Andy Burnham, currently Mayor of Manchester, is now standing in Makerfield.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Manchester, claims Salman Abedi is not a Muslim.
Just after the Manchester Arena bombing, the Mayor of Manchester, Labour’s Andy Burnham, spoke on LBC Radio.
Andy Burnham: Abedi ‘not a Muslim’
Accrding to LBC, Mr Burnham said: “The message that I would want to get over – and this is how the vast majority of people feel – this man was a terrorist, not a Muslim.
“He does not represent the Muslim community. We’ve got to keep that distinction in mind all the time. This was an unspeakable act. The worst thing that can happen is that people use this to blame an entire community, the Muslim community.
“In my view, the man who committed this atrocity no more represents the Muslim community than the individual who murdered my friend Jo Cox represents the white, Christian community.”
Now of course that is propaganda. It is even more than Mr Burnham’s personal opinion. It is the constant mantra of the political class and the mainstream media. And it is merely their hope, not a polled fact, that ‘this is how the vast majority of people feel’.
Jeremy Corbyn says foreign wars have put us at risk.
Foreign wars have put us at risk
Today, Jeremy Corbyn said British military adventures in the Middle East have put us all at greater risk than we would have been without them. On Newsnight last night, Charles Clarke, not a Corbyn fan, said it all started long ago. He specifically mentioned the 7/11 attack. Indeed, that was the most dramatic example of a festering grievance between Islam and the West.
Both Mr Corbyn and Mr Clarke are clearly right. The attacks put us at risk firstly by fueling hatred of ‘crusaders’ or infidels trampling over Muslim land such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. Secondly our politicians have endangered us by destabilising the entire Middle East. Jeremy Corbyn was one of only thirteen MPs who voted against bombing Libya on 21st March 2011. Those ‘Noes’ have been proved right. Andy Burnham voted in favour.
Ben Wallace, the Conservative security minister, said the timing of the comments was ‘crass.’ No, the timing is just embarrassing for those supposed to be keeping the people secure. And it highlights the urgent need for politicians such as Messrs Corbyn, Clarke and Wallace actually to tell us what they are going to do – starting from the uncomfortable place we are in.
‘Tell a tree by its fruit’ is from a Christian world-view
Salman Abedi – devout, and, actually, Muslim
But let us return to Mr Burnham. Firstly because his comment about Thomas Mair is truly crass. There is no evidence that Jo Cox’s murderer was or is a Christian. Not one report about his murky associations with US white supremacists mentions the possibility that he ever darkened the doors of a church, let alone gave his life to Christ. So leave us Christians, whatever colour we are, out of discussions about the murder of Jo Cox, will you, Mr Burnham?
Secondly, Mr Burnham’s musing that Salman Abedi’s terrorism somehow disqualifies him from being regarded as a Muslim is based, paradoxically, on a Christian world-view. In that view, you can tell a tree by its fruit. Christians are supposed to do good works. They are not allowed by their religion to sin. So if you see a unrepentant rapist or a thief or a murderer that person is not a Christian. Is Islam like that?
‘You ain’t no Muslim, bruv’
The stabbing at Leytonstone led to the ‘You’re no Muslim, bruv’ meme.
The man, a security guard called ‘John’, said he was upset by generalisations linking Muslims to extremism. He said: “People look at Muslims, and look at Isis, and think they’re all the same. But obviously they’re not.
“Isis should be wiped out, because they’re not Muslims, because Muslims don’t do that. For people to be like that, they’ve obviously got stone hearts, they don’t care about society. They don’t care about anyone. They’re evil, pure evil.”
‘John’ of course is not a Muslim. Nor does he actually know what a Muslim is. No Muslim would ever say what ‘John’ said. In fact, local Muslim leaders condemned the actions, but did not once claim the perpetrator, Muhaydin Mire, was not a Muslim. All one of them managed was the ‘he had no links to the local mosque’.
Security Guard ‘John’ was making the same mistake as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham. He too believes the commission of deeds which he thinks are evil stop the perpetrator from enjoying, if that is the right expression, the designation ‘Muslim’.
‘Becoming a Muslim is a simple and easy process. All that a person has to do is to say a sentence called the Testimony of Faith (Shahada).’
The same website goes on: ‘To be a Muslim, one should also believe that the Holy Quran is the literal word of God, revealed by Him and that the Judgment Day (Resurrection Day) is true and will come. Believe in the prophets that God sent and the books He revealed, and in His angels, accept Islam as his/her religion.’ Finally, ‘Not worship anything nor anyone except God.’
It concludes: ‘It is that easy! ‘
Five – or six – pillars of Islam
Muslims at prayer – in the street
Indeed it is. You become a Muslim just like that. Having become a Muslim, the convert must observe the five pillars of Islam. These are obligatory for Muslims and regarded as the core of pious Islamic life.
The Five Pillars are the Shahada, the five daily prayers (Salat), fasting during Ramadan (Sawm), giving 2.5% of one’s savings to the poor (Zakat) and doing a pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj).
The sixth pillar of ‘jihad’ is often added. Jihad can be either an inner conflict to live a better life of the external conflict with the kaffir (unbelievers). Studying the Quran is pretty much obligatory as well.
Whenever Muslims are discussing whether someone is a good Muslim of not, these are the things they mention. It follows one can be a drug-dealer, or run a prostitution ring or an election fraud and still be a good, observant Muslim. Muslim gangs in prisons are not repenting, they are radicalising.
Repentance in Islam
None of Islam is based on repentance. Muslims believe that when someone becomes a Muslim, all his past bad deeds are forgiven. But there is no act of repentance as there would be prior to a Christian baptism.
Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Repentance only applies to life as a Muslim. In future, when the believer does something contrary to Islam, ‘he/she can always repent to God who forgives the sins of those who repent to Him sincerely’.
But equally, good deeds can cancel out bad deeds in Islam, unlike in Christianity. No saviour is necessary. So to think that Islam is even a bit like Christianity is severely to misunderstand it. And the Andy Burnham’s of this world do not understand it, how can they defend us against it? (Or do they just trot out the ‘religion of peace’ stuff for the masses and think and speak differently in their Cobra meetings and conferences with the police?)
The Pitcher Plant – once inside, there is no escape
The Pitcher Plant of religions
It is important to note that although Muslims are expected by their faith to do good works as we should uSnderstand them, these are not obligatory works of Islam in the say way as the daily prayers, for example. Moreover, some Muslims, jihadists, might regard blowing up 22 infidels as a good deed.
There is actually nothing which anyone can do which will stop him being a Muslim. You can be expelled from a mosque, but you can never be expelled from Islam. In fact, leaving Islam is apostasy, which is punishable by death.
Not only can no-one be ex-communicated from Islam, no-one is ever even allowed to leave.
Islam is the Pitcher Plant of religions. Once someone is enticed in (or born in), there is no escape.
Proverbs 14:12 (& 16:25) There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
A mosque and Islamic Centre south of Manchester are linked to the Manchester Arena bombing.
The bomber, identified in a leak from US security as Salman Ramadan Abedi, was a regular worshiper at Didsbury Mosque. His father is a leading player in the mosque. Abu Ismail Abedi regularly calls the men to prayer.
Didsbury mosque is in Burton Road, Didsbury, not far from Junction 5 of the M60. The mosque adjoins Manchester Islamic Centre. The building was originally Albert Park Methodist Chapel. Sadly the 19th-century chapel closed in 1962 and was later converted into a mosque. Didsbury Mosque has an attendance of around 1,000 people. The Manchester Islamic Centre is a registered charity.
The Guardian reported: ‘Abedi was known to the security services but was not part of any active investigation or regarded as a high risk. He was viewed as a peripheral figure in much the same way as the Westminster attacker, Khalid Masood.
Abedi ‘quiet’ and ‘devout’
The paper found several people at the mosque willing to speak to them. One member of Manchester’s Libyan community told the Guardian about Salman Abedi. ‘He was such a quiet boy, always very respectful towards me.’ Of course he was. That is just Middle-Eastern culture. Defending Abedi’s father, equally devout, the man said: ‘his boys learned the Qur’an by heart.’ There are no surprises there. The father is thought to be in Tripoli, and his sons had travelled there as well.
Salman Abedi – devout
The interviewee went on to say, ‘Abu Ismail will be terribly distraught. He was always very confrontational with jihadi ideology, and this Isis thing isn’t even jihad, it’s criminality. The family will be devastated.’
Didsbury Mosque sermon problem
Others recalled very differently. Mohammed Saeed is a senior figure in Didsbury Mosque and Islamic Centre. He was born in Libya and came to the UK in 1980.
Saeed said he gave a strong sermon against terrorism and about the sanctity of life in 2015. He said 2,000 members of the mosque were with him; a small number were not; and a few signed a petition criticising him. ‘Salman showed me a face of hate after that sermon,’ he said. ‘He was showing me hatred.’
A trustee of Didsbury Mosque lied to the Financial Times about Salman Abedi: ‘We don’t know who he is. We’ve never seen him’.
Moreover, Didsbury Mosque has been in the spotlight before. Worshipper Abdalraouf Abdallah, 24, was jailed for nine and a half years last year after being convicted of funding terrorism and preparing acts of terrorism. Abdallah helped a number of men to travel to Syria and fight in the civil war. A family friend told the Guardian Abedi and Abdallah knew each other: ‘All the Libyan lads in Manchester know each other’.
George Kasimeris – propaganda
News becomes propaganda
Meanwhile, news coverage of the atrocity in the mainstream media quickly moved into propaganda mode. Almost every segment on the BBC’s report on Tuesday night emphasised ‘coming together’. Political leaders especially said they were not allowing the bombing ‘to divide us’.
Likewise in the online mainstream print media. Professor George Kassimeris holds a chair in security studies at the University of Wolverhampton. He wrote on the changing face of terrorism in the Independent. ‘Yesterday’s terrorist attack in Manchester has traumatised all of us living in the UK’, he wrote. He was supposed to be contrasting the nature of Islamic terrorism with the old IRA and Red Brigades. And yet he concluded of the attack: ‘we must not allow it to poison and divide us.’ That is propaganda.
Meanwhile, the Mayor of Manchester, Labour’s Professor of Theology Andy Burnham, devalues political discourse by claiming bomber Abedi was ‘a terrorist not a Muslim’. That’s also propaganda. If he was not a Muslim, what was he? A Buddhist? If they can’t face the truth, how will this sort ever protect the public?
It is as if the Establishment are truly fearful of anyone joining up the dots. People might consequently criticise the multi-cultural paradigm. Broadcasters will therefore deny any link between Islam, Muslims, Mosques, the Quran and Terrorism. Ordinary voters must never make that connection. But, as the reports coming out of the mosque show all too well, Islam is a religion of works and those works include jihad. Moreover, Jihad, in the hands of a significant number of Muslims, means death to unbelievers.
Duty of the state to maintain peace
The state’s fundamental duty is to keep its people safe. That means firstly defending the realm from external attack. Thank God, that is not remotely our problem today. But secondly, the state’s duty is to maintain peace and security inside the realm. Here is where the problem lies
The Apostle Paul makes the duty of the state very clear in his letter to the church in Rome:
Rom 13:4b … he (the ruler) is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. … 6 For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
In his letter to Timothy, he makes a similar point, urging prayer for leaders and giving a reason:
1Tim 2:2 (pray) For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
And this is no more than what Jeremiah told the Jewish captives in Babylon:
Jer 29:7 And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.
What price security?
Dame Stella Rimington, former Director General of MI5
Peace and security are good things and they are what the state is God-ordained to bring. Here we have a big problem. Too many Muslims in Britain are intent on terrorism.
In addition, the security services knew Salman Abedi and Westminster killer Khalid Masood. Nevertheless, they had neither as part of any active investigation. They did not regard either as ‘a high risk’. The ‘spooks’ viewed both as ‘peripheral figures’. MI5 also had Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale on the list, but allowed them to carry out the murder of Lee Rigby.
If peripheral figures can cause such mayhem, what can central figures achieve? Last year we learnt MI5 have 3,000 suspects on a terror watch list. It was previously 2,000. But MI5 need around 25 officers to keep tabs on every one of them round the clock.
Dame Stella Rimington told the BBC: ‘And if 2,000 people were to be followed like that, we’d be talking about 50,000 full-time spies doing nothing but following suspected terrorists. That’s more than 10 times the number of people employed by MI5. The numbers don’t add up.’
We want to be protected, not ‘reassured’
What are the alternatives? It appears a choice between internment and regular substantial loss of innocent life. What are our politicians going to suggest in this general election campaign, when it gets going again? Senior police officers have been on camera in the last few days. Deploying the Army on the streets is a good thing if it releases police officers for something more important. Soldiers will be more useful here than in Estonia anyway.
Some policemen and government ministers told the media deploying troops is about ‘reassuring the public’. It is not. Or if it is they have their priorities very wrong. We don’t desire to be ‘reassured’, thank you. We want to be protected.
Nigel Shepherd, seen here at a 'Resolution' conference, is arguing for no-fault divorce
Nigel Shepherd, seen here at a ‘Resolution’ conference, is arguing for no-fault divorce
A group of lawyers wants the new Parliament to legislate for total no-fault divorce.
The idea was floated years ago, in John Major’s ill-fated Family Law Act 1996. Despite that, it was never implemented.
Divorce on ‘Irretrievable breakdown’
Many people do not know there is only one legal ground for divorce. It is that the marriage has ‘irretrievably broken down’.
The person who starts proceedings, (called the Petitioner) must prove that by establishing one of the following five facts. Only the first three involve fault:
Adultery
Unreasonable behaviour
Desertion
2 years separation with consent
5 years separation (no consent required)
Now family law solicitor Nigel Shepherd wants to eliminate fault altogether. He chairs a group of around 6,500 other lawyers called Resolution. It claims to be committed to the ‘constructive resolution of family disputes’ . Their Code of Practice ‘promotes a non-confrontational approach to family problems’.
Marriage reduced to boyfriend / girlfriend status
So Mr Shepherd has written to MPs urging his no-fault idea be placed in party manifestos. In his letter, Mr Shepherd says, ‘current divorce law does not encourage couples to divorce amicably’. He complains that ‘people often have to cite unreasonable behaviour or adultery on the divorce petition’.
He claims this situation leads to unnecessary conflict and makes an amicable separation less likely. It also reduces the chances of reaching agreement on children and financial issues, he says.
But there is a downside. The ‘Resolution’ idea reduces marriage to no more than a boyfriend / girlfriend relationship.
Of course, many would argue it’s there already. ‘Unreasonable behaviour’ is ‘no-fault’ in all but name. Virtually anything will do in an ‘unreasonable behaviour’ petition. no matter how subjective. Parties often agree such a petition together.
Moreover, it is pie in the sky to believe that just by taking the fault-based facts out everything will suddenly be decided ‘amicably’. Divorce hurts. People are bitter about it. That is the reality of breaking a covenant.
Will justice be done?
There is even another aspect to all this. Will the proposals help justice to be done? Indeed, is justice being done at the moment? Pleading for anyone righteous in Sodom, Abraham said to God:
Genesis 18:25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Suppose a party has deserted the other, or committed adultery. Suppose they have withdrawn what the Bible calls ‘due benevolence’. Perhaps they have acted with cruelty, or otherwise by their conduct repudiated their marriage covenant. Is it right and just for there to be a ‘no-fault’ settlement of property and children in such a case?
And remember that ‘Resolution’ is talking about ‘conciliation’, not about ‘reconciliation’. More effort coupled with incentives should go into keeping people together. Let us say society accepts ‘no-fault’ divorce. In that case, can we not realise that divorce costs in parties’ mental health and achievement, in children’s outcomes and in additional pressures on our housing stock? Divorce should be prevented if possible. A serious attempt at reconciliation should at least be tried.
This probably won’t be addressed in party manifestos, but letting marriages be dissolved so easily as they are is a bigger problem facing society than Resolution would care to admit. And we hate to say it, but fewer divorces would mean fewer fees for lawyers
The LGBT group designated Prince William as ‘straight ally of the year’. It appears the Prince was duped into supporting the homosexual activists’ Trojan horse of ‘anti-bullying’.
He has even appeared on the front cover of a homosexual magazine promoting the cause. Neither Prince William nor his advisors seem to have realised the anti-gay-bullying campaign is just another gay propaganda tool. The Bible says:
Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Activists use anti-bullying in schools, to recruit vulnerable teenagers. Firstly they sucker schoolchildren into supporting the gay cause.
Secondly, if a child experiences any kind of homosexual attraction phase in adolescence, teachers and other authority figures encourage them to see themselves as possessing a ‘homosexual orientation’.
Sarah Garrett, promoter of the post-truth world
Sarah Garrett and twins with Linda Riley
Lesbian activist Sarah Garrett founded the British LGBT Awards through the Square Peg Media (SPM) group. She built up SPM from 2005 with her lesbian partner Linda Riley. Ms Riley remains as managing director.
Nevertheless, she nauseatingly refers to Ms Garrett as ‘my ex-wifey’. Sarah Garrett gave birth to twin daughters by a sperm donor in 2007, when she was ‘with’ Ms Riley. Two women can now be named on a birth certificate. Welcome to the post-truth world.
Mark 10:6 But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
As well as the LGBT awards, SPM also started something called ‘Alternative Parenting Week’. Naturally, the Queen made Ms Garrett a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Years Honours List. We cannot be bothered to look it up, but the excuse was probably ‘Services to Diversity’. Sarah Garrett was no.36 on the Pride Power List at this time of writing. Linda Riley does not appear. Yes, Sir Ian McKellen is no.1 on the list and the ghastly God-hating Stephen Fry is no.2.
‘Progess on Equality’ means LGBT awards not needed
In a sign of the times, the National Westminster Bank is the major sponsor of the LGBT awards. The awards become the ‘NatWest British LGBT awards’. But if that makes you want to switch banks, Barclays and HSBC are also sponsors and Lloyds was slated for an award. The Independent newspaper is ‘media sponsor’.
Ruth Hunt of Stonewall
Psalm 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Sarah Garrett started up the LGBT Awards in 2015, when the Stonewall Awards closed down. Stonewall is the UK’s major sodomy-promoting pressure group. Their awards were notorious for including a ‘Bigot of the Year’ category. This author was nominated for that category but disappointingly lost out to Melanie Phillips in 2011.
Why did Stonewall end the awards? Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt cited society’s ‘progress on equality’ since the awards were first launched in 2005. So did Stonewall drop the awards and Sarah Garrett just pick up the loose ball? Did Stonewall possibly agree for Ms Garrett to take over? Or did she just muscle in? We shall probably never know.
SPM will have agreed the award with the Prince’s office before he was nominated. It was a bad decision to link up with those trying to destroy the Christian faith and promote sodomy to schoolchildren:
2Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.
Given that, it was a good call to stay away from the actual event. The ex-athlete and Kardashian associate Bruce Jenner won an award called ‘Loud and Proud’. Of course he won this posing as ‘transgender women’ ‘Caitlin Jenner’.
The gay anti-bullying propaganda campaign now has royal sanction. Consequently, Pastors and parents will need to be on even greater alert. What are the schools teaching your children? You need to find out.
Meanwhile, we can only pray the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will keep Prince George well away from the gay scene itself. But all their mixing with the ‘luvvies’ of the entertainment world at a time when the whole Establishment is promoting an anti-life lifestyle of disease, death and degradation will make that hard to do. Moreover, if his parents have totally lost their moral compass, the infant prince will be in real spiritual danger.
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Psalm 11:3 If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Theresa May has left herself wide open to criticisms of hypocrisy after this year’s (2017) Easter message. The Prime Minister said ‘Easter is a moment to reflect’. TEXT HERE
In that case let us just reflect how her actions and those of Her Majesty’s Government measure up to what she said. We can go further and measure the actions of Her Majesty’s Government against the principles of the Christian faith itself.
Firstly, let’s just applaud a Prime Minister who talks openly about faith, and her own faith. The days when Alastair Campbell said of Tony Blair’s administration ‘We don’t do God’ seem to be over.
Of course, I’ll sit up and notice when the first British politician says ‘our thoughts and prayers’ are with the victims of a disaster, rather than just ‘our thoughts.’ Nevertheless, the mere issuing of an Easter message declares the UK to be a Christian nation. Which indeed constitutionally we are.
Opportunities and challenges of Brexit
I recognise there are areas in which Theresa May’s Christian faith as expressed in the Easter message appears to be lived out in action. The enthusiasm with which she is leading the United Kingdom out of the European Union’s Revived Roman Empire is commendable. We must pray she sees it through. And she is being positive about it. That is fine. Mrs May also wants to keep the United Kingdom together. There is nothing wrong in that.
In case I am thought to be nationalist and ‘right-wing’, let’s just emphasise workers’ rights. The Bible is clear that workers need fair dealing from employers. Parliament will need to untangle Britiah law from EU regulatons. In so doing ministers must ensure employment rights in an independent Britain are not eroded.
The vulnerable in the heart of God
The Christian faith is clear about the place the most vulnerable have in the heart of God. Christ singled out the poor, the homeless, the destitute, the sick and the hungry. He emphasised the duty of Christian people to nourish and protect them. Should that be individuals, or the state stepping in?
At a practical level, the targets culture of the 1980s built on the expansion of the role of local authorities in the 1960s to the point where people now are paid to care, so anyone calling for more money from the state in response to any deficiencies in provision for Christ’s identified groups can make out a good argument.
The family
This baby at six weeks already has a beating heart.
The insttution of the family used to be a bulwark against too much power ending up in the hands of the state, but gay ‘rights’ and gay ‘marriage’, coupled with no-fault divorce on demand and a bit of laissez-faire condom-promoting sex education have put paid to that.
There are none more vulnerable today than the unborn. The womb is the most dangerous place to be in Great Britain today. Mrs May only voted for the age limit on abortion to come down to twenty weeks last time around. The House of Commons diagreed. It stayed at 24 weeks. But we now know from modern imaging that a baby’s heart is beating three weeks after conception. Neuroscience shows babies can feel pain certainly at 16 weeks and react to a stimulus as 8 weeks. So elective abortion is living on borrowed time.
But to be fair, Mrs May did not raise the matter of the vulnerable, or the importance of the family in her Easter message. She stuck to Easter-time, Brexit, shared values, the importance of Christian witness, sacrifice, the role of Christianity, religious tolerance, freedom of speech and the persecuted church.
So what of my three identified areas of hypocrisy.
Easter message: Freedom of Speech
Firstly, to Mrs May’s confidence ‘about the role that Christianity has to play in the lives of people in our country’. That was coupled in her Easter message with a stated determination to ‘treasure the strong tradition that we have in this country of religious tolerance and freedom of speech’. Furthermore, Mrs May pledged to ‘continue to ensure that people feel able to speak about their faith, and that absolutely includes their faith in Christ’.
Sarah Kuteh
Only last week, Sarah Kuteh was in front of an Employment Tribunal in Ashford, Kent. Sarah has been a nurse for 15 years. Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust sacked her last August (2016) for ‘gross misconduct’. What was her terrible offence? She discussed her faith with patients.
Now those in the National Secular Society would contend that sick people should be insulated from faith. That is precisely how NHS Trusts are acting. That is their clear policy.
‘Comfort and guidance’
But in her Easter message Mrs May implied this was not happening. She gave the clear impression she disagreed with such a policy. She spoke of Christians ‘providing comfort and guidance to many in our country at some of the most difficult moments in their lives’.
So why has she not already told her Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to issue a directive to NHS Trusts to encourage Christian doctors and nurses to actively share their faith with patients and provide that ‘comfort and guidance’? Why, on her watch, are NHS managers sacking Christian staff?
For that matter, Christian open-air preachers are being hauled before the courts. Why has Amber Rudd, her Home Secretary, not sent a directive to police forces and public prosecutors to tell them to lay off Christian preachers and allow them to ‘speak about their faith’?
Someone who says one thing and does another is a hypocrite.
Embrace the World!
Secondly, the Prime Minister spoke in her Easter message of Christian values ‘of compassion, community, citizenship’. We are going to ‘embrace the world’. She might remember the Bible saying something about guiding our feet into the way of peace (Luke 1:79). Or perhaps castigating those whose ways are ‘destruction and misery’, those with no fear of God who do not know ‘the way of peace’ (Rom 3:16-18 cf Isa 59:7-8).
The Russian corvette ‘Boiky’
Yet our famously Christian PM re-appointed as Secretary of State for Defence a man lacking both the fear of God and the way of peace. In particular, Sir Michael Fallon insults, rather than embraces, that part of the world known as the Russian Federation.
His latest display of petulance was to send out a destroyer to shadow a couple of corvettes, named Soobrazitelny and Boiky, as they steamed through the English Channel from their Baltic port en route to the Mediterranean.
Fallon said: ‘HMS Sutherland is carefully marking these Russian ships as they pass close to UK waters. The Royal Navy maintains a vigilant watch and is always ready to keep Britain safe.’
No doubt it does and it is. But what was he suggesting? That Soobrazitelny was preparing to shell Dover, or Boiky to land an invasion force of marines on Bognor beach? Does he think we are all stupid?
Department for Provocation
A Christian administration would not pretend there are threats where none exist. Its ministers would not think the Ministry of Defence is really the Department for Provocation. They would not be talking up threats from another Christian nation to sell armaments. They would not make bellicose noises every time the ships of that nation pass through the busiest shipping lane in the world (which happens to be near our shores). There was no indication the French or Belgians burned diesel oil putting to sea. The Channel is international water.
In February, Her Majesty’s Secretary of State for Defence described the Russian aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov as a ‘ship of shame skulking through the Channel’. It was simply on its way home after helping the Syrian army liberate Aleppo. The defeat of the UK’s favoured and financed jihadists had irritated UK politicians. But why not be magnaminous? Why expose a petulant display of aggression and military impotence which diminished Her Majesty? It drew unwelcome attention to the fact that the UK does not even have an operational aircraft carrier.
To invoke the message of Easter while beating the drum of war is rank hypocrisy.
Persecuted Christians
Churches in Syria have been looted and damaged by jihadists
Thirdly, mention of Aleppo draws our attention to yet another hypocritcal section of Mrs May’s Easter message.
The Prime Minister said: ‘And we must do more to stand up for the freedom of people of all religions to practice their beliefs openly and in peace and safety.’
But the UK continues to support, politically and financially, Syrian Sunni Muslim jihadists whose reason for being is to murder or expel ‘people of all religions’ – except their own.
Speaking of alleged Christian freedom in the UK, Mrs May went on: ‘We must be mindful of Christians and religious minorities around the world who do not enjoy these same freedoms, but who practise their religion in secret and often in fear’.
So why not support Assad?
We should expect ‘being mindful’ to include some measure of support. So why in Syria does the UK not do everything it can to bolster the administraton of President Assad? After all, he has a track record of protecting ‘Christians and religious minorities’?
Instead, she is carrying on the policy of her predecessor of destabilising Syria. That nation had done nothing to us, yet we cheered with the Devil, who loves to destroy, as it was reduced to rubble. If Theresa May really believes ‘we must do more’ to stand up for Christians worldwide, she should order a complete turn-around on Syria, on the Foreign Office’s attitude to Russia, and on aggression against Christians worldwide.
Because right now, when Her Majesty’s Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, tells the Russians they are on the ‘wrong side of history’ by their alliance with Shia Iran and Syria, he himself is precisely wrong. It is the British Government’s support of Sunni Muslim jihadism and our alliance with Saudi Wahhabism which is on the wrong side.
Practising Christianity in fear
Theresa May with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud (left)
Going further, Mrs May should be speaking to the Government of Malaysia, to that of Egypt and to the rulers of Saudi Arabia demanding freedom for Christians. In fact, she has only just come back from Saudi Arabia. Did she demand freedom for those ‘who practise their religion in secret and often in fear’? There are many secret Christians in Saudi Arabia, some in high places. Where is any evidence of Mrs May ‘doing more’ for them?
Come to that, when was Pakistan’s High Commissioner last summoned to a talking-to from the Foreign Secretary over his country’s failure to protect Christians from spurious blasphemy charges?
Mrs May is playing mere lip-service to persecuted Christians. She is doing nothing to help them. Homosexuals are more welcome in the UK than refugee Christians. Tragically, for her, trade deals and selling arms are more important. That is yet more hypocrisy.
Three major areas raised by Mrs May in her Easter message from her Christian faith. Three glaring examples of hypocrisy. How Her Majesty’s Government needs our prayer.
Not just Boris Johnson but the House of Commons now faces a Brexit Dilemma.
Christian Voice Press Release – 16:00 hrs 8th April 2017
Boris Johnson
Christian Voice has expressed astonishment at the decision of Boris Johnson to cancel a meeting with his Russian opposite number Sergey Lavrov.
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said today:
‘I am saddened and astonished that Boris Johnson has cancelled his planned meeting with his Russian opposite number Sergey Lavrov.
‘The heart of God is for peace between nations. “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation” is the millennial vision. Christ said “Blessed are the peacemakers”. For Boris Johnson to pull out of his meeting with Sergey Lavrov in a huff because the Russians call attention to the lack of evidence for the alleged Idlib gas attack is small-minded and lacking statesmanship. It is not the action of a peacemaker.
Sergey Lavrov
‘This ministry prays constantly for the Christians of Syria. They and all that country’s religious minorities have historically been protected by President Assad, despite his faults. The Sunni Muslim jihadists whom the UK supports would destroy the Christian community in Syria, together with the Druze, Yazidi and the various Shia Muslim sects, including the Alawites.
‘We are disappointed by the speed with which President Trump ordered his missile attack. He did not wait for the UN to investigate where the gas actually came from. He did not heed Syrian Government denials. Trump went against his own advice to President Obama to seek Congressional approval of any military action. He took illegal action against a sovereign state. The UK should never endorse or support illegal aggression.
‘St Petersburg just suffered a horrendous attack, reminiscent of the 2005 London Tube Bombings. At such a time, when Islamic terrorism threatens the whole of the civilized world, close communication and even solidarity between Britain and Russia is the way of peace, security and indeed sheer common sense. We shall have to redouble our prayers for peace and safety. Boris Johnson’s unreasonable decision has not made the world a more stable place.’
Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Jesus Christ said:
Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
President Trump has launched a missile strike against Syrian airfields. The pretext is the alleged release of chemical weapons in the town of Khan Sheikhun the rebel-held Syrian Idlib province on Tuesday.
According to the BBC, the Pentagon said 59 Tomahawk missiles were fired from Navy destroyers USS Porter and USS Ross. They say they targeted ‘aircraft, aircraft shelters, storage areas, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems, and radars at Shayrat airfield in western Homs province’. You can follow the BBC’s ‘As it happens’ for the latest reports.
‘Big mistake’ not to get approval of Congress
Mr Trump said he had acted in America’s ‘vital national security interest’ to prevent the use of chemical weapons. That of course is complete nonsense. Whoever is responsible for the chemical weapons in Idlib, there is no threat to America’s interests at all.
The missile strike is illegal in international law. The President needed a UN resolution before such a strike. The UN Security Council had not even voted on how to send in International inspectors to verify the alleged chemical attack as we went to press. The missile strike is also illegal in US law. He needed Congressional approval. Indeed, in August 2013, Donald Trump tweeted this about President Obama in exactly the same circumstances (the link is Twitter; all our links open in a new tab automatically):
‘Stay out of Syria!’ Trump yelled in a series of tweets. That was Trump 2013. Three and a half years later, he is President and despite our prayers, he has been ‘got at’ by the Neo-Cons and the Hawks. He hasn’t ‘drained the swamp’. The swamp has drained him. He has, to use a British expression, ‘gone native’.
Contrast with Mosul
It all stinks. We have the speed of the events and the lack of any clear evidence against the Syrian government. Then we have the rush to bomb something instead of a measured dispassionate response. We have all the Western leaders ganging up. And still the ‘Cui Bono’ question remains. Who benefits from the gas story on the eve of peace talks and the Syrian reconstruction meeting in Brussels? Maybe the rebels. Certainly the war-mongers. Above all the armaments manufacturers. Definitely the bankers. Even the oil barons are pleased. CNN reports the price of crude has leapt in response to uncertainty caused by the missile strike.
The US were still investigating whether they were responsible for 300 deaths from an airstrike in Mosul ten days later.
Remember, the only evidence is photographic from the jihadists in Idlib. We know they lie to advance their aims. The suggestion that a rebel chemical weapons factory on the ground was bombed remains highly plausible. Another possibility is an Islamic State operation.
The Syrians say they warned the UN weeks ago that the rebels and IS were bringing in chemical weapons from Turkey. And in January 2016, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons announced all chemical weapons in Syria itself had been destroyed.
Contrast the speed with which Trump has leapt to blame and bomb Syria with the caution his administration expressed over the attack in Mosul. There, US warplanes killed 200 – 300 civilians. Even the New York Times reported that ten days later, US military officials were still ‘investigating whether it (the coalition) was to blame for the dozens of deaths there’. Note ‘dozens’ not ‘hundreds’.
Missile strike betrayal of Trump promises
Tomahawk missile. What the BBC graphic does not say is ‘Cost $250,000’. The attack cost the US Defense Department $14,750,000. Shares in Raytheon jumped 1.7% after the missile strike.
That makes sense. Both the Russians and NATO nations were informed in advance of the strike. That takes the planning phase back further than yesterday. In addition, the sheer speed with which European leaders condemned President Assad strongly suggests they knew the original story was coming.
Some of us prayed for a Trump victory rather than Clinton. That was precisely because Hillary is a stooge of the Hawks who would start World War Three. She was actually calling for a missile strike hours before it happened. Trump promised an end to interventionism and a reset with the Russians. His action is a return to neo-conservative warmongering in a complete betrayal of the promises he made on the campaign trail:
Intervention breaks election pledges:
Here’s the Guardian from December 2017: ‘Donald Trump has laid out a US military policy that would avoid interventions in foreign conflicts and instead focus heavily on defeating Islamic State militancy. ‘“We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with,” the president-elect said on Tuesday night in Fayetteville, near Fort Bragg military base in North Carolina.
‘“Instead our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying Isis, and we will.”’
Here is RT’s take on Trump’s ‘Thank You’ tour: ‘Donald Trump has laid out a military policy which he says is aimed at ending “intervention and chaos” overseas. He promised to build up the “depleted” military, but said it would be done with prevention in mind, rather than aggression.
‘Speaking at the latest stop on his “thank you” tour of swing states, President-elect Donald Trump told a crowd in Fayetteville, North Carolina that he wants to “strengthen old friendships and seek out new friendships,” stressing that the US will “stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with.”’
And here is Reuter’s confirmation: ‘President-elect Donald Trump laid out a U.S. military policy on Tuesday that would avoid interventions in foreign conflicts and instead focus heavily on defeating the Islamic State militancy.
‘”We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with,” Trump said. “Instead, our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying ISIS, and we will.”
‘Trump’s rhetoric was similar to what he said during the election campaign when he railed against the war in Iraq.’
Crispin Blunt MP, chair of the respected Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, agrees. He told the BBC the strike was a ‘carefully calibrated and appropriate response.’ Then he added a caviat: ‘so long as the information was correct’.
‘The reason I would have doubt and express doubt [over the information] is this doesn’t make any sense from the Syrian government. They would know this use of chemical weapons would get this response. The overall conflict is moving in their direction,’ he noted.
Nigel Farage condemned the attack saying Trump voters would be ‘worried’. UKIP leader Paul Nuttall said it was ‘rash, trigger happy, nonsensical and will achieve nothing.’
Key UK Trump ally Nigel Farage MEP has condemned the attack.
Even the UK government was calling this week for diplomatic action not military force in response to the chemical attack. On Wednesday, Downing Street played down the prospect of military action, insisting ‘nobody is talking’ about an armed response to what the BBC called ‘the atrocity’.
Mr Corbyn called for an ‘urgent independent UN investigation’ into the chemical attack.
But he said: ‘Unilateral military action without legal authorisation or independent verification risks intensifying a multi-sided conflict that has already killed hundreds of thousands of people’.
Islamic State encouraged
Where does a missile strike knocking out a Syrian airfield leave the fight against Islamic State, said by Trump to be his ‘focus’? IS reportedly launched an attack on the Syrian army at the same time as the chemical story broke. On the run from Mosul, they will only be encouraged to step up operations in Syria. The UK- and US- backed jihadists will also be energised to fight on. That will set back the current Syrian peace talks in Geneva, which had been reported by Reuters news agency to be making progress.
However, the rebels’ EU-fueled demand for Bashar Al-Assad to step aside would mean devastation for Syria’s religious minorities. That’s the President’s own Alawite sect, Shia Muslims in general, Christians and Druze. All would be murdered and/or driven out of Syria by the Western-backed Sunni Muslim jihadists.
Perhaps the real ‘Red Line’ for the American Neo-Cons was Assad winning the peace and staying in power. Ron Paul, who ran for president, says they were ‘terrified peace was about to break out’. A few days ago US ambassador to the UN and Trump appointee Nikki Haley said there was a new policy. Under it, the removal of Assad will ‘no longer be a priority.’ Within days, after the chemical incident, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said there is ‘No role’ for Assad to govern Syria.
Even if the attack reports were genuine, and the Syrian government was responsible, s it any business of the US or the UK? We are not the world’s policemen. Last night’s US missile strike takes us right back into ‘Responsibility to Protect’. That Soros-invented doctrine means any pretext is used to topple world leaders with whom the elite disagree. If the destabilisation or the hostilities make money for the bankers, so much the better.
Russia maturity provides glimmer of hope
The only glimmer of hope in this crisis is the maturity of the Russian Federation. President Putin did not respond in kind when President Obama tried to sour relations for his successor by expelling 35 Russian Diplomats in December 2016. At the time President-elect Trump praised ‘very smart’ Putin. Now Russia’s government newspaper website Rossiiskaya Gazeta has reported that Russia will not hit back at the US strike. Despite condemning the US action, they say they will not escalate military action in Syria.
The deputy speaker of the State Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy, told the assembly at a full session: ‘How can we respond? Of course not by escalating military actions, not with Iskanders [type of short-range ballistic missile], though of course that’s an important part of our forces. Yet that’s not where our strength lies – our strength is in our own understanding of the logic of events.’
Mr Tillerson is due to visit Moscow later this month. He already knows Vladimir Putin. But UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has unaccountably pulled out of a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Pray for the Lord to over-rule and when such meetings go ahead, to oversee and direct.
Nation will not lift up sword against nation
The heart of God is for peace between nations:
Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Let us pray therefore for peace and all that leads to it. The Lord is against those who profit from war:
Psalm 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.Psalm 140:1 Deliver me, O LORD, from the evil man: preserve me from the violent man;2 Which imagine mischiefs in their heart; continually are they gathered together for war.
Let us pray their dealings are exposed. As to our politicians, a sound mind is from the Lord:
2Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
So let us pray sense from the Throne of Grace comes into this overwhelming situation. Pray for President Trump, that the Holy Spirit will break in, convert him and have him stand against the warmongers. Scripture also says:
Galatians 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
So let us pray also for the Christians in Syria, and pray for a political settlement that enables them to rebuild their businesses, homes, churches and families. Yes, that means praying for President Assad to stay in power. It also means praying for the defeat of the jihadists. And pray for our leaders, for honesty and maturity to break out.
Banners were hoisted to promote Israeli Apatheid Week at the University of Sussex
Banners were hoisted to promote Israeli Apartheid Week at the University of Sussex
By Brighton Bell
Last month saw what is known as ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’ (otherwise known as ‘Israel Apartheid Week’). This annual event was originally launched in Toronto in 2004.
It has since spread to a number of different countries around the world. Primarily ‘celebrated’ at universities, the week is marked by lectures and events. And by an aversion to the state of Israel.
Naturally, all events are designed to talk up supposed Israeli oppression of Palestinians. And of course these must invoke the apparition of South African apartheid.
My University of Sussex, based in Brighton, is one of the most radically left-wing universities in Britain. It follows it was only too glad to host Israeli Apartheid Week 2017.
Non-’progressives’ are ‘problems’
Interestingly, the week took place just after an article written in the Daily Telegraph the previous week. In the article, one of my contemporaries declared that if you are conservative or right-wing at Sussex, you are ‘a problem which needs dealing with’.
Professor Adam Tickell, our Vice-Chancellor
The article made a number of valid points which tally very much with my own experience as a Sussex student. There are certain ‘progressive’ views on subjects such as abortion, feminism, and transsexual rights. (Forget ‘gay rights’. That horse bolted years ago.) Anyone who does not subscribe to these views is a public enemy, let alone ‘a problem’.
In response to the Telegraph article, Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex wrote an email to all students. He called for tolerance for different voices and points of view.
In the email, Professor Tickell said, ‘Universities are places that are defined by a spirit of critical enquiry, the capacity to challenge, and a celebration of different views and opinions’. He continued, ‘we must never forget that we must value and embrace difference rather than try to shut it down’.
Israeli Apartheid Week ‘deeply upsetting’
A flier for Israeli Apatheid Week
If only the Student Union would see things in a similar light. Instead, it treats those with more conservative views with contempt. Professor Tickell then wrote specifically of ‘Israeli Apartheid Week’. He acknowledged ‘even the language is deeply upsetting to many members of our Jewish and non-Jewish community’. Upsetting it certainly was, with members of the Jewish society describing the week as anti-Semitic.
So what actually happened on the Sussex campus during Israeli Apartheid Week? Firstly, we saw an art display with very little art. Secondly, we had a protest which did not go ahead. Thirdly, we put up with events which were something of a shambles. My favourite, so to speak, was a rally on the Thursday. Naturally, only pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel activists were allowed to speak. They included speakers from Palestine, South Africa, and the Movement for Black Lives. The latter has been given hundreds of thousands of dollars by ‘Funders for Justice’. And that includes The Ford Foundation and the Open Society Foundations of George Soros. Surprised, anyone?
Israel not ‘apartheid’ at all
No, Israel is not like South Africa was. But that’s the narrative.
All the events were organised by the ‘Sussex Friends of Palestine Society’. Naturally, they want only one particular, biased narrative to be heard. Not one Israeli or Jewish person was invited to participate. The organisers did their best to compare the apartheid of South Africa with current events in Israel.
Never mind the Student Union’s own beloved Guardian newspaper has said the word apartheid is not accurately applied when used to describe Israeli society. Sussex is in the vanguard of the post-truth world. The comparison is specifically designed to lead students to conclude Israel is a racist country which practises segregation. What a convenient comparison for those trying to push an anti-Israel narrative.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
Israeli Apartheid Week is inflammatory in nature to Jewish and Israeli people. Moreover, it is an indicator of wider anti-Israel sentiment. This does not just happen at the University of Sussex. Campuses not just across the country but around the world take part. In 2015, students at Sussex voted by 68% to 32% to join the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) movement. This exists to boycot Israeli goods and artistic and academic contacts. The vote was on a total turnout of less than 10% of all students. Around 7% of students voted for a boycott on Israel for the other 93% of students.
As’ad Abukhalil: promoter of Israeli Apartheid Week
The BDS movement itself is closely linked with an extreme rejectionist form of Palestinian nationalism. This seeks to destroy the state of Israel, establishing in its place a state of ‘Palestine’. Indeed, key leaders in the BDS movement have stated: ‘the real aim of BDS is to bring down the state of Israel’.
That was As’ad AbuKhalil. He also said: ‘Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel’. One John Spritzler wrote: ‘I think the BDS movement will gain strength from forthrightly explaining why Israel has no right to exist’. Charming.
Academic Boycott proposed
Firstly, BDS started by boycotting Israeli goods. Secondly, it swiftly spread to include an academic boycott of Israel. In 2014 there was a referendum at Sussex where students were asked if they wished to support just that. Anyone from Israel or holding an Israeli passport would have been barred from speaking at or being employed by the university. Students ultimately voted against the academic boycott by 904 to 649 votes.
Nevertheless, the proposal demonstrates some of the more extreme aims of the BDS movement. Are you surprised to learn these are supported by a number of universities across Britain? Back in December 2016, the University of Manchester’s student union voted to join the growing BDS movement. And that is the largest in the country.
Much as on subjects such as abortion, sexuality, gender and feminism, students are presented with a one-sided view. They are told Israel is an apartheid state. Meanwhile, student unions are supporting a movement which wants to see Israel wiped off the map. There is such a clear bias here. It always seeks to sideline those with more traditional or conservative views while elevating those deemed to be ‘progressive’. And of course the ‘progressivism’ is anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-life, anti-Jewish, and pro-Muslim.
Islamic Awareness Week
Firstly, a week bashing Israel. Secondly, a week extolling the wonders of Islam. Welcome to the University of Sussex!
During Israeli Apartheid week, I asked someone from the student union why we were not holding an ‘oppression in Islamic countries week’. We could expose the discrimination faced by women and Christians in Islamic countries. I thought that was a really good idea. But I was promptly told my question was entirely misplaced and I had better shut my mouth.
A couple of days later I saw a poster. You are way ahead of me.
Next week on campus would be ‘Islamic Awareness Week’. In one week the student union went from attacking Israel and Jewish people, to promoting the ‘peace’ and ‘tolerance’ of Islam. Heaven help us. And Israel.
PRAY: For the State of Israel and for Jewish students facing this rise of anti-Semitism. Pray for your children and grandchildren at universities in the United Kingdom, that they may discern the truth and stand against all forms of evil.
Genesis 12:3, ‘And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.’
Ezekiel 37:21, ‘And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land.’
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10 And the Syrian government have ‘categorically denied’ responsibility,
11 It is quite plausible that a rebel chemical weapons factory was hit and the stocks dispersed and certain that Western politicians would immediately rubbish such a claim,
13 Even that story started with the word ‘suspected’ and went on: ‘These videos and photos have not been independently verified’. In other words, the headline was a lie and the story could easily be rebel propaganda – or Muslim ‘Taqiyya’ (disinformation),
The ‘White Helmets’ are a UK Foreign Office propaganda tool
15 Indeed, nobody reputable is there. Any Western journalist venturing into Idlib Province will be captured and held for ransom by the UK’s favoured jihadist cut-throats,
16 Despite jumping to blame Assad for this suspected Idlib gas attack, Theresa May says the UK will not be taking any military action. Thank God for that at least. EU and US politicians were very quick with the condemnations – almost as if they knew it was coming,
Isaiah 26:2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Psalm 58:3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38 Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?
Pray for the truth to come out and be recognised. Pray for the knee-jerk posturing to stop. Also pray for God to place grown-up men of God in positions of authority in our nation. Pray for peace in Syria. Pray for the Christians of Syria in particular as they try to rebuild their homes and businesses. And thank God for news outlets challenging the received establishment wisdom of the Main Stream Media!
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Sir Tim Farrow handing the Article 50 to Donald Tusk has set Avaaz off on a campaign
Sir Tim Barrow duly delivered Theresa May’s Brexit Article 50 letter to Donald Tusk yesterday. Meanwhile, the fake ‘grass-roots’ activist group Avaaz was moaning about ‘A day most of us hoped we’d never see’.
Just to make sure they spread their catchment net as widely as possible, they claimed ‘And still others of us hoped would be a very different Brexit.’
‘Profoundly depressing’
Out comes the trowel as Alex Evans, one of many ‘campaign directors’ at Avaaz, drones on in an email sent to its claimed 44 million supporters worldwide: ‘It feels profoundly depressing. Not just because of the divisions the referendum left in its wake, the lies and fear, but also for what it could mean for our futures: for us, for our kids.’
Alex Evans: a Campaign Director at Avaaz. He is also Senior Fellow at New York University Center on International Cooperation, whatever that means.
Firstly, the Remoaners lost the Referendum. Secondly, they lost in the courts their attempted SNP veto. Thirdly, they lost their blocking moves in Parliament. Avaaz raised petitions and money around most of that.
Now the die is cast and negotiations will shortly begin on the terms of Brexit. The UK is leaving the Revived Roman Empire. But Avaaz are promoting this as ‘the moment at which the big fight begins’, trotting out figures:
‘16.1 million people didn’t want Brexit. 70% of young people voted for a different future.’
So ‘regardless of if we voted for or against Brexit, a majority now want to make sure we have a say in any deal.’
Alex Evans’ Avaaz email is pretentiously headed ‘We can be heroes’. Other recent emails have had subjects like ‘A beautiful blow against Trumpism’, ‘Back the Bees’, ‘Aleppo – stop the massacre’ and ‘Join the Brexit rebellion’. No, that’s not the people’s rebellion against the Eurocrats. It was an Avaaz clicktivist lobbying campaign in February to try to get a Brexit deal veto for MPs.
‘Sign now with just one click!’ screamed the email. It signed off, ‘With hope and determination, Bert, Alex, Meredith, Spyro, Fatima and the rest of the Avaaz team’.
‘We can be heroes just for one day,’ David Bowie sang. Revise that down to one second, the time it takes to click.
So what is ‘Avaaz’ all about? Why do their campaigns focus solely on supporting left-liberal elitist positions, knocking the Russians and promoting environmentalism?
Yes, bees are important pollinators and we all hate Monsanto. It’s easy to build an emailing list around ‘the planet’. Add in some issues pushed by Remoaners and Clintonites and other ‘right-on’ causes and before long you are up to 44 million. That’s 44 miilion people you can now tap for money to keep the show rolling.
But who is really behind Bert, Meredith, Alex and company? How did it all start?
How Avaaz works
First the operating method. It depends on weight of numbers, and Avaaz has them. That is why we need to be aware of them and pray about them. Avaaz says it is ‘a 44-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (The word “Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages.’
In other words, those who run it decide on an issue. Then they email their 44 million supporters to encourage them, usually, to sign the latest Avaaz petition or send them money. All it takes to be considered as ‘a member of the Avaaz movement’ is to put your name to one of their petitions and, naturally, give them your name and email address. As I did, apparently, in March 2013.
‘Right-on’ causes
Now for the causes. Avaaz is practiced at touching the environmentalist chord. Their favourite target is also one of ours, the genetic modifiers of Monsanto, maker of the hated ‘Roundup’ pesticide.
Avaaz hates Monsanto, makers of ‘Roundup’ weedkiller and GM crops. But it’s a soft target, as nobody likes them.
In November 2016 Monsanto and pesticide giant Bayer announced a merger. This was the Avaaz take on it:
‘Monsanto poisons our food and fields. Bayer kills bees with pesticides. Now they want to merge into a $100 Billion mega-corporation to dominate our entire global food system!
‘The firms are right now on a shopping spree for an army of lobbyists to steamroll the plan through US and EU regulators. It’ll take an even bigger people-powered lobby to stop them.
‘That’s where we come in. Avaaz has beaten both of these corporations before so we know how to do it: show massive public opposition through campaigns and polls, win over the regulators with powerful personal appeals, and have lawyers review every detail.’
An invitation followed to donate an amount from $2 to $32 to Avaaz.
Two-thirds of wild animals
Imaginary ‘Tree of Life’
An even more recent campaign claims: ‘by 2020, two-thirds of wild animals will be gone … humanity is taking a chainsaw to the tree of life.’ This time, those on the Avaaz emailing list were invited to sign a petition as ‘global citizens’ to ‘Governments meeting right now.’.
There was no defence of the ‘two-thirds’ figure. Neither was there a statement of just where the governments were meeting nor the dates of their get-together.
That is all deliberate. Never give too much detail. In fact, the figures are based on the ‘Living Planet Index’. It was first compiled in 2008 by ZSL, the Zoological Society of London, and World Wildlife Fund, as it was then. The aim was to present figures on how much ‘biological diversity’ had decreased by 1970 to the Convention on Biodiversity meeting that year in the German city of Bonn. Why choose 1970 as the base year? Who knows. But by ignoring the base, Avaaz gave as bad an impression as they could.
Globalist agenda
Chainsaw
In 2010 the figures were beefed up for a further meeting in Nagoya, Japan. That was the International Year of Biodiversity, but you knew that.
Now the BBC were reporting ‘that animal populations plummeted by 58% between 1970 and 2012, with losses on track to reach 67% by 2020′.
So that’s where the two-thirds figure comes from, but the starting point is not this year, or even this century, but 1970. Nor is it animal species, but ‘populations’.
Some of them, perhaps even all of them, are really important, but for Avaaz the hype to advance their globalist agenda is everything.
Indeed the Convention was due to meet from 2nd to 17th December 2016 in Cancun, Mexico. Naturally, the Avaaz petition called on it to ‘forge a new agreement so that at least 50% of our lands and oceans are protected and restored, and ensure our planet is completely sustainably managed.’ Where has the 50% figure come from? How is ‘the planet’ divided up? Is Carmarthen set to become a wildlife reserve? How is all to be enforced? We don’t know. But for the 913,000 environmentalists who signed the petition, it all sounded great.
Syrian no-fly zone
Avaaz actually wanted the US to shoot down Russian planes like this MiG33. World War Three, anyone?
Moving away from the environment, another persistent Avaaz campaign has been against President Assad in Syria. On 1st October, Alice Jay of Avaaz shrieked:
‘100 children have been killed in Aleppo since last Friday. Enough is enough!’
The solution? Sign another petition. This time it was to ‘build a resounding global call to Obama, May, and other leaders to stand up to Putin and Assad’s terror. This might be our last, best chance to help end this mass murder of defenceless children.’
And what did the resounding petition, signed by 1,622,000 ‘global citizens’, propose? It demanded, and is still demanding, a ‘no-fly zone to protect civilians’. It would ‘mean that an international coalition can threaten to down planes that try to bomb Northern Syria’.
Let us be very clear. Avaaz actually wanted the US and UK to threaten to shoot down Russian warplanes over the sovereign state of Syria. The petition is still there. They are actually calling for a declaration of war. There remains no acknowledgment of the dangers. All we have is a bland assertion that ‘a no-fly zone is the only decent thing to do in this awful situation’.
Curiously, the idea of a no-fly zone across Syria was also proposed in October by one Hillary Clinton. And it was opposed by a certain Donald Trump, who warned that Clinton’s proposal would ‘lead to world war three’.
It will come as no surprise that Avaaz was also cheerleading for Mrs Clinton during the US election. The campaign started in October 2016 and soon latched onto environmentalist concerns.
Avaaz’s Emma Ruby Sachs sent out an email screaming: ‘Trump wants to tear up the Paris climate deal, and that’s just the start of his horrifying plans!’ Wow. No understatement there. What were the rest of his, er, ‘horrifying’ plans? Well, ‘Trump and the racist, sexist, anti-climate, isolationist message he peddles is a threat to the entire world, to everything we fight for as a community.’
Ah. The key word there is ‘isolationist.’ Trump wants to end ‘Responsibility to Protect’ and stop interfering in nations around the world. You would think Avaaz would get that, seeing as how ‘Our founding campaign was opposing the Iraq war, and we’ve repeatedly campaigned against the West’s often cynical engagement in the Middle East’.
But no. Their thinking is neither that consistent nor that honest. But, ‘now there’s a way we can all help stop him, just by texting.’ Avaaz suggested that if ‘thousands of us around the world text these young voters urging them to get to the polls, we could help ensure Trump loses in a landslide.’
The Russians are coming!
Not even Donald Trump actually winning the election could put a dampener on the Avaaz campaign to get Hillary in after all. Just days ago Emma was again frantically emailing the 44 million Avaaz supporters. This time she was drumming up support for the idea that the Russians rigged the election. Avaaz were not trying to do exactly the same with their texting stunt, now were they?
‘This could be our chance to stop a stolen election,’ yelled Emma. ‘Ten members of the US Electoral College are calling for a security briefing about Russia’s interference in the vote.
‘And they have seven days to get it before they are called on to approve Donald Trump as President.
‘The CIA says there is Russian interference, Obama and top Republican lawmakers are calling for an investigation and Trump is denying everything.’ There you are then! Trump is denying it. Must be true.
‘Knowing the facts,’ Emma bellowed, ‘is the least the Electoral College deserves! When our call hits a five hundred thousand strong, allies will deliver the petition directly to the National Intelligence Director:’
Even in December, the petition had been signed by just 37,653 of the hoped-for half-a-million. Today it has reached 77,381. And the ‘target’ has been, er, revised downwards, to 100,000. Too little, too late, guys. Perhaps the Avaaz ‘community’ are getting petition fatigue.
Catte went on. ‘Any doubt that might have remained about how a certain section of the elite want to spin Brexit is now put to rest as that most entirely fake of all fake “grassroots activist” sites Avaaz is herding its obedient fandom to sign on and “stop the hate.” This is the wording of its latest touchy-feely petition, already signed by 90,000 well-meaning clicktivists.’
The petition said: ‘We, the people of the United Kingdom, stand against hate. We call on those editors who tar our country’s reputation by fuelling xenophobia and racism to step down, and pledge to confront racists wherever they are.’ What? Apparently this was targeted against The Sun and the Daily Mail who had done, well, that was not very clear.
‘Responsible journalism’
Catte went on to quote what she called ‘the accompanying blurb’: “If enough of us call for it, we can make it untenable for newspapers like the Daily Mail and The Sun to fan the flames of hate, and editors will know their jobs depend on responsible journalism.” Ah, ‘responsible journalism’. That means ‘You write what the elite want you to write.’
Catte continued: ‘I’d be the first to agree the Sun is an open sewer of lowest common denominator ordure, and of course any rational person deplores racism and “hate.” But equally we all should deplore – and fear – accusations of racism and “hate” being invoked as political weapons to beat down dissent and demonise a majority of UK citizens. … when Avaaz enters the arena with these clarion calls to under-informed Social Justice Warriors, it’s never a good day for democracy and reason.’
Interestingly, Catte tagged her piece with ‘Avaaz’, ‘Brexit’ and ‘George Soros’, so let’s follow up on that clue by asking just who is behind this globalist clicktivist army.
Who Is behind Avaaz?
Globalist neo-con financier George Soros provided the initial funding for Avaaz
This is what Avaaz says on its pressfaq page: ‘Avaaz.org was co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group, and Moveon.org, an online community that has pioneered internet advocacy in the United States. Our co-founding team was also composed of a group of leading global social entrepreneurs from six countries, including our founding President and Executive Director Ricken Patel, Tom Perriello, Tom Pravda, Eli Pariser, Andrea Woodhouse, Jeremy Heimans, and David Madden.’
According to Catte, the website NGO Monitor tells us ‘Res Publica’ ‘received grants totalling $250,000 from the Soros Open Society Institute in 2008.’
Catte goes on to quote the National Catholic Reporter which said in 2004 that ‘Res Publica was founded by three of the people now running Avaaz – Ricken Patel, Tom Perriello and Tom Pravda, and was – back in 2004 – claiming to be “developing the political and communications infrastructure of the religious left.” So Avaaz is Res Publica under a different name.’
Follow the money
What about Moveon.org? Apparently, they are a Democratic party front group, ‘currently campaigning against GMO salmon, the Confederate flag, Greek austerity and numerous other things, many of which seem eminently reasonable,’ says Catte. But crucially, according to the Washington Post, ‘they received $1.6 million from “George Soros and his wife” back in 2004.’
Now here’s a funny thing. Avaaz says: ‘Since 2009, Avaaz has not taken donations from foundations or corporations, nor has it accepted payments of more than $5,000 (£3,100)…Instead, it relies simply on the generosity of individual members, who have now raised over $20m (£12.4m)’
But Avaaz was actually founded in 2007. So pretty clearly for two full years it was in receipt of a whole slosh of pump-priming liquidity from George Soros and his Open Society Institute. It has that in common with the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, the Ukraine Maidan Square revolution and anti-Christian causes around the world. None would exist or have existed without money from George Soros or Open Society. More recently, the Syrian refugee crisis in Europe has been linked to activist groups funded by Soros.
Ricken Patel
Well-connected: Ricken Patel, Executive Director and co-founder of Avaaz
The Avaaz Executive Director, who puts his name to many of their emails, is indeed Ricken Patel. The mainstream media portray him as ‘a fearless crusader for marginalised truth and justice’, as Catte puts it. Born in 1977, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Balliol College, Oxford, where he helped organize against the 1998 introduction of tuition fees.
Patel held leadership roles in student activism and came down with a First. He then moved to Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, taking a Masters in Public Policy. He also helped lead the campus’ highly publicised living wage campaign.
He then worked for the International Crisis Group, the United Nations, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Gates Foundation, Harvard University, CARE International and the International Center for Transitional Justice. Just an ordinary guy? With a CV like that, this man is very well-connected.
The International Crisis Group was formed in 1993. Then-President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Morton I. Abramowitz and then future World Bank Vice-President Mark Malloch Brown met on a flight to Sarajevo. According to its Wikipedia page, ‘the Bosnian War provided the catalyst for “an independent organisation that would serve as the world’s eyes and ears on the ground in countries in conflict while pressing for immediate action.”‘ It will come as no surprise that ‘George Soros was involved in discussions early on and provided seed money’.
Avaaz co-founder Tom Perriello of the US State Department
It now offers ‘behind the scenes support and advice’ and ‘new strategic and tactical thinking’. But it will come as no surprise either that The International Crisis Group and George Soros invented the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect (also known by its opponents as ‘Justification to Interfere’).
Insiders
International Crisis Group trustees include Wesley Clark, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, several retired state department officials, ambassadors, diplomats and prime ministers and, of course, George Soros.
Tom Perriello, the second of Avaaz’s three individual founders is a “United States State Department official”, and a lawyer, who “served one term as a U.S. Representative for Virginia’s 5th congressional district.” He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was formerly President and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund and an avowed supporter of the war on terror.
Avaaz co-founder Tom Pravda of the UK Foreign Office
The third of the triumvirate is Tom Pravda. He came down from Balliol College, Oxford with an MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He describes himself on his LinkedIn page as ‘Diplomat, Entrepreneur, Consultant’, worked for a year at the United Nations and is now both Co-Founder and Co-Director of Res Publica, since 2003, Co-Founder of Avaaz.org since 2006 and a diplomat at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office since October 2003. It appears he has most recently been working at the FCO ‘dealing with European Union development policy and relations with the Middle East and Africa’.
War-mongers
In short, Avaaz maintains an illusion of grassroots activists advocating for human rights, but it is run by insiders. Its three founders bring together Soros internationalism, the US State Department and the British Foreign Office. Avaaz exists to herd public opinion to campaign for things which will please liberal, hawkish, neo-conservative interventionists and globalists. Avaaz ‘victories’.
Psalm 120:7 I am for peace: but when I speak, they are for war. Jer 23:24 Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. Luke 8:17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad. 18a Take heed therefore how ye hear: Rom 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: 14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in their ways: 17 And the way of peace have they not known: 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.
European Leaders are gathering in Rome, the Emperor Hadrian’s ‘Eternal City’, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. The Treaty was signed on 25th March 1957.
The champagne quaffing will however be somewhat tempered by the imminent arrival of That Article 50 Letter. UK Prime Minister Theresa May is set to start the Brexit process next Wednesday. Indeed, EU leaders pleaded with her not to do it during this week.
Where was the Treaty of Rome actually signed?
The Europa website says: ‘This will be an occasion to reflect on the state of the European Union and the future of the integration process.’ Integration process? Donald Tusk, President of the European Council also spoke of ‘sixty years of integration’. They don’t give up, do they?
We praise Almighty God for pulling the United Kingdom out of the ambitious, vainglorious Euro-Empire. But we can do so with even more enthusiasm. To do that we need to ask a couple of very simple questions:
Firstly, exactly where was the Treaty of Rome actually signed in ‘the Eternal City?’
Secondly, why was that spot chosen, and by whom?
Tony Blair and Jack Straw signing the EU Constitution in the same room in Rome as where the Treaty of Rome was signed.
A Revived Roman Empire
This author stood, almost a year ago, in the very room in which the Treaty of Rome was signed. It is now part of a museum. But what was there before? What was it built on? No-one before had joined together these particular spiritual dots. The resulting 3 minute 40 second video gives the answers: The European Union’s Pagan Foundation. (All links open in a new tab automatically.) It traces a link from Babel through Babylon and the Pergamos of Revelation 2:13 to ancient Rome.
But why was the Treaty of Rome signed in this particular spot? And make no mistake, it is a place with great significance to the European Union. In fact, the doomed Constitution was signed by European leaders at the very same place in 2004. To answer the question, It is only necessary to look at the intentions of the man who became known as the first Eurocrat. Paul-Henri Spaak, the EU’s architect, was convinced he was reviving the Roman Empire. This second video, The European Union’s Roman Empire, explains all. It’s just under 4 minutes.
The BBC’s David Willey attended the signing 60 years ago as a trainee for Reuters news agency
Sorry for not giving you the answers to the questions immediately within this post. That would have meant rehearsing everything in the videos or the article. Please click on those links, which open automatically in new tabs, to get all the information to inform your prayers.
Article 50 will be triggered next week, God willing. But we still need to remember it’s not over till it’s over. This author will be delighted to come to your church or fellowship to share insights into the European Union and help keep the prayer going.
Pray: Praise God for his mercy in taking the UK out of the EU’s revived Roman Empire. And as the leaders of the remaining 27 gather to celebrate 60 years of the Treaty of Rome, pray for an end to the EU’s ambitions. Pray the EU comes to an end peacefully.
He says the signatories, ‘were gathered at the very hub of the ancient world where, 2,500 years ago, six centuries before Christ, the foundations were laid of Rome’s first major temple, dedicated to Jupiter, king of the gods’. A Revived Roman Empire indeed.
Revelation 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Psalm 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
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Of course that will make the Abortion Act 1967, with its 24-week age-limit restriction, two doctors to sign that the pregnancy is imperilling a woman’s health, etc, irrelevant.
EMAIL YOUR MP
The Johnson Bill will go nowhere, but if MPs pass it, it will place pressure on the Government to introduce equivalent legislation.
That is why Christians are being urged to email their MPs right away. As in now.
We aren’t giving you a long-winded form letter or harvesting your email address for future promos. Use some of the arguments on this page, but keep it short and simple. The essential thing is to ask your MP to attend the debate on Monday and vote against the Bill.
ABORTION BILL IS LAST CHANCE?
What is behind such a move by the pro-death people? Basically, abortionists are running out of time themselves. This Bill could be their last chance.
Abortion Rights frantically describes the 1861 Act as: ‘legislation this old, … this out-of-step with clinical developments and the moral thinking of the modern world’. How old do they think the law against murder is?
Actually, it’s the abortionists out-of-step with today’s clinical developments and moral thinking. The science of embryology, ultra-sound, modern imaging, advances in what we know of foetal development now leave no possibility of denying the humanity and the sentient nature of a child in the womb. A heartbeat can be detected at 6 weeks gestation. Yes, that’s when yours started beating. Furthermore, it won’t stop till the day you die. Isn’t God amazing?
Morality too is shifting, convicted by the realisation that we are dealing with a real human being totally dependent on his mother for survival, but different and separate from her, with his own genetics, blood supply and blood group. We keep using the gender-inclusive ‘his’ but let’s remember 50% of babies in the womb are girls. Tell that to the feminists! Moreover, 100% of babies in the womb, if asked, would say they want to be born!
So a pre-born child is literally his mother’s dependent. And morally, we view dependency as that state of being worthy of protection.
FURTHER ARGUMENTS
You may wish to tell your MP that this Bill comes from a vested interest, abortion provider British Pregnancy Advisory Service. And their CEO, Anne Furedi, launching their campaign for decriminalisation said: ‘I want to be very, very clear and blunt… there should be no legal upper limit.’ Follow the money, as they say.
You could also say a YouGov poll showed 88% of UK women either want to keep the current law and time limit or restrict it further. Only 2% want an increase in the abortion time limit beyond 24 weeks, let alone birth.
Furthermore, the Royal College of Midwives has suffered a backlash supporting the BPAS campaign. Over 1,000 midwives have protested against the RCM’s position. If this Bill became law, midwives would leave the profession in droves.
The Bile is a book of life, but here are just three verses among many speaking to this subject:
Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
Psalm 106:37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, 38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
Psalm 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (KJV)
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The Premier League outfit, sometimes known as the ‘Red Devils’, have announced a new partnership with the LGBT activists. ManU is the first, and by God’s grace the last, UK football club to sell its soul to Stonewall.
Foolish managing director Richard Arnold said, ‘Manchester United always looks to be a leader in everything it does. We are proud to be the first sports club to sign up to TeamPride.’
Crucially, they are outside the top four who will qualify for first-rank European football in the Champions League next year.
Indeed, the club has a challenging run-in at this end of this season. They face Chelsea twice and travel to Arsenal, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur. They also face possible banana skins at home entertaining in-form Crystal Palace, Everton and Swansea. This was probably not the best time to bring the curse of gay pride down upon the club.
Stonewall able to promote sodomy through football
Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive of Stonewall
Stonewall already has government departments, the forces, big banks and major companies in thrall. However, to promote sodomy through a football club with its legions of young fans is an activist’s dream.
Stonewall’s chief executive Ruth Hunt said: ‘Manchester United’s support means we can reach millions of football fans both here and around the world, to encourage them to do their part in making all people feel welcome in sport.’
But men with a sexual interest in teenage boys will find they are still not as welcome as they would like to be. And they make up a significant part of the Stonewall constituency.
Sexual abuse scandal
A sexual abuse scandal involving young male victims began to emerge in November 2016. Allegations firstly centred on abuse of young players at Crewe Alexandra and Manchester City, from the clubs’ associations with one Barry Bennell. The homosexual was previously convicted of sexual abuse offences in the US and UK. Subsequent allegations included former Newcastle United youth coach George Ormond. He was imprisoned in 2002 for offences against young footballers in the area.
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is concerned about sexual abuse by coaches
Former Chelsea player Gary Johnson accused coach Eddie Heath of sexually abusing him. The Sun newspaper said he ‘worked as a football chief scout in the 1960s and 1970s and looked out for new young talent’. Of course he did. Allegations of abuse by coach Bob Higgins at Southampton and Peterborough were also made.
Manchester United has not been untouched by the scandal. Matthew Monaghan was signed by the club from Crewe Alexander. But the three years of sexual abuse he endured at the hands of Barry Bennell took its toll. Monaghan lasted only two months at Old Trafford as a professional, unable to cope with the crippling anxiety caused by the abuse.
Now Manchester United and England captain Wayne Rooney is encouraging any player who has been sexually abused during their careers to call a new, dedicated football helpline.
Rainbow Laces
Ruth Hunt went on: ‘It’s crucial for organisations like Manchester United to show they not only welcome LGBT people, but are active in leading the change. At the moment, many LGBT people want to take part in sport, either as players or fans, but the behaviour of a minority can make them feel unsafe, unwelcome or unable to be themselves.’
Leading what change, exactly? Turning the club into a recruiting ground for pederasts? There can be no doubt the club has many homosexual fans. Chelsea’s gay fans even have a little banner, but that club hasn’t been stupid enough to join up with Stonewall. What does ‘unable to be themselves’ mean? Use the club’s toilets for cottaging? Pick up boys in the car parks?
‘There’s so much work left to do to ensure that all LGBT people feel able to participate in sport’, concluded Miss Hunt. ‘We hope to see other clubs take Manchester United’s lead and join the Rainbow Laces campaign to make this a reality.’
Manchester United director accountant Richard Arnold will bear a huge responsibility
The ‘Rainbow Laces campaign’ is where players are browbeaten into putting multicoloured laces in their boots. Of course the reality is sport is awash with gays and lesbians. However, homosexual footballers, if there are any and if they were to ‘come out’, would face considerable opposition, and rightly so, as footballers are role models for young players.
Huge responsibility
Manchester United will bear a huge responsibility if through their actions an impressionable adolescent boy, going through a teenage phase, were to decide he was ‘gay’ because an authority body like ManU promoted that perversion. Some parents might even stop taking their children to the club if the see LGBT rubbish around.
It’s a sad day for football, and a worse one for Manchester United.
1Kings 14:24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Woman appears in court charged with raping a man twice
‘A British woman is to stand trial accused of raping a man.
‘Katie Brannen appeared in Newcastle Crown Court accused of two offences of rape after allegedly attacking the man in January in South Shields.
‘The 24-year-old, of Julian Avenue, Newcastle, spoke only to confirm her name during the hearing.
‘Barrister Gavin Doig indicated a not guilty plea and said he would be looking for a trial date.
‘An approximate four-day trial was listed for 4th December and a review hearing, which she must attend, was scheduled for 25th September.
‘Brannen was granted bail on the condition she must not try to contact the alleged victim and must live at an address on Green Lane in South Shields.’
Katie Brannen is actually Gavin
The wheels of justice grind exceeding slow in Newcastle. The alleged victim of this offence must wait nine months for the trial. But leave that aside.
This is actually not a case of a ‘woman raping a man’. ‘Katie’ Brannen is actually a man named Gavin. Moreover, he appeared at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court in April 2013. He racked up a £27 taxi bill from Newcastle. Brannen fled on arriving home in Laygate, South Shields. He was charged and convicted as Gavin Brannen. But he appeared in court dressed as a woman. The court heard on that occasion that he was going through gender reassignment and wanted to be known as Katie. In addition, his boyfriend, Cory Elstob, 20, also of Laygate, South Shields, failed to appear in court in relation to the same incident. Magistrates issued a warrant for his arrest.
The 22-year-old was back in court In August 2014, says the Shields Gazette. Once again he was accused of dodging a taxi fare. This time he appeared under the name of Katie Brannen. The court heard he dashed off at the end of another taxi ride from Sunderland to Frederick Street, South Shields. On the second occasion it was a £20 bill the transgender fare dodger tried to avoid.
Gender reassignment will not address mental issues
Firstly, Gavin Brannen has obvious mental, emotional and dare we say spiritual issues which gender reassignment will fail to address. How much more ethical it would be for doctors to address the underlying pathologies in those with gender dysphoria rather than to administer hormones and embark on surgical mutilation. In addition, his homosexuality appears to be another part of the problem. No doubt we shall find out in December more depressing detail about how the alleged rape was accomplished.
Secondly, memories of the emperor with no clothes come flooding back when our politically-correct press persist in referring to Brannen as ‘her’ and ‘she’. Er, Brannen is a bloke, guys. It’s actually easy to find that out. We took just two minutes. He may have gone back to falsify his birth certificate under the Gender Recognition Act 2004. But be assured it originally said ‘Gavin’. Those midwives did not get it wrong when they tied a blue ribbon around his ankle. He can take all the hormones he wants. Surgeons can cuts bits he was endowed with by his Creator right off. But he will always be genetically a man, despite all his protestations to the contrary.
Jenni Murray says ‘transwomen’ are ‘not real women’
Jenni Murray
Meanwhile, arch-feminist presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, Jenni Murray, has joined the fray. She wrote a piece on the subject in the Sunday Times.
Ms Murray took particular exception to a CofE minister who became a ‘trans-woman’, the late Rev Peter Stone. Jenni M recalls the conversation she had with ‘Carol’: ‘Her primary concerns, she told me, were finding the most suitable dress in which to meet her parishioners in her new persona and deciding if she should wear makeup or not.’
Her piece appeared under the heading: ‘Jenni Murray: Be trans, be proud – but don’t call yourself a ‘real woman’. Can someone who has lived as a man, with all the privilege that entails, really lay claim to womanhood? It takes more than a sex change and makeup.’
Frank Maloney as ‘Kellie’
‘I believe I’m a woman’
She was immediately jumped on by Stonewall. Next, boxing promoter Frank Maloney pitched in. Despite being a man, he says: ‘I see myself as a woman and I believe I’m a woman’. As one’s children would remark, ‘Whatever’.
He was ‘shocked by broadcaster Dame Jenni Murray’s suggestion that people who have undergone “sex change” operations from male to female are not “real women”.’ His South London friends would probably say ‘Oh mate, get over it!’ Or words to that effect.
Nigerian feminist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has also taken the Jenni Murray stance. She is opposed by a Nigerian man called Miss Sahhara. Apparently, feminists like Chimamanda are called TERF by the Miss Sahharas of this world. That stands for ‘Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist’. You wanted to know that.
Welcome again to the Post-Truth World
This is what happens when you cut a nation adrift from its Christian anchor point. Well, it’s not all that happens. For that see our publication Britain in Sin. It’s probably only the most contemporary part of what happens.
Welcome, once again, to the post-truth world.
Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
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Robert Stacey convicted Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell on Tuesday 28th February. He handed down £2016 worth of fines and costs each. He even refused a stay of execution pending their appeal.
But we have discovered the retired laboratory manager holds office in the Royal Arch Provincial Grand Chapter of Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.
The magistrate, 69 this month (March 2017), has also been a director of the Staple Hill Masonic Hall in Shrubbery Road, Downend, Bristol.
Provincial Grand Scribe Ezra
In fact, the man who could not pronounce ‘Catholicism’ is ‘Provincial Grand Scribe Ezra’. In court, Mr Stacey could barely read his own writing. Nevertheless, in January, ‘Grand Scribe Ezra’ managed to send out an invitation to the ‘Annual Convocation of Provincial Grand Chapter’. This will be held at The Crypt School, Podsmead Road, Gloucester GL2 5AE, on Saturday 6th May 2017, at 11.15am. ‘Companions are requested to be seated in the Chapter by 10.50am’, says the invitation.
‘Blue Lodge’ craft Mason apron. But inside the Lodge lies the occultist ‘Red’ Chapter
Royal Arch Freemasons love calling themselves by Biblical names. It is one way in which they invoke the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem. So one Paul Diggins is ‘Provincial Grand Haggai’ while Michael Lettey is ‘Provincial Grand Joshua’. You will often find a ‘Zerubbabel’ and a ‘Nehemiah’ as well.
Freemason syncretism
Despite the Biblical allusions, the exclusive claims of Jesus in the same Bible are anathema to Freemasonry. Although Masons have to believe in ‘a Supreme Being’, their ‘Great Architect of the Universe’ encompasses all deities. The Provincial Grand Lodge of Gloucestershire says on its ‘politics and religion’ page, ‘a Freemason is encouraged to do his duty first to his God (by whatever name he is known) through his faith and religious practice.’
The United Grand Lodge of England says: ‘Every Freemason embarks on his own journey of self-discovery when he enters the organisation’. On the first page of a downloadable PDF it says in capital letters: ‘Freemasonry does not discriminate on grounds of … religion’. No, but you must have one, any one. All are equally valid.
Royal Arch Apron and Sash
Royal Arch Freemasonry
It is well-known there are ‘degrees’ in Freemasonry. The first three degrees take a member up to ‘Master Mason’ in a masonic ‘Craft Lodge’. But beyond and inside the Lodge lies the Chapter, the ‘Royal Arch’, with a further four degrees: Mark Master, Past Master, Most Excellent Master, and Royal Arch Mason. Robert Stacey appears in the picture to be wearing Royal Arch Mason Regalia.
There are around 3,300 ‘Craft Masons’ in the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Lodges alone. It appears some 800 of them have been ‘exalted’ to the entry degree in the Royal Arch. Often the Lodge with its three ‘craft’ Masonic degrees is known as ‘Blue Lodge Masonry’ from its regalia. The Royal Arch is the ‘Red Lodge’ (although it is a ‘Chapter’ not a ‘Lodge’).
Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Royal Arch Banner
Mr Stacey as ‘Ezra’ is keen to help ‘craft masons’ ‘discover the “genuine secrets of a master mason” (and) the companionship of a Royal Arch Chapter’. In fact, he is at the front of an initiative ‘to make all master masons … aware of where the secrets can be found and to introduce the Royal Arch.’
The Bristol magistrate is no less than his Royal Arch Chapter’s recruiting sergeant.
In his book ‘The Brotherhood’, Stephen Knight laid a lot of Freemasonry bare. Of great significance is what happened when the two rival bands of freemasons, the Antients and the Moderns, united in 1813. They became the ‘United Grand Lodge of England’. Knight is quoted on a webpage as saying:
‘The Union’s acceptance of Royal Arch workings is of great importance~ for it completed in all essentials the structure of Freemasonry as it exists today. Just as the Moderns de-Christianised the movement, so with the acceptance of Royal Arch the Antients succeeded in introducing the undeniably occult – notably the invocation of the supposedly rediscovered long-lost name of God.’
‘Inside the Brotherhood’ was a follow-up to ‘The Brotherhood’
There was a follow-up to Knight’s book, ‘Inside the Brotherhood’ by Martin Short. It led to a call from the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee in 1997 for police officers, magistrates, judges and crown officers to publicly register their Masonic membership. Amid obstruction from the Freemasons, including from the United Grand Lodge of England, the initiative petered out.
Indeed, how many other local judges, police officers and prosecutors, not to say council officials and elected members, are ‘brothers’ of Stacey? How many are in the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire Lodge or even the corresponding Royal Arch Chapter? We have found and listed a few names here. If any are recognisable as men in public office please let us know. But there will be many others.
Occult name of God
The long-lost name of God in Masonry is supposed to be Jah-Bul-On. It is regarded as so sacred no Mason is allowed to utter it alone. Like all aspects of Royal Arch Freemasonry it is syncretistic, occult and ridiculous. Jah stands for the Hebrew name of God, ‘Bul’ for the Canaanite deities ‘Baal’, while ‘On’ refers to the Egyptian ‘Osiris’. Being absurd, of course, does not stop Royal Arch from being quintessentially evil. We read this interesting detail:
‘In 1989 it was announced that JAHBULON would soon be dropped from England’s Royal Arch Ritual. ‘Grand Scribe Ezra’ Higham denied this was in response to recent Christian condemnations. Journalists later visiting Freemason’s Hall overheard chortles that junking JAHBULON had invalidated the book “Inside the Brotherhood’ even before it was published. However on 4th March Clifford Longley (The Times religious affairs correspondent) wrote that by replacing JAHBULON with JHVH – meaning Jahweh, the Jew’s Holy Name for God -Masonry may be falling in “deeper waters than the Grand Lodge has yet realised… While to invoke a false God is idolatry, to invoke the Name of the True God falsely is blasphemy”.’
The Royal Arch ‘Triple Tau’ device seen in the Apron above. It is actually a T over an H; Templum Hieroslymoe – “The Temple of Jerusalem,”
Blasphemous invocation of God
A lot of Masonic ritual is now ‘out there’ on the web and has not been denied by Masons. For example: ‘The Royal Arch degree catechism asks, “Are you a Royal Arch Mason?” To which the reply is made, “I – AM – THAT – I – AM.”‘
It goes without saying that to invoke the name of God from Exodus 3:14 is the height of blasphemy:
Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.
Occult identification with Hiram
In another place, we read: ‘Fourth, continuing our tour of ritual, the third degree candidate plays the Masonic hero Hiram Abif (or Abiff) in a dramatic reenactment, wherein he identifies with Hiram in Hiram’s death, burial, and “raising.”‘ That is a complete rejection of the Lord Jesus. Every Christian identifies with Christ in his death, burial and resurrection. To invoke an employee of the king of Tyre who helped Solomon build the temple is a mockery. Furthermore, such a rite is deeply occult.
Freemason Square and Compasses. The compasses describe a circle, part of Freemasonry’s occult symbolism. The square indicates their obsession with building.
In fact, Masons have a special regard for Solomon, king Hiram and Hiram Abif, believing they possessed ancient secrets. Masonic documents show them to be obsessed by ‘secrets’ and believe they have some really important supernatural ones. As it happens, they describe themselves as ‘not a secret society but a society with secrets‘, as if that makes it better.
Incompatible with Christianity
Dr. D. R. Denman, an Anglican scholar, once himself a mason, shows how opposed Masonry is to Christianity. Everyone outside Masonry is held to be ‘in darkness’. But Jesus Christ said his followers are no longer in darkness, but in the light:
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Dr Denman wrote: “Christ and the Craft are fundamentally opposed to one another. Well I remember the wave of nausea as I stood an initiate outside the Masonic Lodge and heard myself referred to as a poor candidate in a state of darkness who by God’s help was seeking the light. God’s grace had already shone in my heart to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ: this I knew, and as I stood there listening to the first utterance of Masonic ritual I was aware of rampant evil.
“In vain, I sought for some acknowledgement of the Light of the World in the worship and ritual of the degrees that followed. There was nothing. The sense of blasphemy had become, by the middle of the Third Degree ceremony, so overwhelming that I was moved to protest and to leave the Temple, never to return.”
What is ‘the craft’ of masonry?
And what are those ‘secrets’? Freemason websites speak of their charitable work, of brotherly love, of moral improvement. They speak of their ‘Craft’. But they never say what the ‘Craft’ is that they are learning. It certainly isn’t stone-masonry. That may be the imagery, but Masonic lodges are not teaching their 1st Degree Apprentices how to cut a block of limestone or make a trefoil window out of it.
The Masonic Lodge of Education says: ‘Masonic education helps you attain a basic education in the craft.’ It states ‘much like King Solomon’s wisdom in biblical times of laying a strong foundation for his Temple (edifice); our full understanding of the Masonic Craft becomes necessary to fully embrace its rays of light.’ That sounds esoteric. The ‘Masonic Craft’ has clearly parted company with the building trade. But what has it become?
Occultism and New Age Mysticism?
The website admits: ‘your Lodge Library contains absolutely nothing really helpful with which to train a new brother to bring him up in the Craft.’ Which continues to beg the question: What is ‘the Craft’? No-one ever says. That may be because it is ‘secret’, and that itself is suspicious. Or it may be because it is occult, more to do with, dare we say it, witchcraft than construction. If not witchcraft, we are in the realm of arcane mysteries, with cross-over into New Age ‘revelation’.
It is always better to source from Masonic sites not those opposing it. One Grand Chapter site speaks of ‘ancient rituals’ and admits: ‘There is also an esoteric side of Ancient Craft Masonry’. It talks of symbols having ‘an exoteric meaning’ and ‘esoteric symbolism’. The site admits: ‘Some of the symbolism in Craft Masonry originates in the ancient mystery traditions of the world. Hermetism, Philosophy, Kabalistic, and Alchemical, for example, share many of the same symbols with Freemasonry.’
So Freemasonry encompasses (if the expression does not fall too awkwardly in the context of their well-known symbolism above) occultism, idolatry and blasphemy. Above all it denies Jesus Christ, the only one who can set them free.
Stacey should not have sat
Moreover, it was a Royal Arch Freemason, Robert James Stacey, ‘Grand Scribe Ezra,’ who made criminals of two Christian evangelists. He found them to be ‘abusive’ and ‘disorderly’. Their crime? To contend in public that only by the name of Jesus Christ could men be saved. Such a claim was a great personal challenge to him. Royal Arch Masonry claims itself to be the way, to have the truth and the light and to lead to abundant life.
Stacey should have recused himself over such a blatant conflict of interest. Ironically, a Christian District Judge, legally qualified, declined to hear the case for exactly that reason. But a Royal Arch Freemason, steeped in anti-Christian occultism, would be severely prejudiced against the Christian message. Christ confronts everything he believes in. It destroys all his ‘secrets’. How would he ever be capable of reaching an impartial verdict?
Two magistrates sat either side of him, Josephine Ramsden and Gerard McDermott. It is disappointing they went along with Stacey in the guilty verdicts despite the circumstances and clear case law presented.
A register of Freemasons in public life must surely now become compulsory.
The anti-transgender bus is currently impounded in Madrid
A bus with an anti-transgender message in Spanish has been banned from Barcelona and not allowed to move in Madrid.
And now a judge has supported Madrid’s capture of the bus, reports the BBC. Jose Juan Escalonilla said the bus could not move until the slogans, including “if you are born a man, you are a man”, were removed.
The story made Breitbart, after which the BBC and RT took it up. Secularists, of course, are incensed. RT’s story gives more detail and pictures some anti-Christian slogans photo-shopped onto the original bus image.
Crude cartoon
In fact the slogans go further than that. The bus was painted in response to an advertisement placed by ‘trans’ activists featuring a crude cartoon of two boys and two girls, all naked, in which one of each sex is pictured with the genitalia of the other. In a sop to normality, the ‘boy’ figures have short hair, the ‘girl’ ones long hair. The BBC link above reprints the cartoon.
It said: “Hay niñas con pene y niños con vulva. Así de sencillo”. ‘Hay’ is ‘there are’, ‘niñas’ is ‘girls’, ‘niños’ is ‘boys’ while ‘Así de sencillo’ means ‘It’s that simple’. You can work out the obvious words for genitals.
Anti-transgender response
But is it that simple? The bus disagreed: ‘Los niños tienen penes, las niñas tienen vulva, que no te engañen”. “Si naces hombre, eres hombre. Si eres mujer, seguirás siéndolo”.
To help you translate, ‘tienen’ is ‘they have’. ‘que no te engañen’ means ‘Don’t be fooled’. Breitbart helps us with the rest: ‘If you are born a man, you are a man. If you are a woman, you will still be one.’
The bus was impounded under municipal rules against outdoor advertising. The judge did not find the bus went as far as being a hate crime. However, he said the bus was an “act of contempt”. Moreover, it was meant to “injure” the dignity of people of a different sexual orientation, according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.
Furthermore, Señor Escalonilla said the bus may not move until the slogans are removed.
Make yourself heard
Ignacio Arsuaga
The bus belongs to a Catholic group, Hazte Oir, but it was funded anonymously. The group plans to take it on a nationwide tour of Spanish cities.
Ignacio Arsuaga, the president of Hazte Oir, which translates as “Make yourself heard”, argued the group had a right to protest against “laws of sexual indoctrination” and had the right to freedom of speech, says the BBC.
The group contend Madrid City Council’s “kidnap” of the bus was “clearly illegal”.
Mr Arsuaga claimed the slogan on the bus stated only “a fact of biology that is studied in schools”.
The Mayor of Barcelona said the controversial coach would not be welcome there. He wrote on Twitter: “In Barcelona there is no place for LGBT-phobic buses. We want our children to grow in freedom and without hatred.”
Of course, in the rarified atmosphere of gender identity, anti-transgender people speaking the truth have no defence against a charge of ‘hatred’.
Jackie Evancho struggled to find the bottom note in the Star Spangled Banner
Finally, at least to date, the girl who sang the US National Anthem at President Trump’s Inauguration has chipped in.
Just days ago, Mr Trump overturned Obama-era guidance allowing transgender students to use school ‘rest-rooms’ matching their gender identity. As a consequence, boys in frocks can no longer pop up in the girls’ toilets.
Here’s Jackie and her brotherAnd here they are again
In return, he might bring in a singing teacher to enlighten Miss Evancho on where to find a bottom A flat.
Take a stand
But seriously, as if singing within your range is not serious, we all, from the President down, need to take a stand.
We all need to say very clearly that no amount of hormone drugs and no grotesque surgical mutilation will ever stop a man being genetically a man and a woman remaining genetically a woman. After all, if you seriously and honestly believed you were Long John Silver, would you really expect doctors to cut off your leg and buy you a parrot? Medicine is given because someone is ill. Doctors should heal, not destroy. Of course ‘Trans’ people have issues, but they need help to accept their body at a psychological, emotional and dare we say spiritual level. Some may even need deliverance. But none needs the surgeon’s knife.
Welcome to the Post-Truth World
In the UK of course, the House of Commons started the rot in 2004. Regrettably, they passed the Gender Recognition Act in that fateful year. Under it, men and women can now go back and falsify their birth certificates.
As a result, Parliament legislated a lie. So welcome to the ‘post-truth’ world.
Pray for the truth to triumph. Pray for righteousness to prevail in a world parting company with reality. You could pray the bus is released and continues on its prophetic journey through Spain. Pray it wakes us all up and starts a movement. Above all, never forget always to refer to people by their God-given gender, never by their assumed one!
Psalm 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right; and all his works are done in truth.
John 18:37 Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
2Cor 6:7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left…
2Peter 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
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Stormont Parliament Building, seat of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly
Please pray for Northern Ireland and its people. They are going to the polls on Thursday 2nd March less than a year after the last election.
The Province elected a legislative assembly last May (2016). Sinn Fein pulled out of that in January. Martin McGuiness, Deputy First Minister, resigned, ostensibly over a botched energy scheme. Under the terms of the Agreement, Arlene Foster, the First Minister, could not continue. Elections were called and are taking place today.
Abortion in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is the only nation of the United Kingdom to which the Abortion Act 1967 does not extend. Nationalist MLAs (Sinn Fein and the SDLP) have constantly put forward motions to extend it to the Province, joined by the Alliance Party.
It is crucial that the largest unionist party retains enough seats to be able to exercise its veto. It needed thirty members to table a petition of concern in the last Assembly, which had 108 seats. However, the Assembly has been slimmed down to 90 seats for the latest poll. But the petition of concern threshold remains at 30.
Safeguard the ‘petition of concern’ veto
The Guardian says the DUP is expecting losses in the wake of the renewable heat incentive. Obviously, with a smaller assembly, every party except the tiniest will expect losses. But it is vital, at the very least, that the DUP retain enough seats to table a petition of concern and exercise the veto.
So please pray to the Lord as the people of Northern Ireland go the polls during this day. Pray they elect enough righteous men and women to thwart the devices of the enemy. Thank God the Province stands against the Abortion Act and against ‘gay marriage’. Pray that situation continues.
Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.
Michael Stockwell, Adrian Clark and Michael Overd in front of Bristol Magistrates Court
Bristol Court tramples on freedom of speech
A magistrates court in Bristol has convicted two Christian preachers charged with public order offences.
The case against two other men collapsed.
Justices of the Peace Mr Robert Stacey (Chairman), Mr Gerry McDermot and Mrs Josephine Ramsden gave judgment on Tuesday 28th February 2017. The justices rode roughshod over principles of freedom of speech set out in a catalogue of previous cases.
They imposed a fine and costs on each convicted totalling £2016.
The case arose over an outreach in Bristol city centre last July (2016). Four preachers were setting out the Gospel in front of John Wesley’s Chapel in Broadmead.
Out of the four, Don Karns had charges laid and then withdrawn. Having heard the prosecution case against Adrian Clark, their worships decided he had no case to answer. That left Michael Overd and Michael Stockwell who were found guilty today.
Public Order Act
The men were prosecuted under the Public Order Act 1986. This says, at Section 5:
‘(1) A person is guilty of an offence if he—
‘(a) uses threatening or abusive words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or
‘(b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening or abusive, ‘within the hearing or sight of a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress thereby.’
The Court saw a video of the whole event recorded by one of the defendants.
In the video Mr Overd described the crowd as ‘depraved’ because of their ignorance of God. He told them he had been like that himself. He said all mankind were liars and thieves, and he specifically included Mohammed and the Buddha in that. Allah was a false god, he said, and only Jesus Christ was the way to salvation. He denounced extra-marital sex and homosexual behaviour.
Crossed the line
Bristol Magistrates Court
But the Crown, said Mr Ian Jackson, prosecuting, held that these ‘crossed the line’.
Mr Stockwell told the crowd the ‘Thief comes to kill, steal and destroy’. ‘People were on their way to hell because of their failure to adopt the world view of Christianity’, said Mr Jackson.
The inclusion of homosexuality in a list containing thieves and drunkards also crossed the line into abuse.
But Michael Phillips, defending, told the court the list of sinners was in the Bible, at 1Cor 6:9-10. It was the same passage cited in the Appeal Court case of Alison Redmond-Bate, where important principles of free speech were laid down and her conviction set aside.
There, as in this case, said Mr Phillips, a hostile crowd gathered and the police were called to maintain order. There, as in this case, the preachers rather than the trouble-makers were wrongly arrested.
Witnesses gave false evidence
The prosecution brought four witnesses. Event Sales Manager Dimitri Lavallée, describing himself as a Buddhist, had called the police, by falsely telling them the preachers were making racist and homophobic statements. He saw no violence and heard no threats. He evidently did not like ‘peoples faith and lifestyle choices’ being criticised.
John Wesley’s Chapel in Broadmead, near where the brothers were preaching
Witness Ahsanul Khan said he was shopping and engaged the preachers about Islam and the authenticity of the Bible. He agreed he enjoyed the cut and thrust of debate. But he did not like the preachers ‘saying all of us were sinners’. They were ‘discriminating us’, he said.
Alexander Walker could not remember the substance of any remarks but said some in the crowd were ‘incensed’ by them.
Finally, Lindsay Tamsin Powell said she was in Bristol’s Broadmead saw a placard about Islam and heard the preachers say gay people ‘would burn in hell’. A preacher told a gay person he was ‘disgusting’, she said.
She stayed for about an hour, did not see any violence, but said she was ‘upset’. Ms Powell did not to see people ‘hated on’. She thought we should be ‘nice to each other’. The preachers ‘told a Muslim guy he would burn in hell’, she said.
Mr Phillips asked Lindsay Powell to identify which man in the dock said gays and Muslims would ‘burn in hell’. She pointed to Mr Stockwell. But it was never said, Mr Phillips told her. ‘Disgusting’ was never said either. There was no anti-Islam placard. Her testimony was false.
All the witnesses accepted they had stayed around and anyone was free to listen or to leave.
Provoking violence?
Mr Robert Stacey, speaking on behalf of the bench, said the case revolved around whether the individual behaviour of the two defendants crossed the line between freedom of speech and public disorder. He said the case law set the bar very high before the law should intervene. Speakers had to ‘move into the territory of provoking violence’, he said.
The court heard no evidence of any violence. But the bench held the mere fact some disorderly elements in the crowd became restless meant the preachers had provoked violence. Mr Stacey, who had some difficulty in reading what he had written and pronouncing long words like ‘Catholicism;, said the preachers were abusive and disorderly.
In addition, they were motivated by hostility to religious beliefs and therefore the offence was ‘aggravated’. This was despite the statute law saying religious aggravation only kicked in when hatred was directed at members of a religious group, not at their religious beliefs in isolation.
The case was proved ‘beyond all reasonable doubt’, added Mr Stacey.
Bristol case highlights uncertainty
Mr Phillips told Christian Voice there was an automatic right of appeal to the Crown Court to be heard by a circuit judge, far more learned in the law than lay magistrates. Moreover, it is almost certain the convictions will be quashed there. But in the meantime, Mr Overd and Mr Stockwell have this conviction hanging over them and other preachers – and the law – appear to be in a state of uncertainty.
It surely cannot stand, as Mr Overd reported, that some police forces maintain the right of preachers to freedom of speech while others arrest them. There should be much better guidance both to police forces in the United Kingdom and to the Crown Prosecution Service.
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Pressure to legalise abortion is growing world-wide, thanks to international funding led by financier George Soros, Christian Voice has discovered.
The billionaire is behind moves to repeal a pro-life constitutional amendment in the Republic of Ireland. He is almost certainly also involved with a Dutch abortion boat run by the ‘Women on Waves’ group.
A Guatemalan guard faces members of Women on Waves (Reuters)
Today, news broke that police in Guatemala have blocked a yacht offering abortion pills. Accordingly, Women on Waves, run by Dutch national Rebecca Gomperts, may not disembark the vessel. Police are also preventing anyone boarding. President Jimmy Morales deployed the army. A spokesman said it would defend “human life and the laws of our country” by preventing the group from carrying out abortions.
Reuters reports that the abortifacient dispensed ‘combines two medicines, mifepristone and misoprostol’. The news agency said: ‘It is more than 90 percent effective for women up to 10 weeks pregnant’.
The boat takes women out to international waters to administer the drug. It only docks in countries where abortion is illegal. But it is as much a publicity stunt as a ‘pro-choice’ facility.
Where does the money come from?
Women on Waves is coy about where the money comes from. Nevertheless, this document from a court dispute gives some details. It says Women on Waves ‘has received grants from organizations including the Global Fund for Women (United States), the Mondrian Foundation (Netherlands), and the Mama Cash Foundation (Netherlands)’.
The cabin of the Women on Waves yacht (Reuters)
To add to the mix, the Dutch humanist HIVOS group gave money towards a film about Women on Waves. Mama Cash, a source of money for anti-Christian projects worldwide, was also listed. The Soros Open Society says it provides joint funding with HIVOS. Where you find HIVOS you will usually find Soros. The world of antichrist funding groups is highly incestuous.
Meanwhile, abortionists are agitating in Ireland. The Republic passed the pro-life ‘Eighth Amendment’ of the Constitution of Ireland in 1983 by a two to one majority. The Amendment gives explicit recognition to the right to life of an unborn child. Accordingly, it effectively introduced a constitutional ban on abortion.
Strike4Repeal activists have similarities to previous Soros initiatives
But there is pressure to repeal the Amendment. Activists feel emboldened by the Republic’s vote to allow ‘gay marriage’ in 2015. They believe the times they are a-changing enough to secure a majority to scrap ‘the Eighth’. Nevertheless, there is hostility to them. Strangely enough, an LGBT group is among their opponents.
As part of the campaign, a group of girls who do not appear to have done much work are calling for a ‘strike of women.’No doubt the mainstream media will give ‘Strike4Repeal‘ huge publicity on 8th March 2017.
But who is funding Strike4Repeal? LifeSiteNews reports: Soros’ New York City-based Open Foundations document focuses on repealing the pro-life Eighth Amendment’. Consequently, he will give ‘heavy funding for the Abortion Rights Campaign, Amnesty International Ireland, and the Irish Family Planning Association. Above all, Soros intends they will “work collectively on a campaign to repeal Ireland’s (Eighth) constitutional amendment.”
Soros fingerprints
Billionaire financier George Soros
But does Strike4Repeal receive Soros money? Firstly, any group like that needs money to carry out its campaign. Secondly, there are parallels between the modus operandi of Strike4Repeal and previous Soros agitations. He funded Pussy Riot and Femen who adopt similar poses (albeit bare-breasted in the case of Femen) and shock tactics. He was behind protests against Donald Trump’s inauguration. Thirdly, a Soros’ foundations document says ‘legalization of same-sex “marriage” presents “valuable and timely opportunities to advance the (pro-abortion) campaign.”’ Fourthly, it just has Soros fingerprints all over it.
One thing we can be certain of. Pro-abortion movements, like pro-sodomy ngos, do not spring up in countries out of the blue. They are rarely indigenous. There is always money from external affluent western ‘philanthropists’ behind them. If it is not Soros it is Hivos, or Mama Cash. If not them, Ford Foundation or Gates Foundation step in. Or Carnegie. Or the Rockefeller or Tides Foundaton. Similarly, the Atlantic Philanthropies may contribute. Or the Gulbenkian Foundation.
Prayer points
Please pray at this time particularly for Guatemala and the Republic of Ireland to stand firm against the abortionist assault. The Bible says: Proverbs 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
We read that only Christ will bring in perfect government, but that does not mean earthly governments should not try to rule by God’s standards: Hebrews 1:8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
As to the antichrist NGOs, the Bible says: Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
The Bible says of king Ahaz: 2Chr 28:3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.
The passage is speaking about child sacrifice. Abortion is our modern version of it. Many nations including Great Britain are now polluted because of this shedding of innocent blood. Israel did the same, as the Psalmist declares: Psalm 106:38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. So pray also for repentance in those nations who have legalised this abomination, for the slaughter to stop.
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