The Conservatives are seriously thinking of asking Tornado pilots to bomb government facilities in Syria
The Conservatives are seriously thinking of asking Tornado pilots to bomb government facilities in Syria
The Conservatives are considering a manifesto pledge to hold a Commons vote to bomb government facilities in Syria, reports the Guardian.
The paper says the commitment would only take effect if there were another gas attack. But the fear is it would encourage ‘false flag’ events by rebel jihadist forces.
‘Assad must go’ hysteria
A lot will depend on how it is worded. It is possible a pledge could bind Tory MPs into voting for action, although candidates could well object to that. In 2013 just twenty-seven Tory rebels helped defeat a similar attempt by David Cameron. They included senior Conservatives David Davis, Dr Julian Lewis, Crispin Blunt and Fiona Bruce. The vote was held at the height of ‘regime change’ mania. ‘Assad must go’ hysteria was rife.
The UK is already engaged alongside American counterparts in military action in both Syria and Iraq against Islamic State. Striking against Syrian forces would encourage IS. It is a perplexing stance.
The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said last month the UK might launch such airstrikes without parliamentary approval if the US asked.
However, Mrs May would clearly prefer parliament’s backing. But if she secures a landslide majority Tory MPs could swing such a vote. Many new MPs would be eager to impress the leadership with their loyalty.
Peace breaking out in Syria?
Last month US president, Donald Trump, overturned an election pledge to stay out of the middle east. He allowed a strike against a Syrian airbase after an alleged use of chemical weapons against rebels at Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib. Both Syria and Russia have denied Syrian involvement and Western governments have blocked independent UN investigations.
The Conservatives are also claiming Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn would be weak on national security. Mr Corbyn’s mistake was to say the unsayable. He told Andrew Marr any use of nuclear weapons would be a world disaster. He also wants a political solution in Syria. We can’t peace breaking out, now can we?
Any UK action against Syria would bring the distinct possibility of conflict with Russia, President Assad’s ally. We could see UK planes shot down. With a belligerent warmonger like Michael Fallon in charge of defence, who knows where that might lead? The manifesto story is a disturbing escalation.
UK Government has learnt nothing
It also tells us that Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Michael Fallon have learnt nothing about the Middle East. The Iraq catastrophe featured a regime-change war. Tony Blair joined the US based on Saddam’s non-existent ‘weapons of mass destruction’. He forever poisoned the well of weapons intelligence. Not to be outdone, David Cameron launched airstrikes against the government of Libya. Gaddafi was butchered and Libya is now a wasteland.
In both cases jihadist forces were inevitably unleashed. The Iraq conflict led inexorably to the rise of Islamic State, as if Al Qaeda was not bad enough. In Iraq, the jihadists slaughtered and expelled local Christians with roots going back almost two thousand years.
If it had not been for the determination of President Assad, Syria’s Christians would have gone the same way at the hands of the jihadists supported by the UK Government. Meanwhile, no-one in the Foreign Office would have shed a tear.
Syria speaks to the Russian soul
On the Conservative Home website, Douglas Hansen-Luke says: ‘Neither we nor the Americans can honestly say that we can bring about regime change and guarantee a peaceful outcome in Syria.’ But the fear must be they don’t even care. Prising the Russians out of their Mediterranean bases in Syria might be goal enough.
We shall continue to thank God for the presence of the Russians in Syria. Without them, the UK could easily have sponsored a bloodbath. Moreover, by protecting all religious minorities and the Syrian Christians in particular, Bashar Al-Assad has spoken to the Russian soul. We need to appreciate that the Russian Orthodox Church and the Antiochian Church, the largest Syrian Christian denomination, are in communion. Both are also allied to the Greek Orthodox. Both strategically and spiritually the Russians will not be giving up on Syria and its President any time soon.
The Conservatives need to think long and hard before even considering expanding their failed Syrian adventure.
David Lord Howell of Guildford has urged the UK to recognise a State of Palestine
David Lord Howell of Guildford has urged the UK to recognise a State of Palestine
An influential House of Lords Committee has suggested the UK Government recognise a new State of Palestine.
The Lords International Relations Committee today published its report, ‘The Middle East: Time for New Realism’. It calls for a major re-shaping of UK policy in the Middle East. It also ‘questions some of the assumptions and attitudes which have underlain both UK and Western policies toward the region for more than a century’.
High-Flyer
The Rt Hon. the Lord Howell of Guildford is chairman of the Committee. David Arthur Russell Howell was educated at Eton and Kings College Cambridge, where he took a First in Economics. The high-flyer was elected MP for Guildford. He was a cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher. Later he was a Minister of State in the Foreign Office. His daughter, Frances, is married to the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Conservative MP George Osborne.
The Committee bought into the US Syrian chemical attack narrative. Consequently, it endorses ‘the military action of the US in Syria as justified and appropriate given Russia’s determination to block action at the UN Security Council, and the violation of the Syrian regime’s obligations under the Chemicals Weapons Convention.’
Nevertheless, Lord Howell has not slavishly followed the US lead. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to tear up President Obama’s deal with Iran. But the Report says, ‘The UK should work with Iran despite US policy to ensure the stability of the Iran nuclear deal.’ That would be a way of peace in a region needing stability.
Palestine State comments
But it is the comments on a political strike against Israel which have garnered most publicity. Coincidentally, the Report was published on Israel’s Independence Day, 2nd May.
Paragraph 270 of the report says: ‘The balance of power in the delivery of peace lies with Israel. If Israel continues to reduce the possibilities of a two-state solution, the UK should be ready to support UNSC (UN Security Council) resolutions condemning those actions (of settlements in Judea and Samaria) in no uncertain terms. The Government should give serious consideration to now recognising Palestine as a state, as the best way to show its determined attachment to the two-state solution.’
Where the borders of the State of Palestine would be the eighty-one-year-old peer does not specify. Nor does he say who should run it. The Hamas terrorists of Gaza and the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas are squabbling. The latter operates in the so-called ‘West Bank (Judea and Samaria). Abbas is trying to seize control of Gaza right at this moment, according to press reports. Hamas have responded, says the Times of Israel, by accusing Abbas of ‘crimes against humanity’
Palestine UN non-member observer status
A State of Palestine represented by the Palestinian Authority has been recognised by 136 out of 193 United Nations member states. Of course every Muslim state recognises it. Most of Eastern Europe, Asia, the Far East, Africa and South America also side with the PA. So do Russia, Iceland and Sweden.
In September 2011, Britain said it would recognise Palestine as a state, but only with non-member observer status, rather than full membership, at the United Nations. Such status was agreed.
On 29 November 2012, the UN General Assembly passed a motion changing Palestine’s “entity” status to “non-member observer state.” The vote was 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions.
Those voting against were Canada, Czech Republic, Israel, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Palau, Panama, United States. The United Kingdom was among the abstentions.
The recommendation in Lord Howell’s Report would move the UK to the side of opposing Israel. But Scripture shows that is not a good place to be.
Some Scripture on Israel
Jeremiah 31:35 Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
Zechariah 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. … 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
The triple-lock matters to pensioners - and there are almost twelve million of them.
Theresa May has stated Britain will leave the EU’s Single Market. But she could easily lose the General Election.
As the political parties write their general election manifestos, one of them faces a particular challenge.
The Conservatives might think they have an unassailable lead, but they could easily snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. And that would put Brexit in peril.
NHI for the Self-Employed
Firstly., they would dearly like their manifesto to give them fiscal carte blanche. Their previous manifesto promised no rise in VAT, income tax or national health insurance (NHI) contributions. That may have been foolish, but it’s why Chancellor Philip Hammond came unstuck in March.
His March 2017 budget proposed to increase NHI for the self-employed. The Guardian found at least 18 Tory MPs prepared to vote that down. Hammond and Mrs May retreated.
But this time, if they take out the pledge, every Tory candidate will be signed up to the change. It follows they will be unable to object. But they may not have the opportunity. According to National Statistics, there are now over four and a half million self-employed in the UK. The trend shows not sign of slowing down. ONS say: ‘The level of self-employment in the UK increased from 3.8 million in 2008 to 4.6 million in 2015.’
The pensioners’ ‘triple-lock’
The triple-lock matters to pensioners – and there are almost twelve million of them.
Secondly, the Conservatives would love to abolish the so-called ‘triple-lock’ with this general election. The coalition government began this scheme in 2010. It increases the state pension each year by inflation, the increase in average earnings or 2.5%, whichever is the highest. Maintaining the triple lock until at least 2020 was another David Cameron 2015 manifesto commitment.
Labour have already pledged to maintain the triple-lock. If the Tories take it away, they could alienate every one of the UK’s 11.8 million pensioners in one go. Nearly one million over-75s live in poverty, according to the BBC. At April 2014, the basic state pension was around £440 a year more than it would have been if it had been increased only in line with the increase in average earnings. So it matters to people. Almost 2 million pensioners may live in a household with a millionaire, but if self-interest or altruism kick in, Mrs May could be in trouble.
So that is twelve million pensioners and four-and-a-half million self-employed. Fifteen million is a huge voting block to alienate. There are just 44.7 million electors in the UK, according to ONS. You do the maths. The Tories stand to lose the votes of over a third of the electorate. And these are people who actually vote. Lose them and they lose the general election.
LibDem leader Tim Farron is chief of the ‘Remoaners’
The Brexit dimension
The LibDems want to remain in the EU, or at least in the Single Market and Customs Union, which amounts to the same thing. Their leader, Tim Farron, is also promising a second referendum.
Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer said today that his party would scrap Theresa May’s Brexit plans. Labour would unilaterally guarantee the rights of EU residents to stay before talks even start. Furthermore, he said the EU single market should be kept ‘on the table’.
Frankly, a general election yielding a Conservative majority is the only way of guaranteeing a full, proper, clean exit from the revived Roman Empire. Without putting trust in princes, Mrs May looks like she could achieve that. More EU jobs are dependent on the UK market than vice versa, but even World Trade Organisation tariffs are not actually that high across most sectors. Trade deals are good for trade, but companies manage to trade with foreign partners without them. There is no EU trade agreement with China, for example.
Pray for the General Election
Ben Gummer MP is writing the Conservative’s General election manifesto. If ever a man needed wisdom…
They may not realise that there is a massive spiritual battle going on over Brexit right now. Behind every material reality is a spiritual reality and we are aware of that.
Pray the Tories do not alienate voters by abandoning the NHI pledge and the triple-lock. The Chancellor will have to wait. The most vital matter today is Brexit. If the Conservatives mess up the election and put Brexit in jeopardy there will be massive public anger.
Easter Message
We also need to pray that Theresa May takes this opportunity to make good her Easter message. She clearly said people in public service should be able to share their faith without risk of losing their job. But they are losing their jobs. So dispel accusations of hypocrisy by making that a manifesto pledge.
She also said the UK should be standing up for Christians overseas. So stand up for the Christians of Syria, and support the Syrian Government which is their only protector. Stand up also for persecuted Christians in Pakistan, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, for example.
We should obviously like to see measures promised opposing the abortion industry and euthanasia. Reform of the family courts and the scandal of overbearing child protection is overdue. Crucially for the nation’s children, the Tory manifesto should stand against the fashionable transgender scam, especially in schools. That would cause outcry, but not fifteen million voters’ worth of outcry.
Finally, on foreign affairs, let us pray for a manifesto commitment of peace. Pray to have a Secretary of State for Defence, rather than – as we currently have – one for Provocation. Pray for a reset with Russia. Mrs May could pledge in this general election never again to destablise other nations. She could promise the UK will approach diplomacy with maturity. At the moment, Boris Johnson and Sir Michael Fallon seem like a couple of adolescent stags trying to prove their virility. The anti-Russia rhetoric is ludicrous and embarrassing.
Be sure every lobby group will be doing the same. Not the praying bit, obviously.
And do also pray for the other parties. On some matters, their general election manifestos could at the very least change the parameters of debate. Labour and UKIP could be better disposed towards peace, for example. There are plainly other issues attracting attention in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Wales to some extent. But if you live outside England, or even overseas, please spare some prayer time for the overall UK picture.
Deuteronomy 3:24 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?
1Samuel 12:23 Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: 24 Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.
1Thess 5:17 Pray without ceasing.
1Tim 2:1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
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.
Donald Trump waxed emotional about ‘beautiful babies’ but it was Ivanka Trump who started him off.
News has emerged that President Trump’s emotional line about ‘beautiful babies’ in Syria’s Khan Sheikhoun came about after pressure from his daughter Ivanka.
Ivanka urged her father to launch missiles into Syria last Thursday night, in blatant contradiction of his non-interventionist election stance.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was in Moscow yesterday trying to explain US foreign policy to Sergey Lavrov. He was possibly trying to understand it himself, after a series of U-turns.
Meanwhile, President Trump met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and reversed his election stance that NATO is obsolete. Not any more, not with the threat of terrorism around, Trump said, as if terrorism had just popped up since his inauguration. But despite the Moscow meeting, he said US relations with Russia are ‘at an all-time low’.
You probably agree with Mr Tillerson that ‘The world’s two foremost nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship.’ If you have the mind of God you are almost certainly praying for peace between them. And you probably recognise the threat to the US and UK is not Russia, but Sunni Muslim terrorism.
‘Russian Aggression’
But do not suppose everyone in power shares those sentiments. A vast majority of US Senators and Congressmen, both Republican and Democrat, think being on bad terms with Russia is just great. So does the mainstream media.
Rt Hon Philip Hammond is of the same mind. According to the Daily Express, the Chancellor told Sky News: ‘The British Government’s position has been, and will remain, to lead the way on arguing for a robust approach towards Russian aggression in Syria.’
Beautiful missiles
‘Russian aggression in Syria’? Is this serious grown-up political discourse? The Russian Federation has been invited in by the legitimate Syrian government. The Syrians have asked Russia for help to defeat Western&Saudi-sponsored jihadist terrorists together with Islamic State. If you want aggression in Syria, look no further than 59 American Tomahawk cruise missiles (beautiful missiles, so we hear) fired into Syria by the US last week.
Does Mr Hammond seriously believe the British people are so stupid, or so unable to get online, that he can persuade us of something which is palpably, demonstrably, blatantly untrue? He just brings himself in particular, and politicians in general, into ridicule and contempt. If it were not so serious, it would be laughable.
As it happens, Mr Hammond was defending his colleague and successor as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. The latter went to Monday’s G7 meeting boasting of his plans for new sanctions against Russia. In the event, he failed to persuade the other European leaders even to look at them.
Beautiful babies
But why are British and American Neo-Cons so desperate around the ‘Assad must go’ line? No, it isn’t concern about ‘beautiful babies’, as Donald Trump described them. The Emo (emotional) stuff does not extend to the four children killed by his Tomahawks of course. Nor to the Yemeni babies our ‘allies’ from Saudi Arabia are bombing in Yemen. Nor to the Iraqi babies the US has accidentally bombed in Mosul.
Iraqi babies are not so beautiful as Syrian ones. Especially when they are buried under tons of rubble from a US air-strike. And of course, President Trump doesn’t want the beautiful babies and their ‘helpless’ parents pitching up in America as refugees any time soon.
No, it’s not the alleged gas. That’s just more Emo. And quite possibly false flag. It isn’t that Assad ‘fires on his own people’. Our allies the Bahrainis use brutality against ‘their own people’. So do the Egyptians. And President Erdogan of Turkey.
As Luke Harding put it in the Guardian: ‘A few days earlier Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said it was necessary to accept “political reality” in Syria. Up to this point Trump had been a longstanding sceptic of US military action. Back in 2013 he tweeted that the president, Barack Obama, should refrain from intervening and “stay away and fix a broken US”. The “rebels”, he added, were “just as bad as the Syrian regime”.’
Then Trump was ‘got at’
But since 2013, in fact even since the 2016 campaign trail, Donald Trump is now President of the United States. He is trying to get legislation through Congress and political appointees confirmed. Day after day we have heard relentless allegations about contacts with Russian officials, as if these were a bad thing. There has been constant unsupported drivel about Russians hacking the Democrats. Republican Congressmen have been as bad as their Democrat counterparts with the anti-Russian rhetoric. If the public are punch drunk from it, imagine what it is like for the man in the middle.
It must be that constant pressure which finally brought the President to ditch all his pre-election pledges about keeping out of the Middle East, draining the swamp, etc, etc.
Ivanka, of course, is married to Trump advisor Jared Kushner. Kushner is a wealthy American real estate investor and developer. He has some business links to the swamp Trump vowed to drain. He started off in Goldman Sachs, and knows that bank’s Gary Cohn, who is now Trump’s economic advisor. His political contacts on the other hand appear limited. So although Ivanka may have been the catalyst for intervention, she could have pushing at an open door.
Because, just after the alleged gas attack, Senator John McCain was describing White House inaction as ‘disgraceful’. When it came to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s declaration that the Syrian people alone should determine who lead them, McCain described that as ‘one of the more incredible statements I’ve ever heard.’
Beautiful Chocolate Cake
BBC’s beautiful chocolate cake
So Ivanka’s missiles started flying. Yesterday President Trump revealed he told Chinese premier Xi Jinping about the missile strike over dessert. ‘And we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen,’ he told Maria Bartiromo of Fox Business. Full of himself, he went on: ‘So I said, we’ve just launched 59 missiles, heading to Iraq’.
An astonished Miss Baritromo corrected him: ‘Heading to Syria?’ Unabashed, Trump steamed on, ‘Yes, heading toward Syria. And I want you to know that.’ It was a masterclass in how a friendly interviewer can bring out more damaging information than a hostile one.
So now we know roughly how it came to pass that Trump allied himself with the warmongers. We do not yet know what drives the warmongers themselves. Why do they like tensions with Russia? Why must Assad go? We know it isn’t altruism or genuine concern about babies, however beautiful. Seek the Lord in prayer, as I shall, leave your comments below and I’ll try to draw it all together after the Easter break.
Scripture tells leaders not to ‘go with the flow’:
Exodus 23:2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
Leaders must be even-handed:
Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
Flip-flopping between policy is not commended:
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
But every ruler needs wise and God-fearing counsel:
Proverbs 25:5 Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
Indeed, if Trump carries on doing evil, seeking war, acting erratically, his position will fall:
Proverbe 16:12 It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness.
President Trump must never forget what brought him into the White House in the first place …
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
Prayer over Easter
Please pray into this whole situation. Lift up the world’s leaders, and your own in particular, in prayer. And look at this: This year, 2017, Easter Sunday is the same date in both Western and Eastern traditions. It does not often happen like that (list of dates).
It means our Orthodox brothers and sisters in Russia and Syria will be celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus this coming weekend, the same as us Western-calendar folk.
I cannot believe a coincidence like this is from nowhere. The Lord has given an opportunity for believers world-wide to lift up the name of the risen Lord on the same day, at such a crucial time as this. And during the Jewish Passover 10-day feast as well! How awesome is that?
Finally, here is a positive snippet for you. On Monday 10th April 2017, President Trump celebrated the start of the Jewish Passover at a Seder dinner in the White House. And who started that tradition? One Barack Obama!
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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Khalid Massod - turned to Islamic extremism after converting to Islam in Lewes prison in Sussex
Khalid Massod – turned to Islamic extremism after converting to Islam in Lewes prison in Sussex
The Government has launched an Islamic Extremism unit, ‘A specialist team of ‘counter-terrorism experts aimed at tackling extremism in prisons’, as the BBC put it.
The announcement comes in the wake of the Westminster terror attacks. But unless they dissuade prison inmates from converting to Islam in the first place, their efforts will have little effect.
The terrorist responsible for Wednesday’s Westminster murders converted to Islam in prison, from information now emerging. He was then radicalised.
Khalid Masood killed four innocent people on Westminster Bridge and around Parliament in London on 22nd March 2017. But he was born Adrian Elms and served time for a string of criminal offences before turning to Islam and becoming a terrorist.
Islamic Extremism books removal plan in August 2016
PC Keith Palmer was photographed with a tourist minutes before he was knifed by Khalid Masood
Last August (2016), the Justice Secretary announced that Islamic extremists would be put in ‘separate units’. The BBC report is in this link. Rt Hon Liz Truss MP also set out plans for the removal of extremist books from prison libraries. She also announced ‘stronger vetting’ of prison chaplains.
The report highlighted: * Muslim gang culture and the consequent violence, drug trafficking and criminality inspired or directed by these groups;
* Offenders advocating support for Daesh and threats against staff and other prisoners;
* Charismatic Islamic Extremism prisoners acting as self-styled ‘emirs’ and exerting a controlling and radicalising influence on the wider Muslim prison population;
* Aggressive encouragement of conversions to Islam;
* Unsupervised collective worship, sometimes at Friday Prayers including pressure on supervising staff to leave the prayer room;
It went to report on:
* Attempts by Islamic Extremism prisoners to engineer segregation by landing, by wing, or even by prison;
* Attempts to prevent staff searches by claiming dress is religious;
* Books and educational materials promoting extremist literature available in chaplaincy libraries or held by individual prisoners;
* Intimidation of prison Imams;
* Exploitation of staff fear of being labelled racist; and
* Abuse of rules preventing searches of communications between prisoners and lawyers.
Books problem identified in November 2015
Liz Truss MP – the Justice Secretary is responsible for protecting the public
But the Justice Department has failed in its primary God-given duty of protecting the public. The BBC reported in July 2016 that five books were regarded as ‘extremist’ by the Prison Service. But they remained in jails in England and Wales for seven months after a review called for their removal.
Ian Acheson’s inspection team first alerted the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to the presence of the books in November 2015. Mr Acheson then submitted his report in March 2016. Publication of his findings was successively delayed.
One or more of the texts promoting Islamic extremism had been found in chaplaincy rooms at nine of the 11 prisons visited by the review team. The BBC found the order to remove the books was only made on or after 20th June.
Mr Acheson gave evidence to the Commons Justice Committee on 13th July 2016. He said his investigation had found ‘numerous examples’ of books that were ‘extremist in nature in prison chaplaincies’.
Mr Acheson said they contained ‘sometimes sectarian, homophobic and incendiary information that was freely available to vulnerable prisoners in many prisons’. He said there was ‘no obvious control over it’.
Government complacency in April 2015
Chris Grayling MP – showed complacency as Justice Secretary
Moreover, two years ago, as the BBC reports, there was a warning that extremists were not properly monitored. The warning came from the former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office . Chris Phillips said staff shortages enabled them to recruit others. But the Justice Secretary of the time, Chris Grayling MP, rejected the claim. A ‘very careful watch’ was kept, he said.
Sounding just like Jim Hacker from ‘Yes Minister’, Mr Grayling said: ‘We will never be complacent about the issue’. Growing even more complacent, he added he had found ‘no evidence’ Mr Phillips’ claim was correct. He even went on to rubbish the credentials of the former detective chief inspector.
There are more than 12,000 Muslims in jails across England and Wales and official 2013 data showed more than 100 Muslims in jail for terrorism offences in Great Britain. We have not been able to find a more up-to-date report.
2010: Prisoners convert to Islam ‘for perks’
But back in 2010, Dame Anne Owers, former chief inspector of prisons, said prisoners were converting to Islam because of ‘perks’. More time out of their cell and better food during Ramadan if they become Muslim were among them.
The Daily Telegraph reported at the time on the reasons given by inmates for switching to Islam. These included the opportunity of ‘support and protection in a group with a powerful identity.’ ‘Perceptions of material advantages of identifying as Muslim’ were also cited. Still others were ‘attracted by the discipline, structure and comfort of the religion’. Interviewees stressed the cohesive nature of Islam compared with other religious faiths for converts and ‘group solidarity’.
Dame Anne Owers’ report, entitled Muslim Prisoners’ Experiences, could not rock the multi-cultural boat. It had to suggest Muslim prisoners are driven to Islamic extremism because they are treated as potential radicals while in jail. But it is understandable for prison officers to take such a view. She said, ‘There was very little comment from staff about Islam as a positive force’.
Converts ‘more vulnerable to Islamic extremism’
Dame Anne Owers – very establishment
Thirty percent of the Muslims she interviewed had been converted to Islam in prison. There was ‘an over-representation of black Muslim prisoners compared with black Muslims in the community’. Dame Anne went on: ‘This was reflected in our sample of converts of whom 65% (n=32) were black, 18% (n=9) white and 16% (n=8) of mixed heritage. None were (sic) Asian.’
Dame Anne voiced a particular concern about converts to Islam. The BBC reports her as citing internal research showing they are more vulnerable to Islamic extremism. But she also said suspicion of Muslim prisoners could fuel resentment and cause even more trouble. Of course, an establishment figure would say that.
The Government, she said, ‘sees the influence of Muslim chaplains explicitly as a key part of the strategy for minimising extremism in prisons’. Christian Voice believes the primary objective should be to prevent prisoners converting to Islam in the first place. Much more effort should be put into supporting Christian evangelism in prisons.
Christian evangelism reduces re-offending
Steve Rawlins leads Way4ward – working with ex-offenders
Many of the public do not realise that it is entirely possible to be a Muslim and a criminal. The historic view of the Charity Commission was ‘it is a good thing for a man to have a religion’. Well, not if it is the Mohammedan religion.
It is perfectly possible to run a prostitution ring, a drugs factory or a protection racket and be a good Muslim. Islam does not demand repentance. Its first requirement is to confess the Shahadah, a statement about Allah and Mohammed. Secondly, a Muslim performs the five-times-a-day prayer. He also pays the Zakah (poor-due), fasts during Ramadan and goes on the Hajj.
In contrast, faith in Jesus Christ involves repentance. The Christian faith involves a relationship with Jesus Christ, and a desire to live according to his ways.
The Way4ward Steering Group in Parliament to talk to members of the House of Lords.
The emphasis on turning away from sin is why studies show that Christian prison evangelism reduces re-offending. There should be massive Government support for Christian evangelistic outreach in prison. Possibly fears of Evangelical rejection of sexual sin put the Christian faith at odds with contemporary mores. But peoples’ lives are at stake here. If a prisoner chooses muscular Christianity over Islam it is not just his life which is changed. Innocent people will be protected from his criminality. Crucially, they could be saved from the consequences of Islamic extremism.
Government has a duty to protect its citizens from lawlessness. Ministries like the Prison Fellowship and Way4ward (part of Transformed) should be encouraged and supported by Government. Churches too could become more aware and supportive of these ministries.
Prisoners ‘coerced’
John Shelly’s interview with the BBC is worth a watch. Click on the BBC link opposite
The BBC quoted ex-prisoner John Shelly, who was inside for 15 years. He said prisoners were being ‘coerced into doing that by some of what you might call the more prominent Muslims that are inside for various offences.’
Shelly spent time in more than 40 jails including HMP Whitemoor, a prison with a large Muslim population. Last year, chief inspector of prisons Nick Hardwick said some of its inmates who had been convicted of terrorism offences were trying to influence and pressurise others.
Shelly was released from prison in 2015 after serving a 15-year sentence for armed robbery. He said prisoners would often “join the extremists” because they were promised protection. Worryingly, he claims to have seen prisoners plotting acts of terror as well as endorsing groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda.
Not enough staff
He said: ‘Extremism – it’s grown and grown by the day and they’ve found themselves in a situation where they can’t separate anyone because wherever they separate them to, they’re just mixing them with other people who have the same view and same sort of message.’
Mr Phillips said: “The answer is to get into the prisons and to make sure the most susceptible people are kept away from those that might turn those into extremists and, at this moment, we cannot even keep drugs out of prison, we can’t keep mobile phones out of prison, so clearly there is not enough staff to do that.”
Muslim former prisoner Hassan said he had been unfairly discriminated against. But interestingly, he went on to boast about the converts he had made: ‘I was inside for 14 years, and a lot of people became Muslim through me,’ he said. How many of those went on to be radicalised into Islamic extremism?
Converted in prison
All the evidence now points to Khalid Masood having converted to Islam in prison before becoming radicalised.
He was born Adrian Elms to 17-year-old Janet Elms in Kent. The Daily Telegraph reported Miss Elms married one Phillip Ajao in Sussex when Adrian was a small child. In a peculiar twist, Janet and Philip Ajao now live in a farm near Trelech in Carmarthenshire, just four miles from where this article is being written. There is much sympathy for Janet locally, estranged from her son and finding herself the centre of journalistic attention.
Masood/Elms had been jailed repeatedly for violent crime dating back to the 1980s, including grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and assault. He was never jailed for terrorism offences. In one report the Guardian claimed, ‘Police said Masood had been inspired by Islamic State’.
Former friend Lee Lawrence, who lives in Northiam, said: ‘It was while he was inside that Ade turned to Islam.’
‘He loved scaring people. He got off on being the hard man’ Mr Lawrence went to say Elms ‘wasn’t stupid’ and ‘was very articulate and intelligent’ But when he got angry ‘he would just snap and became a different person. It was terrifying. There was something inside his brain he just couldn’t control.’
Became a Muslim in Lewes prison in Sussex
Adrian Elms converted to Islam and became Khalid Masood in Lewes Prison in Sussex
Childhood friend Mark Ashdown told The Sun the man he knew as Adrian Elms announced his conversion to Islam after serving his first jail sentence in Lewes prison in Sussex. ‘When he first came out he told me he’d become a Muslim in prison and I thought he was joking.’
‘Then I saw he was quieter and much more serious. I gave him some cash-in-hand work for a few months as a labourer. He said he needed time to pray and read the Quran – something about finding inner peace.’
The Independent adds that Mr Ashdown said Masood still showed ‘flashes of the old Ade’, described as an ‘all round nice guy’ but they were few and far between. His friend had become violent and became increasingly ‘religious’.
It is unclear whether Massod/Elms’ radicalisation occurred during his imprisonment at Lewes Prison, Wayland Prison in Norfolk or Ford open prison in West Sussex. However, we also know Elms spent time teaching in Saudi Arabia.
The paper goes on: ‘Masood’s abrupt religious conversion will fuel concerns about the rising threat of criminals being brought under the influence of hardened jihadis while in prison – a pattern repeated time and again in Europe among Isis militants including those who carried out the Brussels and Paris attacks.’
Radicalised in prison
Islamic State hailed Masood as a “soldier of the Islamic State” in a claim of responsibility issued the following day. However, the extent of any involvement by the terrorist group remains unclear. The group has a history of grabbing the limelight in the wake of terror attacks.
Shashank Joshi, a senior research fellow at the security thinktank the Royal United Services Institute, said: ‘We have always known that it is exceptionally hard to understand who will become a terrorist. Masood is unusual in that only a minority become radicalised over the age of 30. His criminal record is unsurprising, as some studies show that a significant proportion of jihadists have had prior convictions.’
Mrs May, speaking in parliament early on Thursday, said Masood was ‘not part of the current intelligence picture’. She said: ‘Our working assumption is that the attacker was inspired by Islamist ideology’. The Guardian reported that MI5 has a list of some 3,000 British nationals ‘regarded as potentially capable of committing an act of domestic terrorism’. Massod/Elms was not among them.
What the Government can do against Islamic Extremism
There is a limit to what Government can do to prevent attacks like the one Masood carried out. But preventing prisoners from becoming Muslim in the first place is something they can do by segregation and the banning of extremist literature and books in foreign languages from prison libraries and chapels. Furthermore, they could even consider separating Muslim prisoners into separate jails. Christian evangelism should also be encouraged. Pray the safety of the public is not sacrificed on the altar of political correctness.
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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Diana Johnson’s Reproductive Health (Access to Terminations) Bill was passed by 172 votes to 142.
Even the title of the bill is deceptive. This is not about ‘Reproductive Health’, ante-natal clinics etc. It is not even about ‘access’ to ‘terminataions’, or abortions, to avoid the weasel word. The bill simply makes abortion, all abortion, fully legal. If Diana Johnson was honest, the bill would be called the ‘Decriminalisation of Abortion Bill.’
But 180 Conservative MPs were in the House and stood by as the most extreme pro-abortion bill in a generation passed its first Parliamentary hurdle.
Just thirteen minutes later these Tory faithful voted for the Government’s Brexit Timetable motion.
Those MPs, among them pro-life stalwarts, could have killed off Diana Johnson’s Bill at a stroke.
Among them was Commons Whip Guto Bebb. Mr Bebb wrote to a constituent, a Christian Voice member, to say the Bill was going nowhere anyway. The Government would never give it time and never allow it to pass. Another MP said ‘I generally avoid’ Ten Minute Rule Bills.
But the passing of the Johnson Bill has encouraged the abortion promoters in the House of Commons. It would have sent the pro-death advocates a strong signal had Mr Bebb and his colleagues simply gone through the ‘No’ lobby. Many on the Labour Front Bench voted ‘Aye’ to the Bill. Even Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell thought killing unborn children was in some way ‘socialist’
Meanwhile, 74 of the 92 Tory MP’s who are members of the Government stood by. They included Theresa May, David Davis, Boris Johnson, Priti Patel, Liz Truss and Justine Greening.
False arguments
A Ten Minute Rule Bill is proposed and then opposed. Each speech has a maximum length of ten minutes. There is no further debate. The opposing speech, in this case by Maria Caulfield, is followed by the vote. In the time available, Miss Caulfield was unable to speak about the humanity of the child in the womb, and how anachronistic abortion is in the light of modern medicine and imaging. Instead, she spent her time countering the false arguments of Miss Johnson.
For some reason, Diana Johnson’s speech reminded this author of a line from a song by Steven Stills: ‘Forty nine reasons all in a line, All of them good ones all of them lies’. Click here for the debate.
And the inaction of the 180 calls to mind that quote attributed to Edmund Burke: ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men should do nothing’.
Diana Johnson’s Bill is now scheduled for a Second Reading on Friday 24th March. The Bill is at the end of a long queue. It may get nowhere on that day, but those advocating the most extreme pro-abortion bill for a generation have had a significant boost to their campaign. Moreover, it was all because 180 Conservative MPs could not be bothered to oppose evil and walk through a lobby.
Scroll down for the Roll of Honour and the List of Shame!
These are the Conservative MPs who voted against the Johnson Bill as well as voting for the Brexit Timetable Motion 13 minutes later. If your MP is among them, please email your MP (Click Here) to express your gratitude and perhaps disappointment that not enough colleagues joined them. We have separated Government from Backbenchers:
Government
Dr Therese Coffey (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment)
rh Sir Michael Fallon (Secretary of State for Defence)
rh Dr Liam Fox (Secretary of State for International Trade and President of Board of Trade)
Robert Goodwill (Minister of State (Home Office) (Immigration))
rh Chris Grayling (Secretary of State for Transport)
rh Damian Green (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions)
r h Robert Halfon (Minister of State (Department of Education) (Apprenticeships etc)
rh Greg Hands (Minister of State (Department for International Trade))
Marcus Jones (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Communities)
Dr Phillip Lee (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice))
rh Mike Penning (Minister of State (Ministry of Defence))
Andrew Percy (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Communities )
Robert Syms (Lord Commissioner (HM Treasury) (Whip))
Ben Wallace (Minister of State (Home Office) (Security))
Rob Wilson (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Culture)
Conservative Backbenchers A – K
Adam Afriyie (Windsor)
Peter Aldous (Waveney)
Sir David Amess (Southend West)
Caroline Ansell (Eastbourne)
Richard Bacon (South Norfolk)
Sir Henry Bellingham (North West Norfolk)
Mr. Richard Benyon (Newbury)
Andrew Bingham (High Peak)
Bob Blackman (Harrow East)
Victoria Borwick (Kensington)
Sir Julian Brazier (Canterbury)
Andrew Bridgen (North West Leicestershire)
Ms Fiona Bruce (Congleton)
rh Sir Simon Burns (Chelmsford)
Conor Burns (Bournemouth West)
David Burrowes (Enfield Southgate)
Sir William Cash (Stone)
Maria Caulfield (Lewes)
Rehman Chishti (Gillingham & Rainham)
Christopher Chope (Christchurch)
Alberto Costa (South Leicestershire)
Dr James Davies (Vale of Clwyd)
Byron Davies (Gower)
Philip Davies (Shipley)
David T. C. Davies (Monmouth)
Chris Davies (Brecon & Radnorshire)
Michelle Donelan (Chippenham)
Mrs. Nadine Dorries (Mid Bedfordshire)
Steve Double (St Austell & Newquay)
Mrs Flick Drummond (Portsmouth South)
rh Iain Duncan Smith (Chingford & Woodford Green)
Charlie Elphicke (Dover)
Nigel Evans (Ribble Valley)
Suella Fernandes (Fareham)
rh Mark Field (Cities of London & Westminster)
Kevin Foster (Torbay)
rh Mark Francois (Rayleigh & Wickford)
Richard Fuller (Bedford)
Marcus Fysh (Yeovil)
John Glen (Salisbury)
Richard Graham (Gloucester)
James Gray (North Wiltshire)
Chris Green (Bolton West)
Luke Hall (Thornbury & Yate)
rh John Hayes (South Holland & the Deepings)
Gordon Henderson (Sittingbourne & Sheppey)
Simon Hoare (North Dorset)
Philip Hollobone (Kettering)
Adam Holloway (Gravesham)
Sir Gerald Howarth (Aldershot)
Nigel Huddleston (Mid Worcestershire)
Stewart Jackson (Peterborough)
Ranil Jayawardena (North East Hampshire)
Bernard Jenkin (Harwich & North Essex)
Caroline Johnson (Sleaford & North Hykeham)
Daniel Kawczynski (Shrewsbury & Atcham)
Seema Kennedy (South Ribble)
Julian Knight (Solihull)
rh Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire)
Conservative Backbenchers L – W
Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford)
Sir Edward Leigh (Gainsborough)
rh Sir Oliver Letwin (West Dorset)
rh Dr Julian Lewis (New Forest East)
Ian Liddell-Grainger (Bridgwater & West Somerset)
Jonathan Lord (Woking)
David Mackintosh (Northampton South)
Mrs Anne Main (St Albans)
Scott Mann (North Cornwall)
Mark Menzies (Fylde)
Stephen Metcalfe (South Basildon & East Thurrock)
Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills)
Mrs Sheryll Murray (South East Cornwall)
Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire)
Dr Matthew Offord (Hendon)
rh Owen Paterson (North Shropshire)
Mark Pawsey (Rugby)
rh Sir Eric Pickles (Brentwood & Ongar)
Victoria Prentis (Banbury)
Mark Prisk (Hertford & Stortford)
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin)
Tom Pursglove (Corby)
Jeremy Quin (Horsham)
Will Quince (Colchester)
RH John Redwood (Wokingham)
Jacob Rees-Mogg (North East Somerset)
Laurence Robertson (Tewkesbury)
Mary Robinson (Cheadle)
Andrew Rosindell (Romford)
Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire)
Henry Smith (Crawley)
rh Sir Nicholas Soames (Mid Sussex)
rh Dame Caroline Spelman (Meriden)
Gary Streeter (South West Devon)
rh Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West)
Derek Thomas (St Ives)
Maggie Throup (Erewash)
Justin Tomlinson (North Swindon)
Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset & North Poole)
Craig Tracey (North Warwickshire)
Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Berwick-upon-Tweed)
Andrew Turner (Isle of Wight)
Martin Vickers (Cleethorpes)
Charles Walker (Broxbourne)
David Warburton (Somerton & Frome)
Chris White (Warwick & Leamington)
rh John Whittingdale (Maldon)
Bill Wiggin (North Herefordshire)
William Wragg (Hazel Grove)
Other Parties’ Backbenchers
These are MPs of other parties who voted against the Johnson Bill irrespective of how they voted on the Brexit Timetable Motion 13 minutes later. If your MP is among them, please email your MP (Click Here) to express your gratitude. (The SNP decided en masse to vote neither for nor against Diana Johnson. That is because the 1861 Act does not apply to Scotland.)
Gregory Campbell (DUP, East Londonderry)
Ms Rosie Cooper (Lab, West Lancashire)
rh Nigel Dodds (DUP, Belfast North)
rh Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson (DUP, Lagan Valley)
Mark Durkan (SDLP, Foyle)
Robert Flello (Lab, Stoke-on-Trent South)
Mrs Mary Glindon (Lab, North Tyneside)
Lady Lady Hermon (UU, North Down)
Ms Helen Jones (Lab, Warrington North)
Mike Kane (LAB, Wythenshawe & Sale East)
Danny Kinahan (UUP, South Antrim)
Rachael Maskell (LAB, York Central)
Ian Paisley (DUP, North Antrim)
Dr. John Pugh (LD, Southport)
Ms Margaret Ritchie (SDLP, South Down)
Gavin Robinson (DUP, Belfast East)
Jim Shannon (DUP, Strangford)
David Simpson (DUP, Upper Bann)
Sammy Wilson (DUP, East Antrim)
List of Shame
These are the Conservative MPs who did not vote on the Johnson Bill but found time to vote for the Brexit Timetable Motion a mere 13 minutes later. If your MP is among them, please email your MP (Click Here) to express your disappointment. Again, we have separated Government from Backbenchers:
Government A – F
Ms Harriett Baldwin (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence))
Stephen Barclay (Lord Commissioner (HM Treasury) (Whip))
Gavin Barwell (Minister of State (Department for Communities and Local Govern)
Guto Bebb (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Wales Office) & Whip)
Ms Nicola Blackwood (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health))
rh Karen Bradley (Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport)
Steve Brine (Assistant Whip (HM Treasury))
rh James Brokenshire (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland)
Robert Buckland (Solicitor General (Attorney General’s Office))
rh Alun Cairns (Secretary of State for Wales)
rh Greg Clark (Secretary of State for Business)
Ms Tracey Crouch (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Culture)
rh David Davis (Secretary of State for Exiting European Union)
Ms Caroline Dinenage (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education))
Ms Jackie Doyle-Price (Assistant Whip (HM Treasury))
rh Sir Alan Duncan (Minister of State (Foreign and Commonwealth Office))
Philip Dunne (Minister of State (Department of Health))
Michael Ellis (Deputy Leader of House of Commons)
Ms Jane Ellison (Financial Secretary (HM Treasury))
Tobias Ellwood (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
George Eustice (Minister of State (Department for Environment)
rh David Evennett (Lord Commissioner (HM Treasury) (Whip))
Government G – L
Mark Garnier (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for International Trade)
rh David Gauke (Chief Secretary to Treasury)
rth Nick Gibb (Minister of State (Department for Education))
rh Justine Greening (Secretary of State for Education)
Andrew Griffiths (Lord Commissioner (HM Treasury) (Whip))
rh Ben Gummer (Paymaster General and Minister for Cabinet Office)
Sam Gyimah (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice))
rh Philip Hammond (Chancellor of Exchequer)
rh Matt Hancock (Minister of State (Department for Culture)
Richard Harrington (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions
rh Sir Oliver Heald (Minister of State (Ministry of Justice))
Chris Heaton-Harris (Assistant Whip (HM Treasury))
Damian Hinds (Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions))
Kris Hopkins (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Northern Ireland Office))
rh Jeremy Hunt (Secretary of State for Health)
Nick Hurd (Minister of State (Department for Business)
Ms Margot James (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business)
rh Sajid Javid (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government)
rh Boris Johnson (Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs)
Joseph Johnson (Minister of State (Department for Business & Dept of Education
rh David Jones (Minister of State (Department for Exiting European Union))
Andrew Jones (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport))
Simon Kirby (Economic Secretary (HM Treasury))
Mr. Mark Lancaster (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence))
rh Andrea Leadsom (Secretary of State for Environment)
rh Brandon Lewis (Minister of State (Home Office) (Policing and Fire Service))
rh David Lidington (Lord President of Council and Leader of House of Commons)
Government M – W
Paul Maynard (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport))
rh Sir Patrick McLoughlin (Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster)
rh Anne Milton (Treasurer of HM Household (Deputy Chief Whip)
Ms Penny Mordaunt (Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions))
David Mowat (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health))
rh David Mundell (Secretary of State for Scotland)
Ms Sarah Newton (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office))
Ms Caroline Nokes (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions
Jesse Norman (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business)
rh Priti Patel (Secretary of State for International Development)
Christopher Pincher (Assistant Whip (HM Treasury))
rh Amber Rudd (Home Secretary)
Alok Sharma (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign and Commonwealth Office))
Chris Skidmore (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Cabinet Office))
Julian Smith (Vice Chamberlain (HM Household) (Whip)
Mark Spencer (Assistant Whip (HM Treasury))
Rory Stewart (Minister of State (Department for International Development))
Mel Stride (Comptroller (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip)
Graham Stuart (Assistant Whip (HM Treasury))
Edward Timpson (Minister of State (Department for Education))
rh Elizabeth Truss (Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice)
Robin Walker (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Exiting European
Mr James Wharton (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for International Devel)
rh Gavin Williamson (Parliamentary Secretary to Treasury and Chief Whip)
rh Jeremy Wright (Attorney General)
Backbenchers A – K
Nigel Adams (Selby & Ainsty)
Lucy Allan (Telford)
Heidi Allen (South Cambridgeshire)
Stuart Andrew (Pudsey)
Edward Argar (Charnwood)
Steve Baker (Wycombe)
John Baron (Basildon & Billericay)
Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley)
James Berry (Kingston & Surbiton)
Jake Berry (Rossendale & Darwen)
Nick Boles (Grantham & Stamford)
Peter Bone (Wellingborough)
Graham Brady (Altrincham & Sale West)
rh Alistair Burt (North East Bedfordshire)
Neil Carmichael (Stroud)
James Cartlidge (South Suffolk)
Alex Chalk (Cheltenham)
Jo Churchill (Bury St Edmunds)
James Cleverly (Braintree)
Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds)
Damian Collins (Folkestone & Hythe)
Oliver Colvile (Plymouth Sutton & Devonport)
Robert Courts (Witney)
Geoffrey Cox (Torridge & West Devon)
rh Stephen Crabb (Preseli Pembrokeshire)
Mims Davies (Eastleigh)
Glyn Davies (Montgomeryshire)
Jonathan Djanogly (Huntingdon)
Oliver Dowden (Hertsmere)
Richard Drax (South Dorset)
Graham Evans (Weaver Vale)
Lucy Frazer (South East Cambridgeshire)
George Freeman (Mid Norfolk)
rh Sir Edward Garnier (Harborough)
Nusrat Ghani (Wealden)
rh Mrs Cheryl Gillan (Chesham & Amersham)
rh Michael Gove (Surrey Heath)
Mrs Helen Grant (Maidstone & The Weald)
rh Dominic Grieve (Beaconsfield)
Stephen Hammond (Wimbledon)
rh Mark Harper (Forest of Dean)
Ms Rebecca Harris (Castle Point)
Trudy Harrison (Copeland)
Simon Hart (Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire)
James Heappey (Wells)
Peter Heaton-Jones (North Devon)
rh Nick Herbert (Arundel & South Downs)
George Hollingbery (Meon Valley)
Kevin Hollinrake (Thirsk & Malton)
Ben Howlett (Bath)
Andrea Jenkyns (Morley & Outwood)
Gareth Johnson (Dartford)
Kwasi Kwarteng (Spelthorne)
Backbenchers L – Z
Ms Pauline Latham (Mid Derbyshire)
Ms Charlotte Leslie (Bristol North West)
Jack Lopresti (Filton & Bradley Stoke)
Ms Karen Lumley (Redditch)
Craig MacKinlay (South Thanet)
Alan Mak (Havant)
Kit Malthouse (North West Hampshire)
Dr Tania Mathias (Twickenham)
Karl McCartney (Lincoln)
Stephen McPartland (Stevenage)
Johnny Mercer (Plymouth Moor View)
Huw Merriman (Bexhill & Battle)
rh Mrs Maria Miller (Basingstoke)
Amanda Milling (Cannock Chase)
rh Nicky Morgan (Loughborough)
James Morris (Halesowen & Rowley Regis)
David Morris (Morecambe & Lunesdale)
Ms Anne Marie Morris (Newton Abbot)
Robert Neill (Bromley & Chislehurst)
David Nuttall (Bury North)
rh George Osborne (Tatton)
Neil Parish (Tiverton & Honiton)
John Penrose (Weston-Super-Mare)
Ms Claire Perry (Devizes)
Chris Philp (Croydon South)
Rebecca Pow (Taunton Deane)
Dominic Raab (Esher & Walton)
David Rutley (Macclesfield)
Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury)
rh Keith Simpson (Broadland)
Royston Smith (Southampton Itchen)
Miss Chloe Smith (Norwich North)
Amanda Solloway (Derby North)
Andrew Stephenson (Pendle)
John Stevenson (Carlisle)
Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South)
Bob Stewart (Beckenham)
Julian Sturdy (York Outer)
Rishi Sunak (Richmond Yorks)
rh Sir Hugo Swire (East Devon)
Kelly Tolhurst (Rochester & Strood)
David Tredinnick (Bosworth)
Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge & Malling)
rh Andrew Tyrie (Chichester)
rh Edward Vaizey (Wantage)
Shailesh Vara (North West Cambridgeshire)
rh Mrs Theresa Villiers (Chipping Barnet)
Helen Whately (Faversham & Mid Kent)
Craig Whittaker (Calder Valley)
Craig Williams (Cardiff North)
Dr Sarah Wollaston (Totnes)
Mike Wood (Dudley South)
Nadhim Zahawi (Stratford-on-Avon)
Deuteronomy 27:25 Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen.
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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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Joanna Roper: Appointment as ‘Special Envoy for Gender Equality' timed to mark International Women's Day
Joanna Roper: Appointment as ‘Special Envoy for Gender Equality’ timed for International Women’s Day
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has appointed its first ‘Special Envoy for Gender Equality’ to mark International Women’s Day (8th March 2017).
Joanna Roper will be in charge of spreading gender division and antagonism around the globe. The senior diplomat will be targeting developing countries in particular.
She will be tying UK foreign aid to whether nations bring in divisive women’s ‘empowerment programmes’. She will also be ‘working with ministers and departments across government, pulling together projects.’
Boris is ‘really enthusiastic’
Joanna Roper with ‘enthusiastic’ Boris Johnson
According to Rosamund Urwin, writing in the Evening Standard: ‘Roper describes her new job as a “mission” and keeps using the word “exciting” about the work. Is this, I ask, the Foreign Office promoting an explicitly feminist agenda? She nods. “The Foreign Secretary was clear that he wanted to have a foreign policy that delivered for women and girls and to have policy work that has gender woven through it.” Boris, she adds, is “really enthusiastic — it’s something he takes seriously”.’
What about places like Saudi Arabia, Urwin asked. ‘How do you take a feminist agenda to a country that doesn’t believe women are equal?’ ‘It’s about trying to understand where you can start the conversation, understanding what will work,’ replied Ms Roper. It might also be about knowing when to stop the conversation, perhaps when they start to brandish their scimitars.
Joanna Roper is an insider’s insider
Joanna Roper graduated from the London University School of Oriental and African Studies with a master’s degree in Japanese Studies. She went on to the London School of Economics. The FCO mandarin even took a summer school on contemporary Chinese politics and society at Beijing University three years ago.
She started her career in the Home Office and joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2001. The job she is leaving is Acting Director General for the Department for International Trade at the British Embassy in Beijing. Prior to that, Joanna was Director for Consular Services in the FCO overseeing 700 staff helping British nationals in difficulty overseas.
Film, theatre and opera
She was been head of the FCO’s China Department and has served in Tokyo and in Islamabad. She also spent ‘a number of years’ working on national security issues back in London.
Joanna is highly supportive of a ‘Women’s Day’ and is Chair of the FCO Women’s Association. Apparently, the highlight of that position was interviewing former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The American warmonger is one of Joanna’s heroines. Her eyes ‘shine with excitement’ when she talks about her. Joanna Roper was awarded a CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George – an FCO gong) in the June 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Joanna enjoys travelling, outdoor pursuits, film, theatre and opera. Especially from the most expensive seats.
Roper’s husband: Charterhouse and Trinity
The man who helped destroy Syria: Joanna Roper’s husband Thomas Drew CMG
Joanna Roper’s husband, Thomas Drew CMG, is Britain’s High Commissioner in Pakistan. Of course he is. Drew attended expensive Charterhouse and then Trinity College, Oxford where he read Classics. Well, yes. He ‘came down’ from Oxford in 1993 and was quickly in the Foreign Office, rising to First Secretary in Moscow.
In 2002 Drew was found heading the UK’s unit on the European Constitution Treaty, which Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Tony Blair signed in 2004. After the Treaty failed he continued in the Foreign Office’s ‘EU Enlargement group’ until 2006. He directed Security and Counter-Terrorism at the Home Office then at the Foreign Office from 2008 to 2012.
Drew has been a Visiting Fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, whose name says it all. Naturally, it believes migration ‘generates significant economic benefits’.
Drew responsible for destroying Syria
He was Principal Private Secretary to Foreign Secretary William Hague from 2012 to 2014. In that post, Thomas Drew helped draw up the ‘Assad must go’ mantra and set in motion the devastation the UK caused in Syria by supporting the insurgency and the jihadist rebels. If you want to know why two hundred thousand Syrians have died, why businesses there have been ruined, property devastated, the Syrian Church all but destroyed and why Syrian refugees and migrants are flooding Europe, part of the answer is ‘Thomas Drew’.
Of course, one is awarded a CMG for all that, in 2015, ‘for services to British foreign policy interests.’ And now Drew is our man in Islamabad. Don’t worry, he’ll be ‘Sir Thomas’ before you can blink.
A place in hell
Joanna Roper says she is a great believer in the Madeleine Albright aphorism; ‘there is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women’. ‘Women supporting women is vital,’ she cooes.
Warmonger and Ms Roper’s feminist idol- Madeleine Albright of ‘special place in hell’ fame
Perhaps that place in hell is next to the one for those who spread division between women and men? Does it adjoin that place in hell for those who destroy people’s lives and homes and businesses for imaginary ‘British foreign policy interests’?
Make no mistake, at its very heart feminism – and International Women’s Day – is divisive. It whips up a feeling that women are disadvantaged in society compared to men. An opposite case could and has been made, but that still is not the point.
The point is that seeking things to moan about regarding the opposite sex is destructive of human relations. The great fault of feminism is its failure to see men and women as partners in a familial or social enterprise, let alone acknowledge the Biblical understanding of woman as an appropriate and dynamic help for her man.
The Bible records God saying: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a help, meet – or appropriate – for him’ (Genesis 2:18). God there sets out a pattern for societal stability and economic progress.
Such a partnership, let alone the male headship it implies, has no place in feminism.
Women’s Day depends on conflict and whingeing
Feminists believe there is a cake of a certain size and women are constantly fighting men for their proper share of it. Borrowing the Marxist dialectic of continual change and struggle, feminists must always find some new grievance. Feminism depends on conflict and whingeing.
The ‘Walk in her shoes’ programme supported by Annie Lennox complained that women and girls are the ones walking miles for water. The subtext was their men are swanning around taking it easy. But they aren’t. They are out in the fields cultivating and harvesting, or building, or fixing something. Those women don’t need a women’s empowerment programme. They need boreholes in the village.
It is divisive not to say a complete lie to claim: ‘Women and girls worldwide bear the brunt of the burden of poverty’ as Miss Lennox did. That burden falls on a whole society. In real life men and women are in it together, drawing on their God-given roles to make the world, or at least their little bit of it, a better place. They allocate the jobs according to what has always worked best, not according to some ideological grid.
Sees moral inferiors in the developing world
Here we have the repellent spectacle of a well-heeled, pushy, elitist white upper-middle-class woman pontificating to those she sees as her moral inferiors in the developing world.
Let us pray that rich, posh westerners in Governments and NGO’s would stop trying to set women and men everywhere in the world at each other’s throats. And doing it with our money.
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. Genesis 5:2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. Isaiah 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths. 1Corinthians 11:12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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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.
