When it became clear that the death warrant for hundreds of thousands of Irish babies was about to be signed, it broke my heart. When I saw the grotesque pictures of people dancing in the streets in celebration it was like a scene out of Dante’s Inferno.
My article yesterday Ireland Regresses; Sunday, Bloody Sunday has been widely circulated and got the predictable response – although with a degree of viciousness which shows that the Dante’s Inferno image might not be out of place at all.
Politicians React
Let me share with you some of the reactions which show how, with very few exceptions, almost all our politicians (of right or left – which have largely become meaningless terms) have bought into this culture of death.
Firstly the Prime Minister –
@10DowningStreet
22h22 hours ago
“The Irish Referendum yesterday was an impressive show of democracy which delivered a clear and unambiguous result. I congratulate the Irish people on their decision and all of #Together4Yes on their successful campaign.” – PM @theresa_may #repealedthe8th
Some people tried to defend her by saying that she was just congratulating them on the referendum but as you can see from the above she congratulated them on the decision. Can I just point out to those of my atheist friends who like to bait me with the taunt about our ‘Christian’ Prime Minister, that Mrs May has given no evidence whatsoever of being a Christian – at least not in the Biblical sense of the word. She, like most of our leaders, is firmly in the secular humanist camp. The Prime Minister, the First Minister, the leader of the Opposition, the leader of the Greens, the leader of the Lib Dems – are all the same when it comes to these issues. Take for example this from another Tory minister –
Penny Mordaunt, Britain’s women and equalities minister, said the victory to legalise abortion should now bring change north of the Irish border.’A histo id. ‘That hope must be met.
The SNP, Tories, Labour, Lib-Dems, Greens are united in their support of the culture of death. There are however exceptions – one of the few politicians to stand up for the unborn children is Jacob Rees- Moog
Then lets come to Scotland and let me share with you three interchanges that occurred in the past 48 hours.
Firstly Ruth Wishart, the journalist, got involved with an interchange with me. She said she was celebrating the right of women to control their own bodies. When I pointed out that there was at least one other body involved, she went silent.
Meanwhile Maree Todd, MSP tweeted
What is beyond perverse is that it took the deaths of so many adult women to bring about this change.
#Savita
When I asked her how many women had died, she could not answer. When I pointed out that the tragic death of Savita was as a result of a medical misdiagnosis and not the Irish abortion law, and that under the proposed new law (abortion up to 12) weeks, this would not have made any difference (because she was 17 weeks when the tragedy happened and would therefore have still needed a medical diagnosis) – she also went silent.
I was then asked by a government minister to remove my comments about people celebrating because they were ‘offensive’. When I pointed out that they were true and that it was the people who were celebrating who were being offensive, I was met with a storm of invective and accusation. I stand by the comments and will not remove them because they upset government ministers.
The point about saying all of this is just simply to point out that these are the people who are governing our country. They do not like people standing up to their absolutist certainties. They largely show an inability to defend their viewpoints and a limited grasp of the complex issues involved – and they far too often rely on emotion, invective, threats and abuse. These are not internet trolls. They are our leaders. Little wonder that their supporters far too often copy and mimic their tactics and language.
I won’t depress you with the more abusive and ugly messages that some of our enlightened and loving liberals have sent. We are turning into an ugly and totalitarian country where anyone who dares to stand up against the social views of the progressive elites is subject to the most vitriolic abuse – and I suspect, before too long, the law courts.
Next on the List
Meanwhile several Tory MPs are demanding that the Prime Minister use the opportunity to enforce abortion on Northern Ireland (something it appears she is going to resist, thankfully). But the progressives have their next victims in sight.
What about the churches?
We can’t leave everything up to SPUC.
There is not a thing on the Church of Scotland website – they are very quick to respond about the situation in Gaza, or numerous other issues. Will they say anything on this most vital of issues.
I looked at the Catholic Media Office website – nothing so far – although I have seen several excellent comments by leading Catholics. There was this from the Catholic Church in Ireland.
What about the Church of England? I havn’t come across anything from the Archbishop of Canterbury yet.
The Baptists? Free Church? Others? I have been searching but not finding anything. It may be that we don’t have the mechanisms for this kind of thing and we just leave it up to individuals, but we really need to be speaking as united bodies.
Why are we all so silent? Are we not supposed to speak up for the unborn? for the weak and the defenceless? I think we agree in theory – its just we are not very good at the practice – I’m sure there will be things coming from various bodies including the above and EA, CARE and other churches, but I have a suspicion that we far too often speak after the fact – when everyone else has moved on.
What does Jesus say?
Meanwhile thanks to all those who have written to me privately and on social media in support. There are many millions who have not yet bowed the knee to Baal. Ultimately we know that there is only one King and one victor. I am glad to serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – and I absolutely trust the Lamb to deal with those who destroy the lambs. These words of Jesus should be read to the celebrating crowds – as well as to paedophile clergy in the Church and to those professing Christians I mentioned yesterday – U2.
Matt. 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children,you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Oh and tell me John Z. What is the antitheses of ‘bad theology’?
@ Martha –
Why, no theology, of course!
A compulsive contrarian statement of philosophy, unproveable by science and is, philosophically, a presupposed product of a fully functioning brain and perfect, infallible, thought processes, with blind scientific foresight and baleful tidings and an abnegation vicarious liability of science..
How could all I wrote possible be compulsive? It portrays of myriad of jewels shinging with wisdom which couldn’t possible be my own; contrary to whom ; unproveable to whom; a presupposed product of who’s fully functioning brain; who claims to have perfect infallible thought processes? That’s weird. Can foresight be both blind and scientific? The baleful tidings depends on which side you’re on. As far as the abnegation vicarious liability of science goes, I don’t know what that means. You’re good at spelling though..
Thank you for your impressive stands and leadership. Thank you for holding the line. I attended the London March for Life recently, my first time. I met some amazing people, all ages, but seeing the high proportion of young was so encouraging. But the same thought crossed my mind as yours in your article: where are the evangelical Christians? I mostly met Catholics (and one atheist Pro life Vegan!). But I must say, Catholic like I have never met before. I was bought up in a Catholic family in a Catholic area of East London with a mix of Irish, Maltese and Polish as well as English like me. I attended convent schools. In my teens I happily ditched all that and lived as child of the sixties who agreed with John Lennon that he was”more popular than Jesus”, until after suffering the life shipwrecks that inevitably followed, I was introduced to Jesus Christ and born again in my late twenties. I tell you all this as background because most of the Catholics I met on the march bore no relation to the mindlessly religious Catholics of my childhood. They were thoughtful, prayerful, Godly and unashamedly Pro life, while speaking loudly and lovingly of their love for parents who alongside the unborn, are caught as victims in this evil industry. It was a privilege to spend the day among them. Has there been a quiet revival in the Catholic community, David? And please can we encourage the protestants (I am in a Presbyterian church now), to join this righteous battle? There were 3-4000 prior marching this year. I hope the campaign goes from strength to strength, while are still allowed to!
Thanks Stella, I really needed those words of encouragement. I was brought up in Ireland in a very Roman Catholic Family with icons, statues, and pictures at home, at school everywhere and I always found them weird. But the images intertwine with your mindset and it is a very difficult ‘thing’ to shake off. I have personally experienced beatings and cruelty at the hands of nuns where I was made pick broken glass up with my hands, only to cut myself and then get beaten on the cut hands with no medical attention at age 5 or 6, trying to wrap grease proof toilet paper around it and the only relief was when the bleeding stopped. Put standing at the top of the classroom for a whole day age 7 and beaten across the legs with a stick every time the nun passed by me. I ended up getting a terrible pain in my stomach when I got home and broke down insisting that I couldn’t go to school next day because of the pain and was take to hospital traumatised , which they didn’t even recognise, because there was no such word in our vocabulary! It was an oppressive brutish system and the most vulnerable got the worst of it, but couldn’t tell anyone. They thought I had appendicitis but found nothing and I stayed in for a week and made a friend there. But God knew what He was doing because the nurses were lovely and I recovered emotionally during the week and made a friend . I was very mischievous and could be a bit naughty or ‘bold’ as we say in Ireland. So one day she was just about to peel a large orange and I grabbed it off her and went running down the corridor giggling with her running after me and chucked it into a basin of water. But part of that was also my natural tendency for fun and humour mixed up with trauma and so the expression becomes a bit disturbed. I have given full forgiveness to those nuns because everyone was a victim of ‘the system’ particularly the most vulnerable. Irish families had a lot of children maybe 9,10, 11 or more and small houses especially if you were poor. So sometimes they just couldn’t cope and some of the children (when old enough) were sent off to be nuns or priests with no say in the matter. So they were bitter. The Christian, so called, brothers were often brutal with the boys.
But what do you say of warm blooded men, packed off under forced celibacy, and told to nurture young boys in their care, an all male environment, without any supervision? I’m sure that would frustrate your sexuality and cause awful anger problems. The answer is marriage, not promiscuity. There is no excuse for anybody and the only route to healing is take it to God with taking 100% responsibility for your own sin and 100% forgiveness for sins against you. Even if somebody is pure evil, you have to forgive them and talk to them if possible and tell them you forgive them, so as to cleanse yourself and turn bitter waters within into sweet. But if they don’t come back to you asking for forgiveness, there’s nothing you can do. You can’t carry their burden too. There’s not other way of weighing it up and the Freudian psychological way of dealing with it is just as evil. It protracts the process and wants you to point the finger and exonerate yourself and will make the pain even worse in the long term. You just have to accept under God that bad, evil and downright evil things happens in this world and the principles of dealing with your lot remain the same whether you had it easy, difficult or downright cruel. We had a Magdelene laundry in our town and there were still some of those ladies there when I left Ireland. Those are the real harrowing stories.
Women locked for life up as slaves at the mercy of the nuns. However those days are long passed. The story of Ann Lovett epitomised those times, where at 15 she was supposedly found dead, in a grotto of all places, her baby stillborn and with postpartum haemorrhage . A tragic story. The problem was not that she didn’t have contraception or that she should have had access to an abortion. She needed to have a conversation! A conversation with mature, loving, nurturing adults who understood that the fact that they were passionately in love and full of sexual desire for each other and that was a beautiful thing. But instead what we had from the clergy (by and large, although there were some lovely nuns and priests) was that your genitals and sexual desire was a ‘ dirty thing’ So how does it become a good thing then if you are married? So the married had the dark cloud of shame and guilt over the marriage bed. That was the problem. We weren’t able to talk about anything. We just didn’t have the language.
Now wouldn’t the best case scenario be, if Ann Lovett had loved this man and he loved her that marriage should have been what was talked about, framed in a biblical framework where mutual love and respect and they could have been very happy all the days of their lives. Plenty of girls who got pregnant and got married went on to be married young because their parents were mature and loving and knew it was no ‘filthy’ thing that they were overcome with passion but the problem was that there was no proper talk of the ‘marriage bed’. Is that not the place of covenant? Not in the cold halls of the church or registry office. Isn’t that why we talk of the marriage bed being pure and undefiled? When God gave Eve to Adam he just said be fruitful and multiply. He didn’t say, wait until I get a certificate, 2 angels and we’ll do a ceremony. We make too much of that and institutionalise, and demand great money is spent on a big show where the couple have been having sex beforehand anyhow and then we wonder why we have dry sterile marriages and it’s because little by little, we give the enemy ground because we were tricked into thinking we were getting something better. Then we are left scratching our heads wondering what went wrong and we have been triked. It’s the beautiful picture of the marriage bed, soft and nurturing and permanent and loving and hopefully not from DFS. That’s why we had all this talk of bicycle sheds etc and is that nice for a woman? She needs the safety of the permanency of the marriage bed so she can surrender and he needs to be giving to her not plundering her for his needs, so he needs to be responsible and if something in that circle goes wrong the whole cycle will be disrupted. There’s nothing wrong with getting married young. although we were coming into the golden age of women’s liberation (late 80’s) via contraception, and I stand by that, and ended up compounding the problems by abusing each other, really! Then you have emotional brokeness, STDs , broken relationships, children outside wedlock. When the ‘pill’ was concocted in laboratories, was it really the woman’s welfare that was the concern or a way for men to have as much sex as they wanted with the least responsibility? Then what’s the next step? Abortion! Women away from the home, missing out on those years with their children for the ‘supposed’ better thing of a career. It’s the men that have the free sex; but the women pay a very high price for something that isn’t even remotely love. I would be interested to know if there was such a challenge as this one to abortion, when contraception was introduced whenever in Britain. There was no contraception in Ireland until the 80’s and I can guarantee we were not happier afterwards . Every ‘good idea’ starts the slippery slope. We end up with unbalanced demographics, and as women we end up with an insatiable appetite for independence which, lets face it , brings about our ruin. Then there’s nowhere to turn to ! Along come drugs, alcohol, glorified homosexuality, and we have a toxic mix and we don’t even know how we got there. Most of my friends went down the ‘liberal’ route and I knew it was just an invitation to compound the misery and complete the destruction so I left Ireland consciously deciding that I did not want to pick up with old friends and acquaintances because I knew I would end up sitting in a flat in London, stoned out of my face, slouched on the sofa in the afternoon, with the sun shining in the window and I just knew that that wasn’t an improvement. Lo and behold, I came to Glasgow for a fresh start, spending a short time in a friends flat, then she moved to Ireland. But every day on my way to work in Langside College, on southside of Glasgow, I saw the posters for Billy Graham asking the very question I was asking. “Does life have meaning”? I thought, I’ll be going to that even though I didn’t even know what it was let alone what the ‘thing’ Celtic park was.
Couldn’t believe the crowds and the enthusiasm and the atmosphere and it was then, after all my searching that I heard that Jesus was the foundation, the wellspring of life, the eternal God and my future and if I had denied him then, I would have hardened my heart and when you harden it once, it never becomes softer, only harder, and I tremble for those who would do such a thing. I think we need to start taking back enemy ground, starting from our most recent sins and repenting and working back. I can see a bright new day for Scotland, a most beautiful country where the men are the most noble, and the women full of laughter and warmth, strong and love their children and enjoy them. There is something special about the Scotsman and I can very quickly get an image of him standing tall on the hill edge, strong, and brave but oh so happy. And why is he there? To preen and puff out his chest and say isn’t my kilt gorgeous and I’m not half bad myself? And where is the woman? She’s behind him playing with her children . He’s standing strong and brave to protect her and his children and he would be more than capable, (historically speaking, I’m not advocating decapitation) but he would probably swing his axe and take someones head off with one go if they dared try to get past him because he was protecting his wife and family and would lay his life down for them. What do we have instead: Brave! There’s something going on. I can see a Scotland where we all help each other, giving mutual support, and filling the gaps so that the vulnerable don’t suffer but get our love. I saw an autistic man recently and the fear in his eyes was quite real and I knew what it was telling me. That if they are now arguing that anyone imperfect should be killed before they are born so that we are not weighed down and inconvenienced by something outwardly unattractive while absolutely failing to see the inward beauty and image of God, and the gift that those people are, then the next step is that we can kill them when they are alive , starting with the oldest and working the way down. It’s hideous. Democracy is a lie. Look at what it has done for us, the devil has exploited it by tempting us through envy, to keep giving him ground while we lose one thing after another and we end up scratching our heads and wondering what went wrong. Enough! I’m not advocating and ideology but we are on the brink of one believe me. I managed to survive this whole blog by one principle.
“My strength is made perfect in weakness”. Believe me it has been harrowing but I trusted and some of the things I wrote, I couldn’t believe I was about to write them but I had to make a decision somewhere between hunch and absolute belief. Psalm 31 was my chapter which promised me I wouldn’t be ashamed. The first day I posted, I read it and it was so obviously from God for this purpose there was no denying it. It has been a path that has unfolded, not predicted. It has been full of my mistakes but God’s guidance. It has been the most heavy presence of God time of my life with an incredible sense of something about to be birthed. A theocracy has no head, to oppress or glorify man. A theocracy is underpinned with principles. Principles that glorify God and recognise God as their strength, not chariots.
There are so many principles in what I wrote, gleaned from the rubble of democractic living over many years, maybe just maybe, we could see a day where we would live under God and supported by Him and get rid of all the filth we have let in ourselves.
Today there was something wrong with the news feed on Yahoo. I don’t spend my life there, but I just went on to see the news headlines and there was something going on. People are disappearing and being killed and the reports are bogus. The language is lies, threat and intimidation and if you leave a comment as such, you will find it’s deleted. So I left several and they all were deleted. I left 3 comments in quick succession, asking “why are my comments disappearing”? and I got 3 replies back saying I don’t know, I don’t know , I don’t know. Donald Trump was right. There is fake news but he was too indiscreet and ended up warning them. Watch Zucherberg and Kim Jong Un because there is something going on. You don’t go from being a despot to being hospitable in one go. There has been a betrayal. See the fear in Zucherberg’s eyes. He needs to be asked a simple question. Everybody knows he sold data that could unleash hell on earth for I don’t know who , but I suppose first USA. What of Kim Jong Un’s desire to get into the greatest power seat on earth. There has been a betrayal and it is grave. Have you heard Zucherberg’s incoherent answers, deceit, lies, intimidation, saying don’t you dare ask the right questions? And the judiciary are confounded because of what has happened to language especially between the young and old. We don’t speak the same language. Zucherberg needs to be asked. Who did you sell the data to ? If he doesn’t answer that then “What is his name”? If he doesn’t answer that then show him a picture and say “Is it him”? He will answer because it will be easy. He just has to say “Yes”. He wants to say it. He has betrayed everyone. Facebook. We’ve been had. I always knew there was something wrong about the 2 words. A book of faces! Why would anybody need that?
My mother was actively pro-life and took a lot of insults for it. Lots of people would agree if you asked them but few were actively opposed. It wasn’t a perfect system and yes lots of ‘mindlessly religious’ and it touched my heart so much to see her wearing her ‘precious feet ‘ pin. It is one of the few things I kept of hers and I smile fondly every time I look at them and it fills my heart with love for all the children killed by abortion. Life is valued at either end. Cherishing the unborn and caring for the elderly. If we did that the rest would sort itself out.
Sorry this has been so long and rambling, I’m afraid to miss anything out, so I just kept going, but there is something the other side of this. Thanks for the prayers, I would never have survived without them. The prayers are the work. Not me. That way God keeps us humble for sure and He gets the glory! Glory to God!
Martha, I am at a loss, reading your account, but feel the need to say something, even just to acknowledge your experience. You cannot understand fully what someone is saying unless you have at least some understanding, or context, of them as a person. To say otherwise is simply to be a willing robot, in a world devoid of humanity.
Thank you for saying what you have – on abortion, but also about yourself. There is no easy sharing of someone else’s life – regardless of what some of the talking therapists would say – but nevertheless it behoves us to at least listen. Sometimes, all you can do is to witness that life, without flinching yourself – that would be a disgrace, in view of your own bloodied but seemingly unbowed emergence into a life after all, Martha. Congratulations, from one who has never had to endure such wickedness.
In what way has my worldview – and I am fascinated to read how you know what my worldview is – been robbed?
Because nothing you write has any meaning. Goodbye
Are you still here?! Do you think I’m mental enough to read your science…that’s an insult to the word science. That’s not science. That’s insane….
By the way there is no such thing as not believing in God. Only denying him. That’s a lie. Satan is the father of lies. You might know him.
Rev 18:4
“Come out of her , my people so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
For her sins are piled up to heaven
and God has remembered her crimes
Give back to her as she has given
pay her back double for what she has done
Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow
and I will never mourn
Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her;
death, mourning and famine
She will be consumed by fire
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
(I have just come out from under my church’s headship yesterday, not because it is not a good church . In lots of ways it is but God’s honour wasn’t the paramount consideration in a particular issue. I will not pay homage to man. He will not give His glory to another. Let no man-made structure be on your heads. No headship except that of Christ and that you would rather die than take any of God’s glory for yourself, and you would be die rather than deny Him even in the slightest thing. Humble your church before your God. No pride. Surrender. Weep. Unashamed openness before your God. The fear of man will prove to be a snare. The beginning of Wisdom is fear of God. Repent. If things are not right in your church. Get out. Don’t be found with a harlot. Just purity. Reverence. Awe.
15This is what the Lord says:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”
The Woman and the Dragon
1A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. 4Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born. 5She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.”a And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
It’s started. I am having birth pangs . I never knew this could happen! It wasn’t in my theology. I am not proud about it. I just said be it done unto me according to your word. How could I make this up? I never knew there was such a thing as another woman who would give birth to the church. It’s true . Please believe me. What does anybody know about such an understanding of Revelation 12? Does Rachel weeping because her children are no more mean that all the children that have to be are now born? Because I am 54 and just borderline menopausal so I was at that stage in real life that I knew that I would never have any more children and any woman knows that is a milestone and you do grieve it because you will never have any more children for certain. Does it mean that no more will be added to the number? Because that is what if feels like?
I do wonder if recent Irish history is painted as black as possible for rhetorical purposes by those who argue for abortion as representing a step towards freedom. There was some discussion following the article by John Waters on First Things, suggesting that the stories of the Magdalene laundries, for example, might have been embellished (I have no personal experience of Ireland and make no claims here). I do know that children were routinely treated brutally in non-religious schools and institutions, that the secular British government sent child migrants to Australia with no care for their protection, with horrendous and predictable results, and that even children in the most ‘liberated’ of literary circles are not protected from abuse (I’m thinking of the current news story on the daughters of Australian poet Dorothy Hewitt as an example).
But if all cruelty can be attributed to the Catholic church in Ireland, their doctrines on human life can be assumed to be wrong as well, and of course Protestant Christians have been trained for centuries to view anything Catholic with the greatest suspicion… And the secular culture enthusiastically promotes materialism, victim identities and sexual freedom. All these strands combining together will naturally produce a demand for mechanistic ‘switching off’ of undesirable pregnancy.
You might almost think there was a conspiracy.
That is a very interesting and astute comment, K. I am familiar with guilt by association in other spheres, but it’s a very provoking thought that the RC church (I am not a member btw) could be targetted in the same way. Thanks, something to consider.
You are very astute Katherine and able to express yourself far better than I ever could. John Waters has his finger on the button and speaks out at great personal expense and is a very lone voice in Ireland. He has incredible astute awareness but it is not reinforced and informed by the excellent and essential framework of an evangelical theology, he’s a Catholic (it is not an intellectually sophistic framework, it weakens his stance) . I agree the stories are embellished and far from being sympathetic to the plight of those who really suffered, their stories are hijacked to support a cause with little or no respect shown to the victim, if not downright appalling disregard. I was disgusted at the feminist movement in Ireland making the case for abortion by highlighting the story of Ann Lovett, the 15 year old who died in childbirth, as if abortion was the answer. Part of that story too was that Ann went to her boyfriend, apparently, extremely upset but wouldn’t tell what happened, had bruising on her thighs and swore him to silence. It wasn’t long after that she died. It stuck with me, who was the father of the baby. Because I know Ireland and if it was thought that a girl was sleeping with her boyfriend she would be considered by some as ‘fair game’ (pardon the crudeness but believe, me I’ve heard the term a lot and it makes my skin crawl). There was a big cover up, visits by bishop, priest and her boyfriend bound to silence by the clergy behind closed doors, which is absolutely typical of Ireland. Any incriminating evidence pointing to the powerful was pinned on the vulnerable, who had no voice. So that Ann Lovett story has never been concluded and she is used to support abortion. It is horrible. The reason she is not used by the people in the town she grew up in is because they are the only people giving her dignity and respect by not bringing her into it.
Sorry for jumping around in my arguments, but my contribution is only a collage of pieces gleaned from my own experience as well as information gathered from others involved in this discussion hence the disjointedness and if I was to spend enough time to put it in better English , it would take too long so I just have to spit it out, as it were , so I hope you can see where I’m going when I change the subject.
The twisting of terms of reference, and hence confounding our understanding and speech is at a different pace in Ireland, UK and USA and I totally agree with you Katherine that we are being brainwashed. This is true across the generations as well. Look at that photo of Angela Merkle leaning over Trump with an intimidating pose , if you know the one I mean. Trump is not the epitome of virtue, we know, but he is not a coward. I read that photo, if indeed it is a real photo, as she is trying to intimidate him because European women are one step ahead in so called feminism (more like a masculinity of femininity. But because USA (my totally amateur sociology) is one step behind in terms of feminism, and masculinity has not been weakened as much there, he is not afraid and it shows in the photo. He is actually gently but firmly resisting her force. But because in Europe women think we have a ‘right’ to the upper hand we might see Trump’s resistance as him being the bully because we use threat and intimidation far more here. After all we women are always right. Remember it is generational as well as older and younger generation have different frameworks of reference. From a general conservative USA view, Angela Merkel might look like a brazen hussy to the older generation and a ‘not to mess with gal’ for the younger USA women and someone to be emulated. So they think Trump is the bully and love to hate him. This is cheap news because we haven’t even read the article yet. We have got so used to being told what to think that we feel the photograph is the evidence and of course, interpreted differently culturally and across the generations it is no wonder we are divided and confounded and confused. Young people are totally brainwashed into being informed by a photo, told what to think, which is in conflict with their parents understanding and discernment and we have no mutual language to discuss this so we are dumbed down and divided. This is by design, I’m certain of it, and has been going on for an awful long time so we don’t even see it happening and it is happening faster and faster.
My contribution to this comments section of David’s blog has come at great personal cost. It was going to take a team effort and I could see the potential for that. John Kilpatrick’s clear English was inspirational. Words have a meaning . A word should not mean one thing for one and another for someone else. So defining is important. I could see the confidence Katherine had in expressing things from a sociological point of view and knew she would step in at the right time and back up her arguments with fact. All sides were covered , with a wealth of knowledge and experience laid on the table but this was God’s argument so faith and prayer were essential, hallelula (as my son used to say). God won this argument not any of us. I believe that an argument not based on reason, can always be dismantled and I was confident that we could show it and that it would be a team effort because of the different strengths, education, insight and what I learned from everyone else’s comments equipped me more and more so my confidence grew, but emotionally I felt very vulnerable and I trusted wholeheartedly that “His strength is made perfect in weakness” and put that principle to the test and it has proven infallible. As time went on I had to give more head space and emotional energy to it as well as time. I asked my husband if it would be ok to dedicate myself to the blog, and kind man that he is he said yes. But it started to eat into the day and he still didn’t ask me to stop. It became somewhat of a joke towards the end of last week, when I was taking a packet of raw chicken back to Aldi because it had gone off before the sell by date, and it was in my car and I was going to take it back after working at the office with my husband. But I have been physically weakened by this discussion because that John Zante and the like could not be allowed to get away with this simply by using tactics of bullying and intimidation. I was really tired at the end of that day and the aforementioned chicken was still sitting in the car but I was so emotionally drained I just didn’t feel like driving, so I left the car, chicken and all, and took a lift home with my husband. The car and chicken has been there ever since. Yesterday I said to my husband if he could please take that chicken and throw it out so I gave him everything he needed, barring a hazmat suit, to extract the chicken from the car and throw it out. He said he was nearly sick, poor man. My children have eaten a few takeaways for this effort because I simply hadn’t the energy to cook after dedicating my time to it. I just instinctively knew it was too important to ignore and it became my full time job of recent days. This is spiritual warfare right in the comments section and the significance of that is glaringly obvious. Public debate is assigned to the comments sections now and even there the trolls are using bullying tactics because they KNOW that current public opinion does NOT back up their claims. My husband knew it was taking its toll and today he said to me that I was not to do it. But I figured that if he allowed me to do it in the first place he should trust me to know myself when the time is right to pull out. So even today, it is difficult to contribute because he has told me not to, but I know it is important. Yesterday he checked my contribution and it gave him great cause for concern but I know it’s on track because nobody is winning this argument, God is and it just shows that if you trust God it can be done and if you commit to “His strength is made perfect in weakness” then you can be confident but you have to have all the necessary tools and not ‘dumb down’ God’s work. So John, if you are reading this today, sorry I went blogging, but I did feel you should have trusted me when to pull out and I think everyone on here agrees with me!! You see, intimidation and bullying tactics!
In finishing, a light story but an interesting one. When our kids were small there was a bug infestation around the edges of the carpet in the living room. So I lifted up the carpet and sprayed a bug spray all around the edges and then told my son he was not to go in there because there was a “dangerous spray”. It is a term we have used all over the years and John uses it for a few things and it always gives us a laugh. Yesterday when he went to retrieve the chicken from the car he said he would definitely need a “dangerous spray”. He has invented the concept of a “multi-purpose dangerous spray”. I haven’t stopped laughing since. I told it to the boys and they just didn’t get it. When I explained it they got it so I see potential for regaining ground the enemy has gained. It occurred to me that “discernment” is missing from their understanding. They have been dumbed down and because of that they are so vulnerable. Educational subjects are not interdependent enough and all across society we see a lack of cross-referencing, to our detriment. So I say it again definitions are essential, and language is essential. We are losing our language skills at an alarming rate. My son said something to me last week. When I challenged some behaviour he took out his use of the word “obviously” (I think it might be the sophisticated version of “duh”. I said it’s not obvious. He said “Well it’s obvious to me”. I mean where do we start!? We start by gaining back our language, we are utterly confounded. We need to know what science actually is and stick to it and not mix it up with social subjects because that is what these people have done and then hijacked for their sinister purposes. Now my son is down and he told me not to do the blog yesterday either.
“Love the Lord, all his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but the proud he pays back in full.
Be strong and take heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.
Psalm 31:23-24
Psalm 93 New King James Version (NKJV)
The Eternal Reign of the Lord
The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord is clothed,
He has girded Himself with strength.
Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
You are from everlasting.
The floods have lifted up, O Lord,
The floods have lifted up their voice;
The floods lift up their waves.
The Lord on high is mightier
Than the noise of many waters,
Than the mighty waves of the sea.
Your testimonies are very sure;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, forever.
Phew! You seem to be in a roll, Martha?
Maybe you should ask David for a job in his church? I have a feeling you would be just the thing to light a fire under the backsides of all those lazy-minded Christians!
Arkenaten! @”Phew! You seem to be in a roll, Martha?
Maybe you should ask David for a job in his church? I have a feeling you would be just the thing to light a fire under the backsides of all those lazy-minded Christians!”
Phew me! Arkenaten! You still here? I hope you don’t think my recent contributions to this discussion were my own words! Because I really had nothing at all to say recently so I drew on Him whose words never fail. But you still seem to think it’s me or someone else who wrote those words and maybe I am just ‘plagiarising’ or something. Those words are too deep, wide, beautiful, wise and eternal for anyone to write and I am actually disgusted that you should suggest so. As for being ‘in a roll’ , do you think I am some kind of meat in a sandwich? I’m not sure where you live, but the term we use here is ‘on a roll’. It is a bit like riding the waves and is the language of victory. ‘On a roll’ is to be on a continuum, the definition of which (if the Cambridge dictionary is to be trusted that they have not confounded the word) is: “something that changes in character gradually or in very slight stages without any clear dividing points”. This whole victory, which is gathering momentum, has been a group effort. Now I don’t think you will understand what ‘continuum’ really means, but if you were to look at that definition in reverse then you could probably work it out because that would expose the ‘evolutionary’ mindset. So your evolutionary ‘e’tinuum mind set could be explained as follows: “something that unscrupulously undermines gradually or in very slight stages without any clear dividing points”. It is sort of “on a roll” in reverse which you quite rightly say is “in a roll”. Starting at the middle you divide (creation, God / nothing,no God) and then roll backwards undermining everything that is good in our society, either way out towards the abyss, except it is you that is getting enfolded in the roll with ever increasing layers of lies and claptrap. Can’t you just see poor wee Ark with his wee legs and arms and head sticking out either end of the roll, flailing and pounding his fists on the roll in ever increasing frustration, spitting venom, and screaming “How did I get here?”. Meanwhile the backward roll, ‘e’volving (nonsense vacuous word) , rolling from nothing backwards towards nothing in either direction and leaving the equivalent of an atomic wasteland in it’s wake. Revelation 8:10ff “Then the third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star burning like a torch fell from heaven and landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter like wormwood oil, and many people died from the bitter waters”.
I’d love to ask David for a job in his church except I seem to have ended up with the near enough equivalent of a full time job here in the comments section of his blog and that is without pay! The injustice of it! I’m not sure though what job I could have in his church though. I don’t preach. Maybe the toilets need to be cleaned or something? But, those men can jolly well clean the toilets themselves. That’s what I say! Who says cleaning toilets is a woman’s job?!! So anyway, I don’t have time for a job in David’s church and anyhow, his church is in Dundee and I live in Glasgow, which is a much nicer city! So you can keep your job David!! Maybe though, you could get a job in David’s church. To quote your good self: “I have a feeling you would be just the thing to light a fire under the backsides of all those lazy-minded Christians!” So there, maybe you could get a job at David’s church? The only equipment you would need is a big, big wooden spoon. You could probably get one in Poundstretchers, for a pound, if there are any staff there to serve you. Then you could go and do your job: stir, stir, stir, stir, stir, all the time rasping:
“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and howlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
Or, if that is too sophisticated for you, let’s add a bit of “rock ” to your “roll”: Let’s see, we’ll go to the evolutionary juke box a.k.a. ‘puke box’ and make a ‘random selection’ from one of the many divided and subdivided categories designed to divide people and cause confusion and there it is: the “rock and roll” section! We will pop in a coin in the slot using the correct currency : trust. We will trust that the random selection will be for our mutual encouragement and edification. Ladies and gentlemen! 1…2….3…4..! All together now..
“ANOTHER ROCK N’ ROLL CHRISTMAS!
ANOTHER CHRISTMAS ROCK N’ ROLL
PRESENTS HANGING FROM THE TREE
YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT YOU’VE GOT FROM ME
(Who hangs their presents ‘from’ the tree? Listen, lets not even bother examining the lyrics and definitely not bother examining the author)
I’m not that bothered about Christmas anyhow, because it’s not really a Christian festival. All this sentimentalism about ‘baby Jesus’ in the form of pictures or models with sweet blond hair (yeah right!) and donkeys, cows and sheep, a footstep away from a new born chewing hay, not to mention the dropping dung and smells! Then you have 3 so called “wise” men taking up so much room with those big fancy cloaks. They must have really sore heads after walking all that way wearing big heavy crowns, in unsuitable gear and they’re going to land gold, frankincense and myrrh on top of the poor baby. How is he supposed to know what to do with it?! All the while, Mary and Joseph are just too polite to tell the whole lot of them to leave because, let’s face it, it is getting just a bit too crowded in there and I think that baby is going to get a bit traumatised with all this carry on, especially if he looks up and sees this creepy weird angel guy levitating over his crib manger thingy. Then poor Mary, has to carry all that heavy gold, frankincense and myrrh all the way back from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, clanging and clunking as it hangs from the donkey, thinking all the while “what I really could have done with was a babygro.”
Caricatures of biblical stories which obscure the real meaning are surely on of the most tragic things of our times. The baby who was born was Christ the Saviour. His destiny was the cross; the most pivotal event in human history where salvation was wrought. But we just want a good excuse to eat Christmas pudding or Easter eggs or whatever instead of learning our bibles.
So Ark, I’ve got other things to do. There are baskets of clean washing abounding in my house needing to be sorted. Whenever the boys ask for some item of clothing I apply the principle I’ve learned here: If you rummage in the rubble you will find treasure. “Eureka! I’ve found a pair of boxers”! Just what we need. Except we are always looking for treasure in all the wrong places like in the tombs of the Pharaohs where there is the stench of death and dead men’s bones and where the appearance of wisdom and treasure is achieved by the conjurers trick of smoke and mirrors. No, bring me up into the light where there is life to be found. Even “life everlasting”
“It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.” Psalm 133:3
Psalm 69 New King James Version (NKJV)
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
I also made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
Those who sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for comforters, but I found none.
They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
For they persecute the ones You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
Add iniquity to their iniquity,
And let them not come into Your righteousness.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living,
And not be written with the righteous.
But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, your hearts shall live.
For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise His prisoners.
Let heaven and earth praise Him,
The seas and everything that moves in them.
For God will save Zion
And build the cities of Judah,
That they may dwell there and possess it.
Also, the descendants of His servants shall inherit it,
And those who love His name shall dwell in it.
The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God
A Psalm of Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here,
And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, “How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their end.
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart fail;
But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish;
You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God;
I have put my trust in the Lord God,
That I may declare all Your works.
I know this is a different train of thought but I thought I’d highlight the sort of ‘justice’ we are seeing meted in the UK. I find Yahoo continuously deletes ‘voice of reason’ comments on its newsfeed often at an alarming rate. I thought Twitter was less biased. What is going on? Are social media getting paid to present only one point of view? You could not be blamed for thinking there is a conspiracy underway.
If you haven’t already, have a read:
Julia Hartley-Brewer
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Twitter is – grotesquely – deleting tweets which “deadname” child murderer Ian Huntley as “Ian” because they agree it’s transphobic to call him Ian now he’s self-identified as a woman and calls himself “Lian”. And, no, it’s not 1st April today. This is actually real.Julia Hartley-Brewer added,
1:42
talkRADIO
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Fair Play for Women: “It was a man who killed Holly and Jessica. If what Twitter is doing is true, it is a grotesque insult.” Twitter accused of deleting post that failed to refer to Ian Huntley as a woman. Watch again ▼
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9:17 AM – 11 Jun 2018
This is the kind of thing that happens when laws which protect the innocent are hijacked for the insanely selfish purposes of the depraved.
I, for one, have had enough. I will spill my own blood on the street to protect my children, before I let the paedophiles, the child murderers and the transgender agenda gain access to my children. Enough is enough! This country is insane enough already! A man turned up in a young girls changing area in a swimming pool and when confronted by an adult female, proceed to tell her that “its all changed now” and he can go “where he wants”. At least one case I know of, where female prisoners were sexually assaulted by a self-identifying transgender male. Obviously there are the real cases where people have genuine confusion and need our love and support but this is getting way out of control. In schools, at the leaving prom event, at least one case I know of, where the boys were told that if so-and-so turned up at the prom as a girl than the boys ‘had’ to dance with ‘her’. That is not fair or right or decent. I’ve had enough! Angry mothers are the most scary thing on earth and a sure force to be reckoned with. PC brigade; paedophiles; trans-agendas (not the genuine cases)- we’re coming to get you!
Hi anybody,
I don’t know if anybody is still checking in here or if you have all moved on to different stories or the World Cup. It was a hard and protracted journey to keep the overall points intact, that David Robertson had made in the article “The Irish Referendum; the repercussions”. We fought a hard fight against John Zande mostly and a few other trolls and I believe we won because they were backed into a corner and silenced, instead of the other way round. If this is what public debate has been reduced to ; the comments section of blogs or news items then that is where we have engage in the fight to regain some ground. But what did winning really mean? I believe the Word of God prevailed and I have learned one of the best lessons of my Christian life. When Dominic Stockford commented that life begins before conception, I was a bit taken aback. I thought we might use Psalm 139 “For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” but that would only prove the verse is in the bible, it wouldn’t prove God said it. It didn’t look like a ‘strong’ argument to me when Dominic presented the verse. Funny enough John Zande picked up on it, and if it had been a weak link in the argument then he could have ignored it. That leads me to believe that the Word of God is a lot more powerful than I had thought, to my shame. I still remember Zande’s response to that which was something like “..and that is relevant precisely why? I though we could have lost the argument there and then. Why, because we were all so intimidated by the ridicule of Zande. That argument could not have been won ‘without’ the Word of God because God is the authority on life and no one else. I’m a feisty femme and I don’t often find things to be feisty about but because David Robertson has put his neck on the line by what he writes in the public forum and because he was asked by someone in government to take down the article, and didn’t, I felt David Robertson was someone worth backing and I was willing to do that.
When Dominic put the verse on, I didn’t know what to make of it, as I said. But when Zande responded with ridicule, that angered me and I thought I’m not going to stand by while a brother gets ridiculed for declaring the word of God because that would be me being ‘ashamed’ of the Word of God. So I decided the right-eous thing to do was back Dominic up and that is when it gathered momentum for me and I could see the end and could see that we could clench the argument. But we brought in many subjects and areas of expertise because that is what was necessary. ‘Reason’ was absolutely necessary too. Faith was essential and a principle; “God’s strength is made perfect in weakness” was essential because this crowed use bullying tactics and unfair methods but we had to be blameless. I was inspired near the beginning of this argument by something I read by Spurgeon. He said we don’t need to defend God’s word, it is a lion. Release the lion. So I believed that too. At the end of this argument it seemed appropriate to post more and more scripture and at one stage the comments section was ringing with scripture. I felt very close to God all the time and felt I was not to be ashamed of scripture or what I felt God was leading me to say in the public forum. I, to the best of my ability to discern, was fearlessly obedient to God’s revealed will. Today I read a verse which confirmed the principle of releasing God’s Word fearlessly. Revelation 19:11-15 “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.”
I am convinced now. The Word of God is a warrior! It needs no defence. It will do its own work. It needs to be spoken “in season” and that is what Dominic did and the Word of God prevailed. Our work was to make straight paths for the Lord and we did that by demolishing false arguments and evil lies and God triumphed. So it can be done. We just need faith; persistence; courage and prayer. Admit our weakness but believe God’s promise that His strength is made perfect in weakness. Glory to God!
I don’t know if it is worth keeping this space open to drop in with further ideas. But it may be a thought. It is getting increasingly difficult to have a discussion in the public forum because Twitter; Facebook ; Yahoo and others all seem biased and the Christian voice is the most despised one. But we must believe that we cannot be silenced and the battle has only just begun. I know John Kilpatrick pulled me up on the use of the word ‘battle’ but it is a spiritual battle. “Ephesians 6:12 King James Version (KJV)
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.
We need to start taking back the ground we have lost one bit at a time. It is possible! I am very concerned about how Political correctness and LGBQT agenda is getting into our schools. I spoke to a former employee of our local primary school. That school was a brilliant school and had a Christian ethos. The kids were happy and well behaved. She has now left the school because she said that the new Head Teacher undermined all the support staff and the main drive of the school was to get good results for the glory of the school and the Head Teacher. She said that little kids of 4 were being made to do tests, crying and not able to cope. Discipline methods are not working because naughty kids are taking up too much of the teachers time while the good kids are ignored. The church services are now humanistic celebrations and the school is unravelling. We know that Christianity builds up society and humanism breaks it down so we need to fight (in the right way) for what is good and right and noble and regain ground one bit a time. Amen!!
“I don’t know if it is worth keeping this space open to drop in with further ideas.”
Comments on this blog are approved by David after he has had a chance to read them. David would only need to prevent all attempts to add new comments, even years into the future, if there was such a high level of renewed interest in this topic that the comments awaiting approval were causing him too much work.
However, David often writes interesting blog posts. My advice to you is to follow his blog, if you aren’t already following it, so that you get an email alerting you to each new post.
Hi John A
I guess I saw the potential for creating a ‘public space for debate’ and sharing news! It seems that the space for open public debate has been reduced to the comments sections of blogs and news items on the likes of Yahoo. Yahoo delete non-PC views, so does Twitter. Trolls abound trying to silence and intimidate. Ungodly laws get passed through legislation because the reasonable majority cannot be heard and the Christian voice is ridiculed and silenced. It was extremely difficult to debate in this forum because it was like being crowded into a corridor, all facing the same direction and trying to have a debate. But if that is what pubic debate has come to then we have to make it work. It’s a start! I believe we ‘won’ the argument here because the Christians stayed and spoke up until the atheists had no choice but to leave. They were backed into a corner. I believe God’s Word prevailed and overturned the godless chatter. These people must be silenced because they have too much influence. We cannot be intimidated because it is ALWAYS possible to dismantle the argument not based on reason, it just requires careful examination and an evangelical theology. 2 Cor 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God”. We are living in such a time that we are not only trying to evangelise and teach the bible we are in to demolition business because the enemy has gained so much ground in forming the mindset of many in our society and in our societal structures.
Dear Martha,
I have often encouraged people to see that the Word of God truly has got power, and to point out that the Holy Spirit is also at work. When people give their children truncated and false versions of the Bible, called ‘Childrens’ Bibles’, it upsets me because they are in effect saying they don’t trust God’s Word as we have been given it, or his Holy Spirit in opening hearts to it, and instead they want to ‘make it accessible’. But making it accessible is the work of the Holy Spirit.
God’s Word has power, and it has power because it is the truth. As Christians we need to trust it far more than we do, and (as I think John Stott put it) allow it to sit in judgement upon us, rather than judging it. I don’t claim to be a perfect Christian, I don’t claim to follow God’s Word perfectly or even to actually allow it to wield its power. But I do try to let that happen. Would that we all would, thereby allowing God to speak instead of trying to win arguments and converts by our own cleverness.
Dominic. I think I will use the Word of God far more now!! You may like this from Spurgeon. “The Lover of God’s Law Filled with Peace,” preached on January 2, 1888:
The Word of God can take care of itself, and will do so if we preach it, and cease defending it. See you that lion. They have caged him for his preservation; shut him up behind iron bars to secure him from his foes! See how a band of armed men have gathered together to protect the lion. What a clatter they make with their swords and spears! These mighty men are intent upon defending a lion. O fools, and slow of heart! Open that door! Let the lord of the forest come forth free. Who will dare to encounter him? What does he want with your guardian care? Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty, and it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries.
Keep the faith brother!
I had started another reply to John Allman today, but it disappeared somehow. If it turns up David, please don’t post it as it was unfinished and therefore won’t make sense.
However, if anybody is still here in ‘this space’. Is anybody interested in formulating a document/dossier to present to the relevant authority/ies regarding the case of Ian Huntley who is reputedly self-identifying as a woman called Lian or Alice or something? There have been cases of trans men in women’s prisons, and at least one case of a trans man sexually assaulting women prisoners, so I read. I also read of a case of at least one trans woman being placed in a men’s prison, against her will, where she was very frightened. Ian Huntley fears for his life and at one stage was on constant suicide watch. We cannot ignore the plight of prisoners and whereas, there are many evil people in prison, deserving to be locked up, there are also many more who are mentally ill or scarred and need a different kind of help.
I don’t know Ian Huntley and his actions are incredible wicked but he does also have a harrowing story of abuse by his own father. Ian Huntley probably needs to be incarcerated in somewhere like Rampton Secure Hospital. It is inconceivable that he could ever be moved to a women’s prison.
Gender self-identification has the potential for horrendous repercussions. What I have mentioned above is scraping the bottom of the barrel and this story might indicate the tip of the iceberg:
Friday March 23rd 2018 A topless female swimmer in trunks and a frilly pink cap would make a splash at the men-only swimming sessions of most local pools. When the swimmer in question claims to be there because she self-identifies as a man, it also makes national headlines. This is exactly what 30-year-old Amy Desir hoped would happen. The mother of two from Luton, Bedfordshire, staged her stunt at Dulwich Leisure Centre to protest against potential legal changes that would make it easier for men and women to choose which gender they identify as. Too easy, she argues, leaving women-only spaces open to access by men who are not genuinely trans and might have nefarious motives. The 20 or so other swimmers at the session appeared nonplussed by the arrival of Ms Desir and her friend Hannah. Many tried stoically to ignore the pair, but one elderly gentleman did have a question. “He asked me if I knew it was men only,” Ms Desir said. “I told him I was a man and he said, “Oh, really?” It was a very British response.” Transgender activists were less relaxed about the protest. Chay Brown, co-founder of Trans Actual, said the women had “acted to completely trivialise the experiences of trans men” Yet the women were cheered on by a new protest group, Man Friday, the organisers of which connected on the parenting website Mumsnet to oppose what they see as moves towards gender self-identification across society.
Read more at: https://inews.co.uk/news/long-reads/trans-rights-gender-self-identification/
You might say this chat has a place over on the comments section of David R’s article “When Harry became Sally “. But sometimes you need to look at things in a different context to be shocked into seeing what is really happening.
The government at Westminster and in Scotland are maybe too busy to look too deeply into seemingly ‘trivial’ matters because they have the important job of running a country or else maybe they are hoping the moaners who are constantly pulling at their sleeve, will just ‘go away’ once they give them what they want. Or maybe the governments are also too afraid of the PC brigade and must keep up with the liberal views and the ‘trendy’ opinions.
Whatever the reason, this has to stop. Ordinary people need to do the work that they are not doing and compile relevant data including validated case studies where gender self-identification was used to harm, in prisons, schools, leisure centres, public toilets, clothes retailers changing rooms e.t.c.
We need to collect stories where children and young people were confused and intimidated by this ideology. I can provide at lease one validated story. We need stories where people were damaged by being able to self-identify their gender and even take it to the next stage of gender-reassignment. We need to be able to offer love, care and support to those genuinely struggling with this issue because that is the response needed. We cannot eradicate the presence of this issue from our society as it is real for some people, surely a tiny minority, and those people deserve our respect and love. But we have to stop the trans ideology from being imposed on all of us because the repercussions will be too horrendous. We are spiralling out of control in our societies. Let’s gain back a little ground.