Rainbow Connection 2: Don’t dare speak out!

At a time when homosexual campaigners are decrying anti-homosexual hate-speech…

 

Petition calls for doctor in ‘no’ campaign same-sex marriage ad to be deregistered

A woman that appeared in [an] advertisement for the ‘no’ camp in the same-sex marriage debate is now at the centre of an online campaign to have her medical licence stripped.

The online petition has just over 6,000 signatures and calls for a “review of the registration of Dr Pansy Lai”.

Dr Lai, a GP in northern Sydney, appeared as one of three mothers in the Marriage Coalition advertisement that first aired at the end of last month.

She told The Australian she has been inundated with phone and social media threats since the ad was released and said she had reported one threat to police that she would be shot “this week”.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/36946222/online-petition-wants-dr-pansy-lai-from-sydney-deregistered/

 

And another article:

Same-sex marriage debate: conservative Muslims steer clear for fear of backlash

Muslim Australians who oppose same-sex marriage are afraid to speak out for fear of being labelled extremists, including by Christian conservatives who themselves oppose it, a Muslim community leader has said.

Ali Kadri, a spokesman for the Islamic Council of Queensland, told Guardian Australia that imams and community leaders “who represent the vast majority of the Muslim community” were staying out of the postal survey debate for fear of backlash.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/04/same-sex-marriage-debate-conservative-muslims-steer-clear-for-fear-of-backlash

 

There are questions I’d like to raise regarding the second article:

Why would the Muslim spokesman think and suggest that conservative Christians would label Muslims as extremists for sharing their views on same sex marriage, when the conservative Christian and Muslim views would be the same?

Is that suggestion an attempt by the Muslim to politically distance himself and his community from conservative Christians – who have so far been the main target of hate-speech from supporters of SSM?

Is it a suspicion that conservative Christians will be antagonistic towards the Muslim community even in cases when their views are the same?

Maybe it’s a Muslim attempt to maintain division and distrust between two religious communities – mirroring the anti-Muslim rhetoric of some Christians who have regularly resorted to fear-mongering with regard to the presence of Muslims in the community?

_____________________________

And a related article (don’t dare reflect a “traditional” view of fatherhood on father’s day):

Dads4Kids ad is ‘dodgy campaign tactic’ in marriage debate, says LGBTI activist

A fathers group that claimed its political ad was blocked from television is engaged in a “dodgy campaign tactic” to claim victimhood in the same-sex marriage debate, according to a senior LGBTI advocate.

Just Equal spokesman, Ivan Hinton-Teoh, has hit back at Dads4Kids, labelling them an anti-LGBTI, anti-marriage equality activist group who had attempted to politicise father’s day.

Ben Pratt, the spokesman for Dads4Kids, said it was “extraordinary” that Australians could “no longer celebrate fathers’ day without being forced to look at it through the lens of the same-sex marriage debate”.

“It’s a tragedy that a political motive is now implied in any mention of fatherhood. Not everything is about same-sex marriage,” he said.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/sep/03/dads4kids-ad-is-dodgy-campaign-tactic-in-marriage-debate-says-lgbti-activist

Rainbow Connection

I don’t know whether it’s visible to all visitors to this blog – but sometime during the last hour, WordPress seem to have added a “rainbow” header across the top of the page.

I can only assume it is intended to be an expression of support to the LGBTIetc. campaign regarding same sex marriage, currently under way in Australia.

In Genesis we are told that the rainbow was a covenantal sign from God:

And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Sadly that sign has been appropriated to represent a cause rebelling against God and His creation.

I have no control regarding the display across the page header but while it’s there I reclaim it for the purpose for which God intended.

If that colourful header isn’t there on your screen  – it does no harm to be reminded of the rainbow’s Godly significance.

How I Became Fake News by Brennan Gilmore

I think this is a very significant article (thanks to Chris for the link). I recommend you don’t just read the excerpts below, but go to the link and read the whole article.

I was initially going to post this as a comment on an earlier thread, but decided the content is too significant to risk it being missed.

Did I actually have to worry that the president of the United States might launch an investigation against me because I happened to capture footage of a white supremacist terror attack and spoke publicly about what I saw? I realized I couldn’t rule it out, and that frankly scares the hell out of me—for my family, but particularly for our country.
Over the past week, I’ve seen personally the very real damage that these conspiracy theories have on our public discourse. The danger is not necessarily that a large number of people will believe them in their entirety. Instead, it’s that they muddy the waters on issues that should be about right and wrong. This is truly dangerous. If we are to get beyond this current acute manifestation of the cancer of American racism and begin to heal, the right must join with the left to excise the malignancy of white supremacy from our politics and society. Conspiratorial thinking and confusion on what is real make this much harder.

in this story, there are not two sides.

I know what I saw on Saturday, and I know which side was responsible. I saw a man who identified himself as a Nazi purposefully drive his car into a group of protesters.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/21/fake-news-charlottesville-215514

Mankind’s Response to God’s Son: Consequences

“You are my son;
today I have become your Father.

Kiss His son, or He will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction

Psalm 2

Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
I will proclaim the LORD’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God (John 3

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.  He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1)

A Flawed Historical Viewpoint.

The state of the western political world today:

 

1. USA and Donald Trump (does any more need to be said?)
2. Britain: Brexit, Theresa May and a hung Parliament.
3. In Australia, partisan politics continues to cripple a government that often seems to have more policy disagreements within its own ranks than it has with the official opposition party.
4. France: power to be in the hands of a new, untested, quickly cobbled together party based on the charisma of a young leader. Can such a party provide longstanding stable government?
5. German elections in September… what surprises could that bring?

 

Some religious commentators are attributing the increasing instabilities in the “Western World” to a departure from our historical Judeo-Christian foundations; but I find their view of history is seriously flawed.

What kind of “Judeo-Christian” foundation was “Western democracy” ever built upon? Has there ever (REALLY) been an all-encompassing embracing of Jesus or His gospel?

 

Over over centuries there was a lot of religious superstition, theological rhetoric, and political USE of the Church as a tool of government.

And while there may have been individual pockets of society that at times have shown authentic devotion to God, has there ever been a GENUINE widespread, long-lasting commitment to Jesus and His Kingdom that could result in a claimed blessing of “the West” over past centuries – blessings that are now allegedly being forfeited?

 

If anything, it seems to me that during the period AFTER the claimed abandonment of Judeo-Christian ideals, the west experienced its most peaceful and prosperous period: that is post WWII.

Of course there were ongoing problems, but arguably, things had never previously been better for the average person in the west as the world got back to its feet after the death and destruction of the Second World War.

It’s mostly in the last decade or two (significantly post 9/11) that perceived threats have led to growing fear that blessings (our comforts, safety and wealth) will be forfeited due to a casting aside of Judeo-Christian” ideals. (Proffered evidence of this casting aside can date back a century or two. One case I’ve seen points way back to the French Revolution* as an example!).

Those fears of loss at the heart of the argument seem mostly founded on a fear of others – those “not of the west” . A fear that others coming into our nations will disrupt and compromise our “western values” – values that to a great part are not necessarily Kingdom values anyway.

 

Apart from the current issue of promoting a fear-based ideology, the fictionalising of history projects the cause of perceived problems onto society at large, putting the blame on “THEM” and THEIR (society’s) relationship to God; shifting the focus away from the personal and our own relationships with God and the unbelieving society we live among.

 

 

_________________

 

*  example here

 

___________________

More on President Trump.

Trump’s response to London terror:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/04/trump-berates-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-terror-attacks
Trump tweeted:

“Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That’s because they used knives and a truck!”

Dear Mr Trump – you may not like to recognise the fact – but you regularly lose more Americans per year in the USA through (non-terrorist) mass shootings than the total number of terrorist casualties across the whole of the western world during the last decade.

“I Am Not A Number”

I Am Not a Number: A Refugee’s Tale: Nujeen Mustafa

Also:

Escape from Syria

Today, 1 in 113 people are refugees. In fact there are over 21 million refugees or asylum seekers world wide, and over half are under the age of 18.

Born with cerebral palsy, 16 year old Nujeen Mustafa had barely left her family’s fifth floor apartment her entire life. But in 2014, as a member of Syria’s Kurdish minority, was forced to flee the violence in Aleppo. Christina Lamb tells the remarkable story of being a handicapped child refugee who nevertheless used her optimism and skills with the English language to negotiate with border police and authorities, and finally reaches Germany.

From here:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/nujeens-escape-from-syria/8575370

Here a leak, There a Leak, Everywhere a US Leak (compromising security)

I’m speechless.

But obviously the US President isn’t and neither are US security services:.

 

Firstly, the President Donald Trump appears to have unilaterally released sensitive classified intelligence provided by an ally to the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador in an Oval Office meeting.

Secondly, it appears that US officials have been providing information and photographs of the Manchester Arena bombing to US media before they are officially released by the British government.

 

from:

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/can-the-us-government-keep-a-secret/8556924

 

Also see:

Trump calls North Korea leader ‘madman’

The US president told Duterte that Washington had sent two nuclear submarines to waters off the Korean peninsula, comments likely to raise further questions about his handling of sensitive information after US officials said Trump discussed intelligence about Islamic State with Russian officials this month.

http://www.news.com.au/world/breaking-news/trump-calls-north-korea-leader-madman/news-story/b3cd014022856c019d351e751b420ada

 

Theresa May to tackle Donald Trump over Manchester bombing evidence

Prime minister will raise concerns at Nato summit that intelligence leaks from the US have damaged investigation .

British officials were infuriated on Wednesday when the New York Times published forensic photographs of sophisticated bomb parts that UK authorities fear could complicate the expanding investigation into the lethal blast in which six further arrests have been made in the UK and two more in Libya.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/24/theresa-may-to-tackle-donald-trump-over-manchester-bombing-evidence

 

Photographs of Manchester bomb parts published after leak

A series of photographs of the remains of the bomb, the detonator and what appeared to be a rucksack were leaked. The preliminary investigation by the police is extremely detailed, down to the belief that the killer, Salman Abedi, held the small detonator in his left hand.

Suspicion on who leaked it to the US-based reporter rested on US officials, who have been feeding a series of details about the Manchester bombing to American journalists.

Leaking such inside information from the investigation will add to tensions between the US and UK over the extent to which much of the investigation is being leaked by authorities in America.

The latest revelations came hours after the home secretary, Amber Rudd, expressed irritation with the US and expressed hope that the leaks would stop

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/24/us-officials-leak-more-manchester-details-hours-after-uk-rebuke

How long can this go on?

The story of what Donald Trump told the Russian Foreign Minister and Russian Ambassador to the US in a meeting last week is murky and complex.

The response from the White House has been confusing. First, a blanket denial. Then a denial that the president revealed “sources and methods”, despite the fact that nobody had reported that he had. Then, seemingly, a declaration from the President that he did it all on purpose.

We can’t have someone in the oval office, who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word confidential or classified.

(statement from Donald trump during election campaign)

 

audio from here

Short Expression of Concern

Over the past 15 years or so, I believe the Lord has made me aware of three serious areas of deception affecting the church. They are not the ONLY examples, but they are the beliefs and attitudes that I’ve personally experienced or observed close-up.

1. The extremes of Charismania and its associated beliefs and practices.
2. The misguided understanding of God and the gospel promoted through Calvinism.
3. Christian devotion to patriotism/nationalism

 

The first two have been the subject of many of my posts in the past, and I’ve also addressed the third to various degrees on a few occasions. At the moment I see that third has become the most pressing problem – embracing adherents from across the Christian spectrum. And that third example is no less vociferously defended by its adherents than those who hold to the other two.

 

I’ve seen and heard many professing believers express pride in their nations and their citizenship, and I’ve heard them justifying that pride and their right to have that pride. But if you are one of those proud citizens, have you REALLY taken the time to examine what you are taking pride in? Have you looked at the history and the foundations of your nation?

And I mean the REAL history, and not some mythical version of it.

Have you looked into its wars, its invasions, its mistreatment and abuses, its murders. Have you looked into the things your nation values? Have you looked into its origins and how it built up its “prosperity” and how you came to share in that prosperity (as small as that share may be).

Have you looked at how your nation has treated the least of its citizens – or those it excludes from citizenship?

 

Can you REALLY be proud of your association with ALL of those things? Do you think those things would be approved by Jesus?

 

One justification I’ve heard for a person’s patriotism is that their nation has done more to spread the gospel than any other. But even if we take that gospel-preaching claim at face value – was it REALLY your secular nation at work and therefore deserving credit and your “pride”? Or was the gospel being spread by CHRISTIANS who happen to live in your nation. Spread by citizens of the Kingdom of God, sojourners, strangers, people not belonging to this world and its Kingdoms. Ambassadors of Christ, representing Him in foreign territory.

 

To whom or what do you give your allegiance, your devotion, your service?

 

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

 

choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve