Diseases of Immorality in Britain
Speaking to a Parliamentary Committee on the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), Professor Sir Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said that STIs do not just happen to “bad people”, and must be “destigmatised”. He claimed that “lots of people get them who have incredibly conventional sexual and romantic lives”. They should be accepted as just “an ordinary part of life”.
The latest STI figures are for 2022, when the number of UK gonorrhoea diagnoses was the highest on record, while syphilis diagnoses were the highest since 1948. Over the whole nation, 1 in 350 people had a diagnosis of chlamydia in 2022. The people most likely to have an STI diagnosis were those aged 15 to 24, with over 400 diagnoses made each day in this age-group. The worst affected areas were certain London boroughs, with Lambeth having 1220 new gonorrhoea infections per 100 000 residents. Lambeth also had the highest rate of syphilis transmission, followed by Southwark and Westminster. Lambeth, Hackney, and Southwark have the highest rates of chlamydia with more than 1300 cases per 100 000 residents. Southwark had the highest rate of herpes with 458 infections per 100 000 people.
The response – as it has been for a long time – is for more preventative methods, more screening, and more medication; but never a call to morality or marriage. Twenty-five years ago, commenting on the STI situation then, which was not nearly as bad as now, Sir David Carter (Chief Medical Officer for Scotland) adopted the biblical quotation from Hosea 8:7: “We have sown the wind and we are reaping the whirlwind”. Now Britain is refusing to admit even that we are “sowing the wind”. Whether our nation admits it or not, however, we shall reap ever worse judgements until we turn back to the Lord. “Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge” (Heb 13:4). DWBS
France and Abortion
France has become the first country in the world to include an explicit right to abortion in its constitution. The vote in Parliament was overwhelming: 780-72, followed by a standing ovation when the result was announced. Not the least shocking aspect of the decision was the jubilation shown by crowds of young women when it was announced – mothers being given unlimited freedom to kill their unborn little one if they feel like doing so.
Abortion has been legal in France since 1975, but polls showed around 85% of the public supported amending the constitution so that a woman has a “guaranteed freedom” to take away the life of her unborn child. This reflects the secular emphasis in the French state. The Reformation in France was ultimately unsuccessful and now the country is reaping the awful consequences of its determination to reject the Most High. Who knows where the course that the nation is on will end? “God is not mocked.”
Love Thy Neighbour
The UK Government has announced that Members of Parliament are to get additional police protection as a result of the increasing and unacceptable intimidation and threats they are subjected to in carrying out their parliamentary responsibilities. These are not idle threats; in recent years two MPs have been murdered whilst going about their work. And it is not only the MPs themselves who face abuse; their spouses and children are also subjected to threats of violence and murder. Recently, when the Speaker ruled (controversially) to permit amendments to a motion on the war in Gaza, he said that his decision arose from his concerns about the safety of MPs. He believed that some would be at risk if they did not have an amendment which most closely resembled a result which their constituents were demanding. Parliamentary procedure was therefore changed as a result of threats and pressure on our democracy.
Since 7 October, when Hamas attacked Israel, and the subsequent Israeli war on Gaza, the surge of antisemitism in the UK has reached unprecedented levels, with Jewish children fearful of showing their school uniforms on the street. Supporters of the Palestinians, including some who support Hamas’s atrocities, have demonstrated in the streets of our cities chanting, “From the river to the sea”, a phrase which is seen as tantamount to calling for the destruction of Israel.
We hear of law-abiding Muslims also being abused and attacked, and mosques being targeted. We do not in any way condone the teaching of Islam, and though we now hear very little of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, the wickedness of the principles and thinking of these groups is still evidenced by the constant and real threats of terrorist attacks in the UK and overseas. However, these things should not mean that we display hatred towards individuals.
People on both sides of the LBGQT controversy are being threatened with extreme violence. It ought to be possible to be poles apart in our views on this and any subject, without saying hateful things and having malicious thoughts about our fellows.
Another evidence of the inherent wickedness and hostility in our society is that children are being driven to desperation and suicide by trolls on social media. These bullies are emboldened by their anonymity to “stalk” others and create fear and misery. Social media are a cause of great evil when they are misused, not just by children, but by all age groups.
All this stirring up of hatred and enmity against our fellow creatures is the result of the natural heart being deceitful and desperately wicked. As a nation we have turned away from our Christian heritage and are saying, as it were, with Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” (Ex 5:2). The Saviour, when He was being cruelly put to death, made intercession for the transgressors: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”. We fall far short of the Lord’s example, and the situation in our largely godless nation is worsening. Unless the Holy Spirit gives us new hearts and turns us to Himself as a nation, enabling us to love our neighbour as ourselves, we will continue to see man’s cruelty to man manifested on all sides and in many different ways.
“And the second [commandment] is like unto [the first], Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Mt 22:39). FRD
Islamophobia
Strange events have recently occurred in London and other parts of the United Kingdom. Many of these events, it is said, have not been adequately or correctly covered by the media. It is assumed that most of the media are unwilling to identify the ethnicity, the religion, or the intent of those involved.
Significant disturbances have occurred in London and other parts of the country, both outside and inside the Houses of Parliament, as a result of Islamic influence. The rapid but subtle rise of Islamic authority in the country must be noted. A statement by Haitham al-Haddad, a British Islamic scholar and jurist who himself expressed his surprise at the rapid increase of Islam’s influence in the United Kingdom, illustrates this.
Haitham al-Haddad, the chair of the Fatwa Committee for the Islamic Council of Europe, in a panel discussing “Muslims in the West” at an “Anchored by the Quran” conference held in London, stated the following, “The situation of Muslims in the UK and the West is a lot better than it was 20 years ago”. He said that if you go outside, you might think you are in a “second Afghanistan”, but it is, in fact, “Londonistan”. Al-Haddad said that Muslims in the West should not consider themselves a “subjugated minority” because they are the “leaders of humanity”.
Therefore, we should be grateful to the Rt Hon Suella Braverman MP (a former Home Secretary) for writing a very outspoken article in The Daily Telegraph; a few extracts from the lengthy article follow:
“The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now . . . . They have bullied our institutions, and now they have bullied our country into submission . . . . But what is our response? Our leaders bury their heads in the sand, preferring the illusion of a ‘successful multicultural society’, terrified of being called ‘racist’. But the law has not changed, mass extremism parades itself proudly . . . . We cannot accept defeat. We need to find our courage. But we can only do that with honesty and determination. . . .
“It [the Prevent programme] has been labelled ‘Islamophobic’ and ‘racist’ because, in the main, it is set up to tackle the most dangerous terrorist ideology facing our country: Islamism . . . . It’s not Islamophobic to challenge Islamist fanatics; it’s a civic duty . . . . We need to overcome the fear of being labelled Islamophobic and speak truthfully. Enough of the hand-wringing and apologies. Turning a blind eye to fanatics has got us into this terrible situation: it needs to stop . . . . This is a crisis. And the fightback must start now, with urgency, if we are to preserve the liberties we cherish and the privileges this country affords us all, if we are to have any chance of saving our country from the mob.”
As Christians, we know that our Scriptural duty is to humble ourselves on behalf of the Church and nation before the Most High in repentance and faith, acknowledging that we deserve His judgements but beseeching Him that, for the sake of the Crown Rights of His Beloved Son and the advance of His Kingdom, He would mercifully turn the tide and visit our land and the lands of the world in mercy and grace, overthrowing all the powers of sin and evil for the advance of His Cause among all peoples around the globe.
DPR