his blog entry 'Pardon me, boy, who is the Chattanooga shooter?'

Muslims are constantly trying to convert non-believers to Islam but there is a reluctance to refute erroneous Islamic teaching explaining that one of their own prophets, Jesus, showed the way to eternal life before Muhammad was born. That is what Muslims need to know, not how they should integrate their mistaken beliefs into Western culture. Until leaders grasp that, they will continue spitting in the wind.

Postscript [24.07.2015]

More "Easy Meat":
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-07-24/you-get-passed-around-victims-of-horrifying-aylesbury-child-sex-ring-speak-out/

"...the word “Asian” was used in
order to stop people from realising that the vast majority of the
criminals were Muslims, and that the vast majority of the victims
were non-Muslim girls..." Full report here.

Postscript [25.07.2015]

Read also ‘Ee bah gum–there’s Sharia up ‘ere! by The Rev Dr Peter Mullen in his Blog 'All Things Considered'.

Postscript [27.07.2015]

Islamist “Justice”: Slow Painful Death for Christian Mother in Pakistan by Raymond Ibrahim in Muslim Persecution of Christians. Petition for Asia Bibi's release here.

Near neighbours

"A programme crossing religious and cultural boundaries has been awarded a further £3m by the Government in support of its work. The Near Neighbours programme is a partnership between the Church Urban Fund and the Archbishop's Council that provides small grants to grassroots multi-faith projects" (story here). That's £8 million so far for learning to be good neighbours, something that Christians are familiar with even when not reciprocated.

Sadly this story has links with my previous entry despite the apparent good works. The idea of Near Neighbours "in a nutshell" is to bring people together who are near neighbours in communities that are diverse, so they can get to know each other better, build relationships as people and collaborate together on initiatives that improve the local community they live in. In other words, trying to make multiculturalism work. Archbishop Welby had this to say: "In our Christian belief...one of the biggest characteristics of Jesus was not being frightened about who He talked to. He didn't only sit in His own holy little huddle but He reached out telling us to love our neighbour" quoting the story of the Good Samaritan.

Of the 2,000 visitors to this Blog since my previous entry few bothered to watch "What the West Needs to Know" according to the viewing count. Perhaps they have the same view as the Home Secretary, that presenting the facts spreads hate! If so, and an hour and a half is too much time to learn why 90% of conflict around the world involves Islam, perhaps they can be persuaded to spend just eight minutes here. One of the three points covered is the Islamic principle of Taqiyya where Muslims are allowed to deceive non-Muslims if it helps Islam: There are two forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances, taqiyya and kitman.  These circumstances are typically those that advance the cause Islam - in some cases by gaining the trust of non-believers in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them.  

Archbishop Welby was right when he said that Jesus was not frightened about who He talked to but Jesus' message was clear. He said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". Yet some Islamists even claim that Jesus was a Muslim (here)! Jesus also said: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves". Love your neighbour, yes, but also be aware of what your neighbour believes.

Churchill was considered to be “scaremongering” when he spoke in the 1930s of the growing Nazi German threat. This is what he wrote earlier in The River War (1899) about the threat of Islam:

"How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property‹either as a child, a wife, or a concubine‹must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen; all know how to die; but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science‹the science against which it had vainly struggled‹the civilisation of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilisation of ancient Rome."