Thursday, December 31, 2020

God's Love Is Available To Us - Just Tap In.

 

Prayer, Please.


  Please pray for Kit, Marlene, Peter, Clive, Mike, Chris, Richard, Janet, and Barbie.

Calls For Release of Christian Journalist.

 https://www.christianpost.com/news/mike-pompeo-calls-for-release-of-chinese-christian-journalist.html

We Shall Soon Find Out What Brexit Means!

 "A new chapter in our national story"

Jessica Parker
BBC political correspondent

 ... Brexit has often caused division – and, at times, political turmoil.
But, after years of heated debate and hard negotiations, the country will soon start to find out what Brexit really means.
Blogger: Is it just me or do I detect a little smack of inappropriate bad grace here? Has dear Jessica not spotted the shedloads of vital trade deals coming in which would, at best in the EU have been unlikely and at worst - impossible? Funny how they weren't mentioned. Odd too that there is no applause for democracy having been enacted or for the fantastic negotiating skills of Lord Frost prompted by the tousle-haired one.
Perhaps she has also forgotten the BBC's incredibly unbalanced reporting and her exclusion of so many Brexiteers when balance was the order of the day for an electorate-sponsored public broadcaster?

Oh. Really?

God Does NOT Further Victimise Rape Victims.

 https://erlc.com/resource-library/articles/god-is-not-silent-what-the-bible-teaches-about-sexual-assault/

Birdie.

Argentina's Shame.

 https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Argentinas-Senate-Passes-Safe-Abortion-Law-20201230-0001.html

Pardon My Laughter. Ms Abbott's Contributions To The Failures of Labour Have Been Legendary. Thanks, Di.

'I'm eurosceptic!' Diane Abbott shocks with Brexit bombshell but still WON'T vote for deal

DIANE ABBOTT insisted she will be defying the Labour Party whip to vote against the Brexit trade bill despite admitting to holding "eurosceptic" views.

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Dave Ramsey - Livin' The Life!

 https://www.christianpost.com/voice/dave-ramsey-forgives-10-million-of-debt-to-show-the-love-of-jesus.html

Speak Kindly.

 

Birdies.

Vomitworthy.

 Massachusetts House overrides governor's veto of abortion bill

Just days after Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a bill that would expand abortion access in Massachusetts, the state’s Democrat-led House of Representatives has voted to override the veto. CP.

Christian Punished By Despotic Regime.

China: Christian who saw her work as 'God's will' gets 4 years in prison for Wuhan reporting

A Christian reporter who saw her work as God’s will has been sentenced to four years in prison in Shanghai after she documented the coronavirus outbreak in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. CP.

Nazanin Still Being Persecuted.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe avoids being returned to jail.British-Iranian dual national in court to hear fresh charges of undermining Iranian state

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has served four and a half years of her five-year first sentence. Photograph: Family handout/PA
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
The detained British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has avoided being sent back to jail after after appearing in court to hear fresh charges of undermining the Iranian state.
There had been fears that she would be sent back to Evin prison in Tehran but the hearing was adjourned before she could present her defence, her British-based family told her local MP, Tulip Siddiq.
No UK officials were present at the hearing, despite repeated requests from the UK Foreign Office.
Siddiq said: “It is hard to imagine the mental torture that being repeatedly threatened with a return to prison causes, and this awful situation is now being dragged out once again.”
Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been under house arrest at her parents’ home in Tehran since March when she was temporarily released in part due to the coronavirus outbreak in Iran.
She has served four and a half years of her five-year first sentence, and she has admitted to being terrified of being sent back to jail for another lengthy sentence. There was no new evidence in the file handed to her lawyers to justify the charges, according to her family. Informed last week that the second trial was to go ahead this week, Zaghari-Ratcliffe had been told to bring clothes with her since she would be returning to jail.
Her daughter, Gabriella, is with her husband, Richard, in London, who said: “This is a good first step, but it is not enough. The use of the court process as a negotiating tactic by the Revolutionary Guard remains deeply traumatic for Nazanin and the rest of us. We await the next escalation. We do not expect it to be kind”.
He also thanked the Foreign Office for taking a stand over its demand that she was not sent back to jail. The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, spoke to Zaghari Ratcliffe before the hearing,
The UK Foreign Office has said the fresh charges were unwarranted and that if she was sent back to jail, the basis of the Iranian-British relationship would change. Guardian.

That Will Do For Me!

 Tory Brexiteers to back deal after ERG's 'Star Chamber' says it passes the 'acid test'

The ERG said that while the deal was not 'perfect', it fulfilled requirements of guaranteeing Britain's sovereignty as an independent nation

When This Blows It Will Make Mount St Helens Look A Rank Beginner.

 https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/1377714/yellowstone-volcano-usgs-eruption-warning-ash-magma-chamber-supervolcano-spt

The Silence Is Deafening.

 Major and Tony Blair told to ‘admit you were wrong’ as ex-PMs maintain Brexit deal silence

JOHN MAJOR and Tony Blair were both told to "admit they were wrong", after the former Prime Ministers claimed a Brexit deal with the EU was finished.

By CLIVE HAMMOND, Express.

Tuesday, December 29, 2020

Brexit Trade Deals Flooding In.

 The colossal figure comes as Trade Secretary Liz Truss signed off a new £18.6 billion tie-up with Turkey, meaning the UK now has new agreements in place with 62 countries around the world. And there are multi-billion free trade deals with America, Canada and Australia in the pipeline for 2021. Together they could boost the UK economy by at least £100 billion over the coming decade, according to analysts. Express.

Stop Tha Mithering.

 I wonder how many readers will need to look up this word which is so very common around South Yorkshire?

Well. My primary New Years' Resolution is going to be to stop my all-too-regular mithering and adopt a more sunny disposition. I am a Christian after all.

My second plan is to stop chuntering about things which, in the greater scheme of things, don't really matter all that much.

Keep The Faith.

 

What Do You Do When A Politician Makes You Angry?

I am being quite serious when I tell you that I pray for them. There have been a great many politicos who have featured in my prayers over recent years.

I hope that you pray for them too.

Birdie.

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Dawkins: Not Only A Sad Individual But A Hell-bound One. Please Pray For Him!

 ... what we meant by a Dickensian Christmas and it didn't this year. Perhaps we are now in a Darwinian post-Christmas where the strongest survive and the weak are left to struggle?

Speaking of Darwin let's turn to Richard Dawkins' essay in the Christmas Spectator
I was going to write Richard another open letter but since he didn't reply to my last one I suspect he is not a regular reader of Christian Today!
Dawkins' essay is a good defence of scientific truth against something he hates even more than Christianity – post-modernism. He is rightly concerned about the hijacking of truth by those who see science as 'the brainchild of white Victorian males' and a tool of 'patriarchal domination'. For me this is a case of chickens coming home to roost – Dawkins has helped create a world in which science can be sidelined because feelings predominate. The God Delusion was an anti-religious diatribe that had little to do with facts, reason and truth. Dawkins has been hoisted by his own petard. His attacks upon Christianity have undermined the foundation of science.
Like Pilate, Dawkins asks the age-old question, 'what is truth?'. He dismisses moral and aesthetic truths and instead gives us this definition: "By truth I shall mean the kind of truth that a commission of inquiry or a jury trial is designed to establish. I hold the view that scientific truth is of this common-sense kind, although the methods of science may depart from common sense and its truths may even offend it."
So, scientific truth is defined by a common-sense jury, but the scientific method sometimes departs from common-sense?! It's a somewhat confused and contradictory definition. Imagine if Newton, Galileo or Einstein had to determine scientific truth before a jury of their citizen peers? Dawkins' faith in commissions of inquiry as arbiters of truth is very much in line with the zeitgeist of the times – although I suspect that he would want to determine the jury before leaving them free to define what truth is.
It's a shame that he left out the aspect of moral truth. Why is truth important at all? Because it is a sin to lie. For example, stating about Donald Trump, "For him, lying is not a last resort. It never occurs to him to do anything else."
This is not a scientific statement, nor is it logical or provable. It's just a reflection of Dawkins' own prejudice. He does not know what occurs to Trump – nor is it self-evident that Trump never thinks to speak truth. Most liars also communicate truth. Let's, for example, look at some of the truths contained in the rest of the essay.
"There is no law that says truths about nature have to be comprehensible by the human brain."
Indeed. The same of course applies for truths about supernature. Dawkins always demands a God who is comprehensible, testable and answerable to him. If he cannot grasp, test or question such a God, then that God is not permitted to exist! It's ironic that Dawkins demands that we have faith in science, even when that science cannot be explained, but we must deny faith in God because God is inexplicable!
"Theological theories make no predictions at all, let alone testable ones."
Unlike Dawkins' accusations about Trump, I am not going to accuse him of being a permanent liar. Dawkins says many things that are true. But this isn't one of them. Theology makes lots of predictions – many of which are testable. The Bible for example tells us that human beings are sinful and will lie, that wars, plagues and pestilence will continue on the earth, that the poor we will always have with us, that Jesus will return, that the family is the basic unit of society and without it society will collapse.
I can think of many predictions in the Bible – many of which have come true and others of which will come true. In fact I am so sure of those predictions I live my life by them. When it comes to a jury of Dawkins' peers or a commission of inquiry or the eternal Word of God, I know which one I trust to be the arbiter of truth!
"Well, it may not be true for you, but it is true for me' No, it's either true or it isn't. For both of us. As someone once said, you are entitled to your own opinions but not to your own facts."
Amen and Amen. We don't get to make up our truths. I recall Dawkins in The God Delusion being so desperate to escape the truth of an ordered universe that he postulated a multiverse system where in one universe you were already dead and in another you had a green moustache. This ridiculous and unscientific claim was repeated in his children's version of TGD – Outgrowing God.
"But science is also humble. We may know what we know, but we also know what we don't know. Scientists love not knowing because they can go to work on it."
Science is of course not humble. Humility is a moral quality – one of those moral truths that are so important. Science is amoral (not immoral but neutral). Scientists on the other hand are human beings. Some are humble, some are proud – thinking that they, and they alone, have the source of all knowledge. Most are a mix. Some scientists, like Dawkins' colleague, Peter Atkins, think that they can have a scientific theory which explains everything. Humility on the other hand is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), the wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10) and consists in a humble walk before the Lord (Micah 6:8)
"Either way science can properly claim to be the gold standard of truth."
Science again makes no claims. It does not speak. Scientists however do. Sometimes they speak truth and sometimes they speak nonsense. The scientific method is the best way for discovering scientific truths. But not all truths can be determined by science – for example moral or historical truths.
And herein lies the problem for Dawkins. He bases his life upon a misunderstanding and a lie. He has faith that there is nothing outwith his material world. His naturalistic faith means that he is doctrinally bound to reject anything that is supernatural – including the coming of the Son of God into the world. Logically if there is an Almighty God, then causing his Son to be born of a virgin is an easy thing for him to do. The trouble is that Dawkins and his fellow fundamentalist atheists cannot accept the miracle of the virgin birth because they are already predetermined that such a miracle could not happen because it would require an Almighty God to do it – and as they 'know', there is no such God. This is not scientific truth; this is circular reasoning based upon a limited worldview and an arrogant hubris which thinks that anything outside of their sphere of understanding cannot be. As Chesterton puts it: "The believers in miracles do so because they have evidence for them, the disbelievers because they have a faith against them.".
A Dawkinisian Christmas is best summed up in the words of the man himself.
"In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference." (River out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life)
That's it folks. This Christmas some of you are going to get lucky. There is no reason. There is no justice. There is no design, no evil no good. In such a world there is ultimately no beauty, no peace and no joy to the world. A Dawkinsian world is one of blind pitiless indifference. Little wonder that the atheists require no government edicts banning them from singing – they have nothing to sing about!
On the other hand as Christians we have songs that will resound throughout eternity!
"Joy to the World, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing."
The trouble with Dawkins' view of truth is that it is such a limited, narrow, constricting, joyless world. The Christian view is much more inclusive and expansive. It includes scientific, moral, aesthetic, historical and theological truth. And all of it is summed up not in a philosophy or system but in a person, Jesus Christ, the One who is The Truth.
Happy Christmas! Christianity Today. David Robertson.

Please Click To Help 'Right To Life UK.'

You can help us to create a culture that values life and prevent laws that allow for the deaths of thousands of unborn children.

Monday, December 28, 2020

A Common Misunderstanding.

 A Common Misunderstanding.

When many people refer to 'their faith', they are actually referring to a mixture of faith and unbelief. (I have even heard Bishops make this error!)
If God is an opinion - then this is not faith. 'Faith' is actually a certainty.
'Lack of faith' has nothing to do with 'belief in God' in these circumstances but, is rather, about the outworking of faith.

For example, I know God exists from personal experience BUT do I have sufficient 'faith' to believe that 'He will move this particular mountain'?
We can refer to the former as 'saving faith'.

Dual Defence and Protecting Yourself From Covid.



To all my readers:

Mole-in-the-know has informed me that Boots Dual Defence nasal spray contains an ingredient currently being tested by scientists as a chemical which may well kill the Covid virus.
Other nasal sprays do not contain this ingredient which appears to be having significant success.
£6 a throw at Boots to give you protection in shops and enclosed environments? Worth a punt. 
(Mine was the last one on the shelf in Chesterfield.)
Having Taffix nasal spray to add to the vitamin D you are already using may also be a preventative. Also worth trying if in the first stages of Covid, apparently.

Are You In The Light? - Really?

Not All That Seasonal - But Still A Good Question.

 


Congratulations Fiona.

 Fiona Bruce appointed as new Freedom of Religion or Belief Envoy.

Staff writer  21 December 2020  CT.
Fiona Bruce is the MP for Congletonparliamentlive.tv
Fiona Bruce has been appointed as the UK Government's new Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). 
Bruce, a committed Christian, said the plight of young Christian girls like Leah Sharibu, kidnapped by militants in Nigeria, and Maira Shahbaz, forced into a marriage in Pakistan, would be priorities for her.
Welcoming the news on Twitter, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: "Fiona Bruce is a champion for freedoms here and abroad.
"I look forward to working with her as the UK's Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief to make sure everyone, everywhere is free to have and practise a faith, belief, or not, in accordance with their conscience."
She succeeds Rehman Chisti who resigned earlier this year after the Government suggested it would break international law over Brexit. 
Bruce said she was "honoured" by the appointment. 
"There is much to do, and my post will be placed at the service of some of the most vulnerable people across the world, people like young girls Leah Sharibu from Nigeria and Maira Shahbaz from Pakistan, both brutally abducted from their homes and whose plights I was able to highlight recently in the House of Commons," she said. 
"This appointment comes in the light of continuing large scale horrors taking place – such as those against Uighur Muslims in China, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Yazidis in Iraq and at a time when, as the late and much respected former Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks stated, 'the persecution of Christians throughout much of the Middle East, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, and elsewhere, is one of the crimes against humanity of our time.'
"These are some of the most deeply concerning issues of our generation, on which it will be a privilege to engage as Special Envoy, both nationally and internationally, with others similarly concerned."
Her appointment has been welcomed by CSW's Founder President Mervyn Thomas, who said: "This appointment is wonderful news for all who work on freedom of religion or belief.
"Fiona Bruce has been unwavering, courageous and outspoken in championing this fundamental right since she became an MP in 2010, and we look forward to continuing to work with her in her new role.
"We would also like to thank Rehman Chisti MP for his work advancing the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief worldwide both during and after his time as FoRB envoy."
Henrietta Blyth, CEO of Open Doors, said the Conversative MP has been a "champion" for minority religious groups.
"We are thrilled that a new special envoy has been appointed," said Henrietta. "And we are delighted that it is Fiona Bruce – she has been a friend of Open Doors through the years and is a real champion for freedom of religion and belief," she said. 
"Freedom of religion and belief affects all religious groups and it's great to see that the Government is open to appointing members of all religions to the role.
"Rehman Chishti MP was very energetic in pursuing the recommendations from the Bishop of Truro's report to support persecuted Christians and we will look forward to continuing our work on this with Fiona."
Dr David Landrum, the new director of Advocacy and Public Affairs at Open Doors UK & Ireland, said: "This is a timely and important appointment. Fiona understands that the freedom to convert is at the heart of religious freedom and that religious freedom underpins all our other human rights and civil liberties.
"We look forward to working with Fiona as the UK government affirms its commitment to addressing the persecution of Christians across the world.
"We know that from her extensive campaigning work and her role on the Joint Human Rights Committee Fiona is not only very knowledgeable about the issues facing the persecuted church, but she also has both a heart for religious freedom and a vision to see things change."

The Good Thing About Trump - He Is Not A Leftist Democrat.

 donald-trump-and-franklin-graham

'Trump will go down in history as one of the great presidents of our nation,' says Franklin Graham. CT.

Birdie.

 

Nigel Farage On Loving Europe But Not The EU.

 ... Mr Farage then noted that such a unified, homogenous ‘Europe’ as sold by the proponents of the European Project simply does not exist, but so much cultural and other divisions exist within it, threatening the superstate.

“The European Union itself is divided by north to south by a currency that doesn’t work for the south at all, divided between the east and west, culturally. We’re seeing the EU budget being vetoed and countries like Poland and Hungary very unhappy. I think in the broader picture, Brexit is the beginning of the end of the European Union. I’m pro-European. I’m pro-Europe of sovereign states trading and being friends — not being run from Brussels.”
Mr Farage went on to condemn “the undemocratic nature of the way this project is run” and how it hurts European small business owners, because it is inherently structured to benefit “big multinational businesses”.
However, he said that it was in Britain’s interest that Europe — as a collection of free nations — is “settled”, because “as history teaches us: when Europe is happy and settled, it makes our lives easier, too.
“What I can see, is conflict building up, north, south, east, west, within a European Union that just wants to build this modern-day empire with an absence of democracy.” Breitbart.

Sunday, December 27, 2020

The Major Details: UK 'Wins'; EU 'Wins' - Lists From That Document. We Win Big - The EU Does Not Actually Lose.

 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9088047/500-pages-long-historic-dossier-thats-set-Britain-free-EU.html

Overall, this was a mighty victory for Britain with far fewer concessions than I could have ever imagined possible.

The great thing is that the agreement leaves the EU's dignity intact and we can still be friends.

My pessimism has been bleak this December as I suspected a stitch-up but this deal offers more than we could have even dreamed of back in 2014 when Ukip won the EU elections in the UK.

Family occasions apart, Christmas Eve 2020 may well be the happiest day of my life.

The icing on the cake - with added giant cherry - is that this leaves remainers nowhere left to go. In their heart of hearts they will now be feeling the magnitude of their defeat and crying bitter tears for not having smiled and warmly accepted Mrs May's Chequers, 12 part sellout.

Normally, I dislike schadenfreude but ...

Joseph.

 Joseph took second place and that's striking in a culture where men were normally in charge.

J John   23 December 2020 |

Tears Wiped Away.


 

Large Artefact Found In Gethsemane.

 byzantine-church

Archaeologists uncover ritual bath from the time of Jesus at Gethsemane

A ritual bath dating to the time of Jesus has been unearthed at Gethsemane, the place where Jesus prayed just before his Crucifixion. CT.

My Singaporean Friend Poses An Excellent Question.

 I’ve noticed the UK media have been slagging off Singapore in some quarters.  Just because we do not conform to the UK’s idea of democracy, does not mean that we are some sort of maniacal police state.  

Wonder how much the UK media covered the British boy who was cured of cancer over here in Singapore, after his parents had been told by the NHS that there was nothing more they could do for his cancer.  His parents never gave up and found out about a hospital in Singapore that could maybe help him.  So they came to the National University Hospital (NUH), which is the hospital that I use, and hey presto, they cured the kid.  The NUH is a world’s leading teaching and research hospital and I find them to be the best I have ever been to.  I’ve talked to a couple of people in the UK and they say they have never heard of the lad. 
 I know this is not a good advert for the NHS, but surely somewhere someone is reporting about this in the UK?

Birdie.


 

As The Mist Leaves No Scar.

 by Leonard Cohen.

As the mist leaves no scar
On the dark green hill,
So my body leaves no scar
On you, nor ever will.
When wind and hawk encounter,
What remains to keep?
So you and I encounter,
Then turn, then fall to sleep.
As many nights endure
Without a moon or star,
So will we endure,
When one is gone and far.

Blake: A Truly Evil Individual.

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-55452313

Hmm. I Could Soon Get To Respect This Chap.

Remainers Have Systematically Misled the Electorate Throughout Referendum Campaigns and For A Further Four and A Half Years.

 Their worst untruths fell into two main categories:

1) They stated a list of 'impossibilities' under Brexit - every single one now shown to have been, viewing each as kindly as possible, pure fantasies. The Boris deal has shown them up for what they are.
2) They have repeatedly claimed that it is actually the Brexiteers who have been economical with the truth. However, the proof of the pudding ...

We have reached a point where almost all of their claims are now in tatters after the EU has signed its biggest and greatest ever trading deal in the bloc's history.
Effectively, their only claim still intact is that 'the UK will fail on world markets.'
Even that is beginning to unravel at unbelievable speed with deals coming in thick and fast from beyond the EU with Singapore, Japan and India all poised to sign on the dotted lines.
At least thirty further countries are readying themselves to sign trade deals - the same 30+, in fact, who, asked for deals in the first week after the referendum! To the best of my knowledge none has backtracked - even if Biden might be proving something of a nuisance. And look at what kind of political belief system he upholds.

Dear remainers, YOU LOST - and big style! Time to shut up and work for the betterment of our nation. We have left the EU - never to return - and after all of this - do you really think they would ever take us back? Smile

Saturday, December 26, 2020

The Queen's Speech, 2020 - I've Heard Many A Sermon Not As Godly.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZbCRN3C_Hs

I Make No Apology For Reminding Readers of One of The Most Vital Elements of The Christmas Story.

The EU Tragedy - This Blogger's Experience.

 We were sold a pup. From the 50s onwards, Tory politicians had busted a gut to join this thing called The Common Market, which, over years was to morph into the insidious EU.

De Gaulle, the leading figure, didn't really want us in. And so, in spite of this, leading Tories - Macmillan, Butler and especially Heath, fought tooth and nail to achieve entry at any cost. (Fishing issues today? - Blame Heath who gifted away our waters as a mere bargaining chip.)
The irony was that we had a certain nominal control over the largest trading bloc in the world at that time - the loose confederation of the British Commonwealth - which did not consist of a mere half a dozen states but of over fifty, largely friendly nations!
We were prepared to sell out our friends and cousins in order to pursue the new and untested.
In the cold light of day - how was this insanity allowed to proceed?
Simples! Democracy was abandoned and Heath took us in, in 1973, against the will of the people. He paid a price in the next General Election!
Harold Wilson won that election and had felt obliged to offer a referendum on whether or not we should stay in.
Heath and Wilson fought almost shoulder to shoulder and agreed to release this wicked pamphlet to every household:
http://www.harvard-digital.co.uk/euro/pamphlet.htm

Never has any British government and combined opposition ever been so calculatingly dishonest in the entire history of UK politics.
Mrs Blogger and I fell for the rhetoric and voted to remain back in 1975. "Well, our bridges are well and truly burned; it seems harmless enough; interesting that it is only the political extremists who are against it; we are in now - better make the most of it; they have promised that it is never going to be a federal state etc, etc."

I apologise to all my readers for the worst decision I ever made in my life.

Shortly before his death, the mendacious Edward Heath was asked in an interview on, I believe the BBC, whether he had known back in 73/75  that the Common Market was destined to become a federal empire, he responded, "Of course I bloody did."
The greatest lie in British history? Worthy in my view of execution for treason so utterly reprehensible was it.

The years passed. The Common Market became the EEC, The EC and finally the EU. Over 25 years, I had come to realise how poor a choice this had been. The EU was: hideously expensive; was based on the manipulations and machinations of a wretched and profoundly sinister criminal called Jean Monnet; it stifled any state independence; its parliament could be overruled by the unelected - and extremely frequently was.

Note also:
 "We are working discreetly but with all our might to wrest this mysterious political force called sovereignty out of the clutches of the local nation states.......all the time denying with our lips what we are doing with our hands." Arnold Toynbee.

The one upside was that it had a single, fairly honest body within its framework - The Court of Auditors. Since its inception, this grouping of independent economists and accountants dared to tell the truth about the budget.

Year after year, it failed to sign off the accounts on the grounds of incompetence and corruption. As an official, EU-funded researcher of the evil empire for over six years from 2002, I looked with horror at what was being permitted to happen.

After almost a quarter of a century of embarrassment, the EU Commission determined that political appointees would be made to that body to replace financial experts. I was actually present in the chamber when the Budget committee elected a heavily europhile, Finnish MEP with zero knowledge of finance to that previously incorruptible body. Incidentally, he was destroyed from the floor in a five minute roasting by Jonathan Arnott MEP - but still comfortably shooed in when the voting took place.

Pure corruption in action - and I was there to witness it, a few short years ago.

This was nothing compared to the incredible inefficiency of this ultra bureaucratic body. A group not run so much by experts as by pen-pushers.

Inefficiency means 'expensive' and we were the second largest contributor to the EU budget. Hundreds of billions of pounds. When grants came back - which they did on occasion - they were often not for projects which we had wanted but for ones that the EU had stipulated that we must have and that we would have to subsidise, typically at a rate of 250% more than the original grant had been.

They tried to force us into joining the Euro as a straitjacket to control nations. This took away the rights of individual countries to control their fiscal crises by devaluation and other such measures. (Ever wondered how Greece got so badly caught out?)
If you do not control your own currency - you become a vassal state

Tragically, many ordinary people had fallen for a different lie - that the EU had 'kept the peace since WW2.' (That was actually NATO.) I wondered how so many seemed to have such little comprehension of History. If there is one mega lesson from History - it has been that great empires always break up - and typically with huge effusions of blood when it happens!

The EU was based on lofty idealism. It probably meant well in the early days. But experience shows us that ideologues are amongst the most dangerous  people on the planet.

God’s Love and Ours. 1 John 4.

God’s Love and Ours. 7)  Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows G...