Islam and Evolutionism
An article in the Spectator comments on the danger of writing about the early history of Islam. Scholars, it says, “who have raised questions about the Prophet, or who have suggested that the Quran has changed over time, or who have even discussed the sources in detail have found themselves driven into exile, defenestrated [thrown out of windows], or subjected to death threats”. A visit to Wikipedia shows that several of the articles on Islam are declared to have problems with “neutrality”, and all the articles have to tread with extreme delicacy if they venture any criticism of Islam. Violence towards its opponents and critics is one of the strengths of Islam, and few to whom this would be a danger are prepared to stick their necks out. At the same time, the fact that Islam does not allow criticism probably means that many of its adherents are far from convinced of its principles and would be happy to cast off its shackles if the opportunity arose.
Another area where Wikipedia struggles with “neutrality” is in the articles on Evolution and Creation. Unlike the articles on Islam, these do not admit that there is any problem with their neutrality, but the problem is evident even to the casual reader. They are permeated with the flavour of propaganda and they seldom miss an opportunity of denigrating Creationism and Creationists. Not content with assaulting them on Wikipedia, some fanatical Evolutionists pursue their Creationist opponents in the scientific literature and in university departments and, unable to defenestrate them, they try at least to evict them from both these spheres. Like the Al-Qaeda of Evolutionism, they so “terrorise” their academic colleagues that they dare not even consider the possibility of Evolutionism being false. Thus it may be true, as claimed on Wikipedia, that “the mainstream scientific community” rejects Creationism and characterises it as pseudoscience, but to what extent this is from informed conviction is unknown.
The fact that both Islam and Evolutionism feel the need to bolster themselves in this way suggests they are aware of their vulnerability. Islam knows that its historical roots do not bear investigation and Evolutionism knows that in a fair intellectual fight with Creationism it would struggle to hold its own in the eyes of the general public. Both movements are powerful forces at present, and both have Satan behind them, but both have this weakness, and they may suddenly be brought down by Christ. “The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev 12:12). DWBS
Selective-Sex Abortion – “Like Infanticide”
Selective-sex abortion, or aborting a foetus on the basis of its sex, is “fairly widespread” in British abortion clinics, according to Dr Vincent Argent, a consultant obstetrician. There is “an awful lot of covert abortions for sex selection going on”, he added. Selective-sex abortions are part of what one doctor referred to as “this peculiar new notion of family balancing”.
Daily Telegraph reporters found that when the expectant mother of a baby girl asked a doctor at an abortion clinic to terminate her pregnancy because she did not want a girl, the doctor responded, “That’s not fair. It’s like female infanticide, isn’t it?” Nevertheless, he agreed to the abortion and falsely recorded a different reason for it. At another clinic, a doctor was covertly filmed telling a pregnant woman who asked to have her female foetus aborted: “I don’t ask questions. If you want a termination, you want a termination.”
The legalising of social abortion has opened the door to this further evil of illegal “selective-sex abortion”. Is there a link between selective-sex abortion and infanticide? In countries where infanticide, especially of newborn girls, is practised (India and China notably), there is a turning to what they deem a more sophisticated method – sex-selective abortion. Both methods result in societal gender imbalance. In China there are thousands of what are known as “bare branches” – young men for whom no wives are available because of the widespread killing of newborn infant girls in the past.
It is not at all fanciful to posit a link between sex-selective abortion and infanticide. In the influential Journal of Medical Ethics, a recent article, “After-birth abortion: Why should the baby live?”, argues that newborn infants are just “potential persons” rather than “actual persons” and do not have a “moral right to life”. The authors state, “What we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled”.
And so our once-Christian society descends steadily to more lethal barbarity. Will the culture of death manifested by such wicked practices as abortion and euthanasia ever be supplanted by the glorious culture of life through Christ, proclaimed by the gospel? Certainly! Scripture says so. Let us then continue to pray and work for the promised return to truly Christian ethics, when people will acknowledge that “children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is His reward” (Ps 127:3); that God is the one who sets “the solitary in families” (Ps 68:6) which are balanced according to His just balancing; and that humanistic social engineering is rebellion against His right to rule over all and determine how we should live a life that is for our good and His glory. NMR
Russian Orthodox Chants in Dundee
The Dundee Free Church of Scotland is following its jazz evening, “Heaven in a Nightclub”, with a choral ensemble from St Petersburg which is to sing Russian folk songs and chants of the Russian Orthodox Church. Tickets cost £5. The jazz evening at least claimed to be evangelistic – although we do not believe that it was a scriptural or legitimate way to evangelise – but the Russian ensemble is just worldly entertainment; the previous evening they are due to perform at Brodie Castle. “Though the members of the [ensemble] represent different musical professions: choir conductors, opera singers, instrumentalists, music teachers – they are all united by love for choir and ensemble singing”, says the blurb.
Historically the Russian Orthodox Church is noted for its false doctrine, similar to Romanism; and in more recent years, it has been courting the governments in Russia and other former Soviet Union countries and has been active in opposing Protestantism, for example by obstructing the purchase of land for church buildings and by representing Protestants as dangerous extremists. Why the Free Church in Dundee should find possibly-heretical doctrine, sung in a foreign language by enemies of the gospel, a congenial way of spending an evening, we leave our readers to conclude for themselves. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom 12:2). DWBS
Objections to UK Government Proposals to Redefine Marriage
Many welcomed the Prime Minister’s call in December to the Church of England to defend the “values and moral code” of the Bible, but they still take issue with the Government for proposing legislation to redefine marriage and permit the evil of same-sex marriage. Are the Prime Minister and his colleagues ignorant of the Bible’s condemnation of the unmentionable sins which brought the wrath of God on the “cities of the plain” (Gen 19:29) (we doubt it) or are they ignoring it (it seems so)?
We are bound to make known to the Government our objections to its proposals. Many of our Scottish readers have communicated to the Scottish Government their objections to its proposals to redefine marriage, but it is necessary also to object in one way or another to the UK Government about its separate proposals – by, for example, signing the online petition at http://c4m.org.uk as soon as possible.
As the Prime Minister himself said in his December speech: “Bad choices have too often been defended as just different lifestyles. To be confident in saying something is wrong is not a sign of weakness, it’s a strength!” Let us not be slow to say that we are strongly opposed to a lifestyle that will further destroy what is left of Biblical morality in our nation. As surely as “righteousness exalteth a nation” (Prov 14:34), so sin shall be its undoing. NMR
Prime Minister Speaks in Favour of Christianity
In what is described as his “Easter message”, the Prime Minister spoke of “the life, sacrifice and living legacy of Christ,” and added, “The New Testament tells us so much about the character of Jesus; a man of incomparable compassion, generosity, grace, humility and love. . . . In the Book of Luke, we are told that Jesus said, ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you’ – advice that, when followed, makes for a happier and better society for everyone.” Also, as a news report of a speech in December states, he told “Church of England clergy gathered in Oxford that a return to Christian values could counter the country’s ‘moral collapse’ and blamed a ‘passive tolerance’ of immoral behaviour for this summer’s riots, Islamic extremism, City excess and Westminster scandals”.
It is true that his full statements have defects, yet we cannot but welcome them and hope that this will not be the last occasion when he will call attention to our Christian heritage. More importantly, we pray that he would be a “doer of the Word”, not only by promoting policies in harmony with Christianity but also by ceasing to promote those that oppose it. NMR