Signs of the times?

I can barely believe that it is almost a fortnight since I posted on this blog! My only excuse is that I have been unusually busy – but I guess that I could have made some time if I had wanted to say anything that I thought to be of some importance. :-)

One of the major items of news this week, concerns Philip Nitschke, an Australian medical doctor, and proponent of assisted suicide (euthanasia) who was interviewed under the Immigration and Asylum Act after arriving from Australia on Saturday. Dr Nitschke held a workshop in Bournemouth, Dorset, today, to talk about his “area of expertise”. The U.K. Home Office had already confirmed he had been interviewed and had been granted permission to enter the UK.

Well, I am totally in favour of people being able to express their personal point of view – provided that it is done politely, and that they will permit those who hold an opposite/alternative viewpoint to express their opinions. So, as far as it goes, I have no particular problem with this gentleman’s ideas, or his desire to share them with those who wish to know. However, I will continue to argue that human life is unique and special, and that only Almighty God has the right to take the life that He created.

However, I am reminded of other decisions of the British Home Office, and the Department of Immigration in particular. I think of those – usually claiming to be devout Muslims – who come to the U.K. with the sole intention of encouraging others to work against this country and its inhabitants, and often doing so whilst claiming as many state benefits as they can! Even when arrested, tried, and convicted, it would appear that it is impossible to deport them as this, it is claimed, would infringe upon their human rights!

I am also reminded that a Christian musician and a team of missionaries from the United States were recently denied entry into the United Kingdom under complex new immigration rules, that were quietly introduced late last year, and that require religious workers to pay a fee to obtain a visa. Well-known Christian singer, Don Francisco, arrived at Heathrow Airport on March 2nd and was detained, fingerprinted and escorted onto a flight back to the U.S.

On the previous day, a team from Arkansas, who would have volunteered in soup kitchens with Assemblies of God churches in Edinburgh, was denied entrance into Scotland, having been told that they had to have a work visa!

Christian leaders inside the U.K. said few ministries are fully aware of the work visa regulations, which were introduced late last year, and under which religious workers must be sponsored by a U.K. government registered organisation. Also, applicants must pay a fee to obtain a work visa. Essentially, one may stay in the U.K. as a tourist for six months, but if one wishes to volunteer some of one’s time working in a soup kitchen, a work visa is required!

Putting it all together, we seem to have arrived at a situation in which it is acceptable to promote the taking of human life, but not to seek to enhance it. I am not sure that the rejection of either Don Francisco, or the team from Arkansas, may be interpreted as specifically anti-Christian. However, it is a strange coincidence that, apparently, the first people to fall foul of the new regulations are those who are disciples of the Lord Jesus! Certainly, even if the legislation isn’t aimed, specifically, at Christians, they are the ones it's going to affect because they're going to be honest. If Don Francisco had said he was a singer, he probably would have been welcomed but, because he said ‘gospel singer,' he was deported.

These are sad days in the U.K. – but, could it be that they are heralding the return of the One Who will act with perfect justice and integrity, even Jesus, King of kings, and Lord of lords?