The secularists neither eat nor sleep – or so it seems. They are on a search and destroy mission to eradicate the world of religion. And they are happy to use force to achieve their ends. All over the Western world secularist states are increasingly cracking down on religion in the public arena.
They are intent on declaring the West to be officially post-Christian, if not anti-Christian. Examples of this are legion. Consider a recent case, this time from Canada. In Quebec the powers that be are telling the folks: ‘You will be secular whether you like it or not’.
This is how the story runs: “The Parti Quebecois (PQ) is defending its proposed legislation, leaked to media last week, that would ban all religious symbols worn by public employees at work. According to a leaked document published by Journal de Montreal, the long-awaited ‘Charter of Quebec Values’ set to be released this fall, will forbid employees in courts, law-enforcement, schools, hospitals, and daycares from wearing ‘conspicuous’ religious symbols.
“Banned religious symbols will reportedly include turbans, hijabs, kippas, and crucifixes. ‘What divides Quebeckers is not diversity, it is the absence of clear rules so that we can move onward in harmony,’ said Premier Pauline Marois on Sunday to young PQ supporters who met in Quebec City.
“‘To recognize secularism as a Quebec value is to take cognizance of the evolution of a people which, for the past half century, has become increasingly secular and has taken the confessional character out of its institutions,’ she said. While an overwhelming majority of the province’s population identifies itself as Catholic, the 1960’s so-called ‘Quiet Revolution’ has resulted in secular values trumping religious practice….
“In recent years private Catholic schools have been forbidden from teaching Catholic courses on religion and morality. Instead, they have been forced to teach the ‘secular’ and ‘neutral’ world religions course designed by the government. Parents and schools seeking exemption from the course based on religious freedom have consistently failed in their bid.”
The end of the world? No, not in itself. But it certainly is yet another step in the direction of the complete eradication of religion – especially Christianity – in the public square. And as I have said so often before, this does not result in a religion-free situation.
It simply means the religion of secular humanism gets to have pride of place, while Christianity is slowly but surely outlawed out of existence. And as I mentioned, this is happening elsewhere at an alarming pace. A similar sort of thing happened in France some years ago now, but there are differences.
The main concern there of course was – and is – Islam, including security issues, so religious garb and symbols were banned. Jewish and Christian objects fell under this ruling, but again the main concern was the growing Muslim population which was not exactly integrating too well into French culture.
And I have no problems with the call for some of the restrictive and all-embracing clothing which covers Muslim women to be looked at in terms of legislation. Not only in the interests of women, but for very sound security reasons, such laws may have their place.
But what we see happening in Quebec and elsewhere is much different. It really is the insistence that the religion of secular humanism alone should have predominance, and all other competing religious worldviews must be weeded out of the public arena altogether.
And these attempts are not new of course. Whether we look at the Bolshevik revolution in Russia or the French Revolution, the churches have always been the first to be targeted. Speaking of the latter, any decent volume on the French Revolution will highlight the radical agenda of the revolutionaries in this regard.
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolutionby Schama, Simon (Author)
The attempt to dechristianise things there was an important – and bloody – part of the revolution. Consider the important and massive volume by Simon Schama, Citizens (1989). In it he describes this process in detail. In addition to the obvious (the mass killing of priests and clergy, the destruction of churches, etc.), there was the attempt to fully secularise the nation, especially in the cities.
The Terror was in large part a violent reaction against the church, and the dechristianisation process ran deep in many places. Says Schama, “The churches themselves were often stripped of all sacerdotal objects.” Vandalism took place on “a massive scale”. He explains:
“Altarpieces were slashed, stained-glass windows broken. In Amplepuis, in the Haute-Beaujolais, a liberty tree replaced the crucifix in the crossing of the church. In many other places devotional manuals and hymnals were burned in great bonfires, together with the plaster and wood saints found on every road crossing, crackling and melting in the flames like inanimate victims of an auto-da-fe.”
Even the 600-year-old Cathedral of Notre Dame was not spared. It was renamed the “Temple of Reason” and in November 1793 a large paper-mache mound was erected there, “where Liberty (played by a singer from the Opera), dressed in white, wearing the Phrygian bonnet and holding a pike, bowed to the flame of Reason and seated herself on a bank of flowers and plants.”
As Historian Mark Noll writes, “In Paris, the revolutionaries renamed 1,400 streets in order to eliminate reference to saints as well as monarchs. Priests, Bishops, and other religious were forced to leave their posts. A general effort was made to extirpate France’s age-old connection with the Roman Catholic Church. As Alexis de Tocqueville later wrote, the animus against Christianity knew almost no bounds: ‘In France . . . Christianity was attacked with almost frenzied violence’.”
When we see the anti-Christian pogroms mentioned here, we see the same spirit animating things as we find today in the West. Sure, the overt violence and destruction may not yet be occurring, but the same hatred of Christianity, and the same attempt to fully eradicate it from public life is in full view.
And in some ways this is much more dangerous. They will say, “But you still have your churches. You can still pray. You can still worship privately.” But that is just the point: to strip Christianity of its very public role and place is to destroy it just as effectively as to burn down church buildings.
Christianity has never been, and cannot be, a purely privatised affair. Of necessity it is a public faith with public ramifications. Simply the command to evangelise all nations shows what a public faith it is. But in the West the incremental war on religious freedom and its public expression is now well under way.
So the result will be the same, whether in France back then or Quebec today. A war has been declared on religion in general and Christianity in particular. Every day we are seeing religious freedoms being stripped away from us. The only important question here is: When will the church wake up?
If we do not stand up and start to speak out for religious liberty, it may soon be too late to say anything.
14 Replies to “The Secularist Wrecking Crew – Again”
When I was young (teens) I contemplated a “Jesus” tattoo, but was talked out of it as tattoos were “non-Christian.” As I grew older, the desire for a tattoo waned and I still don’t have one. But it’s non-removable (almost) and maybe it’s a good idea after all? Still, I probably wouldn’t get employed by the Quebec public service.
Oh Mark, such a shame.
It sounds like they have been told to soften their stance from the CSA ( Christian Schools Association).
Wouldnt it be something if organisations like the CSA stood behind their schools at such a time and defended their religious freedom to act according to their faith?
Like others have said before, this issue certainly separates the wheat from the chaff and shows us who is fearing man over God.
Thanks Bill.
Annette Williams
The trouble is now that Christians are mainly a bunch of naive ignoramuses who are too afraid to speak out in favour of our religious and moral values until it is too late and the horse has already bolted. The vast majority of so called Christians lack what can only be termed as moral backbone. They are now as a phrase you often use Bill “spineless jellyfish”.
Leigh Stebbins
Blindness is not an abomination. A child can be born blind or become blind through no fault of its own. However, “blindness as described in the bible was sometimes brought upon a person so that the mercies of God could be manifest in that person. It was used also as a type of curse or punishment perhaps with some vivid symbolism of its spiritual counterpart. Example of this are the men of Sodom Gen. 19;11. The Syrian army 2 Kings 6;18. and Elymas Acts 13;11. Paul was struck blind for three days on the road to Damascus Acts 9; 1-18.
Whatever, blindness is not something to be celebrated or promoted. Romans 1 says that if we reject God there is the possibility that we will become gay. So that if someone wants to become gay, all they have to do is reject God and their wish might come true. Practising homosexuality is not a sin; it is a curse; it is God’s judgement on us for rejecting Him.
Perhaps Mr Abbot thinks that blindness, disability and sexually transmitted diseases are blessings and that we ought to promote them in schools to extend diversity. Maybe we should get children to experiment with these in order to see how comfortable they with them. And doesn’t everyone know that blind, disabled and diseased parents make much better parents than those who are fit and able?
Francis Schaeffer in his book “The God Who Is There” chapter 4, says, “But much modern homosexuality is an expression of the current denial of antithesis. It has led to the obliteration of the distinction between man and woman. So the male and female as complementary partners are finished…….It is imperative that Christians realize the conclusions which are being drawn as a result of the death of absolutes.”
What this means politically is the elimination of all opposing ideas. Hence totalitarian government in which there is not only no opposition but no distinctions. Any one appearing to be distinguishable or different is done away with. Listen to this ex- KGB officer. Bezmenov, spelling it out for us nearly thirty years ago.
With regard to same sex marriage as normal, the general public have not been persuaded by rational argument or an appeal to justice, or even civil rights. Instead they are intimidated.
The roots of Nazism can be found in one of its chief founder members the brutal homosexual, Ernst Rohm, who is as one American journalist wrote, “[Röhm’s] chiefs, men of the rank of Gruppenfuehrer or Obergruppenfuehrer, commanding units of several hundred thousand Storm Troopers, were almost without exception homosexuals. Indeed, unless a Storm Troop officer were homosexual, he had no chance of advancement..”
It’s time to wake up and face the marching music of Neo-Marxist/Fascists, like Obama, Cameron and now Abbott
David Skinner, UK
Stonewall, the homosexual lobby in Britain get away with intimidating the public on a national scale with offensive posters saying “SOME PEOPLE ARE GAY. GET OVER !” http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartwhite/2274898455/
Ben Summerskill when challenged about his bullying tactics of inviting Christians who voiced concerns about homosexuality to the Stonewall annual awards ceremony, held at the V&A, to receive bigot of the year award, retorted that the charity had no intention of amending or dropping the category. “We have never called anyone a bigot just because they disagreed with us,” he said. “All the nominees have gone well beyond what anyone normal would call a decent level of public discourse.” http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.it/2009/09/church-of-england-bishop-nominated-for.html
This is Stonewall’s decent public discourse.
Australia wake up. It is now your turn.
David Skinner, UK
Unless you Aussies find the moral courage to fight for freedom as your parents and grandparents did, you will be condemned to sip from the same cup that we in the rest of West have been steadily drinking from, until you have drunk this bitter cup its the last dregs:-
Depraved hatred by gays and their supporters at Manchester Gay Pride March which in 2010 was led by founder of Stonewall Ian McKellen, wearing the “ Get Over It!” T shirt. (WARNING FILTHY LANGUAGE)
Manchester Pride Drag queen whips up crowd to boo Christian protestors
Disorderly conduct of police generates disorder on our streets
No doubt that Ben Summerskill would call the action of this street pastor at Manchester pride as going “against custom and respect, as being inappropriate action, as having no respect for appropriate etiquette and that the police response was one of needing to “restore decorum.”
Paris Brutality of Police against women, children and elderly for demonstrating for the right of children to have both a mother and father. : the seeds of anarchy.
Thank you mightily for that extra clip, Bill. And thanks as well to Steve, for giving a reason for showing even more of the interview with Bezmenov.
David Skinner, UK
Being branded a homophobe is a re-run of the witch hunts of the 18th and 17th centuries and the Stalinist and Maost purges. There is no defence against being branded as such, simply because it is impossible to prove conclusively that a statement one might have made, sometime, somewhere was not homophobic in the mind of the hypersensitive homosexual. In fact anything that inconveniences a homosexual – burnt toast or being late for the train – can be put down to homophobia.
What we are dealing with here is deep emotional and mental disorder that has been given the stamp of approval by our governments. Whereas being straight is now considered an abnormality and evil.
When I was young (teens) I contemplated a “Jesus” tattoo, but was talked out of it as tattoos were “non-Christian.” As I grew older, the desire for a tattoo waned and I still don’t have one. But it’s non-removable (almost) and maybe it’s a good idea after all? Still, I probably wouldn’t get employed by the Quebec public service.
Graeme Cumming
I’m not sure what’s happening here but I hope it is not another sign of caving in: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/homosexuality-is-no-longer-an-abomination-says-penrith-christian-school-20130829-2st05.html
Mark Wong
Oh Mark, such a shame.
It sounds like they have been told to soften their stance from the CSA ( Christian Schools Association).
Wouldnt it be something if organisations like the CSA stood behind their schools at such a time and defended their religious freedom to act according to their faith?
Like others have said before, this issue certainly separates the wheat from the chaff and shows us who is fearing man over God.
Thanks Bill.
Annette Williams
The trouble is now that Christians are mainly a bunch of naive ignoramuses who are too afraid to speak out in favour of our religious and moral values until it is too late and the horse has already bolted. The vast majority of so called Christians lack what can only be termed as moral backbone. They are now as a phrase you often use Bill “spineless jellyfish”.
Leigh Stebbins
Blindness is not an abomination. A child can be born blind or become blind through no fault of its own. However, “blindness as described in the bible was sometimes brought upon a person so that the mercies of God could be manifest in that person. It was used also as a type of curse or punishment perhaps with some vivid symbolism of its spiritual counterpart. Example of this are the men of Sodom Gen. 19;11. The Syrian army 2 Kings 6;18. and Elymas Acts 13;11. Paul was struck blind for three days on the road to Damascus Acts 9; 1-18.
Whatever, blindness is not something to be celebrated or promoted. Romans 1 says that if we reject God there is the possibility that we will become gay. So that if someone wants to become gay, all they have to do is reject God and their wish might come true. Practising homosexuality is not a sin; it is a curse; it is God’s judgement on us for rejecting Him.
Perhaps Mr Abbot thinks that blindness, disability and sexually transmitted diseases are blessings and that we ought to promote them in schools to extend diversity. Maybe we should get children to experiment with these in order to see how comfortable they with them. And doesn’t everyone know that blind, disabled and diseased parents make much better parents than those who are fit and able?
Buffoon.
David Skinner, UK
Yes Annette, a shame if they are caving in.
Meanwhile, more action needed on other fronts: http://www.saltshakers.org.au/component/content/article/85-front-page-news/1130-election-2013-the-issue-of-same-sex-marriage-labor-a-ame
Mark Wong
Try this, a call to arms: http://www.newswithviews.com/Duigon/lee215.htm
David Skinner, UK
Francis Schaeffer in his book “The God Who Is There” chapter 4, says, “But much modern homosexuality is an expression of the current denial of antithesis. It has led to the obliteration of the distinction between man and woman. So the male and female as complementary partners are finished…….It is imperative that Christians realize the conclusions which are being drawn as a result of the death of absolutes.”
What this means politically is the elimination of all opposing ideas. Hence totalitarian government in which there is not only no opposition but no distinctions. Any one appearing to be distinguishable or different is done away with. Listen to this ex- KGB officer. Bezmenov, spelling it out for us nearly thirty years ago.
With regard to same sex marriage as normal, the general public have not been persuaded by rational argument or an appeal to justice, or even civil rights. Instead they are intimidated.
The roots of Nazism can be found in one of its chief founder members the brutal homosexual, Ernst Rohm, who is as one American journalist wrote, “[Röhm’s] chiefs, men of the rank of Gruppenfuehrer or Obergruppenfuehrer, commanding units of several hundred thousand Storm Troopers, were almost without exception homosexuals. Indeed, unless a Storm Troop officer were homosexual, he had no chance of advancement..”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Rohm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/the-strange-strange-story_b_136697.html
http://johannhari.com/2004/06/24/the-strange-unexplored-overlap-between-homosexuality-and-fascism/
http://www.scribd.com/doc/37050776/Homosexuality-Pederasty-Occultism%E2%80%99s-Combined-Influence-On-the-Third-Reich.
It’s time to wake up and face the marching music of Neo-Marxist/Fascists, like Obama, Cameron and now Abbott
David Skinner, UK
Stonewall, the homosexual lobby in Britain get away with intimidating the public on a national scale with offensive posters saying “SOME PEOPLE ARE GAY. GET OVER !”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartwhite/2274898455/
When this poster was put up and someone wrote “ No” on it this was treated as a hate crime worthy of a police investigation.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/2059803.vandals_attack_gay_equality_poster/
Ben Summerskill when challenged about his bullying tactics of inviting Christians who voiced concerns about homosexuality to the Stonewall annual awards ceremony, held at the V&A, to receive bigot of the year award, retorted that the charity had no intention of amending or dropping the category. “We have never called anyone a bigot just because they disagreed with us,” he said. “All the nominees have gone well beyond what anyone normal would call a decent level of public discourse.”
http://clericalwhispers.blogspot.it/2009/09/church-of-england-bishop-nominated-for.html
This is Stonewall’s decent public discourse.
Australia wake up. It is now your turn.
David Skinner, UK
Unless you Aussies find the moral courage to fight for freedom as your parents and grandparents did, you will be condemned to sip from the same cup that we in the rest of West have been steadily drinking from, until you have drunk this bitter cup its the last dregs:-
Depraved hatred by gays and their supporters at Manchester Gay Pride March which in 2010 was led by founder of Stonewall Ian McKellen, wearing the “ Get Over It!” T shirt. (WARNING FILTHY LANGUAGE)
Manchester Pride Drag queen whips up crowd to boo Christian protestors
Children taught to utter filth from gays
http://www.christian.org.uk/news/video-swearing-kids-used-in-gay-marriage-hate-video/
Disorderly conduct of police generates disorder on our streets
No doubt that Ben Summerskill would call the action of this street pastor at Manchester pride as going “against custom and respect, as being inappropriate action, as having no respect for appropriate etiquette and that the police response was one of needing to “restore decorum.”
Police mocking Christians
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FxOg-zv1Us
Whilst Manchester police chief Peter Fahy prances in Manchester Gay Pride, lawlessness rules the streets of Manchester
http://mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/21127484-sharp-rise-violence-and-crime-across-metrolink-and-manchester-train-stations-%E2%80%93-bus-
Seattle Pride Fest.
http://www.worldmag.com/2013/07/signs_and_wonders_tolerant_gay_activists_attack_street_preacher
Christians needing police protection against rabid citizens of Sodomite Castro District.
Militant gays attempting to drown out peaceful demonstration upholding marriage
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/2013/03/25/go-home-calls-to-marriage-supporters-in-london/
More rabid scenes of gayfascists at Boston TeaParty
Pink News, Call for the death of those defending traditional marriage.
http://victimsofgaybullying.wordpress.com/2013/04/02/scott-rose-demands-death-penalty-for-traditional-marriage-supporters/
Assault on defenceless elderly man http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9798039/Christians-rights-Martyred-on-a-cross-of-secular liberalism.html
Paris Brutality of Police against women, children and elderly for demonstrating for the right of children to have both a mother and father. : the seeds of anarchy.
Aka Green
http://www.akegreen.org/
Rabid rant of lesbian
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/83462247/
Street Preachers Battle Violent Sodomites Part Two
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOTdLbf6c9g
One preacher against 3000 sodomites
http://groupsects.wordpress.com/2012/03/03/street-preacher-goes-gay-baiting-in-melbourne/
But the greatest evil, the greatest threat will be this :
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/gay-lawmaker-to-christians-well-take-your-children?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=8e0e02dbe0-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Headlines_06_19_2013&utm_medium=email&utm
http://www.freedominion.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16364
http://cath47.wordpress.com/
David Skinner, UK
That Bezmenov was a nasty piece of work, why is he no longer a KGB officer?
Steve Davis
Thanks Steve
Here is a longer clip of his:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3qkf3bajd4
Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch
Thank you mightily for that extra clip, Bill. And thanks as well to Steve, for giving a reason for showing even more of the interview with Bezmenov.
David Skinner, UK
Being branded a homophobe is a re-run of the witch hunts of the 18th and 17th centuries and the Stalinist and Maost purges. There is no defence against being branded as such, simply because it is impossible to prove conclusively that a statement one might have made, sometime, somewhere was not homophobic in the mind of the hypersensitive homosexual. In fact anything that inconveniences a homosexual – burnt toast or being late for the train – can be put down to homophobia.
What we are dealing with here is deep emotional and mental disorder that has been given the stamp of approval by our governments. Whereas being straight is now considered an abnormality and evil.
David Skinner, UK