Disciples or dopes?

When one reads the Gospels with care, one fact emerges with a sickening regularity. The disciples were emphatically not the regiment of 'assistant heroes' we were led to believe in Sunday School.
Time after time they were: dense, dullwitted, slow, faithless, cowardly, boastful and self-seeking. It was even from the ranks of the Twelve that Jesus's betrayer came.
Yet, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, this bunch of no-hopers went on to change the world and were not afraid to die in the process. Some reports declare that only John escaped death for the sake of the Gospel - and even he died imprisoned.
These men surrendered everything. They did not seek personal glory or wealth, only to reach others.
The disciples as described in the Gospels by four different writers, could not have done this. Something enormous had happened to utterly transform them into selfless go-getters.
The death of Jesus would certainly have ended their contribution to history. They would have surely packed up and gone home.
As it is now near Easter, it is time to recall that there was one event which was big enough to change a man forever. When you witness a friend die and then later see him resurrected, you will never be the same again
Armed with this knowledge and filled with the Holy Spirit, they did indeed transform the world for all time.

If you ever wanted a pointer as to whether Jesus really did rise again - look to the disciples!

A pause for thought.

When the Nazis came for the communists,

I remained silent;I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,

I remained silent;I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,

I did not speak out;I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for me,there was no one left to speak out.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)

How long before they come for the ones who oppose the European Union? - The anti-democratic structures are all in place:- power by commissioners; usurpation of our laws; Europol - a police force answerable to neither criminal nor civil proceedings; blatant lies from on high "The EU has kept the peace in Europe since WW2"; imperialistic ambition; unprecedented levels of corruption; financial dealings above the law - accounts not signed off in over 12 years.

This is NOT just some scare story - the power grabs have been largely slow and subtle but with the dangerous Berlin Declaration - the loss of self determination moves on apace.

Trust them.They KNOW what they are doing.

Current immigration levels will require the building of up to 250 new houses EVERY DAY for the next 19 years.

What a good job that the government knows exactly what it is doing.

LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=420249&in_page_id=1770

Surtsey.

Surtsey is an island off Iceland created by volcanic activity during a period of four years between 1963 and 1967.
It has a complete and complex eco-system. Clearly this has not been 'creation' as such but the sheer speed of the process bears no resemblance whatsoever to evolutionary theory.

LINK:
http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/europe_west_asia/surtsey.html

Our cult of youth.

Jesus was well into his thirties before His ministry began. He would not have been taken seriously had he commenced at an earlier age.
Countless societies have been built - admittedly with mixed success - on the principle of 'age = experience'. Elders.
Today, we are moving to the opposite, and infinitely more dangerous, 'cult of youth'. Just how can the average 16 year old possibly be given the vote? 18 was too young. The only political input you tend to have had has been in the classroom. Your life experience tends to be nil.
Obviously, some would use votes better than people of much greater age but these would clearly be exceptions.
Why are schools required to canvas the views of pupils insufficiently aged to have an overview.
You have to have some life experience before your perspectives or overview of life and society can become valid.
Far better to have a society where the prospect of adulthood is something to be aspired to; something to look forward to; acceptance because you have reached a point of some maturity.
You have to feel that certain politicians are hoping to cream some cheap votes.

[ Photo. 2 recent advisors to the Cabinet.]

Another threat to democracy.

Some of my readers may have spotted that I dislike a certain Richard Dawkins and consider him a dangerous and opinionated fool. I wish he would shut up BUT, in a democracy, he is as entitled as anybody else to state opinions.
Once again, sadly,I must report that in a British university, free speech has been curtailed. This time it is a leading German academic, Matthias Kuntzel, who has been gagged at Leeds University.
His talk was cancelled because he was intending to demonstrate the anti-semitic tendencies of extremist Islam and have the temerity to compare this to Nazi attitudes.
It matters not that he may have a case, our rabid, leftie, PC Gestapo do not want him to be heard so he is stopped.
Awake! Our country's freedoms are being whittled away - and no longer gradually.

LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=442572&in_page_id=1770

Probably not deliberate.

A 4,000 crowd of Christians in Parliament Square recently demonstrated against the iniquitous legislation on sexual orientation.
Funny. The BBC appears to have forgotten to cover it. Particularly strange when Sky did report it.

Ah well. I suppose these blips happen.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGttflOgHjU&mode=related&search

Oh dear. Is he right?

A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. Edward Abbey

What a Surprise.

A study at the Universidad de Barcelona has revealed that there is a direct correlation between the high benefit levels in the UK for young, single mothers and their numbers.
Such benefits are dramatically lower in Germany and France which has led to significantly lower numbers of such young women.
Need I comment?


LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=402541&in_page_id=1770

Playing at Christianity?

I can only come to a single conclusion when I look at evangelicals in the USA.
They are clearly committed to their faith in a way that evangelicals in the UK and Europe are not - and are pilloried mercilessly and mocked for their integrity in the Guardian, Independent and the rest of the UK media. Our response is to reach for a soft compromise. Jesus was always noted for compromise, was he not?
If we take the issue of abortion - as one out of a great many - no American candidate for office can ever expect votes from true Christians if they support 'a woman's right to choose.'
In this country, evangelical Christians will blithely cast their votes for a candidate without any thought how they respond to moral issues.
Of course, we are not as large a lobby group in the UK, but our votes would certainly count if we were organised and less apathetic. Maybe Christians have become terrified of being called the 'Christian Right'.
I do not consider myself rightwing but as this Blog has repeatedly shown. CHRISTIANITY IS [CERTAINLY] NOT LEFTWING!

A simple solution to a complex problem?

When I was a JP, it was clear that a considerable number of defence solicitors would trot out any old pap in order to help a client - Excuses R Us.
My late father, as a Police officer had much experience of courts and suggested a solution to the untruths uttered.
Solicitors are supposed to be 'officers of the court' but all too few take this seriously.
His suggestion was that any statement made to their Worships would have to be made under oath - thus rendering them liable for perjury charges. Brilliant! It would work. At the very least they would be obliged to check the factual base of any lame attempt by a defendant to con the court.
"My client has now determined to solve his drugs problems and has voluntarily joined a programme called Cold Turkey Anonymous."
The accurate translation might read: "I told my client to visit the CTA last week which he did. He has not been back since and has not become part of any rehab project."
Lawyers mislead, Les? Surely not!

Big Bang.

Last July, I published an article about Dr Robert Gentry who had come up with ten significant, scientific arguments which show that the so-called Big Bang could not have happened.
You may be interested to follow the link below to see how he has not even been allowed to have the views published.
It is now abundantly clear that evolutionary scientists know that their hypothoses do not hold water.
This is why they refuse debate and censor. If they had any confidence whatsoever in their ideas they would be happy to test them in public and would easily destroy those who oppose them.
They do not. They run away and only one conclusion may be drawn from this.
I repeat "In the beginning was nothing which then exploded." Doesn't quite measure up to Genesis 1:1, does it? Even schoolchildren ask me "How can nothing explode?"

I have recently been involved in an utterly futile debate on the topic in one local newspaper.

I at least, have looked at the opposite arguments to my own and reached conclusions.

Several blinkered individuals have effectively declared "We are right, so there - and with knobs on." I have reluctantly withdrawn. Tragically, there are many other areas where people no longer LISTEN to arguments. [University must have changed a great deal since I went in the early 70s.]

They ignore debate and refuse to consider the possibility that they could ever be wrong.

Dawkins is not alone. This is a most worrying social trend.


http://www.orionfdn.org/papers/index.htm

Populism is not a dirty word.

Only in political circles is 'populism' considered a dirty word and this line is widely supported across the media.
These forces love to portray the word as the domain of: the terminally shallow, the knee-jerk reaction contingent, the simple, the poorly informed, the prejudiced and those 'who cannot see the big picture'.
Certainly, mob rule and the lynch mob are undesirable but this is a calculatedly false picture, created by soundbite and misinformation.
What 'populism' really means is that the people have a true voice; democracy in fact. [That would never do, of course.]
It means genuine democracy instead of the ersatz, patrician version we currently endure.
It means an end to party politics as we know it; probably referenda in place with the power to overrule politicians' decisions which go against the will of the people.
There are several areas where my own ideas might founder in the face of a referendum on the topic but the gains would be beyond measure.

A Partial Apology.

The barmy left get it wrong on how to run a country almost all of the time. The laughingly named Independent has today published a retraction on its past campaign to legalise cannabis - but only on the spurious grounds that they were not really aware how strong skunk really is.

I suppose we must be grateful for a lost sheep at least heading in the direction of the fold!

LINK: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article2368994.ece

Polish Naivety?

Poland and its heavily Roman Catholic population are rapidly heading for a mega clash with its 'Masters in Brussels' over its refusal to allow the indoctrination of children in schools with homosexual propaganda.
Education Minister Roman Giertych is in for quite a shock when the EU and their tame courts turn on his moral nation. His attempts to legislate will be overturned as already predicted on this Blog.

Isn't naivety sweet?

REF: Posting 22/7/06

Mount St Helens.

May the 18th 1980 should have wrecked uniformitarian geology for all time. This is the idea that all the rock and land formations we see today MUST have taken millions or even billions of years to form. For years, geologists have insisted that:
- Coal formation takes considerable periods of time.
- Stratified layers a few millimetres to many metres thick take massive amounts of time.
- Erosion is a lengthy, gradual process.
Well the eruption of Mount St Helens has blown all three of these ideas out of the water. 27 years on, there are significant coal deposits in Spirit Lake made from the trees destroyed post eruption. A mini Grand Canyon (one fortieth the size of the original) has been formed on Toutle River indicating the means by which the more famous one was formed. Stratified layers of considerable depths were formed in minutes. Most interestingly, laboratories asked to date rocks formed in the eruptions have come up with dates of millions of years! I have checked out the responses of darwinian geologists. So. Have the uniformitarian evolutionists backtracked? - No. Of course not! Never let the facts get in the way of a good theory.

LINKS: http://www.trumpetmin.org/nature.htm http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v6/i1/mtsthelens.asp http://www.creationism.org/articles/swenson1.htm

Mad Baroness Disease.

Baroness Corston has recommended that all women's prisons should be closed.
All sentences of less than 2 years would never actually receive any custody.
Let us leave aside the self evident insanity of her proposals and consider how sexist they are.
If it were suggested that only women could be jailed, do you think that the Guardianistas might not turn apoplectic?

LINKS:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article1512130.ece

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=442113&in_page_id=1770

The House of Lords.

At first sight it seems democratically absurd to have an unelected House of Lords and yet it is interesting how frequently the present Upper House has been more in tune with the people than the Commons.

The Commons is badly out of touch and represents the views of the politicians and not the people. I could probably come up with at least a dozen areas where a referendum would go in a totally opposite direction to 'the will of Parliament'.

The Lower House is filled with party favourites; lickspittle clones of the party who offered them the chance of a seat.

The present system produces ever more lawyers and professional politicians when we need the people's voice to be heard. Our current crop of politicians believe they have a patrician function.

What would pull these wretches up in double quick time would be if a certain number of signatures on a petition were able to produce a referendum on a political issue, as is the case in Switzerland which has recognised the weaknesses of so-called democracy in a modern world.

As for the Lords, you can reform it but how would you improve it? The political parties would continue to put forward the people THEY want us to vote for.

Albertaceratops Nesmoi.

A fossil of ceratopsis has been found in Alberta. It has a larger horn than usual for its species. Some long horned types, Zuniceratops, had previously been found with very big horns. Some short horned types called Riceratops are allegedly within a 22 million year span of these.
As the newly discovered one has a medium sized horn, it has been imaginatively dated in between the two.
Three points:-
Note how the dating is achieved by the unproven 'mid link' connection being placed between the two others - a typical slick trick of the evolutionary paleontologist. Force the evidence to fit the argument then call it 'scientific'.
Secondly; Texan Longhorn cattle have, well, long horns. Illawara short horned have short horns and Friesians have medium sized ones.

So. Which cow evolved into which other?

Finally, note how the previously predicted medium horned beastie is then adduced as evidence of evolution.

May I suggest that the BBC's nutty Primeval series makes slightly more sense and is certainly more fun.

LINKS: http://cleve.live.advance.net/news/photos/gallery.ssf?cgi-bin/view_gallery.cgi/cleve/view_gallery.ata?g_id=5827

http://ibtimes.com/apnews/20070304/new-dinosaur.htm

Corrupt 'em while they are young.

On a personal level I have no problems whatsoever with what consenting adults do in private. I can get on as well with people who are homosexual as with anybody else and actually consider several homosexual people to be my friends.

BUT. The issue is simply that the Bible says 'NO!' and so as a Christian I disapprove but still take the attitude that this is an issue between the individual and God.

This changes when children are propagandised or placed into the care of homosexual couples. I object to homosexual 'marriage' which is spitting in the face of Christianity.

All these things have been legitimised by Blair's government; encouraged by the Liberal Democrats and now they have Cameron leaping onto the bandwagon.

How can Christians possibly vote for any of these?

Have you heard of the fairytale 'King and King'? It is a sweet tale of love which is now to be found in books and stories for four year olds.
It could be better titled 'We wish to corrupt your child with sodomite propaganda'.
Jesus warned that those who corrupt children would be better off having a millstone tied around their necks and be cast into the sea than what awaits them in the judgement.
Congratulations to The Christian Institute and Simon Calvert for attacking this abomination which, thus far has been adopted by FOURTEEN schools.
An abundance of such horrors is in production with ready markets amongst the politically correct.
Bring back Section 28! Christians arise and make your voices heard. NEVER again cast your vote for such moral corruption.

I simply cannot believe that the BNP alone are considered extremists when we see what our mainstream politicians do!

DEMOCRACY is the key. Would any of these three things have happened had a referendum been held? - I think we all know the answer to that.

Shoplifting.

50% of on-the-spot shoplifting fines are not being paid. Another law and order winner from the ridiculous Blair.
Weak on crime, weak on everything else - except Iraquis.

Spanish Prisons.

I recently read an article about what you would be sent to prison for in Spain. Along with many other European nations, the threshold for custody is actually much lower than in the UK.
These countries jail much more easily than we do, especially where recidivists are concerned.
Yet it is here where the largest prison population in Europe can be found.
There is a logic which escapes our social workers and politicians which I hope will not be missed by my readers.

I no longer care if we have a Labour government until my 99th birthday but I shall never cast a vote for Cameron's Tories. Even if it were to mean getting a Liberal Democrat horror, I shall stoically accept whatever that means ahead of voting for the wretched 'Dave'.
His latest in an ever lengthening line of blunders is to speak out against selective education.
IT IS OKAY FOR OLD ETONIANS WHO DO NOT HAVE TO SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO A BOG STANDARD COMPREHENSIVE. It is not alright for working class children for whom the Grammar Schools were the opportunity for social mobility; their escape route. I know. That was both my wife and me.
This abuser of oxygen has dumped every conservative principle worthy of the name and has decided to copy all the worst of the other two big parties. And, this jelly-like, treacherous individual has also reneged on his previous promises over student financing and party aligments in Brussels.
The irony is that his current lead in the opinion polls has surely come from Labour negatives; people desperate for a change - any change. This policy downgrading was totally unnecessary.

He relies on the naive loyalty of core voters along with the detestation of Labour. He deserves to fail.

LINKS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4594836.stm

http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/pr%20...%20ives/2005/LSE_SuttonTrust_report.htm

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShowStory.asp?story=PN332602I&catid=1

Sacred cow finally slaughtered?

I am not naive enough to believe that Channnel Four's programme The Great Global Warming Swindle, shown last night, will have been the final nail in the coffin of this pseudo scientific piffle - it is far too entrenched for that - but at least the fightback has commenced in earnest.

No intelligent or deepthinking person who saw the programme can have failed to be impressed by the truly scientific approach taken by expert after expert, and had that been a court of law, the programme makers would have been considered to have made a prima facie case which went onto become virtually unanswerable.

One by one the houses built on sand were destroyed without trace and the final barb came when it was demonstrated how many vested interests there are; how many careers depend on global warming being a fact.

If the programme had one shortcoming, it was that, to some extent, it neglected the sinister political overtones which seek to manipulate the people; to destroy democracy and give the excuse for even higher taxation levels. On the plus side it did show the damage this thinking is doing to the people of Africa.

A programme dedicated to truth and for the first time on this Blog it is a full 3 cheers to Channel Four.

[A similar style of programme made by anti-evolutionary scientists could have a similar impact and outcome but I doubt that one such will appear.]

Expect the moans of anguish to emerge in enormous numbers from our allegedly green friends.

LINK: http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites

/G/great_global_warming_swindle/index.html

A lesson for the left.

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. - Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

What a joke.

Official figures reveal that last year more than 65,000 criminals escaped custody for serious offences when they had a criminal record of more than TEN convictions.

No doubt, it was convincingly explained in court how they would respond so much better to a community penalty than custody.

When you have a minimum of TEN convictions, just how many times will you already have undergone: CROs, CPOs, ASBOs, DTTOs and any other set of initials which ends in 'O' that you can think of?

What the published figures do not state is how many of these 65,000 are yet to make their first trip to jail. In my experience on the Bench - that figure could be extremely high.

Stop to consider just how much social misery these relatively unpunished felons will have wreaked in their communities.

Our liberal society?

My political beliefs are liberal - although not in any way which links them to parties of recent decades which have hijacked that name.

One of my beliefs is that the Scargills, Powells, Benns of this world are fully entitled to hold a set of views and should be allowed to express them. This applies equally to the BNP as it does to Respect.

I have been horrified yet again to see that a university group, this time The Oxford Student Action for Refugees, is not only wishing to see an end to free speech but has demanded the sacking of Professor David Coleman who is a leading demographics expert.

Professor Coleman has committed the heinous crime of having advised MigrationWatch. For those of you who do not know, that august body is the only place where you can go to find the true state of immigration into this country. It tells the unvarnished - and unpalatable - truth.

Times-a-many the government has had to admit to MigrationWatch's statistics being more accurate than their own. The group is politically neutral.

If these are the sort of students which Oxford is now producing, then we are in big trouble.

I do hope that they are unrepresentative.

LINKS: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/

comment/debate/letters/article388568.ece

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/03/06/dl0602.xml

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/02/noxford02.xml

***A denial by the student group was published on the 7th March where this matter was apparently clarified. It seems that they only asked whether he should continue to be employed. Hair-splitting!

Full frontal assaults.

Vitreolic aggression directed at Christianity on a variety of TV channels; television and the media effectively advertising Dawkins' books; newspaper articles; Letters Pages filled with poisonous attempts to undermine the Faith; government enacting anti-Christian legislation; political mandarins and senior educational officials working to a pro-Moslem/ anti-Christian agenda. [Please do not ask me to explain the logic of that!]

It can only get worse.

I do not mean to be a purveyor of doom but surely we are now well into the 'End Times' spoken of in the Scriptures.

SHEER GREED!

This is a perfect word for use in the political arena. It may be cast about indiscriminately and is effectively unanswerable as an accusation.
It can be pointed against trade unionists who are genuinely trying to gain improved terms for their workers but this is only an occasional usage.
It is seemingly obligatory to use against any businessman who is trying to make a profit or any business larger than a sweet shop. Today, it is a means for attacking the pragmatic, the right of centre, those who try to build their own lives without reference to the state and naturally, anybody who possesses 50p more than you do.
The hypocrisy is enormous as the people most likely to employ the word are never noted for living humbly in sackcloth and ashes.
[It is similar to that political interview trap: "Why has your government not done more...?" The hapless politician then explains what has been done and some Paxman clone comes back with: "Why are you not answering my question? I asked why you have not done MORE?"
Abject defeat near guaranteed.]
Be VERY careful of letterwriters, columnists and the generally 'gobby' who have recognised the value of a 'free punch'.

The 'politics of envy' is never scripturally encouraged. If - and only if - an individual has a spiritual problem caused by wealth then that is a solely a matter between them and God.
It is manifestly and morally wrong for political ideals to be formed around such negative principles.

Andrew McClintock.

I know Andrew McClintock very slightly. I had not realised what a man of principle this Sheffield JP is.

Consequently, he lost his case at a tribunal yesterday trying to opt out of being directly involved in homosexual adoptions in Family Court.

His legitimate concerns are to be ignored. He is not to be permitted a conscience and as he himself stated, he does not wish to be party to a "social experiment" with children.

May I remind readers that the wretched Prime Minister makes claims - laughable in the extreme - to be a Christian.

This is the thin end of a very dangerous wedge for Christians and society. It is a logical follow through that true Christians can no longer be magistrates.

One question. Yes or no. Do you dear reader, honestly believe that if he had been a Muslim the tribunal decision would have been the same?

LINKS: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=431199&in_page_id=1770

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/newspapers/sunday_times/britain/article1295989.ece

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=419067&in

_page_id=1770

More persecution

So. The 'story' of Jack Biggs the UKIP candidate allegedly 'ditched for being disabled' has been exposed by a normally UKIP-unfriendly newspaper as malevolence at its worst.[They had offered to fund AND deliver his leaflets]
Add that to the disgraceful actions of the political appointees at the Electoral Commission and we find that Mr Biggs is not the only one trying to wound the only party prepared to listen to the voters.





THE UKIP 'E' MAILS: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/eu/story/0,,2023510,00.html

Myanmar

The anti-Christian nature of the Burmese government probably equals the worst persecution levels anywhere else on earth.
A leaked government memo states: "There shall be no home where the Christian religion is practised." Secret filming by Release International has proved these points without any remaining doubt.
Torture is a commonplace fact of life for Christians.

LINK: http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/downloads/world-update-webcast.php

Bigotry.

What is a bigot? Let me help you grasp the concept as it is today.
Without any shadow of a doubt it is anybody who dares to have standards or who stands up to the liberal left and/or the politically correct.
It is a term which must be applied to Christians but becomes Islamophobia if the same criteria are used where Muslims are concerned. [On occasions the liberal church can be granted an exemption]
If you believe in: honesty, marriage, a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, rewarding merit, free speech, integrity, the Gospels, punishing the wrongdoer, low taxation, attacking high government spending, opposing the EU, complaining about multiculturalism, criticising foreign wars not of our concern as well as excessive immigration - then guess what that makes you!
Please remember that no leftie can EVER be a bigot. Smallmindedness, pettiness, intolerance, undemocratic practices, failure to respond to reason or logic by those of a politically correct persuasion, failure to even consider the arguments of others cannot be classed as bigotry under any circumstances whatsoever.