Leaders Debate, Round 3

The third debate was a disappointing anticlimax.

Perhaps my expectations had been too high giving way to an overwhelming feeling of boredom. Regardless of the questions asked the session became a re-run of the same over-worked lines, the main variations coming from the party leaders? Deliveries.

At last David Cameron delivered as people had expected him to in the previous debates having observed his performance since becoming leader of the Conservative Party. A polished act, far better than before but I thought it weaker on substance. ?Change? Is all very well and captures the public mood but change to what? Change for change sake could simply result in us being out of the frying pan and into the fire. If he had demonstrated clearly how his vision for change would be for the better, he may have retained his previous higher poll ratings.

Cameron?S lack of clarity has resulted in the momentum for ?Change? Being transferred to Nick Clegg enabling him to offer the electorate a complete change from the two-party system. The Liberal Democrats had been largely ignored until the Clegg bombshell shook the two main parties, and the media, out of their complacency. He had it all to play for last night but failed to deliver a decisive blow and appeared the least confident of the three. Nevertheless he presented a new, clean image which will appeal to many especially the younger voters.

That leaves Labour's Gordon Brown. Once an image of ?The Joker? Came to mind, probably as a result of his attempts to appear less dour, I was stuck with it despite the fact that he is the Prime Minister and spoke with the authority of experience in office and an obvious passion for what he believes in. But if people have decided they want a change as the polls imply, he has an up-hill struggle even if John Major did manage to surprise the pollsters. So ?Change? In one form or another appears almost inevitable.

I applaud the BBC for their staging of the final event but illuminating I think not. The TV debate innovation gave Nick Clegg the opportunity to burst the bubble which will no doubt prick the Cameron conscience for ever if he fails to win an outright majority. The irony of it all is that the mood for change that was latched onto by the opposition looks likely to be expressed in a manner none of the leaders could have anticipated.

Don?T forget to vote for the common good.

Read More

Head in the sand

Unfortunately it has taken theatrocities in Paris to concentrate the mind on the nature of Islam. In my entry last Saturday I posed the question 'Something to hide?' after the House of Lords rejected the idea of encouraging a national debate about the nature of Islam.

In September it was claimed that 1 in 50 Syrian refugees in Europe could be an Isis jihadist. Now it has beenreported that a Syrian passport was found on attacker who sought asylum in Greece as a refugee.

Not all Muslims are terrorists but too many Muslims have a warped idea of salvation believing that they will be rewarded in paradise for killing Kafirs.

It matters little that most Muslims are 'nice people' if their ideology permits a handful of Muslims to create the carnage witnessed in Paris. There must be a debate.

Read More

Mission Llandaff II

A rainbow of hoops under the Majestas in Llandaff Cathedral         Source: Church in Wales/Llandaff

 "Our purpose is therefore to: Worship God and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. In so doing, we welcome all who come here, irrespective of gender, race, creed or sexuality, in order that we might share and pass on our rich Christian heritage and the joy of Christian Faith."- From the Llandaff Diocese Mission Statement.

From the 2014 Trustees' Report (page 5) in the Llandaff Diocesan Board of Finance  Accounts which can be found on the Charity Commission web site.

"Public benefit

The trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4(1) of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit, "Charities and Public Benefit". The Board believes that, by promoting the work of the Church in Wales in the Diocese of Llandaff it helps to promote the whole mission of the Church (pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical) more effectively, both in the Diocese as a whole and in its individual parishes, and that in doing so it provides a benefit to the public by:

• providing facilities for public worship, pastoral care and spiritual, moral and intellectual

development, both for its members and for anyone who wishes to benefit from what the Church

offers; and

• promoting Christian values, and service by members of the Church in and to their communities, to

the benefit of individuals and society as a whole."

It difficult to reconcile Dr Morgan's eager promotion of same sex unions with the 'Public benefit' referred to in the Trustees Report. He should explain how it is helping 'to promote the whole mission of the Church (pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical) more effectively'.

Estimates of the number of homosexual people in the UK vary but taking 6% as the most reliable estimate, they will not all attend church let alone the Church in Wales. Of those who attend, few in my experience have expressed any desire for a church 'wedding'.

The accounts show that a grant of £12,579 was made to the 'Bishop's mission fund'. Donations are made to this fund 'primarily from collections taken at induction and confirmation services, and Gift Aid is claimed where appropriate. All monies received are paid over to the Bishop to be used at his discretion'.

I understand that it was this "Mission" fund which was used to finance the Llandaff clergy school in Oxford. If the Archbishop believes that mission funds are best spent on advancing same sex unions he should think again and ask the LGBT lobby to fund their own campaign not use money given to fund the mission of the Church.

The Church Times recently carried anarticle headed "Dr Morgan gives Bishops’ response to same-sex unions" in which he said: "The debate on same-sex relationships was not over. The issues around human sexuality that are being debated will not go away, and the pain is not over. We do believe that we are called to live in love and charity with one another, whatever our experience or convictions on this issue."

The only lack of love and charity is towards anyone who dares to take a contrary view and support traditional marriage. There lies the true pain.

Read More