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Sunday, October 29, 2023
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Unfit To Sit In Parliament.
SNP leader Humza Yousaf refuses to condemn football fans for flying Palestine flag.
Nil Desperandum? - Seems To Me That Despair IS Appropriate; Man Is Surely Beyond Redemption; Few Are Saved. Jesus Alone Can Sort All This Out.
We live in dark times - but now is no time to despair.
If we look to the data, the world is better than it was, and is likely to get better still
It is easy to believe that the world is falling apart. Climate change, political division, coups d’état, the global pandemic, Russia’s ruthless war on Ukraine, Hamas’ unjustifiable killings, and the Middle East careering toward widespread violence.
Before panicking, it may be worth stepping back to get some perspective. Fear demoralises us – particularly when young – and engenders terrible political decisions by crippling our ability to do better.
War is endlessly and eternally horrific. It is understandable and even necessary that the media spotlights today’s conflicts. But this can make us believe that we’re living through unprecedented violence. Russia’s war indeed meant that battle deaths in 2022 reached a high for this century, but they are still very low historically. Last year, 3.5 in 100,000 people died as a consequence of war, below even the 1980s and far below the 20th century average of 30 per 100,000. The world has in fact become much more peaceful. This is of course little consolation to those living amidst the world’s conflicts.
The same pattern characterises most climate change reporting. A pervasive and false apocalyptic narrative draws together every negative event – ignoring, almost entirely, the bigger picture. In recent months, for example, fires have been highlighted without indication that the annual burned global area has been declining for decades, reaching the lowest-ever last year. Likewise, deaths from droughts and floods make headlines, but we don’t hear that deaths from such climate-related disasters have declined 50-fold over the past century.
The data show what we all fundamentally know: the world has improved dramatically. Life expectancy has more than doubled since 1900. Two centuries ago, almost everyone was illiterate. Now, almost everyone can read. In 1820, nearly 90% of people existed in extreme poverty. Now it’s less than 10%. Indoor air pollution has declined dramatically, and its outdoor equivalent has also done so in rich countries. If we could choose when to be born, having all the facts at hand, few would choose any time before today.
This incontrovertible progress has been driven by ethical and responsible conduct, trust, well-functioning markets, the rule-of-law, scientific innovation and political stability. We have to recognise, appreciate and proclaim the value and comparative rarity of each of these.
The constant barrage of negativity may lead us to imagine that our forward progress is about to end. However, the evidence at hand does not support this conclusion. The latest UN Climate Panel scenarios indicate that the average person will be 4.5 times richer by the end of the century than today. Climate change will merely slow progress, such that the average person will be ‘only’ 4.34 times as rich – by no means the end of the world. Yet, fear pushes many to demand an inefficient diversion of hundreds of trillions of dollars to steer the global economy abruptly towards zero carbon emissions.
We need to foster an environment that challenges fearmongering and promotes optimistic yet critical thinking and constructive discussion with regard to the future. We hope that our new Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) which will host its first international conference in London next week will be of aid in this regard, bringing people of good will and good sense together from around the world, to formulate and communicate a positive vision of the future.
To drive progress for the world’s poorest, we should similarly focus on efficient and well-documented policies with enormous benefits. Working with more than a hundred of the world’s top economists, one of us has helped identify the best solutions to many of the world’s most insidious problems: basic tuberculosis treatment that will save a million people a year, land tenure reform that lets poorer people reap the benefits, education technology that can deliver three-times better learning outcomes, and more.
These policies don’t make for catchy headlines, but they can do immense good: for a cost of $35 billion annually they would save an astounding 4.2 million lives and make the poorer half of the world $1.1 trillion richer every year.
If we look to the data and the bigger picture, we can see that the world is better than it was, and is likely to get better still. We have a responsibility to adopt the very best policies to move ahead.
Jordan B. Peterson is professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and author of “Maps of Meaning,” “12 Rules for Life” and “Beyond Order.” A collection of his writings for the Telegraph can be found here.
Bjorn Lomborg is president of the Copenhagen Consensus and visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. His latest book is “Best Things First.” A collection of his writings for the Telegraph can be found here.
Saturday, October 28, 2023
So, Just What Is Wrong? - Here Is A Man Who Can Explain.
https://www.express.co.uk/comment/columnists/leo-mckinstry/1828347/britain-diversity-opinion-woke
For Your Perusal.
Two significant academic scandals from the past year underscore why the new book Critical Dilemma, written by Drs. Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer, is so timely and important. In my view, this book offers the definitive critique of critical theory from a Christian worldview. You can receive a copy for a gift to the Colson Center this month. (Just go to colsoncenter.org/October).
Eric Stewart, a former professor in the highly rated criminology department at Florida State University, is the principal author of a paper that concluded that, as Black and Latino populations increased, so did the public’s demand for more discriminatory sentencing. After the paper was published, his co-author Justin Pickett, a professor at the University of Albany, noticed problems with the data:
Pickett found that their sample size somehow had increased from 500 to over 1,000 respondents, the counties polled had decreased from 326 to 91, and the data was altered to the point of mathematical impossibility.
When Pickett approached Stewart with his concerns, he replied with evasive answers and would not share the complete data set. In Pickett’s analysis of the data from the first set of 500, the results did not support the conclusion that an increasing Black or Latino population is linked to more severe sentencing. If anything, the initial results pointed to the opposite conclusion. Also in the original survey, unanswered questions left blank had been filled in with “imputed values,” presumably by Stewart.
Both the journal that originally published the paper and Florida State University were reluctant to retract the paper or to take action against Stewart. However, the university’s hand was forced by the discovery of five other papers by Stewart that were also based on falsified data. Once that came to light, Stewart abruptly left his $190,000 position at the university.
Perhaps Professor Stewart faked data for grants or due to the pressure to publish. Perhaps he was convinced his theories were correct and too important to be proven wrong. Whatever the case, the data was falsified in support of ideas central to Critical Race Theory, and the consequences were more than merely academic. It’s hard not to believe that his studies have been used to shape policy when he’s garnered over $3.5 million in grant funding from taxpayer-funded organizations.
The more recent scandal involves Ibram X. Kendi’s Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. Kendi authored How to Be an Antiracist, a book that shot to the top of The New York Times bestseller list and remained there for nearly a year. Boston University launched a center dedicated to Kendi’s ideas and hired him to head it. By the end of 2021, the center had collected over $45 million in funding.
Despite that funding, the center recently laid off about half its staff due to significant budgetary problems. A few initiatives had been launched, but the center produced minimal research. Staffers accused the center of a dysfunctional work environment and mismanagement.
Unlike the leaders of the Black Lives Matter organization, Kendi has not been accused of misappropriating donations, though he commands extraordinarily high speaking fees. This seems to be a case of an academic superstar put in charge of a center, who lays out ambitious goals, but is not competent to run it.
Clearly, Kendi wasn’t properly vetted by the university or by donors. The corporations that donated clearly ignored an argument central to Kendi’s antiracism, that capitalism is oppressive and should be dismantled.
Each incident underscores both the pervasive influence of Critical Theory on academic culture and its flaws as a theory. Like all ideas, Critical Theory and its offshoots (Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, Queer Theory, and others) have consequences. Like all bad ideas, it has victims.
For the sake of truth and out of love for our neighbors, Christians must be prepared to push back against these bad ideas. This requires understanding these ideas and responding to them with competence and grace for the people who hold them.
Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology is such a crucial resource right now. Authors Shenvi and Sawyer take seriously the worldview behind various versions of Critical Theory, identify each version’s central ideas, and define key terms such as “intersectionality,” “antiracism,” “privilege,” “wokeness,” “heteronormativity,” and others. They trace the history of these ideas and offer a thorough response from a Christian worldview. As our way of saying thank you for a gift to the Colson Center this month, you can receive a copy of Critical Dilemma by Drs. Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer. To request a copy, go to colsoncenter.org/October.
This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to breakpoint.org.
I Regard the Methodist 'Church' As A FORMER Christian Church, Now A Cult, and, Consequently, Have Little Interest in Any of Their Internal Issues.
An ex-President of the Methodist Conference has been banned from preaching in the Methodist Church for at least twelve months.
It follows the conclusion of an investigation into Rev Graham Thompson by the Methodist Church after concerns were raised about his safeguarding leadership as chair of district.
Blogger: having been brought up in Methodism as a child, I have watched the decline of this once great movement with deep sorrow in my heart.
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Death of Rudolph Isley
Oct 2023.
Rudolph Isley, singer, songwriter and founding member of the influential rhythm and blues band the Isley Brothers, whose hits included "Shout", "Fight the Power", and "That Lady", died on Wednesday at age 84 at his home in Chicago, the family said in a statement.
"Heaven has gained another angel....we know he's in a better place. Forever in our hearts," the family statement read.
The cause of death was not disclosed. Christian News.
Ah. This Is Why Orban Is So Unpopular.
'There is 'a very clear link between terrorism and migration', Hungary's PM says as EU discusses asylum rules reform.
- The comments came after recent deadly terrorist attacks in Belgium and France
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Thursday there is 'a very clear link between terrorist acts and migration' as he went into an EU summit discussing a reform of the bloc's asylum rules.
Orban stressed that Hungary was resisting Brussels's plan to share out responsibility across the bloc for hosting asylum seekers, or to contribute to the costs of that.
He regularly clashes with the EU, not just on migration but on issue such as media and judicial independence and LGBTQ rights.
Last year, when the European Commission froze billions of euros in funds to Hungary over its stance on rule of law and rights issues, Orban likened its reaction to Soviet-era behaviour.
'I very much hope that more and more people here in Brussels will see that there is a very clear link between terrorist acts and migration,' Orban said ahead of a two-day EU summit in Brussels. Mail.
The Seeds of Our Own Destruction.
Many in Britain and the west have been looking aghast at a monster within that has reared up and bared its fangs. They have suddenly realised that they are staring at a civilisational crisis. After the October 7 Hamas pogrom, with the barbaric slaughter of 1,400 men, women and children in southern Israel and the kidnapping into Gaza of more than 220 souls, decent people in the west have been horrified by the massive displays of jubilant bloodlust on the streets of London, New York, Sydney and elsewhere. They have suddenly realised that there are thousands of their citizens who support Hamas and who call genocide against the Jews “resistance”. Every day has brought fresh signs of an anti-Jewish psychopathy within their own societies. Countless thousands don’t appear to recognise that Jewish victims of genocidal attack are entitled to human sympathy. In Britain and America, young people have been tearing down posters bearing pictures of some of the kidnapped Israeli children. Over the tannoy on a London Tube train, a driver led a chant of “Free Palestine” among cheering passengers on their way to demonstrate against an Israel that is being targeted by genocidal attack. At George Washington University in Washington, D.C., messages including “Glory to Our Martyrs,” “Divestment from Zionist Genocide Now” and “Free Palestine from the River to the Sea” were projected for two hours on to the side of a library building. Police and other authorities have been struggling to protect Jews from the rampant antisemitism that is now brazen, open and ubiquitous. At Cooper Union College in New York, security officers had to lock Jewish students in the school library against threats from pro-Hamas students, eventually using tunnels to smuggle them out. In Australia, where a mob chanted “Gas the Jews” in front of the Sydney Opera House, the police advised the Jewish community to “stay home” for their own safety. In Germany, there have been mass arrests of pro-Hamas demonstrators. In France, President Emanuel Macron is threatening to deport Muslim demonstrators with dual nationality. Those who are shocked and appalled by this savage support for Hamas observe that it is mainly coming from Muslim fellow-citizens but is also echoed by western “liberals”. Even though Hamas is committing war crimes by using Gazan civilians as human shields, western “progressives” are accusing Israel of war crimes. Even though Israel has been warning Gazan civilians to flee for their own safety as required by international law, Israel is being accused of breaking international law. The blood of decent people has run cold. They understand that the moral degeneracy and bloodlust against the Jews that’s on such widespread display by untold thousands across the west signifies a civilisation at the point of collapse. They are bewildered because they had no idea that so many amongst them — especially the young — are now governed by such nihilism, brutal moral perversity and murderous rage. But for those with eyes to see, this has been increasingly visible for several decades and is the outcome of two related developments. The first is support for the Palestinian cause, which for years has been the default position amongst western “progressive” classes. Since this cause is based entirely on historical and legal falsehoods, Nazi-style demonisation and a genocidal agenda to destroy Israel and murder Jews — an agenda promoted not just by Hamas but also by the supposedly “moderate” Palestinian Authority — such support has knocked the west off its moral compass, aided and abetted by the anti-western perversities of “intersectional identity politics”. The second development is what has been the great unsayable: mass Muslim immigration and the consequent import of radical jihadi ideology that aims to Islamise the west. For decades, western governments have refused to face up to this while the liberal mainstream media has sanitised it and punished by character assassination all those who try to call it out. Benjamin Baird, the director of the Middle East Forum’s grassroots advocacy initiative MEF Action, said in July that as a consequence of “progressive wokeism” an “Islamist-friendly media” was enabling Muslim Brotherhood jihadi groups in America to gain influence and power in the media, law enforcement and government. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, authorities in Britain turned a blind eye to Islamists living in the UK who were radicalising British Muslims. This was because of what was called a “covenant of security,” a tacit deal under which such radicals were allowed free rein to say what they wanted in return for which they would avoid blood on British streets. It was what might be called a jihadi protection racket overseen by the British security services. In the wake of the Hamas pogrom, there have been indignant reports that Mohammad Sawalha, a former leader of Hamas in the disputed territories of Judea and Samaria, was given British citizenship in the early 2000s after he fled to the UK and is now living in a London house he bought on a municipal discount scheme. According to a US Department of Justice indictment in 2004, upon his arrival in London Sawalha continued to work for Hamas, holding secret talks about “revitalising” terrorist acts in Israel and helping to launder money to support such activities in Gaza, Judea and Samaria. Sawalha’s record has been known for years. Until the Hamas pogrom, however, politicians, the intelligence service and the media chose to look the other way. Islamic radicalism, they all claimed, was confined to a tiny fringe element. Ludicrously, they maintained that it had nothing to do with Islam. Clearly, many western Muslims are genuinely signed up to western values. But a frighteningly large proportion are not. This has been ignored, downplayed and denied. Mass immigration of Muslims has continued, as has liberal pressure to admit thousands of people from Muslim countries claiming refugee status. Anyone who objects is denounced as racist and Islamophobic. Under threat of terrorist attack, the media have routinely censored pictures of Muhammad and any proper discussion of Islam’s theology of holy war. In both Britain and America, Iran has been steadily disseminating its ideology and increasing its influence in Shia mosques. Nine US House representatives recently sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines warning about Iran’s influence in at least four American mosques and Islamic centres. Over the past two years, the police and intelligence service in Britain have foiled 15 plots masterminded by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The Jewish Chronicle has revealed widespread IRGC infiltration of British institutions and universities. Yet successive British governments have refused to ban the IRGC or the Muslim Brotherhood. In a recent lecture, Robin Simcox, the British government’s independent adviser on extremism, said there had been a “normalisation” of both anti-Israel extremism and antisemitism, which he blamed on a “failed policy of mass migration and multiculturalism”. Multiculturalism remains an untouchable shibboleth, while Muslim antisemitism has been totally ignored. In Britain, the Jewish community leadership has not only been silent on Muslim antisemitism but has denounced as Islamophobic anyone who raises the issue. Through interfaith initiatives, rabbis have been bending over backwards to reach out to Muslim clerics. Now that those clerics have been attacking Israel rather than Hamas, these naive rabbis feel betrayed. Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has surprised many by his robust support of Israel’s right to defend itself and his forthright condemnation of the morally debauched reaction to the Hamas pogrom. Many, though, think it is now too late. There are simply too many in the UK whose minds have been poisoned. The terrible paradox of a liberal society is that it refuses to take the illiberal measures that may become unavoidable in defence of liberal values. As a result, liberal society contains the seeds of its own destruction. That is what now stands revealed to a horrified west. |
Unlike In Some Religious Texts - The Bible REALLY Does Mean 'Peace' When It Says It!
The word “peace” appears 420 times in the King James version bible in both the Old and New Testaments. BibleGateway.com - Keyword Search.
Friday, October 27, 2023
Two Conversions Separated Only By Time: Newton and His Biographer, Jonathan Aitken.
John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace
Most Christians know John Newton as a man who once captained a slave ship, was dramatically converted to Christ on the high seas, and later penned one of the greatest hymns of the faith, "Amazing Grace." But he also had a huge impact on his times as an icon of the evangelical movement, as a great preacher and theologian, and as a seminal influence on abolitionist William Wilberforce. Newton's friendship with Wilberforce is portrayed in the major motion picture Amazing Grace.
Jonathan Aitken's new biography John Newton explores all these facets of Newton's life and character. It is the first biography to draw on Newton's unpublished diaries and correspondence, providing fresh insight into the life of this complex and memorable Christian. The result is a fascinating, colourful, and historically significant portrait of John Newton, a self-described "great sinner" redeemed by a great Savior through amazing grace.
Author:
Jonathan Aitken is a well-known British author and former politician. He was a Member of Parliament for twenty-three years, serving in the Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury and also as Minister of State for Defence. His political career ended when he pleaded guilty to charges of perjury as a result of having told a lie on oath in a civil libel lawsuit. During an eighteen-month prison stay, he converted to Christ. He is president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a director of Prison Fellowship International, and executive director of The Trinity Forum in Europe. He is the author of twelve books, including the award-winning Nixon: A Life and Charles W. Colson: A Life Redeemed.
Martin Lloyd-Jones.
David Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a Welsh Protestant minister and medical doctor who was influential in the Calvinist wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London. Wikipedia.
Born: December 20, 1899, Cardiff, United Kingdom
Died: March 1, 1981, Ealing, London, United Kingdom
Nationality: Welsh
Children: Elizabeth Lloyd-Jones, Ann Lloyd-Jones
Grandchild: Christopher Catherwood
Beautiful In Its Time.
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It's that “just right” time, God's time, which is tied into His plan for the world. God has a vision and an order for the universe that He is, in His own perfect time, revealing — until the full glorious masterpiece is shown.
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No Surprises Here!
Poll reveals public opposition to ban on talking therapy for sexuality or gender identity issues.
Oh, Let Joy Be Unconfined.
Clergy will soon be allowed to utilise prayers for same-sex couples, as confirmed by the Cult of England's steering group overseeing the Living in Love and Faith process.
Rt Rev Sarah Mullaly, the group's co-chair, confirmed that a set of liturgical prayers will soon be accessible for clergy to incorporate into existing services, while a standalone service will undergo formal authorisation later. Christian News.
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