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It is a sad reflection of society today that I am again pushed for my first comment on the news in 2023 onto a familiar theme.

It is hard not to take notice when images such as that above appear with ridiculous claims that are contrary to biblical truth. 

The latest person to claim 'God's will' is the 'first non-binary Church of England priest'. A 'first' the Church in Wales has missed out on.

As friction over LGBTQ issues worsens in the global Anglican church, the ONS has published 2021 census data which show that around 1.5 million people (3.2%) identified with an LGB+ orientation (“Gay or Lesbian”, “Bisexual” or “Other sexual orientation”), comparatively few when compared with the 43.4 million people (89.4%) who identified as straight or heterosexual.

These figures illustrate the extent to which the tail wags the dog in western Anglicanism.

There is no escape from the propaganda. The London 2023 New Year fireworks display which, for many, represents a new beginning was filled with political propaganda including a ‘we’re here, we’re queer’ celebration of LGBT rights which illustrates the depths of homophile infiltration, even among young children and how adept their strategists have been at manipulating public opinion. 

What is particularly offensive is how the Church has, and is, being used to further the interests of a relatively small group of people who have no regard whatsoever for the faith of those they have displaced.

Their desire to validate a minority life style at the expense of others cannot be met with silence less it implies tacit acceptance of the fantasies of these users of the Church.

A slave for her faith

 

Farah Shaheen (©Aid to the Church in Need).

I have regularly looked at the photo of this poor girl gazing through the camera because, stunned into inaction, the email from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has remained in my in-tray. 

What are her thoughts? What if she were my daughter, or yours?

Farah's story is appalling, best explained by this extract from the ACN email:

"The father of a 12-year-old Christian girl – kidnapped, raped, shackled hand and foot, and forced to work from dusk till dawn – has at last spoken out about her ordeal.

"When police rescued Farah Shaheen from the Faisalabad house of 45-year-old Khizar Ahmed Ali (Hayat) in December 2020, she was too traumatised to speak but, bit by bit, has revealed her harrowing five-month ordeal to her father, Asif Masih.

"In a statement to Aid to the Church in Need, Mr Masih said his daughter was attached to a chain and forced to work all day “as a slave” damaging her shackled hands and feet in the process.

"Mr Masih said: 'Farah has told me she was treated like a slave. She was forced to work all day, cleaning filth in a cattle yard. 24-7 she was attached to a chain.'

"Condemning Mr Ahmed for forcing Farah to marry him and convert to Islam, he said: “She was sexually assaulted by her abductor and raped multiple times by [his] landlords”."

Sadly this is not an isolated case. The email continues:

"Describing the mistreatment of girls from minority faith backgrounds as 'a cancer in our society', he said: “I beg you to demand that the Government stops this evil in its tracks and brings the culprits to justice.”

"Pakistan’s Movement for Solidarity and Peace estimates that up to 1,000 young Christian and Hindu females between 12 and 25 are abducted each year."

Another tragic report describes how 14-year-old Maira Shahbaz was bundled into a car at gunpoint by three men on 28th April 2020, in Medina Town, Pakistan.  She was filmed and photographed being raped, and was then forced to convert to Islam and marry one of her abductors, Mohamad Nakash Tariq, 30 years her senior.

A petition has been presented to Fiona Bruce, MP, the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Religious Freedom or Belief asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson to grant asylum for Maira Shahbaz and her family. In that regard Maira is luckier than most.

In 2019 the BBC reported Christian persecution 'at near genocide levels'. In 2021 little has changed.

Persecution of Christians Exacerbated by a Year of Covid-19 According to World Watch List 2021:

• Christians in numerous African and Asian nations have been refused coronavirus aid
  
  
• Islamic militants have exploited Covid-19 restrictions, increasing violence against Christians in sub-Saharan Africa by 30 per cent.
  
  
• Covid-19 has legitimised repression through increased surveillance by authoritarian governments such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
  
  
• Women have been especially vulnerable in Covid-imposed lockdowns, with psychological violence as well as kidnapping and forced conversions.

In another email ACN gives details of slaughter in Africa. Another highlights  Religious bias faced by Christians in Pakistan. In Myanmar displaced Christians have formed a village called 'Bethel' outside Yangon.

There are regular reports of attacks on Christians but not on action to curb them. 

In my entry The naivety of Christian leaders I wrote: Christian leaders would do well to heed the warning of bishop Michael Nazir-Ali who explained back in 2011 how Christianity has become almost extinct in the Middle East, the cradle of Christianity, and Islam, the 'religion of peace', has became dominant in the Arab world.

Christianity is on the decline while Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group.

It doesn't take much imagination to realise the fate of Christians when looking at counties in which they are already a minority. 

Halal, another voluntary code!

 Religious leaders recently called for clearer labelling.                  Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

"Halal labelling could inflame prejudice, vets warn". 

"Labelling meat as halal or kosher will do nothing to improve animal welfare but could cause confusion and inflame prejudice, vets have warned as they urge political party leaders not to allow the issue to be "hijacked". The British Veterinary Association (BVA) appealed instead for consumers to be informed whether or not animals had been stunned before being killed by whatever method, insisting the controversy had nothing to do with religion." Story here.

According to a BBC report  MPs have rejected plans to make food outlets label meat from animals killed in accordance with religious practices, such as halal or kosher: "Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Waitrose, Morrisons and the Co-op said their New Zealand lamb was halal, while Pizza Express had already revealed its chicken is killed according to Islamic tradition."

The consumer affairs minister Jenny Willott said the government "did not think regulation was the best approach". Why? Five leading supermarkets are saying that some of the meat they sell "could qualify as halal but is not labelled as such". The supermarkets said the animals were stunned before being killed and "the only difference" from standard meat was that they were blessed as they are killed. But for many that is precisely the point.

Conservative Philip Davies, who proposed the Commons debate, said there was a "huge public demand" to know more about where food came from. Referring to a Daily Mail article he quoted Taj Hargey, director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, who said halal meat was "covert religious extremism and creeping Islamic fundamentalism making its way into Britain by the backdoor".

An Office for National Statistics survey of 450,000 Britons in 2010 found that 71% are Christian, 4% are Muslim and 21% have no religious affiliation so why is the tail wagging the dog?

One has to question the motives of HM Government when the dietary requirements of 4% of the population are given precedence over the vast majority of people in this country. For the government Ms Willott said: "We want people to have the information they need to make informed choices about the food they buy. Many retailers or restaurants and fast food outlets already voluntarily provide information on whether meat is halal or kosher". Good for them but that is not the problem. It is the covert actions of the major players that are of concern.

Those of us who have been disillusioned by voluntary agreements will be wondering as elections approach if the motive behind the Government's response is gaining minority votes. If so they have learned nothing from the gay marriage debacle which saw party membership plummet.