BULLIED INTO ACCEPTING IMMORALITY
Thursday 25 February, 2010
UK
Politics
Education
By Charles Gardner
The character of Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown has come under scrutiny amid revelations of alleged bullying of members of his staff.
Journalist Andrew Rawnsley has said in a new book that the Labour Party leader has a “volcanic temper” and, although there seemed a general consensus among those who were rolled in to comment on the matter that his fiery manner was no state secret, a veritable battalion of Labour’s forces have come out to defend their beleaguered leader as if their lives depended on it.
In fact outspoken Conservative politician Ann Widdecombe even suggested that the way in which they had combined efforts to wield their “poisonous power” against Mr Brown’s accusers gave credibility to the allegations.
For this Government is full of bullies passing edicts to bring opponents into submission, particularly in the case of sex education for schoolchildren which has raised its ugly head again this week with Children’s Secretary Ed Balls accused of caving in to faith schools by allowing them an ‘opt out’ over the issue of forcing schools to teach that contraception, abortion and homosexuality are normal.
Of course Mr Balls did his best to assure radio listeners that it wasn’t an ‘opt out’, but it clearly was a response to pressure from the Catholic Church (thank goodness they have some spine!) and probably also with Muslims in mind since they do not approve of these things either.
Well, I haven’t heard so much confusion and obfuscation in a long time. It wasn’t an opt out, Mr Balls assured, but a special amendment was introduced (and passed in the House of Commons) to allow Catholics and others to say that, while they didn’t agree with sex outside marriage, with killing unborn babies or with sodomy, there were other views which said that it was OK. So pupils would no doubt be left to make up their own minds.
But when pushed on the matter by BBC veteran John Humphrys as to whether teachers suggesting that homosexuality was a sin would be in breach of this new law, the answer (not surprisingly) was as vague as it was lame and pathetic. It was basically a ‘Yes, but no…’ scenario which made me glad I wasn’t a teacher of SRE (Sex and Relationships Education).
The current political elite (not only Labour, but Tory and Liberal as well) are determined to railroad us into accepting their ‘equality’ line which will deny you and I the right to express views developed from our understanding of the Bible and Christian morality.
A plague on all their houses, I say. None of them deserve to be in leadership. When we are in danger of breaking the law by saying that it is sinful for a man to sleep with another man as you would with a woman, then it’s surely curtains for the Western – and British – civilisation.
I’m not against voting, by the way. The Christian People’s Alliance are fielding a number of candidates; there are also independents and others. But just do as your conscience tells you!
Photo: Copyright World Economic Forum (www.weforum.org), swiss-image.ch/Photo by Remy Steinegger
Neville Heath Fowler wrote:
Despite what Pauline Thomas says I can see nothing in the excellent article by Charles Gardner that calls on Christians to be uncompassionate towards other individuals and in particular to other Christians. Those who are caught up in sinful lifestyles and desire to change, and those close to them who are unavoidably emotionally involved, need and deserve kindness and help and should be able to expect it from true friends. But this article expresses only the desire that Scripture respecting Christians should be able to continue to call deviant sexual behaviour sinful, just as we desire to be free to call other human behaviour wrong and sinful when the God of the Bible has identified it as such. It raises the question of how long we will be permitted to describe adultery, fornication, theft or even murder, as sinful. We are not against homosexuals being treated fairly in employment or in business etc., but we are against homosexual practice and relationships being taught, especially to young children, as being equally desirable, equally normal, equally God-approved, as heterosexual married sex and relationships. We are against the ‘gay lobby’ being empowered to dictate to Christians what we must believe and may accept as the truth. Their coordinated objections to the very modest, some would say so modest as to be almost meaningless, concession that will (temporarily I suspect) allow faith schools to put their own slight gloss on the manner in which SRE is taught, is enough to reveal their bullying mentality and lack of compassion for believers. As an evangelical Christian I would wish for all men and women to be Bible-believing followers of Jesus. This does not mean that we will be, or consider ourselves to be, perfect and above reproach in this life. What it does mean is that we shall recognise our sins as sin, that we shall repent and constantly seek God’s forgiveness through Jesus, and His grace through His Holy Spirit to live holier lives. We shall be like those sinners, including ex-homosexuals, to whom Paul wrote, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
Pauline Thomas wrote:
Sadly not enough of the people involved in this article have had the experience of having a son or daughter whose sexuality does not comply with the above. I am treated as a sinner by other Christians but I consider (sadly) that they are as those who passed by on the other side and it was only an outsider who had the compassion to help a fellow man in distress.
I can assure you that these people you dismiss are warm and loving people who have a lot to contend with in life. Such articles make me saddened.
Christians should reach out to one another and dwell on what they have in common not criticise and wrangle. Peace cannot be attained by such labelling and blaming - this is reaching into the province of Politicians and Lawyers.
Dian Mordin wrote:
Are you able to tell me who our candidates are for the Christian People’s Alliance and do we have a local candidate in the Haslemere surrey area?
Neville Heath Fowler wrote:
Hear hear! A vote for any of the three main parties, at least, is a wasted vote so far as Christianity is concerned.
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