Khristós Anésti!

Have you wondered what Easter means to most people today?

If you 'Google' "Easter" [images] the result will be displayed as above. Chocolate eggs and bunnies with a very small percentage of Christian imagery. Not unlike the 'bright'idea of the Bishop of Oxford who wants headteachers of Church of England schools to allocate no more than 10% of places in their schools to practising Anglicans. - That should help the CofE's apparent drive to reduce the numbers attending church, or perhaps bishops do not realise how many people simply use the Church of England as an end for educating their children.

I am not the greatest fan of faith schools (witness Northern Ireland) but what is the matter with Christian leaders today when they do more to succour the faith of others than protect their own? From previous reports the main beneficiary of the bishop's open door policy would be Islam. The Times Online reported in 2009 that in some CofE schools 100% of the pupils were Muslim and that in many church primary schools in English cities more than half of the pupils were Muslim. In at least a dozen such schools more than 80 per cent were from Islamic homes. Back in 2008 Catholic church leaderssuggested that Muslim prayer rooms should be opened in every Roman Catholic school. To facilitate prayer, schools would need to install bidets, foot spas and hoses to permit extensive cleansing rituals. I do not recall reading of any reciprocal arrangements but perhaps that is just as well.

The Islamisation of cities continues with ever more mosques being built and cultural jihad used to normalise Islamic dress and forcehalal products on unsuspecting non-Muslims. The last time I queried whether meat in a supermarket was halal, the butcher replied that 'halal' was only a blessing! I do not know if he made up his response or if it was company policy to deflect criticism and protect their profits but it helps to hide the fact that Islam is a supremacist ideology totally alien to Christianity.

I understand Bishop Pritchard's motives when he says that the church's mission should not be about "collecting nice Christians into safe places" but we don't need to go from  New Anglicanism's 'anything goes' to 'everything goes'. If we must have faith schools, the very least we should do is protect our own faith.Please readthis link.

True we are commanded to 'love one another' and 'turn the other cheek' but giving credence to a faith that denies the Incarnation and opposes Christianity can only hasten its demise. Bishops above all must not be ashamed to"confess the faith of Christ crucified, and manfully to fight under His banner against sin, the world, and the devil; and to continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end."

Religious and political leaders must stop doing everything possible to accommodate a politico-religious system that would see the end of Christianity. Christ died to set us free, not so that His servants can return us to bondage.

Khristós Anésti!

Happy Easter!

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The dilemma of the Horn

From arms to famine.

International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell has described the response of other countries to the African famine crises as "derisory" but the scale of the problem is enormous and not limited to feeding the hungry.

Islamists in Somalia have agreed to lift restrictions to allow aid to get through but doubts inevitably remain leading to a crisis in charitable giving. With 57% of people believing overseas aid is wasted and stories of corruption with aid diverted or even used against our interests here and here the temptation to ignore requests to donate, eg, to DEC is becoming a problem.

Despite the harrowing pictures it must be right to question a strategy that saves people in a time of crisis only to let them live a life of misery, often mercifully short. Misrule, the problem ofpiracy, and the threat of militant Islamic expansion all need to be addressed to restore public confidence that their charity is not misused or abused.

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9/11 Shame

One of the images not published in the BBC's gallery ofpictures illustrating events to mark the 10th Anniversary of 9/11 has been published in the Independent.ie showing Islamic extremists shattering the remembrance silence and burning the American flag.

We remember them all , the dozens of innocent Muslims, Christians and people of faith and no faith, murdered by Islamic extremists. Yet they still complain endlessly aboutIslamophobia!

Postscript

I receive daily alerts about supposed examples of 'Islamophobia'. The fifth today was a welcome change. You can read it here in the context of 9/11.

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Burning issues

Watching books burn is an unpleasant experience for those old enough to recall newsreel footage of Nazi excesses. With e-books and Library deposits the notion of denying or limiting knowledge to others is a thing of the past in the free world. Now the act is more a gesture of principle or defiance as dangerously demonstrated by the obscure US pastor who caused worldwide uproar by threatening to burn copies of the Koran and encouraging others to do likewise.

Just the suggestion had Islamic people on the streets waving placards and threatening violence particularly against against US troops. There is an odd contradiction here. The pastor had the freedom to exercise free will in a free country but was shackled by public opinion and political pressure. Islamists on the other hand have no qualms about desecrating non-Islamic religious symbols or even killing people just for being Christians.

As we celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain we remember those who fought and died in the war against tyranny. Today we face a different tyranny, the threat to freedom of expression. Islamic fundamentalists are succeeding in muzzling everyone but themselves. The slightest hint of criticism is regarded as abuse yet Islamic abuse is rife, particularly in Iran. If as claimed, Islam is a religion of peace, protestors could demonstrate that forcibly by taking up the cause of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, sentenced to death by stoning, or is a book, however sacred, more precious than a life?

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Double standards

Following yesterday's sexual exploitation story, there has been a revealing interview with a former Home Secretary, Jack Straw, who described how vulnerable white girls are regarded as "easy meat" while Muslim women are out of bounds. Similar double standards were evident when the bodyguard arrested for the killing of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer was showered with rose petals by lawyers. Demonstrators in Pakistan had earlier accused Christians and Jews of double standards by suggesting that they respect our prophets while we do not respect theirs. What respect is there for Jesus of Nazareth who healed the sick, proclaimed "love thy neighbour" and said, "Suffer little children to come unto me"? He brought life not death but for some Islamists death is not good enough. Be warned, unless you are a hardened Muslim fanatic the suffering here should make you weep yet to raise a voice against alien beliefs is regarded as racist. This problem must be confronted. It is too late for excuses. Judging by events in Pakistan, if the sexual predators had been subject to Sharia law, what justice would there have been?

Postscript

Further evidence as come to light here and here.

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Mixed messages from No 10 on issues of faith

Photo: EPA

Yesterday in his statement to the Commons on the Algerian crisis, the Prime Minister referred to the threat of Islamist terrorism inspired by an ideology that is an 'extreme distortion of the Islamic faith' which holds that mass murder is not only acceptable but necessary in an attempt to divide the world into a clash of civilizations. Convinced that democratic principles are the answer to Islamic ideology, previous attempts to impose Western democratic principles including the West's backing of the Arab Spring have backfired for Christians in Islamic countries. AsMetropolitan Hilarion put it [see previous entry under 'Media Ignores Religious Persecution']: "In Iraq only one tenth of a million-and-a-half Christians that lived there ten years ago have survived. In Egypt we are witnessing a mass exodus of Christians. There are practically no Christians left in Libya. Ninety five percent of Christians have abandoned Homs in Syria."

Alexandria was one of the earliest centres of Christianity. In Egypt today Christians are persecuted simply for being Christian, not by terrorists but by followers of Islam, as they are around the world. So why do politicians continue to peddle the myth that Islam is a religion of peace? Tony Blair struggled to answer when he was asked in an interview what he knew about Islam [advance to position 39.00 but preferably watch the whole video]. I suspect Dave would fall into the same trap if he were asked.  As Coptic priest Fr Zakaria Boutros explains here, it is a mistake to compare Muslims with Jews and Christians, it is what the religion is based on, or, in the case of Islam, the ideology that matters.

Bishop Nazir-Ali came to Britain from Pakistan in the 1980s because his life was in danger.  In a statement to the European Court of Human Rights last year he argued that laws originally designed to protect basic freedoms are instead being used to strip British society of its Christian foundations while upholding the rights of minorities. He said: “The Christian faith and our Judeo Christian values are the cornerstone of our freedoms, prosperity and liberty in Europe” and warned that Christianity is now under threat from a “human rights agenda” which he argued is denying Christians their rights while upholding those of others. The result of the case here.

While the 'Islamic faith' is talked up, Christianity is constantly talked down and adherents put under pressure; exampleshere and here. In evidence to the European Court the UK Government had argued that wearing a cross is not an essential tenet of Christianity so it was not a breach of human rights to refuse permission to wear a cross; a helpful technicality! Youth organisations are not exempt from being targeted by secularists even if the organisation was founded on Christian principles such as the Scouts and the Guides. The Air Cadets is the latest organisation to drop God from their promise leaving a spiritual vacuum which others will not hesitate to fill to their own advantage whenever the opportunity presents itself. A good example of exploitationhere.

So what is the Government doing to protect our Christian heritage and values? Well they will not force churches to perform same-sex marriages, that can be left to the European courts. Currently they are rushing through legislation that has not been properly thought through to change the law of succession - but not to the satisfaction of one Labour MP who is gathering support for an amendment that will 'extend the protection' to include the eventuality that the child is gay or lesbian. If by then we are a Muslim nation the heir is, in that event, more likely to be hanging from a crane than sat on the throne.

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The unacceptable face of Islam

Above is the face of an Islamist, Mohamed-Merah. Below are the faces of the Rabbi and little children he murdered in cold blood simply for being Jews.

He had alreadyassassinated four French soldiers in France, his countrymen, for what he regarded as a higher ideal.

Shot dead as he tried to escape after admitting his guilt, no doubt he regarded himself as a martyr for the Islamic cause of world domination as he prepared to be met in paradise by his allocation of virgins.

Perhaps KenLivingstone will regard this episode as unfortunate timing coming after his grubbing around for votes in his campaign to be elected as Mayor of London. He can pick out any sermon or quotation to suit his case, as do many others who tell us about the so called religion of peace, but what does it say about a system that encourages such outrages when the majority can appear outwardly passive?

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Today Maerdy, tomorrow Cardiff? The Church in Wales is unravelling but the bishops are safe

Dwindling congregations and huge repair bills dictate the economics of many a sad tale but the congregation of the aptly named All Saints decided to fight and won what they thought was a concession. They could buy the building for £1,000 instead of the asking price of £25,000 (with an estimated repair bill of £400,000). There was a note of irony in the Archbishop's comment that the Church in Wales would sell the building at that price provided it was kept as a place of worship.

Somewhat closer to upmarket Llandaff, but in a less well-heeled suburb at the other end of Cardiff, another church with a substatial repair bill is on the market while the congregation worship in the church hall next door. No doubt the building, like many others, will be maintained as a place of worship but probablynot Christian worship as the artist's impression illustrates, a situation which sums up the shape of things to come in the multi-faith society favoured by the Archbishop despite the constant oppression of Christians around the world, mainly by Islamists.

Meanwhile back in Llandaff, the Dean has returned to the hills on retirement, leaving the Cathedral in the hands of the Archbishop who has somewhat dubiously appointed himself acting Dean on the unlikely grounds  that there really hasn't been that much for Mr Dean to do or, more likely, that he needs time to canvass people abroad because, as demonstrated with two previous senior appointments, there is no-one in Wales thought up to the job. It is odd though that the Archbishop can find time to be Archbishop, Dean and, presumably, Vicar since he needed an Ass Bishop to help him run the diocese owing to his busy (political) schedule as Archbishop, not that the Ass can be much help as I hear that only sycophantic liberals with a feminist bent and a taste for stories about his time in York are prepared to let him anywhere near their church. But this is the shape of things to come in Wales. Mismanagement on a colossal scale has seen congregations dwindle and churches close while those remaining are pressed to give more and more to maintain a top-heavy institution. Nevertheless, the Bench of Bishops and their successors are assured of a future in the Church in WalesReview which recommends that in spite of everything, seven bishops should remain - no doubt to achieve the cherished liberal objective of seeing women in purple regardless of the cost. At least they will have each other to minister to!

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Rule Britannia!

At last Abu Hamza is to stand before a judge in the USA to defend his record of hate after years of looking on by the law in this country, the tax-payer paying for his keep and our courts protecting his rights.

An article here written when John Reid was Home Secretary puts into perspective the duduk perkara of radical Islam in Britain but many still find it bizarre that while the most radical Islamists appear able to preach hate at will, Christians at work in their own country are not allowed to wear a symbol of love and forgiveness.

Rule Britannia!

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Wars of the world

Battle of Vienna on 12 September 1683

From the Guardian: The terrifying rise of Isis: $2bn in loot, online killings and an army on the run

They're too extreme for al-Qaida, they boast of their brutality and they have forced the Iraqi government on to the defensive. How did the insurgent group rise to such terrifying power?

Talking with IranVienna 2014

At last governments seem to have woken up to the threat posed by Islamists, even to Islamist governments by other Islamists who want their own merk of Islam imposed on the world. So grave is the threat that talks with Iran, ironically in Vienna, may be used to work out a strategy to counter the threat. It is as though planet Earth were under attack by Martians in the War of the Worlds.

While the threat by ISIS dominates the headlines other Islamist atrocities continue around the world. "At least 48 people have died after al-Qaeda-linked militants attacked hotels and a police station in a Kenyan coastal town" (here). "Gunmen killed at least 22 people at a village market in remote northeast Nigeria, a security official said on Monday, in what was likely the latest attack by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram" (here). Looking at 'Wars in the World' (here) the results are chilling. Not all conflict is Islamist based but 'religious' fanaticism is a real problem.

A list of some of the major Islamic terrorist attacks from 1990 to Sept 2013 can be found here. The response of the British government has been to dismiss the Islamist threat as the work of fanatics who do not represent the majority of Muslims. Perhaps not but they all have in common a religious ideology in which ALL should be subject to Sharia laws which permit death by stoning, amputations and public floggings. Whether achieved by armed jihad or cultural jihad the result is the same.

Will the nettle be grasped at last ?

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Difficult questions!

A meat cleaver that the 'Three Musketeers' plotters planned to use in their attack (West Midlands Police). Source: INDEPENDENT

Usman Khan, perpetrator of the latest Islamist terrorist atrocity in London, will have expected to be greeted by 72 virgins as his reward for being 'martyred' for his faith when he was shot dead by police.

The two young people Khan killed were taking part in aprisoner rehabilitation program. Khan had been invited to participate but the hand of friendship was of no consequence. Whatever good work his victims were doing to help Khan and other ex-prisoners, they were still classed as infidels in the  ideology to which Khan subscribed.

He would have regarded himself as a martyr because he, along with many other Muslims, was waging war on the kafir. The fact that his targets were innocent was irrelevant. In their book non-Muslims are regarded as 'unbelievers' deserving punishment, as do erring Muslims who can be sentenced to death for theirapostasy .

Khan was sent to prison as a convicted terrorist. He entered a 'breeding ground for Islamist extremism' where he lied about his de-radicalisation as permitted under his ideology thus earning early release from prison.

The Independent reported following an earlier terrorist incident in 2018 that three prisoners, the  'Three Musketeers', mingled with fellow extremists they met in jail. They reinforced their beliefs there before turning their attention to "wreaking bloodshed" in the UK.

The lead commissioner for Countering Extremism told the Independent at the time: “Experts and those working in prisons have raised significant concerns with me about the spread of extremist ideas and behaviours among serving prisoners. This includes the risk that individuals are becoming more extremist in prisons. There are also fears about what happens when prisoners who advocate extremist beliefs and behaviour – whether Islamist or far-right supporters – are released into our communities.”

After the latest killings outraged commentators again demanded answers to some "difficult questionsdanquot; about early release and de-radicalisation but what drives a desire to kill and maim innocent people who do not share their beliefs?

That is the most difficult question but it will not be addressed for fear of attracting accusations of Islamophobia, a label concocted to ensure that, unlike other faiths, Islam is beyond question.

Postcript [04.12.2019]

Five boys and pastor among 14 Christians shot dead in Burkina Faso church massacre

"An Islamist extremist attack on a church in Komondjari Province, south-east Burkina Faso, during Sunday morning worship on 1 December."  -Barnabasfund

Far away from London and one of many Islamist attacks abroad which are seldom mentioned in the British media.

These are not about historical events. Christians today are being persecuted all around the world.

From theInterim Report of the Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the Foreign Secretary of FCO Support for Persecuted Christians:

"Violent persecution exists in many forms. Firstly there is mass violence which regularly expresses itself through the bombing of churches, as has been the case in countries such as Egypt, Pakistan and Indonesia, whereby the perpetrators raise levels of fear amongst the Christian community and attempt to suppress the community?S appetite to practice its right to public expression of freedom of religion and belief. State militaries attacking minority communities which practice a different faith to the country?S majority also constitutes a violent threat to Christian communities such as the Kachin and Chin people of Myanmar and the Christians of the Nuba mountains of Sudan. The torture of Christians is widespread in the Democratic People?S Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Eritrean prisons, and beatings in police custody are widely reported in India."

If Islam became dominant in this country why would Christians here be treated differently to Christians abroad?

Postcript [07.12.2019]

Islam has three political strategies; immigration, population and violence. Reflections on Usman Khan...

"There is a precondition for rehabilitation -- you've got to want it ... It doesn't just happen through educational programmes

Facts of 'terrorist' killings are clear but our society is divided by the meaning" -Bishop Gavin Ashenden

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