Problem? What problem?

In my previous entry I referred to the owner of a Tandoori Indian Balti House in Ashford who discovered that his Muslim staff were ignorant of aspects of their own religion:

"After reading the Qur'an and observing the behaviour of my Muslim staff, it became clear that they were not practising much of their religion’s teachings. I found this curious, and, after chatting to them about their belief, I realised this was due to their ignorance of the Quranic verses. They simply do not know what their religion teaches. Their ignorance is almost on a par with the wider public's, where the horrors and gross gender inequalities of Islam are not apparent to most people".

By contrast, speaking to Ian Dale on LBC, Dionne, a young British Muslim convert, said she had been brought up as a Christian but soon found herself searching for something with more “integrity”. Christians, she said, “did not know their bible” and would “interpret things however they wanted to” - something she claimed is not possible with Islam.

?With the Quran you can?T do that, you have to take every word literally. There is no modernising of the Quran? There is no modernising with this religion?. Listen to their 4 Min. Dialogue here.

When Ian Dale challenged Dionne on the position of woman in Islam she was in denial, claiming that people have "misconceptions" of Islam. Perhaps she considers the law which allows Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by uttering the word "talaq" three times is fair.  India's Supreme Court took a different view when it ruled a 'controversial Muslim instant divorce law unconstitutional'.

Three months on from the horror of the Manchester terror attack the method now favoured by Islamists for attacking innocent Westerners is to hire a lorry and drive it into a crowd of people who were simply minding their own business having been assured that Islam is a religion of peace.

Of particular relevance to problems which British Anglicans are facing was Dionne's comment that "you cannot make God in your own image, you have to worship God as He is", something that the bishops of the Church of England feel the need to wrestle with. She said, with the Quran you have to take every word literally.

That is the masalah. While the majority of Muslims do not, a minority of Muslims take the violent verses in the Quran as instructions but nobody it seems is willing to tackle that problem head on.

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Who can we trust?

The Church of England is being asked to reconsider if it can still accept conservative bishops who oppose women priests (here and here). Should we be surprised? Women's movements such as WATCH aided by their pathetic fellow travellers have it all except parity. They are working on that.

Remember the debates? - It did not mean that women would be made priests if deaconesses were allowed to be deacons. - It was unfair not to allow women deacons to become priests, after all, there was little difference other than being able to say a few extra words! - The 'stained glass' ceiling was unjust; having agreed that women can become priests we cannot deny them the right to become bishops. The rest is history. Faith is pass?. It is about so-called equality and being relevant to society, never mind the consequences.

Past dirty tactics are forgotten but filth was sent through the post to opponents who simply wanted to uphold the faith as received. In one of the earliest comments on this blog I was branded a c*** for my conscientious objection to the catholic faith we shared with most Christians throughout the world being amended by synodical procedures for political purposes.

The message is clear. Say anything, do anything to achieve your goal then renege on agreements claiming further persecution and discrimination until all opposition is eliminated.

Many of the faithful have given up the struggle as churches become little more than tea rooms with an opportunity for dressing up to perform parodies of ancient rituals. The younger element may be attracted to messy church and toddler groups especially if access to education is enhanced by church going but where are the in-betweens who should replace the increasingly elderly congregations? Churchgoers have in many congregations been replaced by church users. Consequently buildings which were loved and cared for are falling into decay.

Figures produced by ComRes, and commissioned by the Church, show that many of those who claim to be Christian don't actually take part in many of the activities which are normally associated with the faith. Figures show that 60 per cent of self-declared followers of the Church admit they never read the Bible, and 36 per cent say they never attend church. One in three said they never pray.

By contrast Muslims are the world’s fastest-growing religious group. "In the next half century or so, Christianity’s long reign as the world’s largest religion may come to an end". Who cares? What is the Government's response to the continuing 'Islamic extremist' threat to our democracy?

If there were a secular book for sale which was full of hate against non-believers with instructions on how to deal with kafirs by decapitating them for not agreeing to subjugation it would be banned but it is acceptable as a religious book of instruction because devotees assure the ignorant that Islam is a religion of peace despite all the evidence to the contrary over the last 1400 years.

The Government and media are so caught up in the political correctness that in addition to the constant threat of violence, countless young British white girls have been trafficked by Muslims who have a totally different outlook on life and the position of women in their adopted country.

So successful has the Muslim community been in claiming to be persecuted victims that anyone daring to draw attention to the many anomalies are branded hateful racists even though Islam is not a race but a religious ideology. That alone should indicate a level of ignorance which demands attention but critical analysis is immediately challenged as Islamophobia. - Heads you loses, literally, tails they win.

Ironically it seems that many Muslims know as little about their religion as many Christians while many Anglicans are prepared to twist the faith to accord with their own selfish desires.  A 'good' Muslim will follow instructions in the Quran to defeat the kafir by whatever means. Most will choose deception while a few pursue violent jihad. That the majority live peacefully convinces the gullible that Islam is a religion of peace.

Can we trust the Government to study this contradiction before we too become a minority in our own land as loyal Anglicans have been sidelined by secularists in their own church?

"For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance.Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."Matthew 25:29

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A joyous, solemn occasion

New priests for the Personal #Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, ordained yesterday at the Birmingham Oratory.          Source: Twitter@FrJamesBradley

Compare the above photograph of eight new priests ordained at the Birmingham Oratory yesterday with the selection of photographs of Church of England?S dabbing deacons and jumping bishops.

As a Guardian article put it prior to the Petertide ordinations, "the stern, decorous images that used to mark these occasions are being replaced by a animo for more frivolous action shots ? With dabbing deacons showing up alongside priests leaping, baring their knees and even wearing L-plates. Their defenders see the new informality as a sign of holy joy. But hardcore traditionalists, along with casual curmudgeons, are less than elated.

"Their ire was recently roused by a shot of six readers being licensed at St Alban?S Cathedral, showing clear air under the heels of a jumping bishop of Hertford, the Rt Rev Michael Beasley."

There is no dignity of office apparent in the St Albans photograph. The sacred ministry is made to appear comic. While the Anglican Church has become 'more relevant to society' it has lost its sense of 'otherness'.

Following a previousentry a commentator took exception to my reference to Messy Baptism which appears to be getting people out of church rather than in. When the Messy 'font' was revealed a child could be heard calling out, "That's our paddling pool!" Precisely.

Fonts are often placed at or near the entrance to a church's nave to remind believers of their baptism as they enter the church to pray, since the rite of baptism served as their initiation into the Church (Wikipedia). In bygone days there was a link with the past when generations of the same family may have been baptised at the same font.

Surely it is more important to get people into church and Holy Baptism is one of the main opportunities for doing so along with marriages and funerals.

But that is no guarantee of success. People can be easily put off as was a mother who complained to a friend about a modernised confirmation service in which the bishop invited all the candidates to stand around him in a semi-circle. He awkwardly negotiated his way between the vicar and the candidates in an informal, happy-go-lucky manner rather than having the candidates kneel individually in front of him to hear those memorable words: "Confirm, Lord your servant with your heavenly grace, and anoint him/her with your Holy Spirit; empower him/her for your service and keep him/her in eternal life.  Amen." A moment I still recall as one of deep spiritual significance, probably enhanced by the austere bearing of the bishop.

The lack of 'otherness' was not helped by the fact that the bishop first baptised one of the confirmation candidates inserting a few wisecracks. If holiness is next to Godliness the Almighty was conspicuous by His absence.

Familiarity is killing Anglicanism. On BBC Breakfast TV yesterday, the Chief Constable of Durham police shared his supposedly impartial views on the consecration of woman bishops.

Consecration of woman bishop                                                                 Source: BBC Breakfast TV

Struggling to explain what was happening he reached a consensus with the presenters that the consecration of women bishops had become 'normal', creating a 'balance'.

It may be 'normal' for the Church of England as currently informed by society, mainly non-churchgoing bystanders who feel free to voice an opinion from a position of ignorance.

It is definitely not normal in the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

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