I’ve yet to encounter a child who was born truly evil

In my work I have yet to encounter a child who was “evil” — born bad. Rather, children behave badly because of what has been put into them and how they have been brought up. Violence is frequently the result of other violent acts.

Children often experience violence in their lives and, while the source of that violence is usually a child’s parents or carers — last year, for example, more than 60 per cent of children murdered in this country were killed by their parents — child-on-child violence remains common.

As a result, children are often very astute about managing threats of violence and this is one reason we have seen younger and younger children prepared to carry knives.

Feeling that the “adult world” fails to take their fears and anxieties seriously, children turn to each other to sort out problems and, sadly, this often ends in tragedy. Read more
No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

Bishop of Rochester: Ignore our Christian values and the nation will drift apart

Ed: I am reminded of the words of Leo Amery in the House of Commons on 2 September 1939, when Arthur Greenwood stood up to speak for the Labour Party following Neville Chamberlain, and Amery called across the floor to him, 'Speak for England, Arthur!', implying Chamberlain had not. Who, now Rochester is going, will 'speak for England'?

I have resigned as Bishop of Rochester after nearly 15 years. During that time, I have watched the nation drift further and further away from its Christian moorings. Instead of the spiritual and moral framework provided by the Judaeo-Christian tradition, we have been led to expect, and even to celebrate, mere diversity. Not surprisingly, this has had the result of loosening the ties of law, customs and values, and led to a gradual loss of identity and of cohesiveness. Every society, for its wellbeing, needs the social capital of common values and the recognition of certain virtues which contribute to personal and social flourishing. Our ideas about the sacredness of the human person at every stage of life, of equality and natural rights and, therefore, of freedom, have demonstrably arisen from the tradition rooted in the Bible.

Different faiths and traditions will not necessarily produce the values and virtues which have been so prominent in the history of this country. It is quite wrong to presume that they will, as Gordon Brown appeared to do last week in his speech calling for "value-based" rules at St Paul's Cathedral. Some faiths may emphasise social solidarity more than personal freedom, others publicly enforce piety over a nurturing of the interior life and yet others stress honour and shame rather than humility, service and sacrifice. It may be, of course, that there is a useful overlap among these traditions in terms of values by which to live. It may also be that people of different faiths can "own" many of the values produced by a Christian framework in this nation, but this cannot take place in a vacuum.

One of the surprising aspects of what you could call our values vacuum is the historical amnesia which is so prevalent today – or, rather, a selective sort of amnesia. The perfectly virtuous pages of history, such as Magna Carta, the campaign to abolish the slave trade and, later, slavery itself, the easing of conditions of labour for men, women and children and the introduction of universal education, which all took place under the inspiration of the Christian faith, are forgotten or ignored. Instead of which we get large doses of guilt along with an emphasis on our involvement in the slave trade, religious and ethnic persecution, exploitative colonialism and other wrongs which certainly need repentance. But repentance for past wrongs without the celebration of what has been good has deprived people of a common vision by which to live and a strong basis for the future. Read more
No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

Order of Service for Jade Goody's funeral

Courtesy of the BBC here, though sadly (typically?) they report nothing of what Corinne Brixton said in their coverage of the funeral here.

No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

BNP continue strong polling

Ed: For those who are interested, the BNP is continuing to poll strongly where it chooses to put up candidates, as the results of recent bye-elections show.

The BNP target is not simply to win bye-elections, however, but to get a high enough percentage of the vote later this year to elect one or more MEPs.

It does seem that telling people "Don't vote BNP" is not having a sufficient effect.

Leeds, Temple Newsam
CON 1785
BNP 1502
LABOUR 1476
LIB DEM 1468
GREEN 137

Dormanstown, Redcar and Cleveland
LIB DEM 809
LAB 667
BNP 305
CON 125

Skircoat, Calderdale
CON 1277
LIB DEM 1259
LAB 274
IND 238
BNP 235
IND 229
GREEN 92

Sevenoaks
BNP 408
LAB 322
CON 247

Source here.

No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

Top British judge attacks European Court

Lord Hoffmann, the second most senior Law Lord, accused the Court of going beyond its jurisdiction and imposing "uniform rules" on states.

He said rulings that had gone against domestic decisions were "teaching grandmothers to suck eggs".

The judge insisted he supported the European Convention on Human Rights but not the institution that applies the law.

In a lecture to fellow judges, published this week, Lord Hoffmann said the European Court, in the French city of Strasbourg, was unable to resist the temptation to "aggrandise its jurisdiction" by laying down a "federal law of Europe". Read more
No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

Hate cleric, Abu Qatada, issues rallying cry from prison

The extremist cleric Abu Qatada has issued a 6,000-word rallying cry to his followers from inside one of Britain’s most secure prison units.

The Palestinian preacher hails the “victory” of the Mujahidin and claims that his treatment has helped to radicalise a new generation of young British Muslims.

Despite demanding his freedom, he says that “the gift of prison” has helped him to lose more than 50lb (22kg) in weight. He even suggests that a vigorous exercise programme appears to have cured his diabetes and back trouble.

The cleric boasts of being told by Bilal Abdullah, the NHS doctor jailed for the car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow in 2007, that he was heavily influenced by the cleric’s taped sermons. He describes the bomber, who narrowly failed in his attempts to blow up a nightclub and airport terminal, as “truthfully a man from the men of Islam, in knowledge, action, steadfastness and manhood”. Read more
No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

New President of Episcopal Divinity School: 'Abortion is a Blessing'

The announcement on Monday, March 30 that The Rev. Dr. Katherine Ragsdale was appointed as the sixth and newest president of Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, MA, has orthodox and pro-life Episcopalians shaking their heads.

Ragsdale, who is an outspoken advocate of abortion and LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender) rights, was the unanimous choice of the Board of Trustees and will begin her duties on July 1, 2009.

In addition to the press release and public letter concerning the appointment, the EDS website also has a link to Rev. Ragsdale’s sermon blog. There, the first sermon is entitled, “Our Work is Not Done.” The content has been cited and circulated on a large number of pro-life and conservative Christian blogs. An excerpt follows:

“When a woman wants a child but can’t afford one because she hasn’t the education necessary for a sustainable job, or access to health care, or day care, or adequate food, it is the abysmal priorities of our nation, the lack of social supports, the absence of justice that are the tragedies; the abortion is a blessing.

“And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion – there is not a tragedy in sight -- only blessing. The ability to enjoy God’s good gift of sexuality without compromising one’s education, life’s work, or ability to put to use God’s gifts and call is simply blessing. Read more
No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.

TEC Bishop-Elect Replaces New Testament Reading with Quran Passage

Here is the bulletin insert [46kb PDF] on the Second Sunday After Epiphany, January 20, 2008, for St. Paul's Marquette, at which Kevin Thew Forrester presided, and substituted a passage from the Quran (13:20-23) for the New Testament reading. The Quran reading is at the top of page 3.

Reader: A reading from the Quran

In the name of God most merciful most compassionate. Is he, then, who knows that what has been revealed to those from thy Lord is the truth, like one who is blind? But only those gifted with understanding will reflect. Those who fulfill God’s pact and break not the covenant. And those who join what God has commanded to be joined, and fear their Lord, and dread the evil reckoning. And those who persevere in seeking the favor of their Lord and observe prayer and spend out of that with which We have provided them secretly and openly, and repel evil with good. It is these who shall have the best reward of the final Abode. Amen

Reader: Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church.

Assembly: Thanks be to God.

Read more

Link to Wikipedia article on Forrester

No comments will be posted without a full name and location, see the policy.