Gay Cure bus advert pulled.

The BBC is reporting on  the 'Gay Cure' bus advert which was pulled before it hit the streets.

What is interesting is the organisation behind the advert, Core Issues 'God's heart in sexual and relationship brokenness...' Perhaps I missed something but it seems to me that there is only one kind of relationship they have an interest in.

According to their website "The CORE vision seeks to uphold Biblical standards and values and appropriate ethical principles in contemporary society" 


So what are the biblical standards in respect of homosexuality? Take your pick

Old Testament

Leviticus  20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

New Testament

Romans 1:26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:  
1:27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet..
1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

I find nothing in the Core Issues site about killing homosexuals. Seems that they have picked upon the Biblical 'values' but are reluctant to apply the Biblical 'standards'. They accept the condemnation in half a verse but recognise the second half is inhumane and morally obnoxious. 

So how do you get a verse that represents the will of God in the first half but not in the second? I think we can rule out a perfect God changing his mind. Seems to me that this verse could not have come from a perfect God rather it was made up by people based on their prejudices at the time. The same prejudices that exist today.
 
Of course I could pick out parts of the Bible that take the opposite view which doesn't limit the love between two people. Seems for years people have been coming to their own view of the world and then have tried to use the Bible to support it. That is part of the reason why Christianity is now found in tens of thousands of different denominations, all of whom claim the 'correct understanding'. Strangely none of those denominations have a Biblical understanding that they disagree with. It is clear that the Biblical understanding follows personal beliefs rather than the other way round. Christians will change denominations to those which match their opinion,.


It would be nice if for once Christians were honest about their own prejudices rather than claiming they are simply applying Biblical values and standards.

Can I take your coat?

Matthew 5:40 says 

“And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.”

Mr Chris McGrath, who describes himself as a Christian, recently sued Amazon, Richard Dawkins, The Dawkins' Foundation and Vaughan Jones, an internet blogger. I wonder if McGrath assumed these defendants would apply the same principle? That he hoped that if you sue any man at the law to take away his coat, he would also let you have his cloak?

The case is very strange. The statements McGrath complains about seem, to me, innocuous. Even assuming the statements are incorrect, it would have been far simpler to refute them, rather than go for litigation. In addition, McGrath appears to have gone to great lengths to be offended. For example, after being called a "creationist" he attempted (unsuccessfully) to convince the Court that 'creationists' were by definition malicious liars, fascists, homophobes, anti-western and a danger to the education of children.

The disagreement started when McGrath used the Amazon customer review section for Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow's book The Grand Design, to promote his own book "The Attempted Murder of God". However, McGrath has since claimed that his book was a parody and the positive reviews he wrote himself (using various pseudonyms), were  'satirical art'.

Vaughan Jones discovered McGrath's ruse and called him on it, which led to the dispute. A dispute, which resulted in McGrath originally submitting 61 pages of claims against the defendants. Ultimately, the Court threw out all but six allegations, which have the potential to be defamatory but which may also have a good substantive defence.

To me, the most interesting aspect to this case are the allegations the Court had no problem with. In fact, the Court was happy that either McGrath had admitted or a valid defence could be provided for the following.

McGrath is an unethical, intellectually dishonest fraud who improperly sought to gain commercial advantage for himself by piggy-backing on the work of a disabled person. His company was failing financially and his conduct could fairly be described as desperate, sick and depraved.

Compared to these damning indictments the remaining allegations are trivial. Despite this, McGrath has indicated a willingness to continue with the litigation. Even if the Court found in his favour and there was no counter claim, I doubt any resulting damages would even cover his train fare home.

Personally, I would have recommended that McGrath read 1 Corinthians before embarking on any  litigation. Translation (The Message):

"And how dare you take each other to court! When you think you have been wronged, does it make any sense to go before a court that knows nothing of God's ways instead of a family of Christians? The day is coming when the world is going to stand before a jury made up of followers of Jesus. If someday you are going to rule on the world's fate, wouldn't it be a good idea to practice on some of these smaller cases? Why, we're even going to judge angels! So why not these everyday affairs? As these disagreements and wrongs surface, why would you ever entrust them to the judgement of people you don't trust in any other way?

I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you're doing. Is it possible that there isn't one level headed person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don't believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don't even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don't believe in the God of justice?

These court cases are an ugly blot on your community. Wouldn't it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it? All you're doing is providing fuel for more wrong, more injustice, bringing more hurt to the people of your own spiritual family"

This link will take you to the Court Decision.

Cameron's Easter Message

The recent budget gave tax breaks to the rich while doing nothing to ease back on the drive to eliminate free public services. So what is in store for those who can not afford private healthcare and education and who don't have the public providing us with a rent free house in Whitehall and an estate in Bucks? Wonder no more David Cameron has laid out his vision for the poor in his Easter message. 

I think there is enormous potential in churches and faith-based organisations to tackle some of the deepest problems we have in our society, whether it is educational and under-attainment, whether it is homelessness, whether it is mental health.

Call me old fashioned but I am not convinced that people who hear voices in their head telling them what to do are the best placed to offer mental health advice. Similarly I am not keen to have my kids educated by people who openly seek to discriminate on the grounds of sex and sexuality.
But why you may wonder would the churches want to help Cameron? Well apart from letting them keep representatives in the upper chamber, exempting them from the burden of tax, seeking to involve them in all levels of government how about a bit of flattery. This is from his speech.

I think that we have lots of things going for us as a country, all sorts of difficulties and challenges, but the greatest need we have in our country is to have strong values and to teach our children and to bring people up with strong values. The values of the Bible, the values of Christianity are the values that we need – values of compassion, of respect, of responsibility, of tolerance. Now, I’ve made this argument many times that you don’t have to be a Christian or you don’t have to adhere to another religion to have strong values, to believe in strong values or to pass those values on to your children, but the point I always make is that it helps. We’re always trying to tell our children not to be selfish, but is there a better way of putting it than ‘love thy neighbour’? We’re always telling our children to be tolerant – I know I am, and often a fat lot of good it does me – but is there a better way of explaining tolerance than saying, ‘do to others as you would be done by’? It’s the simplest encapsulation of an absolutely vital value and the Christian church and the teaching of the Bible has put it so clearly.

So what teaching about tolerance, compassion and neighbourly respect can we find expressed so clearly in the bible? A small sample....

How to treat other faiths

Ex 23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.

Deut17:2:5 If there be found among you,...man or woman, that hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.

Phil 2:10-11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Homosexuals

Lev 20:13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

Romans 1:31 they which commit such things are worthy of death,

Interracial relationships

Deut 7:3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

Corporal punishment

Psalms 89:31-32 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

 

Non believers

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Women
1 Tim 2:11-14 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

From the last verse we also learn the vital Christian value of bearing a grudge. Something I hope to do in respect of Mr Cameron come election time.

The Blue Square Bet Conference approach to influencing polititians

Ok, let's assume you're not in the Premier League with £250,000 to spend on a candle lit dinner with a top Tory - so how else can you get MPs to push your point of view?

It might be best illustrated by working though a hypothetical example.

Imagine you are a lobby group, let's pick one at random - how about CARE the Christian organisation who have a goal to get more people praying?  


What you could do is set up a program which pays bursaries to graduates, allowing them to offer their services to an MP for four days a week, for free.  So again, to show how it could work, let us select a random MP.

Then let's say an issue comes up that falls within your area of interest. How about the ASA banning an advert, which had irresponsible, misleading and unsubstantiated claims over the efficacy of prayer?

Perhaps your paid intern's MP could sign a letter which protests the decision to the chairman of the ASA and includes a threat to raise the issue in parliament.

Of course, someone could suggest something undemocratic is  happening, but you could point to the line on your website which says something like "Programme members are at no time asked to lobby on behalf of CARE" and pretend it is just a coincidence.


Please note, that the examples above are included for illustration purposes only. Any connection between the above and decent, moral, democratic behaviour is purely unintentional.

Perhaps I should finish this blog post with a warning.  This approach can on occasion have a downside and can lead to your MP being ridiculed and called hapless in a national paper and may lead to bloggers and tweeters mocking your beliefs.

Biblical Budget

Once again we have a budget which ignores the traditional Christian values handed down from God to man in the Bible. So what should George have done? Here are some biblically inspired suggestions :-

Minimum wage.

It is ridiculous that it is set at the same rate for men and women when God values men higher.

• LEV 27:3 And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

• 27:4 And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels.

Women of working age are only worth 60% of men so the hourly rates should be adjusted accordingly:-

Men £6.08 Women £3.65 (Note: rounded up for the lesser vessel as a generous gesture)

Currently there are three different rates for those up to 21 we should abandon this bureaucracy and have a single rate for the youth of each sex.

• 27:5 And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

In line with the above that hourly rate should be;

Boys £2.43 Girls £1.22 (Note: generosity to females on rounding again)

State authorised Maternity leave

Currently far too generous at 39 weeks. Mothers only need 40 days if they have a boy and 56 days if they have a girl. 

• LEV 12 If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; ….And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days;

• But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.
  

Death Duties

Obvious really. Raise to 100%

• Mark 10:23 And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!

• 10:24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

• 10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

State pension

Age qualification needs to reduce and come in at 60. Reduce the female pension to reflect the fact that they are worth less. Men to keep their £102.15 Women a reduction to £68.10

• LEV 27:7 And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels.

Income tax

The 50% tax rate is far to low and should be doubled. I appreciate this may be unpopular but I refer complainants to James 5:1

• Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.

Alcohol Duty

Duty needs to be increased to a punitive leve

• Prov 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; For the drunkard ….. shall come to poverty:

Don't pray for Muamba

Fabrice Muamba is a young talented footballer who collapsed on Saturday with a cardiac arrest just before half time in the FA cup game between Bolton and Tottenham. Since then there has been pleas to pray for Muamba and the twitter hashtag #prayforMuamba has proved popular.

Muamba's manager summed up the thoughts of many by saying "God willing he makes it through".

God is portrayed in the Christian tradition as an omnipresent being; he is everywhere. He is also omnipotent and can do anything. Such a being undoubtedly would have the power to keep Muamba alive. However by definition such a being also chose or allowed Muamba to have a cardiac arrest. If Fabrice Muamba survives, it will be thanks to Muamba's fight and the team of medical experts who fought God's will for 2 hours in order to to get his heart beating again.

That prayers will not save Muamba is not just a theory. In 2006 the John Templeton Foundation, a charity which supports religious studies funded a $2,400,000 study into the effects of intercessory prayer on people recovering from heart operations. 1,800 patients took part in the study. They were split into three groups. Two groups did not know whether they were prayed for or not. Both groups 'prayed for' and 'not prayed for' had a similar rate of complications. The exceptional results came from the third group who were prayed for and knew that prayers were being said for them. They had 13% more complications than the other two groups.

Just because prayers do not work does not mean that there are not positive things that can be done.

• Muamba is being treated in a NHS specialist hospital which is committed to helping patients and learning more about the causes of heart defects so preventative action can be taken. Currently it does not have to compete on price against a private entity whose principle motivation is not care or research but profit for their shareholders. The Health and Social care bill is currently going through parliament. Write to your MP and tell them you oppose the bill. Enter your postcode on this page and it will allow you to email them directly. 

• Muamba is in the London Chest Hospital which is part of Barts and the London Hospitals. They have a charity. Click here to see how you can help

• Based at the London Chest Hospital is the Heart Cells Foundation which is following up promising case studies and is trialling to see if they can use a patient's own stem cells to repair their damaged hearts. See how you can help them here.

• Another charity based at the London Chest Hospital is the Barts and London Chest Hospital Radio Station. Their web page is here. You don't need to give much, £2 will pay for a radio which a patient can listen to.  The Radio station is currently off air due to pirate stations. Write to Ofcom and insist they do something about it.

• Two other worthy charities are; the British Heart Foundation, see the 'Get involved' section for ways to help, and Cardiac Risk in the Young  who have merchandise, awareness posters and other ways of raising money.

By all means think of Fabrice Muamba and wish him a full and speedy recovery but rather than praying think about doing something that will make a difference.

Cardinal O'Brien on same sex marriage

Cardinal Keith O'Brien is the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland. He appeared on the Today program on Monday morning to talk about gay marriage. You can hear his interview with John Humphrys by clicking on this link 

In the interview he said that the Declaration of Human Rights defined marriage as "a relationship between men and woman (sic)". Adding later "We know what the Untied Nations declaration says". I suggest not everyone does know what it says so it may be worth us taking a quick look at the relevant articles

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 7.

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 16.

1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.
2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.
3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

Article 30.

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

Stating at the end, the declaration makes clear that all articles apply equally .

The first article does not distinguish between men and women but states all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Article 7 establishes that the law applies equally to all and article 12 prohibits arbitrary interference in family life.

While article 16 is the main article as far as marriage is concerned, we saw from article 30 that it can not be read in isolation; it must be read in conjunction with the other articles.

There is nothing in article 16 defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. It simply says both men and women have the right to marry. As long as they are both of full age there is no limitation on who they can marry, and rightly so, anything different would contradict article 1. Changing the UK law to allow same sex marriages appears to be an implementation of Article 7. The arbitrary interference of the Church in preventing same sex couples founding a family contradicts article 12. The article does not define marriage as a relationship between men and woman. Put simply Cardinal O'Brien lied.

He then went on to suggest that allowing same sex marriages would lead to slavery. When questioned he reaffirmed that slavery was a "very very good example as to what might happen in our own country at this present time" following it with the statement that slavery was a "perfectly good example as to could happen in our own country if we go this way".

The Cardinal has wicked imagination and is being extremely mischievous. As one who claims to be familiar with United Nations declaration of human rights he would be familiar with article 4.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

In an earlier post I listed some of the support in the bible for slavery. Those interested in the subject may like to read the Ministry of Truth's post about of the Church's involvement in the slave trade; the Bishops in the House of Lords voting against the abolition of slavery and the money the state paid to the Church in compensation for the loss of its slaves.

Having earlier stated that he was simply relating the "Teaching of the Church for over 2000 years" O' Brien went on to say "marriage is a natural state and we know natural law, it is natural for a man and a woman to be together for the procreation and education of children." Perhaps he is unfamiliar with 1Timothy written about 2000 years ago

2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach

but I would have thought he would be aware that his church still prevents women from educating as Priests.

O'Brien in calling same sex unions grotesque and saying it would shaming the country is clearly seeking to sow the seeds of discord amongst his congregation. Listening to the interview I was reminded of Proverbs 6:16-19

Proverbs 6:16-19 says, "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

Seems to me that Keith O'Brien will be on the receiving end of some of his God's hate.