May 7th - Why I will be voting UKIP!

So, here we are, at the last of this brief series of pre-election posts, with the one for which you have all been waiting - the positive one!

So why am I not only supporting the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), but also suggesting that it is the Party that disciples of Jesus throughout the UK should support?  Well, I know that one ought not to judge a book by its cover.  I know that no one man (or woman) makes a political party.  However, I have to say that one reason why I am supporting UKIP is Nigel Farage!  I have, like most people, watched a great deal on the political scene over recent weeks (and before!).  I have listened to the leaders of the various political parties being interviewed by a range of political commentators.  Only one has consistently answered the questions that have been asked.  I may not have agreed fully with every answer - but I admire basic honesty, and integrity.  I also like my potential statesmen to look like statesmen - not lads off to the pub for a drink!  Interestingly, the only one who has fulfilled those basic criteria is the one who is seen, most often, in a pub - Mr Farage.  I just get a 'good feeling' about the man - and I am teetotal!

However, it is policy that is the real nub of the argument.  So what are the UKIP policies that have persuaded me to support the Party?  Well, first and foremost, UKIP was the only Party, with any worthwhile representation in British politics, to oppose the redefinition of marriage.  Indeed Mr Farage is on record as having said that "... all the while we are signed up to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ... we have the risk that our established church, and possibly other faith communities could ultimately, under discrimination laws, be forced to conduct services that they find anathema.  If we get rid of the ECHR, and it doesn't have the dominant place over our society, we'll look at it [the ACT] again."

UKIP also believes that the last government has shown contempt for families in which one parent (usually the mother) stays at home to care for the children.  As a Party, it is totally supportive of stay-at-home mothers.

Staying with the family, in general, Louise Bours, UKIP's Health spokesperson, has voiced concern over girls as young as 10 years of age being given a contraceptive implant through the NHS, and the generally casual attitude towards under-age sexual activity that appears to be condoned, if not encouraged, by the traditional parties.

Of course, there are specific areas in which UKIP has been badly misrepresented by the main-stream media, and the other political parties.  Perhaps the worst of these has been on the issue of immigration.  How often am I informed that "UKIP is a racist party"?  Yet nothing could be further from the truth!   In spite of what is parroted by the opposition, UKIP is NOT "anti-immigration"!  What it does support is CONTROLLED immigration - a totally different kettle of fish.  There are seven points in the Manifesto - and I would defy any right-thinking person to produce a reasonable objection to any one of them.  (Link to Manifesto at the end of this post!).

Then there is the issue of Foreign Aid.  "UKIP want to stop helping other people", is the usual cry.  Rubbish!   What UKIP would do is to direct foreign aid - no longer sending million of pounds sterling to countries that neither need, nor want, it - e.g. India, with its own space exploration programme; or to countries in which human rights are consistently breached.  Rather, they would target such aid to specific needs, such as the current earthquake and avalanche disaster in Nepal.

Not only will the defence of the realm be a major commitment on the part of UKIP, but they will also look after military veterans in a way that the other parties do not seem to think necessary!   UKIP is, as far as I know, the only Party to have specific sections in its Manifesto regarding Small Businesses, and Animal Rights!

However, the policy for which UKIP is best known - and that on which it was founded - is the ending of the UK's membership of the European Union.  Those who are of my vintage may recall that what we entered into (although, personally, I voted against!) in 1972 was a "European Economic Community".  The Conservative Prime Minister, Edward Heath, stated, quite categorically, that those who feared a loss of British sovereignty were wrong.   Towards the end of his own life, he admitted that he had misled the British public, and that he had known, all along, what would happen.  The EEC was to be a trading bloc - and a UK, independent of the current EU - with its unelected Commissioners 'calling the shots' would be able to enter into such an agreement again.  However, being free of the shackles of the EU would enable us to also enter trading agreement with other countries - not least the former Commonwealth countries who have been blocked by trading tariffs since those early days of the EEC!

I could go on, but permit me to make just one further point: Nigel Farage has said that Britain is a Judaeo-Christian country, and that we need to "start standing up for our values".  Allied to that statement is the assurance that UKIP would not permit the Islamic system of Sharia (Islamic law) to operate, as it currently does, in parallel with UK law.  They would ensure that "... all communities are aware of, and adhere to, the supremacy of British law."  UKIP is also the only Party that has issued a specifically "Christian Manifesto" - Valuing Our Christian Heritage!

Although, as charitable foundations, neither Christian Concern, nor The Christian Institute, are permitted to support any specific political party, I believe that each has gone as far as is legally, and ethically, possible in encouraging disciples of Jesus to support UKIP!

So, am I supporting UKIP because it is a Christian Party?  Sadly, it is not.  There are a number of issues that I continue to have with the Party, and even its policies.  However, compared to the alternatives, it is streets ahead and, of course, if thousands of the disciples of Jesus join the Party then, just as the more UKIP MPs are elected on Thursday, the greater the influence the Party will have on the ensuing government, the greater the influence those believers will have on the Party! 

On Thursday, please use your vote.  If you have a UKIP candidate on your ballot-paper, please vote in his/her favour.  If you haven't, my only advice would be to 'spoil your vote' by writing "None of the above" at the bottom, and drawing a large X across all of the candidates' names!  Oh, and do remember to take your own, black ink, pen.  The pencils that are provided make changing a vote much too easy!

Whatever you do, take confidence in this: the Lord already knows the full result, and He is still in control!  Hallelujah!

The full Manifesto.  https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ukipdev/pages/1103/attachments/original/1429295050/UKIPManifesto2015.pdf?1429295050

Manifesto summary.  http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015

Christain Manifesto.  http://www.election2015.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/UKIPChristian_Manifesto-1.pdf

18 who did not bow the knee to the 'cool' perversion of political correctness.

The Scottish Parliament has spoken - but it does not reflect the beliefs and desires of the majority of the population of Scotland.  By 105 votes to 18, it has passed the Bill that will redefine marriage - except that, to the majority, it will do no such thing.  It all boiled down to a failure to recognise the difference between equality and equivalence (see my letter to Mr John Pentland, MSP, below).  However, there were eighteen brave persons who showed that they could not be browbeaten into subjection on such an important issue.

Why is it so important?  Because marriage, between a man and a woman, to the exclusion of all others, for life, is the bedrock of any civilised society.  It is the only union that is capable of procreation, and the continuation, for as long as time exists, of the human race.  This is true whether, or not, one is a religious person, let alone a disciple of Jesus.

Of course, according to the Scottish Government’s Health Secretary, Alex Neil: “We have always maintained at the heart of this issue there is one simple fact: a marriage is about love.”  Sorry, Mr Neil, but such a statement is, to put it mildly, gushy garbage.  Of course a marriage ought to have love at its heart, but there is much more to the institution than that.  There is commitment; there is mutual support; there is, above all, and uniquely within a heterosexual relationship, the conception of children - without the need to go to a third party for assistance.  Of course I know, as we were frequently reminded over the past year or so, that there are heterosexual couples who are either unable, or unwilling, to have a family.  These, however, are a small minority.  Within a homosexual/lesbian relationship there is no possibility.  The number of men who are capable of bearing a child with another man is absolutely zilch/zero - and the same is true of two women.  At the very least, and from a non-religious perspective, it is an anthropological phenomenon that affirms that marriage is actually about the sanctioning and recognition of new biological, sexual and physical unions of men and women; the way human societies order, structure, promote and protect mating, motherhood and procreation, attaching fathers to children and their mothers, providing an ordered context for sexual activity, rooted in the protracted and intense needs of mothers and infants and in securing the future of society.

So what happens next?  I imagine that we will have to wait and see.  Of one thing I am certain, that the homosexual lobby will not be satisfied with what they now have (although I will be happy to be proved wrong!).  There will be appeals to the European Court of Human Rights as soon as a member of the Christian clergy refuses to 'marry' a homosexual couple.  It is unlikely that  any Muslim Imam will have the same problem!   It will be then that the current Scottish government will realise how totally useless are their assurances that individual members of the clergy will be 'protected'.

However, anyone who has read the chapter on Predestination in my book, Great Words of the Faith, will know that this evening's vote did not surprise the Eternal Creator of all that is.  He is still on the throne of heaven and, as the old adage had it: "Man proposes, but God disposes."  Could it be that all of this is a judgement on a society and culture that has moved far from the faith of its fathers?  Paul's words to the early believers in Rome, which you may read at Rom.1:18ff, are a valid commentary on our modern, 'progressive' society.

Those of us who are disciples of Jesus will continue to pray - that the relevant law will be repealed, and that God will have mercy on an apostate nation.

Is this hypocrisy?

There were a couple of interesting, and related, news items during the past week.  On the one hand, we were informed that the last active Church of Rome adoption agency in the UK is being forced to cease operations unless it takes homosexual/lesbian couples. The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator ruled that St Margaret’s Children and Family Care Society in Glasgow was discriminating against same-gender couples because it prioritises those who have been married for at least two years. The decision follows a ruling in England that Catholic Care, based in Leeds, could not claim an exemption under the Equality Act to allow it to operate in line with Church teaching. 

At the same time, Edward Timpson, the Children’s Minister in the UK government, announced that local Councils that fail to do enough to tackle a national shortage of adoptive parents are to be stripped of responsibility for recruiting them, and that the task of filling the backlog of would-be adopters in problem areas will be handed over to private agencies and charities instead!   Mr Timpson said that the Government could no longer “stand by” while the backlog of children cleared for adoption, but waiting to be found suitable homes, continues to grow. 

Does anyone else see the paradox here?  An admitted shortage of adoptive parents, but agencies unable to operate for no other reason than that they happen to believe - and, unlike many politicians, have the courage of their convictions to say so - that a child is best served by having two parents, one of each gender, as nature irrefutably demands!  

Meanwhile, in both Holyrood and Westminster politicians, pushing the matter of "same-gender 'marriage'" - not a part of any of their last manifestos - seem to think that as long as they are able to claim to be defending the rights of faith groups (not just Christians!) and clerics, there should be no opposition to their plans.  Of course, their so-called "safeguards" aren't worth the hot air spouted.   The recent judgements by even the European Court of Human Rights would indicate that the conscience of a Christian may be successfully challenged.  Indeed, a source close to Education Secretary Michael Gove has admitted that teachers could be sacked for opposing gay marriage - that the Government would be powerless to stop headteachers firing staff who refuse to endorse same-sex marriage! This is what those who support traditional marriage have been saying for many months.  One wonders for how long those in government have known this, but preferred to keep the information hidden!

However, as I was reminded at a recent meeting of Scotland for Marriage, "It's not over yet!"  I am fully convinced that The Lord will intervene to protect that which He ordained.  However, I also believe that He expects us to play our part by continuing in prayer; by signing petitions; by writing to, or visiting, our MPs and MSPs.  May those of us who claim to be His disciples not be found wanting.  It is to Him that we answer!

Political promises!!

It was the great apostle, Paul, who wrote  "I have become all things to all men,..." (I Cor 9:22).  I thought of those words as I read the reports of an Easter reception for Christian leaders, in Downing Street on Wednesday , at which the Prime Minister reportedly affirmed his belief that the nation needed Christian values.  He claimed that: “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.”

This sounds to me - cynic that I am when it comes to the majority of contemporary politicians - a bit like Paul.  Mr Cameron seems to want to be "all things to all men".  Of course, Paul went on to say: "... that I might by all means save some."  His concern was the salvation of men, and women, and young people, and children, for whom Jesus the Christ hung and died on a cross.  Mr Cameron's concern would sometimes appear to be the survival of David Cameron and, possibly, of the Conservative Party!

You see this is the same David Cameron who is currently backing the U.K. Government consultation - not on whether or not marriage should be redefined, but simply on how the Government might go about achieving such a redefinition!  This is the same David Cameron who refused to back disciples of Jesus who are currently having their appeals heard by the European Court of Human Rights with regard to, for example, wearing a cross at work.  This is the same David Cameron who promised special income tax breaks to married couples, as a means of supporting and encouraging marriage, but who has (to date) totally reneged on that promise.  This is the same David Cameron who had backed the relaxation of Sunday trading laws for the duration of the 2012 Olympiad - with the distinct possibility that such relaxation could become permanent.

So I remain somewhat cynical!  Perhaps someone close to him will point him to those places in the New Testament in which it is made clear that it is our actions that count, not merely our words. It would be good if the Prime Minister were to match his fine words with political action.

I, for one, am not holding my breath!

Islamist violence drives nearly 95 per cent of Christians from Nigerian state

One Northern Nigerian state has been almost entirely cleared of Christians; they have been forced to flee the relentless campaign of violence against them by militant Islamist group Boko Haram.
The Rev. Garba Idi, chairman of the Yobe State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said that nearly 95 per cent of the Christians have left Yobe.

He said:

The situation in Yobe is terrible. Churches were burnt and attacked while many Christians lost their lives in the course of this mayhem…
We have to leave because the sect is hunting us; that is why we had to flee… Many Christians have left Yobe to save their lives from these attacks.

More than 20 churches have been torched in Yobe since November; homes and vehicles belonging to Christians have also been damaged. Many lives have been lost in the violence; 15 Christians have been killed so far this year.

Following a series of attacks over Christmas, Boko Haram issued an ultimatum on New Year’s Day giving Christians three days to leave the North. They followed up the threat with further killings, which are having the intended effect of driving many Christians out of the North.

Some are going to safer parts of the country while others are crossing the border into Cameroon.

While the United Kingdom government doesn't have the courage to defy the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that hate cleric Abu Qatada cannot be deported because he risks facing trial on evidence obtained by torture; those whom he would support, and who would support him, are trampling over even the most basic human rights of Christians in a country that has had its development assistance programme doubled under that same Coalition Government! (source: http://tribune.com.ng/index.php/opinion/18738-improving-nigeria-through-united-kingdoms-aid)