ASSAULT ON RELIGION WITHOUT PARALLEL

Staff photo by Wyatt Massey / Pastor Doug Plumlee delivers a sermon at Ridgedale Baptist Church on March 15. The Baptist church was shut down for in-person services.

Vaccination is now the hot topic for decision-making. The argument for widespread vaccination is powerful, but a few million Australians quietly disagree. They carry concerns, often unspoken. Having suffered financially from the lockdowns, they see no sign of comparable financial sacrifices being offered by leading politicians and high-ranking officials, who mainly decide which citizens, industries and occupations should suffer.

Hosts of civil servants are receiving higher salaries and working safely at home while the losers in the private sector are suffering financially and even dipping into their superannuation.

Women, especially those in hospitality and tourism, are losers. The young more than the middle-aged suffer from unemployment, a burden that is more widespread than is measured by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The government’s job subsidies tend to support full-time employees, whereas so many young workers, especially students, are casuals.

Outer regions tend to suffer more than the big cities, while in the heart of those cities the hairdressers, coffee shops, laneway bars and other small businesses suffer more than banks and big mining companies.

Some businesses, of course, have gained more than they merited because the Morrison-Frydenberg formula of subsidies necessarily had to be devised with speed and generosity.

The loss of daily freedom has perhaps surpassed financial losses from the pandemic, though the two forms of damage cannot be compared easily. School-age children, deprived of their friends by the onset of online learning, have suffered emotionally. Mental health is impaired in all age groups. The assault on freedom of religion – inflicted promptly during lockdowns – has probably no parallel in the past 185 years.

This assault is more punitive than that organized by governments during the mask-wearing months of the Spanish flu, when Christians were often allowed to worship in the open air near their chosen church.  (“Compared with Spanish flu, we’re doing ok,” Geoffrey Blainey, The Australian, 8/4/2021)

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MUSLIM ASSOCIATION OF CANADA

Muslim Association Of Canada (MAC), After Participating In Summit With Prime Minister Trudeau, Canadian Officials, Schedules Muslim Student Leadership Conference Featuring Muslim Brotherhood Leader Tareq Al-Suwaidan, Who Has Said Gays Should Be Killed, Called For Jihad Against Israel, And Spoke At December 2020 MAC Conference Alongside Islamist Figures Muhammad Al-Dido, Muhammad Al-Nabulsi   (MEMRI, 8/6/2021)

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DIEGO GARCIA OCCUPIED ILLEGALLY

The frigate Bayern, which set sail for East Asia yesterday, will soon make a port call at Diego Garcia, an island under occupation, in violation of international law, and serving military purposes. It is the main island of the Chagos Archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean and the site of a strategically important US military base. The Chagos Archipelago is an old British colonial possession that had once belonged to Mauritius. It was detached, in violation of international law, during the decolonization of Mauritius, to allow the United States to construct a military base. The population was deported to impoverished regions on Mauritius. In the meantime, several international court rulings have been handed down and a UN General Assembly resolution has been passed on this issue – all concluding that Mauritius has sovereignty over Diego Garcia and calling on the United Kingdom to hand back the illegally occupied Chagos Archipelago. To this day, London and Washington refuse to comply. This does not bother Berlin.   (German Foreign Policy, 8/3/2021)

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IRANIAN PROTESTS

Protests began on July 15 in the southwestern Khuzestan Province. The initial focus was a scarcity of water in recent months, which has led to deaths among livestock and consequent impoverishment among farmers in the ethnically diverse province. The lack of water is also leading to a breakdown in electricity provision and frequent blackouts.

But while scarcity of water was the initial trigger, the protests soon began to include more generalized slogans against the ruling Islamist regime. Khuzestan Province, in which Arab-Iranians form the largest community, is a place of high unemployment, poorly served by the central government in terms of services. In the course of a week, the protests spread, with additional, though smaller, demonstrations taking place in the cities of Isfahan, Karaj, Kermanshah and Tabriz.  (“Unrest grows in Iran,” Jonathan Spyer, MEF, 7/30/2021)

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WILL LEBANON FALL TO IRAN?

If Lebanon falls to Iran, the Iranians will control an arc of territory from Iran, through Iraq and Syria.   This territory is basically the old King of the North, which the Bible says will be restored prior to Christ’s return.

• There is growing concern among the Lebanese and other Arabs that Iran is planning to exploit the severe political, economic and financial crisis in Lebanon to complete its takeover of the country.
• Iran already has a political and military presence in Lebanon through its terrorist proxy, Hezbollah. The current crisis, however, is likely to facilitate Iran’s mission of adding Lebanon to the list of countries it already occupies:  Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
• “Iran is already very dangerous without a nuclear bomb. The region is witnessing a state of chaos and agitation by fundamentalist forces, which threaten all Arab countries without exception.” — Mishary Dhayidi, Saudi writer, Al-Arabiya, July 21, 2021
• The Arabs appear clearly worried about the perceived apathy of the US and other Western powers towards Iran’s scheme to extend its control to Lebanon. They seem particularly alarmed that Lebanon will meet the same fate as Iraq, Syria and Yemen…. thanks to Iran’s continuous efforts to export terrorism and the “Islamic Revolution” to the Arab countries.
• [T]he mullahs in Tehran are doubly dangerous: they aspire not only to develop nuclear weapons, but also to occupy Arab states.  (“Will Lebanon fall into the hands of Iran?,” Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone, 7/26/2021)

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HUNGARY’S ORBAN FACES ELECTION

Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s far-right populist prime minister, likes to shock people. It’s part of his political appeal. Orbán has proudly proclaimed that he is an “illiberal” leader,” creating a frenzy in Brussels because Hungary is a member of the European Union.

It’s been over a decade since the 58-year-old, whom some have dubbed the “Trump before Trump,” became prime minister. In that time he has, critics say, hollowed out Hungary’s governing institutions and eroded the state’s democratic characteristics.

But now for the first time since then, Orbán faces a real challenge to his power. Six ideologically-diverse opposition parties have joined forces to unseat him. But even if the opposition bloc wins elections next spring, a hard feat given Orbán’s popular appeal, what would it even mean to “liberalize” Hungary again?   (Gzero Signal, 7/29/2021)

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FAMILY FIRST, NZ

George Orwell is traditionally credited with saying this great quote:  “The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.” Let me adjust that slightly to my version. “The further a society drifts from biblical truth, the more it will hate those who quote it.”   (Family First, NZ, August)

The proposed ‘conversion therapy’ ban will be yet another attack on parents’ rights. A ban would criminalize parents who wish to protect their child from the physical, emotional, and psychological harm caused by gender dysphoria. Shockingly, parents would be criminalized and potentially liable up to five years in jail simply for affirming that their sons are boys and their daughters are girls. The government want to criminalize the discussion and practice of alternatives to hormones, surgery and confusion.
 
And if a person wanted to align their sexuality with the teachings and values of their particular faith – be it Muslim or Christian, Jewish or Sikh – and sought help to do so from a minister, imam or other faith leader, a ban would make it virtually impossible to access the support they wanted. Furthermore, if they were able to find someone prepared to provide counselling of that kind, they could well cause that person (such as you!) to become implicated in a criminal offence. According to the government bill, consent is not relevant. But the right of self-determination is a founding principle of the mental health profession, and for children, the wider whanau / family is part of this important value and support base.   (Family First NZ, August)

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CRITICAL RACE THEORY

Despite widespread acceptance of bi-culturalism and the increasing use of Te Reo Māori, terms like “systemic racism”, “White guilt” and “White privilege” are being enthusiastically embraced by organizations and governments – and now being pushed in our education system. It’s all part of critical theory – a radical and dangerous new way of thinking about human identity and value. But critical theory is divisive. It’s reduces human interaction to the notion of us versus them. This then feeds the very thing it claims to be fighting:  racism, prejudice, resentment and self interest. And the traditional values of reconciliation, love, treating others the way you want to be treated, forgiveness and colour-blindness have no place in a world gripped by critical theory. But it’s wrong to teach children to be defined by their race rather than as individuals, as though they are only the color of their skin and that’s all they will ever be. This is confusing to children and creates resentment, tribalism and division in schools. Fighting racism with racism is a double standard. Parents need to check whether this agenda is in their local schools.   (Family First NZ, August)

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President Biden’s Middle East policy

The Biden team has attempted to base its Middle East policy on the noble values of human rights and democracy, which are inconsistent with the Arab Middle East.

by Yoram Ettinger: a former ambassador & head of Second Thought: A U.S.-Israel Initiative.  (August 8, 2021 / JNS)

The Middle East does not intend to disengage from the United States. America is perceived by rogue Middle East entities as “The Great Satan,” and the main obstacle on their way to achieving their overarching goal: bringing the West into submission. This goal has deep roots, going back to the seventh century C.E.

Isolation is not a realistic option in the increasingly globalized village, where rogue Middle East regimes are engaged in the proliferation of terrorism, non-conventional military technologies and drug trafficking around the globe. Their reach extends all the way to the American continent, impacting U.S. homeland security.  . . . Biden and his team assume that Islamic terrorism (e.g., Iran’s ayatollahs, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Hamas, PLO, Houthis) is driven by despair. They ignore the fact that Islamic terrorism has been driven – since the 7th century C.E. – not by despair, but by deeply-rooted, intolerant, fanatic and megalomaniacal anti-Western ideology, irrespective of Western and Israeli policies.  (https://www.jns.org/opinion/president-bidens-middle-east-policy/)

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Germany’s Left Party candidate for chancellor supports NATO and European army by Peter Schwarz (9 August 2021, © 1998-2021 World Socialist Web Site. All rights reserved)

A world without an army was “a wonderful utopia,” Dietmar Bartsch, the lead candidate for Germany’s Left Party told an ARD television interviewer recently. 

A utopia, however, he also made clear, that for him and his party existed only as fiction. Bartsch made unmistakably clear that despite verbal declarations about peace, the Left Party supports foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces), the creation of a European army and NATO. (https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/08/09/left-a09.html)

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Why did so many world leaders attend the inauguration of Iran’s murderous president?
For a regime that makes such noise about how many foreign leaders attend an inauguration, it sure is quiet about how many citizens it has murdered.

(August 8, 2021 / The Jewish Journal) What would you do if you were a senior European Union diplomat who was invited to the inauguration of a man affectionately known as “The Butcher of Tehran”?  Yes, I’m kidding about the “affectionately” part, but not about “The Butcher of Tehran.” You don’t earn that nickname (as well as “Ayatollah Massacrist”) among Iranian people unless you’ve overseen the arrest, torture and murder of thousands of dissidents and protestors for more than 30 years.  If you’re Enrique Mora, a senior E.U. diplomat, you RSVP “yes” to the swearing-in of newly-elected Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, which was held on Thursday in Tehran.  Mora was joined by representatives from over 70 countries who also said “yes.”  Specifically, the ceremony was attended by “10 presidents, 20 speakers of parliament, 11 foreign ministers, 10 other ministers, envoys of presidents, vice presidents and parliamentary delegations,” according to a statement by Iranian Parliament spokesman Seyyed Nezam Al-Din Mousavi. For a regime that makes such noise about how many foreign leaders attend an inauguration, it sure is quiet about how many citizens it has murdered. + Noted:  thousands murdered.

https://www.jns.org/opinion/why-did-so-many-world-leaders-attend-the-inauguration-of-irans-murderous-president/

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Evidence shows biblical-era earthquake reached Jerusalem

The new findings update what was previously the earliest destruction layer of Jerusalem – from the Babylonian conquest of 586 BCE.
by Brian Blum (8 August 2021, Israel 21c)

Did an ancient earthquake described by the Bible in the Kingdom of Judah some 2,800 years ago reach as far as Jerusalem, the region’s capital? An archeological dig says yes.  This could have only one explanation: the eighth century BCE earthquake mentioned in the books of Amos and Zechariah.

https://www.israel21c.org/evidence-shows-biblical-era-earthquake-reached-jerusalem/

Is Iran on the verge of sparking a water war?

Years of mismanagement has left Iran facing “irreversible” water shortages that threaten to trigger conflict across the Middle East and North Africa, an exiled former minister has warned.

Kaveh Madani, a scientist who served as deputy environment minister, told The Times that Iran was “water bankrupt” – when consumption is greater than renewable water availability – as reservoirs, rivers and groundwater begin to run dry.

And the shortages are “being replicated across the region,” says the paper, “with the marshes of southern Iraq starting to dry out again despite restoration efforts, and eastern Syria suffering a significant drought.”  (The Week, 7/29/2021)

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TALKING POINTS

• “Biden is failing in his first constitutional duty — to defend the United States from foreign invasion. We Americans no longer decide who comes into our national home and whom we shall adopt as new citizens . . .   We defend the borders of scores of nations; we cannot, or Biden will not, defend our own.”  (“Is America becoming a failed state?” by Pat Buchanan, 8/10/2021)

• Not once in this century has the U.S. decisively won one of the wars it launched — in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen or Libya. And the sole superpower status we enjoyed as the 21st century began is gone with the wind.”  (PB, 8/10/2021) 

• Iran ‘working systematically to build serious cyber-attack capabilities’
  Revelations about malign plans by Tehran’s leaders serve as the latest confirmation of how seriously the Islamic Republic takes cyber warfare, said Professor Col. (res.) Gabi Siboni, an expert on cyber security.  (https://www.jns.org/iran-is-working-systematically-to-build-serious-cyber-attack-capabilities/)

• VIEWPOINT Quote of the day, UK — It’s phenomenal to see first-hand the enthusiasm of the British public for the vaccines.”  Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi hails the news that 75% of adults have now been double-vaccinated.  (The Week, 8/10/2021)

• Nigel Farage helped lead the British people to Brexit.   He now has a program on a new channel called “GB News,” which is far more even-handed than the BBC.  Imaginatively, his program is called “Talking Pints.”   Nigel sits at a bar interviewing people.  Both participants have a glass of brownish liquid in front of them.  It’s well worth a view (and can be seen regularly on YouTube).  Although I like the concept, we shall continue to call this segment of the blog “Talking Points.”

FINAL THOUGHT

GOD’S WAITING ROOM

My wife had a birthday at the weekend.  A lady friend in Australia called her on the day to wish her a happy birthday.  I also talked with her for a few minutes.   She mentioned how one old lady she knows described the years after 70 as being in God’s waiting room.

Psalm 90:10, written over 3000 years ago, is a reminder that people normally live about 70 years.  “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor …”  Some may be given a few more years, but life only gets harder as we all deal with failing health.

It’s as if we are in God’s waiting room.   As in any waiting room situation, we have choices.  We can do something profitable while we wait such as reading; or we can waste away the time checking our phones for messages!

In our general life, we can spend time with the grandchildren or waste our days watching television.  

You get the idea.   Redeem the time.   Use it profitably.

Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us to “see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”

We don’t know how long we will be in the waiting room, but, as we wait patiently, let us use the time well.   For we never know when the wait time will be over.

HARRY AND MEGHAN INTERVIEW

Posted March 8, 2021 23:08 by Josh Darvill

For this is what the LORD says: David will have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever.   (Jeremiah 33:17 New Living Translation)

Three African-American women were involved in Sunday’s interview.    Oprah Winfrey, a billionaire, sat down with Meghan Markle, a millionaire, (most probably) in millionaire Gayle King’s mansion, to discuss, amongst other things, white oppression.    With Oprah, once described as “race baiter in chief,” inevitably the subject of race came up.  The accusation was made over a comment about baby Archie’s skin color.  In response Buckingham Palace observed, that “recollections may vary.”  It is possible that Meghan is particularly sensitive on this issue.

There was no suggestion that the Queen herself is a racist.    After all, she has spent decades promoting multiculturalism and the Commonwealth, whose 54 member countries include much of Africa and the Caribbean.  Meghan specifically stated that the controversial comment on baby Archie’s skin color was not made by either the Queen or her husband, Prince Philip.  It was the kind of comment that could be made in any family and, quite rightly, the Queen’s subsequent statement said it would be addressed within the family.  

Monarchy is, at its core, about identity.   For centuries the English people, along with many in western Europe, have had a monarch as the symbol of their unity.   In 1603 the Scottish king, James VI, moved to England and became King (as James I) of both countries.   Wales had already been conquered and so was Ireland.

The four kingdoms are united by the Crown.   If the monarchy were ever abolished, it is doubtful that the four nations would stay together.   Even with the monarchy, the strains of the pandemic highlighted differences between the four.   Scottish nationalism has been a threat for some time.    Scottish nationalists have been very critical of England, but never of the Queen, as this would not gain them any support.    It’s also the case that the Commonwealth would likely not survive without the Queen as its members could never agree on a new leader.

After almost 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II enjoys an 82% approval rating as Head of State.   American presidents must envy her.   Half of the people in the US do not vote and roughly half of those who do, support the president.  That’s about 25% (or less) approval, less than a third of what the Queen enjoys.   Even in Canada she enjoys 55% support.  A referendum in Australia in 1999 showed 54% support.   Another referendum in St Vincent and the Grenadines, a majority black country, gave the Queen two thirds of the vote.   No wonder Barbados is not risking a vote on the issue.  The government there is ending the Queen’s role as Head of State later this year, giving the Labor Party unprecedented power and authority.   

Nobody wants the American system of government, which is seen as a personality contest between two multi millionaires.   An alternative republican model, proposed in Australia, would simply replace the Queen with a figurehead president.   This would give the politicians greater power, as one of them would likely be president.   A big advantage of retaining the monarchy is that the monarch is a neutral figurehead.   Even in American academic circles, the present Australian model is seen as the best, combining the Crown (British) and an elected Senate (American), the best from both countries.

President Biden described Meghan after the interview, as “courageous.”  Hillary Clinton used the same word and added that the Royals were “insensitive.”   It seems unwise to comment without hearing the other side.   It may be that Meghan was lying.  Whatever the case, it’s a matter for the constitutional monarchies of the Commonwealth to address.   The US deliberately cut itself off from the institution over 200 years ago!

Perhaps this was all inevitable.   Multiculturalism, a term first coined in Canada exactly 50 years ago when it became clear that newly arrived immigrants were not going to assimilate, has been all the rage for five decades, as more and more immigrants arrived from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.  They have not inherited the same identity as the English with the monarchy.  It was inevitable that values and priorities would eventually clash.

One grievance mentioned was the absence of a title for Archie when William’s sons have one.  But this has been the law since George V.   Only the children and grandchildren of a monarch are given titles.    As William will be king, his children got one; Harry is unlikely to be king, but his father will be one day, and then Harry’s children would qualify.  (There’s too much fretting about other titles.  Canada and Australia get by without them.  Surely only the king and queen and those most immediately in line should get a title.   All the rest can survive without.   The rest of us do.)

I just have two questions:  I know that Harry and Meghan were paid nothing for the interview, but how much did Oprah make?  

The second question:  the wedding cost the UK taxpayer almost $40 million.   Additionally, a few million was spent renovating their home.  Are Harry and Meghan going to pay all of this back?

Historical footnote: King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936. He and his American divorcee wife became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and settled in Paris. In 1970 they gave a TV interview. They made no criticism at all of the royal family!

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According to legend, British conductor Sir Thomas Beecham once saw a distinguished looking woman in a hotel foyer.  Believing he knew her but unable to remember her name, he paused to talk with her.  As the two chatted, he vaguely recollected that she had a brother.  Hoping for a clue, he asked how her brother was doing and whether he was still working at the same job.  “Oh, he’s very well,” she said, “And still king.”   (Our Daily Bread, 3/4/2021)

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The Society of Editors has denied the media is racist after Prince Harry said racism from within the tabloid press was a “large part” of why he and Meghan Markle left the UK. In the couple’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast on ITV last night, the Duke alleged that the tabloid media in the UK is “bigoted” and creates a “toxic environment.”  However, the media freedom organization criticized the couple for accusing the press of racism without “any supporting evidence.”   (The Week, 3/9/2021)

Biden offers Taliban power-share
Joe Biden has offered the Taliban a return to power in Afghanistan as he seeks to bring the longest war in American history to an end. The White House is ready to offer the Islamic fundamentalists a power-sharing deal with the Afghan government if they agree to lay down their arms. The offer comes almost two decades after the US invasion that “routed the Taliban regime and triggered a bloody insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people,” The Times says.   (The Week, 3/9/2021)

UK could have fourth wave
England’s deputy chief medical adviser has warned that it is too soon to rule out a fourth wave of Covid-19. Jenny Harries told the daily press briefing that under current levels of infection, “a new wave could easily take off again.”  Her call for caution came as Boris Johnson admitted that with the re-opening of schools “there will be a risk of increased transmission” that could delay the end of lockdown. The UK yesterday reported less than 100 deaths for the second day in a row, the first time that has happened since 9 October.   (The Week, 3/9/2021)

Call for action on conversions
Campaigners have warned that ministers are not moving quickly enough to ban LGBT+ “conversion therapy.”   Equalities Minister Kemi Badenoch insisted that the government is “committed” to “ending” the practice and takes the issue “very seriously.”  But equality campaigners said targeted action is required. Conversion therapy refers to any form of treatment or psychotherapy that aims to change a person’s sexual orientation, “ranging from electric shock treatment to religious teaching and discussion,” the BBC reports.  (The Week, 3/9/2021)

“We are weeks, maybe even days, away from a crisis on the southern border,” says Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat whose Texas district abuts Mexico. “Our country is currently unprepared to handle a surge in migrants in the middle of the pandemic.”  (Patrick Buchanan, 3/9/2021)

“Through economic bribery and military aid, the Chinese Communist Party has relentlessly manipulated African governments and opposition groups, controlling the affairs of African countries while imposing the communist Chinese model and its values on them.”  (Epoch Times, 2/24/2021)

Southwest-Based Neo-Nazi Group Outlines Replacement Of U.S. Government With Germanic Ethno-State, Hangs Posters Throughout U.S., Canada Including On College Campuses; Leader Glorifies Hitler  (MEMRI, 3/5/2021)

GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO SPY ON OPPOSITION

“Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) have placed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under surveillance, according to local media.

“That designation gives state agents more powers for surveillance in certain circumstances, including potentially tapping the party’s communications.”  (DW 3/3/2021)

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Farming has destroyed a lot of the rich soil of America’s Midwestern prairie. A team of scientists just came up with a staggering new estimate for just how much has disappeared.  The most fertile topsoil is entirely gone from a third of all the land devoted to growing crops across the upper Midwest, the scientists say.   (NPR 2/25/2021)

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President Joe Biden will formally create a gender policy council within the White House as part of two executive orders he intends to sign Monday to mark International Women’s Day.  (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/03/08/fact-sheet-president-biden-to-sign-executive-orders-establishing-the-white-house-gender-policy-council-and-ensuring-education-free-from-sexual-violence/ )  

The council will include a staff of four, three of whom will hold the title of special assistant to the president, according to a senior administration official who previewed the two orders.

The council’s mandate is to work across the federal government’s domestic and foreign policy to fight discrimination and bias, boost economic security, increase access to health care, and advance general equality through diplomacy, trade and defense.

The second order asks the Department of Education to re-examine the Trump administration’s policies and rule-making on Title IX, the 1972 law which governs the way sex-based discrimination in schools is handled.   (Newsmax 3/8/2021, https://www.newsmax.com/politics/biden-gender-equity-title-ix-sex-misconduct/2021/03/08/id/1012908/  )

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TO THE POINT

• Switzerland now joins Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Sweden, all of which currently have full or partial bans on religious and non-religious face coverings.  “In Switzerland our tradition is that you show your face. That is a sign of our basic freedoms.” — Walter Wobmann, member of the Swiss People’s Party, the biggest political party in Switzerland.   (Gatestone, 3/10/2021)

• A terrorist who claimed asylum in Britain after he was sentenced to death in Egypt for a failed assassination plot is set to win the right to stay in this country. Yasser Al-Sirri, 58, first claimed asylum in 1994 but was turned down and has taken the issue to court more than eight times at great cost to British taxpayers.  Al-Sirri, who was also charged in the US with assisting someone involved in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, has appeared in several tribunals since. And last week a tribunal decided he was entitled to remain in the U.K. as a refugee.  (MEF, 2/14/2021)

• German companies are increasingly dependent on business with China and are shifting their activities to the People’s Republic at a growing rate, as current economic data and a recent survey of German companies reveal. China is not only one of the very few countries, to which German companies could continue to export in 2020 as much as in the previous year, but it is also the only major economy, to which they could already export this January more than during the same month the previous year. The fact that exports to the People’s Republic are a vital support for the German economy is particularly significant, because Germany’s domestic consumption remains sluggish, due to the pandemic. Already five DAX companies, such as VW, Daimler, Infineon, are generating their largest share of sales in China, more than on their German domestic market. To protect themselves against the risks of US economic warfare, German companies doing business with China are increasingly relocating their activities to the People’s Republic. Efforts to encourage their withdrawal from China have failed.  (German Foreign Policy, 3/10/2021)

CANCEL CULTURE CANCELS HOPE

Victorian Attorney-General Jill Hennessy said the government was ‘banning so-called conversion therapy’ and making sure the laws put in place will ‘end this harmful, cruel and bigoted practice once and for all’. (Smalljoysnew.com)

“An estimated 19 million Americans (8.2%) report that they have engaged in same-sex sexual behavior and nearly 25.6 million Americans (11%) acknowledge at least some same-sex sexual attraction.”  (UCLA School of Law, Williams Institute).  One recent survey found that 12% of 18-year-olds have indulged in same sex relationships.   This means that the numbers are increasing.

A friend of mine talks about the “pain of homosexuality.”   He wishes that he did not have feelings toward the same sex but has found it impossible to have any meaningful relationship with a woman.

Others struggle with “Desires in Conflict” (the title of a book by ex-gay Joe Dallas).  On the one hand is the desire to please God; on the other, the overwhelming same-sex sexual desires.

Some are in so much pain they turn to conversion therapy.   This is based on the belief that homosexuality is caused by trauma in early life.   (Alternatively, many gays believe that they were born this way, even that God created them gay.)   The late Dr Joe Nicolosi was a pioneering proponent of what he termed “reparative therapy for homosexuality.”  His research showed that almost all homosexuals perceived rejection from their fathers before the age of three; and that this, in turn, led to a desire for a man’s love, which was later sexualized.

Churches need to show more compassion and love, rather than the anger and hatred typically shown.  It is possible to understand the driving force behind the problem.

I recently read three biographies of famous men.   All were homosexual.  The fathers of all three walked out on their families before they were 5.  Other fathers are emotionally distant or lack affection and love for their children.   These fathers can be said to have caused their son’s homosexuality yet are the very ones who will throw their sons out of the house when they say they are ‘gay’!

Gay conversion therapy tries to help these men (and women) to undo the damage done in early childhood, so that they may become “straight” and go on to lead normal (heterosexual) lives.   Dr Nicolosi claimed a 40% success rate for those who completed the two-year therapy.  However, further research was needed to see how long-lasting the cure was.   Conversion therapy was not for everyone, but it did give hope to many men around the world.

Now, there are attempts to ban the therapy itself, the latest place being the state of Victoria in Australia.  It is claimed that the therapy causes trauma and makes people feel guilty about their orientation.  (Isn’t all therapy traumatic?)

The Bible gives some hope.  I Corinthians 6:11 states “such were some of you,” showing that homosexuality was in the past for the Corinthians.  Many Christians omit to mention that this passage (verses 9 – 11) also shows sodomy being treated alongside fornication and adultery as sexual sins that will keep you out of the Kingdom.   Most Christians have failed in one of these areas so there should be no finger pointing when it comes to homosexuality. 

In ancient Greece homosexuality was acceptable.  Young men were sent to older men to introduce them to worldly ways, to break them in when it came to sex.  So the intensity of feelings that is common today may not have been the case back then.  Today, it seems that homosexual feelings are more the result of the breakdown of the family, particularly the father-son relationship.  In this context, the last two verses of the Old Testament are profoundly meaningful:

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.  And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”  (Malachi 4:5-6)

As the restoration of the family is not imminent, gay conversion therapy gives some hope to those who struggle with their sexual desires.  The “cancel culture” that wants to ban it is denying hope to the few who want to take advantage of it.  

In this sense, cancel culture cancels hope!

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GERMANY WANTS “REGIME CHANGE”

Germany Backs Navalny:  last week, I led on Germany’s condemnation of Russia over Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment.   The importance of this lies in German-Russian history, that these two countries were both major players in each of the Global conflicts of the last century.  They could certainly play a role in future conflict.   After the coming Beast power intervenes in the Middle East:  “But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him:  therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.”   (Daniel 11:44)

From German Foreign Policy — The EU is escalating the conflict with Russia using new sanctions. Yesterday, Brussels imposed coercive measures against four Russian officials: They will be denied entry into the EU and possible assets within EU member states will be frozen. In a coordinated move, Washington also announced new sanctions, to demonstrate transatlantic unity in the power struggle with Moscow. While the EU – cloaking itself in a posture of alleged moral superiority – declares its aggression as a commitment to human rights, it is ratcheting up its actions, due to strategic considerations: Russia has been gaining significant influence in countries Berlin considers to be within the EU’s immediate spheres of influence, such as Syria. The German government has also been unable to assert itself against Russia as the regulatory authority east of the EU within the framework of the “Minsk Process.” To increase the pressure, Brussels is now using sanctions also to instigate protests around the Navalny case. Within the German elite “regime change” is explicitly mentioned.   (3/3/2021)

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TO THE POINT

• A tale of two economies.  It was clear from the British budget presented today by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) that, in spite of increasing borrowing by 17%, the British are still trying to balance their books.   This is the exact opposite of the US where there is no suggestion that all the money being spent has to be paid back!  

• Racist views remain common – study – One in eight Britons quizzed by researchers from Kings College London said they think black people are more likely to be unemployed and have lower incomes because they “lack motivation or willpower.”  This view was held by more than one in five of the Conservative voters polled, compared with less than one in 20 Labour supporters. The survey of more than 2,000 people found that some “strikingly racist views remain.” The Guardian says, with 4% of respondents saying inequality was caused by black people having “less in-born ability to learn.”  (The Week, 2/25/2021)

• Franco statue removed in Spain – The last public statue of General Francisco Franco has been removed from Spanish soil. Workers took away the statue of the Spanish dictator, which stood on a street in a Spanish enclave in Morocco, on the 40th anniversary of an attempted coup by Franco supporters. In 2007, the Spanish government passed the Law of Historical Memory, which stipulates that symbols connected to Franco must be removed from public view.   (The Week, 2/25/2021)

• Biden reverses immigration ruling – Joe Biden has officially reversed another series of measures taken by Donald Trump, including a decree that blocked many green card applicants from entering the US. Trump said the ban was necessary to protect American workers amid high unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic, but Biden said it was preventing families from reuniting in the US and harming businesses.   (The Week, 2/25/2021)

• Police stations shut – More than half of Britain’s police stations have closed in the past decade, the Daily Mail reports. At least 667 stations with front counters allowing the public to talk to officers have been shut down since 2010 due to government cost-cutting measures, with more following suit during the Covid-19 crisis. Critics of the cuts say “justice is in retreat,” the Daily Mail reports.  (The Week, 3/1/2021)

• Life sentences for people smugglers – Priti Patel plans to impose life sentences on people smugglers as she cracks down on Channel crossings, The Times reports. Eighty-seven migrants crossed the Channel on Saturday, pushing this year’s total to 531 – 40% higher than at the same time last year. A further 51 attempts to cross the Channel on the same day were intercepted by French authorities.  (The Week, 3/1/2021)

• Bill Gates is now the USA’s biggest farmland owner – Gates has been acquiring farmland for years, mostly through various Cascade subsidiaries.  His holdings include large tracts in Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and about a dozen other states.  With the Washington state acreage and other recent additions to his portfolio, it’s calculated, Gates now owns at least 242,000 acres of American farmland. (27 Feb 2021, New York Post, https://nypost.com/2021/02/27/why-bill-gates-is-now-the-us-biggest-farmland-owner/)

• American Neo-Nazis And White Supremacists Call For Establishing A White Ethno-State In The Pacific Northwest, The Ozarks, West Virginia, Maine, Other Areas – Share Advice On Purchasing Land And Resettling  (MEMRI, 3/3/2021)

• Tax burden highest since 1960s – The UK’s tax burden will rise to its highest level since the 1960s under Rishi Sunak’s spring budget plans, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The headline rate of corporation tax will rise and there will be a freeze on income tax thresholds. The government’s fiscal watchdog said the measures, along with cuts from spending plans, would raise £31.8bn by 2025-26. The Times describes the chancellor’s plans as a “promising start” for the repairing of the nation’s finances.