Persecution- christiansquoting.org.uk

In a democracy the majority of citizens is capable of exercising the most cruel oppressions upon the minority...and that oppression of the majority will extend to far great number, and will be carried on with much greater fury, than can almost ever be apprehended from the dominion of a single sceptre. Under a cruel prince they have the plaudits of the people to animate their generous constancy under their sufferings; but those who are subjected to wrong under multitudes are deprived of all external consolation: they seem deserted by mankind, overpowered by a conspiracy of their whole species.
Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France , 1790

The earnest freethinkers need not worry themselves too much about the persecutions of the past. Before the Liberal idea is dead or triumphant, we shall see wars and persecutions the like of which the World has never seen. They need not reserve their tears for the victims of Bonner or Claverhouse [leaders of religious persecution under Mary Tudor and Charles II]. They may weep for themselves and their children.
G. K. Chesterton, _Daily News_ February, 1905.

When searching for examples of state-sponsored barbarities, intellectuals are quick to point to the Spanish Inquisition or its Protestant imitation, the Witchhunt. How could anyone, modern academics wonder, persecute another for their beliefs? These same intellectuals, ironically, are often the very people who served as cheerleaders for political persecution and mass murder on a scale unmatched in human history. The Spanish Inquisition claimed slightly more than 2,000 lives during its 25-year apex between 1480 and 1505. One would be hard pressed to find any 25-day period in Russia under Stalin, China under Mao, or Cambodia under Pol Pot in which the killing was that slight. Yet it is a Torquemada or Salem that is equated with homicidal intolerance. The crimes of Communismare ignored. Being generous, one might suppose that intellectuals are simplyblinded by the prejudices of our age and are unable to detach themselves and see the killing that has occurred right under their noses. A more cynical perspective might view their amnesia as a self-induced condition brought on as a method to absolve themselves of their own role in supporting murder. --Daniel J Flynn, Ideas Have Consequences... Like Murder, Tyranny, and Repression

It is not conclusive proof of a doctrine's correctness that its adversaries use the police, the hangman, and violent mobs to fight it. But it is a proof of the fact that those taking recourse to violent oppression are in their subconsciousness convinced of the untenability of their own doctrines. -- Ludwig von Mises

Come down, O Son of God! incestuous gloom
Curtains the land, and through the starless night
Over thy Cross the Crescent moon I see!
If thou in very truth didst burst the tomb
Come down, O Son of Man! and show thy might,
Lest Mahomet be crowned instead of Thee!
Wilde, Oscar.ON THE MASSACRE OF THE CHRISTIANS IN BULGARIA. 1881.

Permanence- christiansquoting.org.uk

No condition is permanent - often seen as the motto on mammy wagons in Nigeria

The Moving Finger writes: and having writ,
Moves on: nor or thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all the Tears wash our a Word of it.
Edward Fitzgerald 1809-1883, Omar Khayyam ed1.51

The end on New Labour

conservatines.com aka nutories, says,"In the early hours of Friday morning, Edward Timpson became the new MP for Crewe and Nantwich after winning the by-election by nearly 8,000 votes.

David Cameron described it as “a remarkable result” which shows that we are building “a real coalition for change in our country”.

And he attacked Labour for their “relentlessly negative” campaign, saying:

“Their campaign didn’t tell us much about the Conservative Party – but it told us a lot about the Labour Party. It was backward-looking, divisive and xenophobic. In many ways, it was the end of New Labour.”

The trouble is that one rejoices in the demise of nulabour but sees no clear blue water from the blairite tribute band that is the nutorys.

The home of the Taliban

BBC says, "The provincial government in north-west Pakistan has agreed to pull troops out of a valley under a peace agreement signed with pro-Taleban militants.
The authorities say they will also allow the militants to impose Sharia law in Swat in return for promises to close training camps and end attacks."

When they are defeated in Afghanistan we should do something about their homeland.

Brown is a credible a Christian as Blair :-(

BBC says,"Pro-life campaigners have vowed to continue their fight to cut the abortion limit after the next election.
MPs voted to keep the current 24-week cut-off following an impassioned Commons debate and a series of attempts to lower it to 12, 16 or 22 weeks.
There was a free vote but Labour MPs mostly backed the status quo - leaving anti-abortion campaigners pinning their hopes on a change of government.
Pro-choice groups attacked "cynical" attempts to cut the limit.
The closest vote, on a 22-week limit, was thrown out by 304 votes to 233. Tory MP Nadine Dorries' proposal for a 20 week limit was defeated by 332 votes to 190.
Most Conservative MPs voted for a 22 week limit, while Lib Dem MPs split into two camps - with most senior figures voting for the status quo.

Attempts to lower the cut-off to 12 and 16 weeks were overturned by even bigger margins.
Ian Lucas, coordinator of the all-party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group, said: "We will continue the fight to reflect the wishes of the public and support the rights of the unborn child."
And Lib Dem Mark Hunter told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme: "I am absolutely confident that the debate in the country will continue and it is only a matter of time before once again this issue does come back to the Commons."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and most of the cabinet voted to keep the existing 24 limit, as did Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg.
Issue of conscience?
But Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly, Des Browne and Paul Murphy voted for the lowest option - 12 weeks.
Conservative leader David Cameron voted for a 20 week limit and then for a cut to a 22 week limit - which was backed by most of the shadow cabinet.
See a graph of abortion levels
Mr Brown had offered Labour MPs a free vote on the issue as a matter of conscience.
But Ms Dorries, who led the campaign to reduce the limit, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Last night the Labour MPs were on a three-line whip to attend the chamber. "When they arrived in the chamber, because normally only a third of them even vote on this issue, they were dragooned off into the 24-week lobby."
She said the government was "out of touch" with the public on the issue and Labour MPs had been "piling in" to "shore up" Mr Brown.
However, Labour's Louise Elman insisted there was "no pressure" on her or her colleagues to vote a certain way.
"On these particular points of specific controversy there was no pressure, there was no whip - people voted as their consciences led them to."
The votes followed two highly-charged debates on the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill - the biggest shake-up of fertility law for nearly 20 years.
Earlier the government saw off another challenge to the bill when MPs rejected a cross-party move for doctors to consider the need for a "father and a mother" before allowing IVF treatment.

Health Minister Dawn Primarolo insisted there was no evidence requiring the abortion laws to be changed and said changing it would force the small number of women seeking late abortions to go elsewhere.
"Wouldn't it be appalling if we drove women back to where they were before the 1967 (Abortion) Act?" she said.
She said the limit had always been linked to the "potential viability of the foetus outside of the womb".
"That was the case in 1967. It was the case in 1990 and certainly the case now."
And Julie Bentley, chief executive of the Family Planning Association, welcomed the votes.
"FPA are delight that Parliament has resisted cynical attempts by anti-abortion campaigners to reduce access to safe, legal abortion," she said.
"Cutting the time limit, even by a few weeks, would have directly contradicted medical and scientific evidence about foetal viability and would only have exacerbated the desperation of the small percentage of women needing later abortion," she said"

It was not a free vote. Labour whipped them to be there and showed them which lobby to go through.. MURDERERS.

Hail MacNanny!

BBC says, "Plans to ban the open display of cigarettes in shops have been announced by the Scottish Government.
Public Health Minister Shona Robison said giving them "pride of place" on shelves did not fit with the drive to tackle smoking-related illness.
It is two years since Scotland led the UK in banning smoking in public places, and six months since the legal age for buying cigarettes was raised to 18."

So will the shelves be full of cigars and pipe tobacco?

Not the Irish joke

BBC says, "'A Leeds man has been dubbed the city's "dumbest criminal" by a councillor for posting videos of anti-social behaviour on the YouTube website.
Andrew Kellett, 23, from Stanks Drive, Swarcliffe, published 80 videos and was given an interim anti-social behaviour order (Asbo) by Leeds magistrates.
Kellett has been previously convicted of various offences but the Asbo stops him from boasting of his activities.
The clips include Kellett being driven in a speeding car at more than 140 mph.
Councillor Les Carter, chair of Safer Leeds - a partnership between police and local authorities aimed at cutting crime - said: "Kellett must be in the running to be Leeds' dumbest criminal.
"In the last three years we have seen a 32% reduction in crime in Leeds. If more criminals were as obliging, the city would be even safer."
Leeds City Council have secured an interim Asbo against Kellett although he claims he was simply a bystander filming events.
The council said that other YouTube videos showed Kellett refusing to pay a taxi driver the right fare, being driven away from a petrol station apparently without paying, and racing other cars.
The terms of the Asbo include not to participate in, or encourage others to participate in, the driving of vehicles in a dangerous or anti-social manner.
He is also prevented from posting any image or description of unlawful activity on the internet."

So Paddy. You are off the hook. Puddin is the dumbo.

More about a follower of the religion of peace

The people who take a licence fee from me say, "Police have released a former al-Qaeda recruiter without charge.
Hassan Butt had been held since his arrest on 9 May at Manchester airport by officers from Greater Manchester Police's counter terrorism unit.
The 28-year-old had been about to board a flight to Lahore in Pakistan when he was arrested on suspicion of financing, directing and supporting terrorism.
Mr Butt has spoken of his past involvement in terrorist activity which he says he has now renounced.
A police spokeswoman confirmed a 28-year-old man had been released without charge and said the police investigation was ongoing.
Previously, Mr Butt, a British citizen from Manchester, has admitted to fundraising for terror networks.
He has also claimed to have recruited "hundreds" of British Muslims to fight for al-Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the past he has met government officials to talk about how to steer young British Muslims away from extremism."

Don't we have a treason law?

Christian registrar seeks conscience exemption

Christian Institute says, "A Christian registrar, Lillian Ladele, is presenting her case to an employment tribunal after her Council employers refused to grant her a conscience exemption from registering same-sex unions.

Miss Ladele, who currently works for Islington Council, has been a registrar for nearly 16 years. Before the Civil Partnerships Act came into effect in 2005 she asked to be excused from registering civil partnerships between same-sex couples because to do so would conflict with her religious beliefs.

She has subsequently been disciplined by her employers, and other colleagues have been allowed to choose not to work with her because of her beliefs.

Miss Ladele says that although the law requires local authorities to provide a civil partnership service, the requirement does not extend to individual registrars.

Her case will be heard by an employment tribunal beginning on Tuesday, 20 May, and is expected to last four days. Miss Ladele's lawyers will argue to the tribunal that by forcing her to take part in forming civil partnerships against her conscience, Islington Council are infringing equality laws.

Miss Ladele said: "This is a subject on which there are a variety of views in our society. As a matter of religious conscience, I simply can't take part in the formation of a civil partnership."

She continued: "I am not seeking to obstruct people forming civil partnerships and I have many colleagues who are willing to assist with the formation of civil partnerships. Other local authorities in this situation have agreed to accommodate individual consciences.

"Unfortunately, after nearly 16 years' service, this is unacceptable to my local authority, although it has decided it is acceptable for colleagues to choose not to work with me because they object to my religious beliefs.

"I believe that forcing someone to work contrary to their conscience and under threat of dismissal is not right. If we are genuine when we talk about diversity and equality then shouldn't we be prepared to tolerate a range of views, not simply those we agree with?""

I pray she will be vindicated and this discriminatory Council have to pay up and stop shunning her.

In the Hebrides the Council will abide by the law and register so called civil unions. But there will be no ceremony if any homosexuals wish to register in Stornoway. The law requires only a register. The council can refuse any ceremony.

Not so simple

BBC says,"A controversial new "right to die" card is being offered to the public that allows anyone to refuse treatment in a medical emergency.
It's a morbid question, but one that many of us have pondered at least once.
If I hadn't just escaped that dreadful accident, where would I be now? Would I rather be dead than depend on others to keep me alive?
A new card seeks to address that very question. Available in pubs, banks, libraries, GP surgeries, even some churches, the Advanced Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT) card sits snugly in a wallet or purse and instructs a doctor to withhold treatment should the carrier lose the capacity to make decisions, because of an accident or illness.
Dubbed the "right-to-die card", it's being seen by some as a short-cut to euthanasia.
But its backers say it is a practical way of implementing the Mental Capacity Act, which came into force in 2007.
The act allows adults to draw up "advance directives" stating what sort of treatment they don't want should they lose capacity. They build on the principle of "living wills" but, crucially, mean that doctors are legally bound to abide by a patient's wish to refuse life-sustaining treatment.
Taken in haste
Carrying the card alerts anyone who finds it that the patient has made decisions about treatment, and there is a detailed statement to be found with named relatives or friends and, ideally, their GP.

Salford City Council, which is behind the card, says it is merely putting the information out there in public places, for people to make their own choice. It stresses advance decisions are not only about death but can also include preferences about treatment and care patients do want.
But so-called pro-life campaigners say they could be snapped up in haste by people who haven't fully understood the complexity of the issues involved.
Given the ferocity of the debate between the pro-choice and pro-life movements, it is somewhat surprising to hear that Salford's card scheme was dreamed up by just one person.
The woman - who has asked not to be named - is involved with social care services in Salford because she has a son with mental health problems.
"She was thinking of the idea of advance decisions both as a retired woman, and as a carer, and thought this would be useful," says Judd Skelton, a Salford council officer who looks after user and carer issues.
However, pro-life campaigners such as Dr Andrew Fergusson, from the Christian Medical Fellowship, say such important decisions should not be merely committed to paper. Agreeing that patients should have more autonomy than in previous generations, Dr Fergusson nevertheless wants people to appoint a proxy to speak for them if they become incapacitated.
"One of our concerns is that the things people want when they are well are very different to those they want when they are unwell. Their values change," he says.
Slow down treatment
The former GP and hospital doctor, whose organisation is also part of the Care Not Killing alliance, says advance directives may be forcing medics to work "with one hand tied behind their backs" - although the legislation does leave room to challenge the patient's statement.
And he is worried that a card saying "stop" to a doctor could lead to a "change of gear" in emergency situations that would affect decision-making.
The Salford cards certainly seem to be stirring passions locally. Reports that they have been snapped up enthusiastically by locals appear to be partly countered by the comments of at least one person contributing to a local newspaper messageboard.
"I'm appalled by these cards," it reads, "and I removed as many as I could from Swinton Library yesterday.""

Cynical me thinks the government might promote these cards to save the NHS money. In the past I had told my wife I fancied a "Do not resuscitate" card but she wants me kept alive. I am in two minds about this. I do not think the card can be a simple one. It needs to say under what circumstances one wishes to be allowed to die. Then the medics may not know the prognosis until they try. Having twice agreed with the medics that they should not prolong life when father and father in law were dying, perhaps I should trust the next generation to make the decision. Or could one have a card saying that I might want to die but as usual I will defer to She Who Must be Obeyed.

Human rights madness

BBC says, "A gay Iranian teenager who said he could be executed if he was sent home has been given asylum in Britain.
Mehdi Kazemi, 19, came to London to study English in 2005, but later discovered his boyfriend had been charged with sodomy in Iran and hanged."

So it is good to welcome Muslim homosexuals but my Christian Afghan friend faces deportation. The obvious way forward for him is to claim to be homosexual.

Murder by Westminster

BBC sayss, "Attempts to cut the upper limit for abortions from 24 to 22 weeks have been rejected by MPs after a free vote.
Tory MP Nadine Dorries, a former nurse who proposed a 20-week limit, said: "There comes a point when it has to be said this baby has a right to life."
But her plan was defeated by 332 votes to 190. A move to bring in a 22-week limit was opposed by 304 votes to 233.

Catholic cabinet ministers Ruth Kelly, Des Browne and Paul Murphy voted for cutting the limit to 12 weeks.
Government figures showed 193,737 women in England and Wales had an abortion in 2006.

In modern Britain the most dangerous place to be is in your mother's womb. It should be a place of sanctity - Edward Leigh
Conservative MP

The votes followed two impassioned debates on the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill - the biggest shake-up of fertility law for nearly 20 years.
Earlier the government saw off another challenge to the bill when MPs rejected a cross-party move for doctors to consider the need for a "father and a mother" before allowing IVF treatment.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg voted for the 24-week limit to be maintained. Conservative leader David Cameron voted for the limit to be lowered to 22 weeks.

Ex-minister Edward Leigh, a father-of-six, who pressed for a 12-week limit, said it would bring Britain into line with the rest of Europe.

He said "98% of abortions are social - only 1.3% are for foetuses which are handicapped, 0.4% are for risk to mother's life" and added: "It is a bleak picture of modern Britain ...I believe we should give that silent child a voice."
Labour's Claire Curtis-Thomas said she was not opposed to abortion, believing women had the right to choose.
But she added: "I can't accept that we keep the limit where it stands where there is a possibility of life. The majority of people are deeply uncomfortable with that prospect."

Lib Dem Dr John Pugh said: "There are people in our world today in no way inferior to us in capacity, intelligence and beauty who were born at 22 weeks. That ought to give us cause for reflection."
Earlier a bid to cut the limit to 12 weeks was opposed by 393 votes to 71. A further attempt to get the limit down to 16 weeks was defeated by 387 votes to 84.
On Monday night a cross-party attempt to ban hybrid animal embryos was defeated, and a bid to ban "saviour siblings" was voted down by 342 votes to 163.
ENGLAND AND WALES ABORTIONS
Under 9 weeks: 54.9%
9-12 weeks: 34.3%
13-19 weeks: 9.2%
20-24 weeks: 1.5%
ONS figures from 2006"

So people will be making money from killing the unborn in the name of a woman's right to choose to kill her offspring. Moloch is alive and well in Westminster.

Perivale (where I live) - christiansquoting.org.uk

Parish of enormous hayfields
Perivale stood all alone,
John Betjeman Middlesex From "A Few Late Chrysanthemums" (1954)
There's a line of harbour lights at Perivale,
John Betjeman Harrow-on-the-Hill From "A Few Late Chrysanthemums" (1954)

green for go, green for action
from park royal to north acton
past scrolls and inscriptions like those of the egyptian age
and one of these days the hoover factory
is gonna be all the rage in those fashionable pages

five miles out of london on the western avenue
must have been a wonder when it was brand new
talkin' 'bout the splendour of the hoover factory
i know that you'd agree if you had seen it too
it's not a matter of life or death
but what is?"
"Hoover Factory" (song), Elvis Costello [DPA McManus]

(Perivale does not now have one hayfield and the Hoover factory is a supermarket., and is more than five miles out of London)

Perfection - christiansquoting.org.uk

I am not a perfectionist. My parents were though.

Mutum dan tara ne.- Man is a son of nine, i.e. he never has a perfect 10/10 score.- Hausa proverb, Nigeria.

Perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarlity well. Neglect nothing; the most trivial action may be performed to God.-- Angelique Arnauld.

When a man says that he is perfect already, there is only one of two places for him, and that is heaven or the lunatic asylum. --Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) _Proverbs from Plymouth Pulpit_ [1887]

The greatest of all faults, I should say, is to be conscious of none.-- Thomas Carlyle

Abandon all hopes of utopia -- there are people involved.-- Clayton Cramer

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it. - Salvadore Dali

The surest hindrance of success is to have too high a standard of refinement in our own minds, or too high an opinion of the judgement of the public. He who is determined not to be satisfied with anything short of perfection will never do anything to please himself or others.-- Hazlitt (1778-1830)

I have no faith in human perfectability. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active - not more happy - nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. - Edgar Allan Poe, 1809 - 1849

Peace - christiansquoting.org.uk

For people who like peace and quiet: a phoneless cord.

Do your best and then sleep in peace. God is awake.

Serenity is not freedom from the storm, but peace amid the storm.

I was in Chelsea police station where I was charged with perjury and conspiracy to pervert public justice. I spent the next five hours alone in a police cell while waiting for the various formalities such as finger-printing and photographs. I used that time to pray, to meditate and to read all sixteen chapters of St Mark's Gospel, something I had long meant to do at one sitting. This should have been a time of deep despair. The worst day of my life. Not so. For I had such an overwhelming sense of God's presence in the cell with me that I was at peace. Jonathan Aitken in The Tablet. 12 June 1999

Reconciliation should be accompanied by justice, otherwise it will not last. While we all hope for peace it shouldn't be peace at any cost but peace based on principle, on justice. Corazon Aquino

Peace - In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting. Ambrose Bierce: Devil's Dictionary

Peace purchased at the cost of any part of our national integrity is fit only for slaves, and even when purchased for such a price it is a delusion, for it cannot last. - Wm. E. Borah

Peace will not be preserved by pious sentiments."Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

Even peace may be purchased at too high a price. --Benjamin Franklin

Do not let your peace depend on what people say of you, for whether they speak good or ill of you makes no difference to what you are. True peace and joy is to be found in Me alone. He who is neither anxious to please nor afraid to displease men enjoys true peace.
Thomas à Kempis'_The Imitation of Christ_ [c. 1420]: --Bk. 3, ch. 28: "Against Slander"

Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart? Gerard Majella

We are not at peace with others because we are not at peace with ourselves, and we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God. THOMAS MERTON

Peace hath her victories
No less renowned than war.
John Milton To the Lord General Cromwell.
If God be our God, He will give us peace in trouble. When there is a storm without, He will make peace within. The world can create trouble in peace, but God can create peace in trouble -- THOMAS WATSON

Patriotism - christiansquoting.org.uk

Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness for anyone.
The last words of British nurse Edith Cavell, shot as a spy by the German authorities in Brussels on 12 October 1915.

True patriotism doesn't exclude an understanding of the patriotism of others. ~Queen Elizabeth II

A patriot is he whose publick conduct is regulated by one single motive, the love of his country; who, as an agent in parliament, has, for himself, neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment,but refers every thing to the common interest. - Samuel Johnson: The Patriot

To love their country has been considered as virtue in men, whose love could not be otherwise than blind, because their preference was made without, a comparison; but it has never been my fortune to find, either in ancient or modern writers, any honourable mention of those, who have, with equal blindness, hated their country.- Samuel Johnson, Taxation No Tyranny

It is the quality of patriotism to be jealous and watchful, to observe all secret machinations, and to see publick dangers at a distance. The true lover of his country is ready to communicate his fears, and to sound the alarm, whenever he perceives the approach of mischief. But he sounds no alarm, when there is no enemy; he never terrifies his ncountrymen till he is terrified himself. The patriotism, therefore, may be justly doubted of him, who professes to be disturbed by incredibilities... -- Samuel Johnson: The Patriot

Still today many subscribe to the infamous assertion of E. M. Forster that, if he had to choose between betraying his country and betraying his friends, he hoped he would have the guts to betray his country. Forgotten is the reality that one is betraying one's friends by betraying one's country. Forgotten, too, is the fact that those who are the friends of tyrants and mass murderers should not be counted as friends. -- Richard John Neuhaus

Patriotism is usually stronger than class hatred, and always stronger than internationalism. George Orwell, Selected Essays

Some reformers may urge that in the ages distant future, patriotism, like the habit of monogamous marriage, will become a needless and obsolete virtue; but just at present the man who loves other countries as much as he does his own is quite as noxious a member of society as the man who loves other women as much as he loves his wife. Love of country is an elemental virtue, like love of home." --Theodore Roosevelt

Our country right or wrong. When right, to be kept right; when wrong, to be put right. ~ Carl Schurz

Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
This is my own, my native land!
Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd
As home his footsteps he hath turn'd
From wandering on a foreign strand?
Sir Walter Scott. 1771-1832. Canto vi. Stanza 1.
Brutus: Who is here so vile that will not love his country? --Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Patience - christiansquoting.org.uk

Patience is a good servant whom all recommend, but few like to employ.

I am waiting as fast as I can ! I want patience, and I want it NOW !

If you are patient in one day of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.-- Chinese Proverb

Sauri ya haifi nawa? To how many has haste given birth? -- Hausa Proverb, Nigeria.

Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his temper than one who takes a city. --Proverbs 16:32 NIV

Our patience will achieve more than our force. Edmund Burke

There is, however, a limit at which forbearance ceases to be a virtue.--Edmund Burke, Observations on Late Publication on the Present State of the Nation. Vol. i. p. 273.

Patience and fortitude conquer all things.-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fortunately, God suffers fools gladly, I think. It's part of His job, and it's the only explanation I can think of for my own survival. -- Mary Fairchild

If they try to rush me, I always say, "I've only got one other speed - and it's slower." Glenn Ford

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. --Arnold Glasow

When God ripens apples, he isn't in a hurry and doesn't make a noise. -- D Jackman

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.
JEFFERSON, THOMAS (1743-1826)

Never cut what you can untie.-- Joseph Joubert

We are working for the future. We are not concerned with the seeming victory of the moment but with the final triumph. With us the question is not what influence we can exert now but what power we can exercise 50 years hence, not how few men we have today but how many will arise out of the younger generation who will be men of our principles. We know how to practice patience. We know that the fruit cannot be plucked before the harvest time has arrived. Yet we also know that the hour of victory will some day come.
Abraham Kuyper 1869, in Abraham Kuyper a Biography, Fank Vanden Berg, Paideia Press, 1978. p 48.

If God has taken away all means of seeking remedy, there is nothing left but patience.-- John Locke

Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him. In Hebrew, "Be silent in God, and let Him mould thee." Keep still, and He will mould thee to the right shape.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you, but not in the one ahead.-- Bill McGlashen

But patience is more oft the exercise
Of saints, the trial of their fortitude,
Making them each his own deliverer,
And victor over all
That tyranny or fortune can inflict.
John Milton. (1608 -1674). Samson Agonistes
Most things, except agriculture, can wait. - Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 &endash; 1964)

You have need of patience; and if you ask, the Lord will give it: but there can be no settled peace till our will is in a measure subdued. Hide yourself under the shadow of His wings; rely upon His care and power; look upon Him as a physician who has graciously undertaken to heal your soul of the worst of sicknesses, sin. Yield to His prescriptions, and fight against every thought that would represent it as desirable to be permitted to choose for yourself.- JOHN NEWTON

There are times when God asks nothing of his children except silence, patience and tears. -- C. S. Robinson

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew.... Francois de Sales (1567-1622)

Though patience be a tired mare, yet she will plod.-- Shakespeare, Henry V

How poor are they that have not patience! --William Shakespeare. Othello. Act ii. Sc. 3.

Mercy hath a heaven, and justice a hell, to display itself to eterity, but long-suffering hath only a short-lived earth. HENRY SMITH

He who waits on God never waits too long. Chuck Wagner

Passion christiansquoting.org.uk

To care passionately for another human creature brings always more sorrow than joy, but one would not be without thatexperience.   - Agatha Christie, 1890 - 1976

If passion rules, how weak does reason prove!--John Dryden (1631-1700)_The Rival Ladies_ [1664]

Most marriages recognize this paradox: Passion destroys passion; we want what puts an end to wanting what we want.--John Fowles

A man in passion rides a horse that runs away with him. - Thomas Fuller, 1608 - 1661

Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion.   - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, 1770 - 1831

Our passions are like convulsion fits, which, though they make us stronger for a time, leave us the weaker ever after.   - Alexander Pope, 1688 - 1744

The ruling passion, be it what it will,
The ruling passion conquers reason still.
--Alexander Pope (1688-1744)_Moral Essays_ [1731-1735]

The most untutored person with passion is more persuasive than the most eloquent without. - François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld, 1613 - 1680

It is difficult to overcome one's passions, and impossible to satisfy them. -- Marguerite de la Sabliere

Passion is the quickest to develop, and the quickest to fade. Intimacy develops more slowly, and commitment more gradually still. -Robert Steinberg

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions. --Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)

........everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
W B Yeats The Second Coming .

Parting - christiansquoting.org.uk

parting

In every parting there is an image of death. --George Eliot [Marian Evans Cross] (1819-1880) _Scenes of Clerical Life_ [1858], "Amos Barton"

Parody - christiansquoting.org.uk

Many are cold, but few are frozen.

A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a metaphor?

People who live in glass houses shouldn't.

Cogito ergo spud. - I think, therefore I yam.-- Graffito reported by Herb Caen

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills
If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to give you time,
If you can overlook when people take things out on you, when through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can face the world without lies and deceit,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without liquor,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then, you are almost as good as your dog.

God, grant me the Senility
To forget the people
I never liked anyway
The good fortune
To run into the ones I do,
And the eyesight
To tell the difference.

"BUTT PRINTS IN THE SAND"
One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.
But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat,
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."
"My child," He said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."
"You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."
"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."


My appetite is my shepherd, I always want.
It maketh me sit down and stuff myself.
It leadeth me to my refrigerator repeatedly
Sometimes during the night.
It leadeth me in the path of Burger King for a Whopper.
It destroyeth my shape.
Yea, though I knoweth I gaineth, I will not stop eating,
For the food tasteth so good.
The ice cream and the cookies, they comfort me.
When the table is spread before me, it exciteth me.
For I knoweth that I sooneth shall dig in.
As I filleth my plate continuously.
My clothes runneth smaller.
Surely bulges and pudgies shall follow me
All the days of my life
And I shall be "pleasingly plump" forever.

The Lord is my programmer, I shall not crash.
He installed his software on the hard disk of my heart; all of His commands are user-friendly.
His directory guides me to the right choices for His name's sake.
Even though I scroll through the problems of life, I will fear no bugs, for He is my backup.
His password protects me.
He prepares a menu before me in the presence of my enemies.
His help is only a keystroke away.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and my file will be merged with His and saved forever.
Amen.

Metaphors be with you!

I think bad thoughts therefore I'm man.

Those who forget the pasta are condemned to reheat it

I heard that if you locked William Shakespeare in a room with a typewriter for long enough, he'd eventually write all the songs by the Monkees

A light to lighten the genitals - Graffito by the light switch in an Oxford college lavatory.

They came for the smoker, but I didn't smoke, so I said nothing.
They came for the drinker, but I didn't drink, so I said nothing.
They came for the overweight, but I was thin, so I said nothing.
They came for the casually dressed, but I wore a suit, so I said nothing.
They came for the bearded, but I was clean-shaven, so I said nothing.
They came for those who disagreed, but I thought I was like them, so I said nothing.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to say anything for me.
Dave Kifer

When they came for the smokers I kept silent because I don't smoke.When they came for the meat eaters I kept silent because I'm a vegetarian. When they came for the gun owners I kept silent because I'm a pacifist. When they came for the drivers I kept silent because I'm a bicyclist. They never did come for me. I'm still here because there's nobody left in the secret police except sissies with rickets. -- Florence King

Gin a body meet a body
Flyin' through the air,
Gin a body hit a body,
Will it fly? and where?
James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879).

I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky;
I left my shoes and socks there - I wonder if they're dry?
Spike Milligan

In Xanadu did Tony Blair
A state owned pleasure dome decree...

My name is Ozymandelson, Queen of queens:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair..."
It depends on what the Meaning of "is" is - an epitaph for the twentieth century? Eric Potts

One man's Mede is another man's Persian --"Saki" (H. H. Munro)

I think, therefore Descartes exists. - Saul Steinberg (1914 - 1999)

Parents - christiansquoting.org.uk

If your children look up to you, you've made a success of life's biggest job.

The only true child experts are those that do not yet have any of their own.

During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore, - Cindy - age 8

If you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning.- Katherine Aird

The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears: they cannot utter the one, nor will they utter the other.
Francis Bacon

The most important thing that parents can teach their children is how to get along without them. Frank A. Clark

Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves. -- Marcelene Cox

What a mercy was it to us to have parents that prayed for us before they had us, as well as in our infancy when we could not pray for ourselves!
John Flavel

Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands. - Anne Frank (1929-1945) "The Diary of a Young Girl," 1952.

Parents are by no means exempt from the intoxication of dominion. - Samuel Johnson: Rambler #148

Happy is the child whose father acquits himself with credit in the presence of its friends ~ Robert Lynd, The Blue Lion

Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning your room, and listening to you tell how idealistic you are. So before you save the rain forest from the bloodsucking parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room. Charles Sykes DUMBING DOWN OUR KIDS.

Schoolmasters and parents exist to be grown out of. London Sunday Times

[Being a parent] is tough. If you just want a wonderful little creature to love, you can get a puppy.Barbara Walters (1931-____)

There are no illegitimate children--only illegitimate parents. -- Leon R. Yankwich

Carey makes new Iraq hostage plea

BBC says, "Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has made a direct appeal urging those holding five British hostages in Iraq to free them.
In a video, released through the Times newspaper, he addressed the kidnappers as "honourable men" and "men of faith".
The four guards and a computer expert were seized in Baghdad on 29 May 2007.
Whitehall sources told the BBC Lord Carey, who made a similar appeal last year, did not speak for the government and it preferred discreet negotiation.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said the government was doing everything it could "to secure the safe release of the hostages".
The former Archbishop, speaking in English and Arabic, recorded his appeal on Friday at the House of Lords, accompanied by Canon Andrew White, his former Middle East envoy and now Anglican chaplain to Iraq, the Times said.
"I greet you as honourable men. I greet you as men of faith. I believe, as you do, that faith is important in this broken world," Lord Carey said.
"I appeal to you, as good people, to release these men who long to be back home once more."
Canon White told the captors Iraq was one of the "greatest nations" in the world and that the hostages had been helping with reconstruction work in the country when they were taken.
'Helping Iraq'
The father of one of the captives also told the Times of the "hell" he had suffered during the last year and said he wanted more effort to be made to secure his son's release.
"I just feel there's not enough happening and I would like to see more done about it because it's my son out there," he said.
The man, named only as Dennis, also said his son had not been playing a military role when he was captured but was instead "trying to help rebuild Iraq".
"Maybe they [the kidnappers] will show a bit of sympathy and compassion and let him go," he added.
Lord Carey made a similar appeal to the kidnappers in December when he also read a plea from the hostages' families in which they said: "We love you and miss you very much and want you to know that you are never out of our thoughts."
The men were seized by gunmen at Baghdad's foreign ministry.
In a videotape dated 18 November last year, the kidnappers warned they would kill one of the men as a "first warning" unless UK forces left Iraq within 10 days.
One of the hostages has been identified as Peter Moore, originally from Lincoln, who was working as a computer consultant. The identities of the four other men have not been confirmed.
The case has not featured in the media as much as other kidnappings in Iraq - including those of Ken Bigley and Margaret Hassan - because of a Foreign Office request for minimal coverage."

The FO needs to remove its digit. I fear the only language these people will understand is not sweet Christian reason but the kind the SAS speak.

Prayer is the Christians' hope.

Headscarf Law Applies to All Religious Coverings, Judges Say

DW-World.deDeutsche Welle says, on | 15.05.2008,

"Teachers in Baden-Wuerttemberg cannot wear a headscarf in class
 
A law which prohibits Muslim women teachers from wearing headscarves in a German state's public schools also forbids Catholic nuns from wearing their veils in regular classrooms, judges said Wednesday.
The administrative tribunal of Baden-Wuerttemberg state set out the position in a detailed written judgment, two months after ruling verbally that a woman convert to Islam, aged 58 at the time, could not teach in her scarf.
 
The teacher converted to Islam in 1984 and began wearing a headscarf during class in 1995. The southwestern state has a law that bans "exterior expressions of religious confession."
 
The so-called "headscarf debate" is a long-raging one in Germany, home to more than 3 million Muslims, most of Turkish origin. Many consider the headscarf a form of oppression against women and say immigrants who want to live here harmoniously must accept certain Western values and play by German rules.
 
Others say forbidding it amounts to discriminating against Islam and that Germans should learn to accept other cultures and traditions.  
 
Nuns are also not exempt, except in certain cases
The country as a whole has been split on the issue of scarves and education, with some states tolerating teachers in scarves and others sacking them if they refuse to teach bare-headed.
 
The judges in the city of Mannheim interpreted the ban on religious dress as applying to all religions, whether to nuns and monks in habits or to male Jewish teachers wearing the kippah.
 
The law expressly exempts Catholic religious who teach Catholic doctrine classes in public schools, and the judges said three nuns in the state who teach other subjects had personal exemptions that would not apply to any other sisters in the future."

I beieve the headscarf and other Islamic distinctives are not merely a sign of modesty, a good thing, but a sign of a culturally imperialistic religion.

Islam knows only one language of revelation and prayer, Arabic. There is some cultural diverstity in dress but what it has in common is a refusal to conform to any other culture's norms. When my family go to an Islamic country we conform to their cutural standards. but in England, many Muslim women wanrt o parade their distinctiveness. They could be modest and Western in dress. But no. They must shout in our faces, "we are Muslim and separate". I have a former colleauge who since 9/11 has done this. She never used to. Before she appeared a pretty British Pakistani. Now she proclaims by her headcovering her separateness from the majority culture.

Not all Muslim women do this. Some adapt. IMO all should unless they want to divide society. I am not against diversity. i am against separatism and religious imperialism. "The religion of peace" says it has to rule. That is the only way it leaves us Christians in peace.
 

No place to call home

Christian Solidarity Worldwide says on  29/04/2008,

"Apostasy is the renunciation of religious faith, and apostasy from Islam in particular has always been a contentious issue. Although the Qur’an does not prescribe a temporal punishment for apostasy, the vast majority of traditional Islamic theology and jurisprudence has advocated the death penalty for a mentally sane male apostate and life-long imprisonment or harsh treatment for a female apostate. Proponents of the death penalty have legitimised their stance from the sayings and deeds attributed to the Prophet Muhammad, his companions and subsequent caliphs.
An increasing number of contemporary Muslim thinkers, particularly those residing in the West, have called for a re-evaluation of the shari’a position on the death penalty for apostasy and a return to a more faithful interpretation based on the Qur’an. Although the views of these reforming scholars are encouraging, traditional views on apostasy continue to dominate popular Muslim opinion.
Today’s Muslim nations often refrain from official executions of apostates. Two countries, Sudan and Malaysia, have codified laws prescribing the death penalty for apostasy, and one country, Egypt, has legislation on apostasy which allows for the marriage of an apostate to be annulled and can result in the loss of inheritance and custody rights.
In Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran, where the death penalty for apostasy is not codified, death remains a real possibility for the apostate on the basis of their application of shari’a. In other countries where shari’a is used to govern personal status matters, such as in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Yemen, apostates face serious penalties, such as the annulment of marriage, termination of citizenship, confiscation of identity papers and the loss of further social and economic rights. Apostates are also penalised under other laws, such as ‘insulting Turkishness’ in Turkey, the blasphemy laws in Pakistan, contempt of religion in Egypt and treason in Iran.
Apostates are subject to gross and wide-ranging human rights abuses including extra judicial killings by state-related agents or mobs; honour killings by family members; detention, imprisonment, torture, physical and psychological intimidation by security forces; the denial of access to judicial services and social services; the denial of equal employment or education opportunities; social pressure resulting in loss of housing and employment; and day-to-day discrimination and ostracism in education, finance and social activities. The affect of all this on the personal lives of apostates and their families can be significant and far-reaching. As the number of apostate communities has significantly increased in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia over the past twenty years, human rights abuses have been more regularly reported.
The experiences of apostates in Muslim countries are blatantly at odds with their rights as guaranteed under international law. Most Muslim nations are members of the UN and have ratified international human rights treaties. However, these nations and the international community have failed in their duty to uphold the rights of apostates by neglecting to guarantee their personal safety and their full and fair participation in society. "
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all.

So, those who renounce "the religion of peace" will not be left in peace by its peaceful followers.... unless it is the peace of the graveyard.

Pulpit parodies

Click the title for Mo under the pulpit in Belgium.

Conservative spokesman backs abortion on demand

The Christian Institute reports on Tuesday, 13 May 2008
"Conservative Health Spokesman Andrew Lansley MP has asked MPs to consider making abortion even easier to access in Great Britain.

Mr Lansley made the comments in a speech to the House of Commons as the controversial Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill received its Second Reading.

Mr Lansley asserted that "there continue to be far too many abortions", and argued that "it must surely be better for it to be an early, medical abortion than a later, surgical one."

He continued: "I therefore hope that the House will consider whether the requirement for two doctors to consent to an abortion being performed, and the restrictions on nurses providing medical abortions, needs to be maintained."

The requirement for two doctors' signatures was a measure introduced to protect both the patient and the practitioner involved in abortion. Similarly, the fact that nurses are not allowed to carry out medical (drug-induced) abortions reflects the seriousness of the procedure. The British Medical Association has said it does not support nurses stepping into this role.

Anecdotal evidence has been used to claim that these rules make abortion difficult to access. However, recent figures show that the UK currently has one of the highest abortion rates in Western Europe, with over 200,000 abortions carried out every year.

It is clear that any woman who wants an abortion can have one.

But there are serious concerns that removing the requirement for the two signatures would deny many women the opportunity to think again about whether to go ahead with an abortion. It would increase abortion rates still further.

Many MPs were reportedly taken aback that the party's Health Spokesman should back such highly controversial proposals from the despatch box while claiming that he spoke in a personal capacity. Government Ministers have not gone as far as Mr Lansley to back abortion on demand.

Mr Lansley also told MPs that recent scientific evidence about the survival rates of premature babies meant that the upper time limit for abortion should only be reduced to 22 weeks.

Another Conservative MP, Nadine Dorries, pointed out that with good care survival rates among very premature babies are significantly improved.

Mrs Dorries is campaigning to reduce the time limit for abortion to 20 weeks. Amendments for reducing the limit even further have also been tabled."

Nutories are as morally bankrupt as Labour. Vote CPA!

Let 13 year-olds have sex, says Children's Commissioner

Monday, 12 May 2008, The Christian Institute, says,
"The Children's Commissioner in Scotland, Kathleen Marshall, has faced criticism for backing Scottish Law Commission proposals to legalise sex between 13 to 15 year olds.

Responding to a Government consultation on sexual offences, the Commissioner argued that while children ought to be protected from the sexual advances of adults, sexual activity between 'consenting' 13 to 15 year-olds should not be illegal.

"It is right to recognise the general vulnerability of 13 to 16-year-olds by maintaining the general prohibition on sexual activity, backed by the weight of the law," she said. "But I also welcome proposals to take a different approach to consensual activity between young people."

Christian groups and other campaigners have criticised the proposals. Rape Crisis Scotland says it is "concerned that the proposed changes might potentially reduce the extent to which young people are protected and limit options for prosecutors".

The age of consent in England, Scotland and Wales is 16. It was raised from 13 in 1885 following years of campaigning by evangelical social reformer Josephine Butler.

Colin Hart, Director of The Christian Institute, said: "The law sends out a strong signal about what age is appropriate for sexual activity. Relaxing the law in this area will inevitably be interpreted as official sanction for teenage sex.

"The Children's Commissioner seems to want to put the clock back to 1884, when the age of consent was 13."

The Scottish Government is currently considering responses to the consultatio"

Has this woman any daughters? Does she want them to fornicate at 13?

Can we trust Plod?

BBC says, "West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service are to apologise for accusing the makers of a Channel 4 documentary of distortion.
The broadcaster says the apology and the promise of £100,000 will be made at the High Court on Thursday.
It follows comments made about a Dispatches programme, Undercover Mosque, which tackled claims of Islamic extremism in the West Midlands.
A police spokeswoman confirmed an apology would be read out in court.
A press release issued by the police and the CPS in August 2007 claimed the Dispatches programme, broadcast in January of that year, misrepresented the views of Muslim preachers and clerics with misleading editing.

Channel 4 was fully aware of the sensitivities surrounding the subject matter but recognised the programme's findings were clearly a matter of important public interest

One preacher was shown saying a homosexual should be thrown off a mountain, another that women were born deficient.
Police also reported Channel 4 to television watchdog Ofcom for "heavily editing" the words of Islamic imams.
But in November, Ofcom rejected the police and CPS claims, and Channel 4 said it was going to sue the CPS and police for libel.
Kevin Sutcliffe, deputy head of current affairs at Channel 4, said the apology was a vindication of the programme team in exposing extreme views.
"Channel 4 was fully aware of the sensitivities surrounding the subject matter but recognised the programme's findings were clearly a matter of important public interest.
"The authorities should be doing all they can to encourage investigations like this, not attempting to publicly rubbish them for reasons they have never properly explained," he said.
David Henshaw, executive producer of Hardcash Productions, who made the documentary, said it was a thorough and detailed programme, made over nine months and at personal risk to the undercover reporter.

The programme infiltrated a number of mosques, one of which was Green Lane Mosque in Small Heath, Birmingham.
An undercover reporter claimed to provide evidence that certain speakers preached messages of religious bigotry and extremism."

PC used to stand for Police Constable. Now it is for Politically Correct. Criticise minorities, especially followers of "The Religion of Preace" or homosexuality and your collar will be felt. It is a sad day when journalists are more trustworthy than those entrusted with law enforcement.

Theonomy

Theonomy gets a bad press.

But I am indebted to the insights of the fathers of the movement for many insights but believe you cannot take the civil law of Moses and say this all that a state can legislate. We are not civil Israel in our states. Our states are not covenant states even those of us with a Christian establshment of religion like England or Scotland.

Progressive revelation means there are some radical new things in the covenant even for those of us who baptise covenant chlidren.

We are not in agrarian societies. Civil law must progress too.

Call for debate on dementia care

BBC says, "About 700,000 in the UK have dementia
A debate is needed over the ethical dilemmas facing people caring for dementia patients, experts say.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics wants to help advise carers and is launching a public consultation to gauge opinion on the tricky decisions made.
It has posed a series of questions about the appropriateness of denying freedoms and the use of deception.
The council said it was acting as the number of people with dementia was set to rise with the ageing population.
About 700,000 people in the UK have the condition, but that figure is expected to double in the next 40 years.
Dementia is a degenerative condition which results in memory problems, mood changes and communication problems.

Among the questions being posed during the 12-week consultation are:
Is it ever right to restrain a person to reduce the risks of wandering?
Is it ever right to deceive by disguising medication in food?
Should people with dementia be involved in research if they are no longer able to choose for themselves whether or not to participate?
The council also said that while it was normally taken for granted that patients should be told the truth and not forced into things, there may be something unique to dementia which overrides that.
Force
Dr Rhona Knight, a GP and member of the Nuffield working group which is carrying out the consultation, gave the example of a person who is forced against their wishes to go to a day centre because carers know that when they get there they always enjoyed it.
"It is not about making rules or saying what is wrong. It is about giving advice.
"There are a lot of grey areas when delivering care.
"As a GP, I know that people with dementia and the people caring for them are facing real-life ethical dilemmas on a day-to-day basis and often they don't feel equipped to deal with them."
The final guidance is not due out until 2009 and the council expects it to apply to carers and NHS staff.
Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, said it was the right time to have a debate.
"Families, carers and professionals are often faced with a baffling array of ethical dilemmas when caring for a person with dementia.
"The use of restraint, the covert administration of medication and when to tell the truth are all issues carers and professionals face on a daily basis.
"They can often struggle to balance the rights of people they are caring for with the practical consequences of the decisions they make.""

I see lots of dementia sufferers and their loving relatives.

Perhaps people could make living wills giving their reactions to these matters before dementia robs them of sound judgement?

Forgiven

Someone sent me a very encouraging email yesterday. I have permission to quote this part of it.

"I want to let you know that I am sorry for the many times I had spoken
harshly and arrogantly to you and I would like to ask for your
forgiveness. It has bothered me for some years at the inappropriate behavior
that I displayed towards you (and others). Such behavior was not
pleasing to the Lord, not in accordance with the gospel, nor was it a good
testimony for Christ. You did not deserve to be treated in such a
disrepectful manner. Please forgive me."

If only more Christians took such initiatives!

Is H M a dhimmi?

On whose advice is our Queen dressing?

BBC says, "The Queen and Prince Philip are travelling to Turkey for a four-day state visit, their first to the country since 1971.
During the trip, they will lay a wreath at the tomb of Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular Turkey.
They will also be guests at a state banquet hosted by President Abdullah Gul and his wife Hayrunnisa.
She is likely to wear an Islamic headscarf despite a ban on them in public and governmental buildings.
The BBC's royal correspondent Peter Hunt said the controversial issue of the headscarf would confront the Queen as soon as she stepped off the plane.
Turkey's staunchly secular military is deeply opposed to headscarves being worn, while the ruling party, which has Islamic roots, believes religious symbols should be more openly accepted."

The Queen only acts on the advice of her ministers. Is Brown now the Queen's dresser? I think we should be told.

I'd like to see her wearing a cross.

When I Say, "I AM A CHRISTIAN"

I received this from an Afghan Christian friend who is suffering for his faith.

When I say, "I Am A Christian - A Follower of Jesus Christ" ... I am not screaming that I am HOLY! - I am only whispering that I was lost and now I am found and forgiven.

When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not saying this with pride. I am only confessing that I slip and I am a sinner and I need Christ to guide me.

When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not trying to be strong. I only confess that I am weak and to continue my life I need His Power.

When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not proud of my achievements. I only accept that I have failed and need God to fix my life and my wrong doings.

When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not claiming to be perfect. My weaknesses and failures are obvious, but God values me.

When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not immune to pain and suffering. I have my share of pain and suffering, so I trust in His Name.

When I say, "I Am A Christian" ... I am not saying I am holier than you. I am nothing but a sinner who has received the Grace of God - His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. "

I posted this and a friend emailed to say this is the original poem.

When I say, "I am a Christian

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting, "I've been saved!"
I'm whispering, "I get lost! That's why I chose this way"

When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride
I'm confessing that I stumble-needing God to be my guide

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success
I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt

When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all
I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught

When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it

When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name

When I say, "I am a Christian," I do not wish to judge
I have no authority--I only know I'm loved
Copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer

Call for vaccine opt-out penalty

BBC reports. "Tough sanctions are being proposed for parents who refuse routine vaccinations, such as MMR.
In an article for the Fabian Society, leading public health expert Sir Sandy Macara called for child benefit to be linked with vaccination uptake.
And Labour MP Mary Creagh said children should have to prove they are vaccinated before they start school to improve uptake of MMR.
The Department of Health said vaccination was voluntary.
Public confidence in vaccination, and in MMR particularly, fell after research raised the possibility that the jab may be linked to an increased risk of autism.

One ought to recognise that mothers have a responsibility for ensuring their children are protected
Sir Sandy Macara, public health expert

The research has since been debunked, and a string of studies have concluded that the triple vaccine - which protects against rubella and mumps as well as measles - is perfectly safe.
But immunisation rates are still well below the 95% needed for herd immunity and are particularly low in London.
As a result there have been several outbreaks of measles.
'Blasé'
Sir Sandy Macara, ex-chairman of the British Medical Association, said in many developing countries immunisation rates were higher than in the UK even though they had poorer access to healthcare.
"People here have become a bit blasé and they worry more about rare possible risks of vaccination rather than the diseases they prevent.
"One ought to recognise that mothers have a responsibility for ensuring their children are protected."
He said linking vaccination to child benefit would ensure full vaccine coverage an