The Sign Of The Cross

Created by: Paralegal.net

Image via Wikipedia A bit of a debate going on about whether Christianity is being marginalised in British society. The Daily Mail highlights a few of the recent cases that have hit the headlines. It does make one wonder. Gary McFarlane, 48, a former elder in a church in Hanham, Bristol, lost his fight at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in London to prove discrimination by the relationship charity Relate in 2009. McFarlane lost his job after refusing to provide sex therapy to gay couples has failed in a further attempt to prove religious discrimination by his former employers. Nadia Eweida, 58, lost her appeal against a ruling which cleared British Airways of discrimination by stopping her wearing a cross visibly at work. The tribunal, held in 2010, was told Miss Eweida was sent home in September 2006 over the display of the small silver cross on a chain around her neck, which she wore as a personal expression of her faith. Hannah Adewole complained that wearin...

...This must be how it seems. http://conservativedailynews.com/2012/02/another-apology/koran-burn-590-2/

From the blog of St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough. Follow the link to read more. A fascinating obituary! Our oldest monk, Fr Wulstan, died on Saturday. He was 99 years old and more than 79 years a son of St Benedict, almost 70 years a priest. With him dies a great chunk of the history of our community and his loss is keenly felt by our little community, especially by Brother Thomas, Brother Michael, and Brother Anselm who cared for him day and night for these last years....

Image via Wikipedia It would seem that just reiterating that statement of Christian faith is enough to bring down the wrath of the Advertising Standards Agency . If you believe that statement is true then please sign the new e-petition here . The statement goes: I believe that God can heal   Responsible department: Department for Culture, Media and Sport Whether or not we believe that God can heal, we call on the Government to ensure that publishing statements of faith is not banned. This petition is put forward following cases where the Advertising Standards Agency has banned Christian groups from publishing material with the words ‘God can heal’, for example in Bath.

Interesting stuff indeed!

Image via Wikipedia Having spent a few years unemployed under Thatcher and Major I can really feel for the people featured in this BBC article . The quote from Ben Gillet sums up how it can be when you're in such a situation, it shows how alien this sort of existence is and how far away it is from what man needs. "I have no routine, I have nothing to set my day by," he says. "It's sometimes light, it's sometimes dark, that's the passage of time as far as I'm concerned now." Go read the article. Pray for change to their circumstance and for a change to the system that dumped them there.

:)

Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman My rating: 1 of 5 stars Meant to be one of these 'classics' which become a must read for everyone but for me it's the same as Dostoyevski's The Brother's Karamazov - unreadable. There must be something about Russian literature that causes me to become soporific. I just can't get into this. I've ploughed through a third of this but have finally closed the pages. I can't become caring about the characters, the plot has become meaningless. Perhaps I've committed some heresy with this book but I find it just turgid and cold. View all my reviews

Love it!

Nicked from somewhere on the internet.

The League of Militant Atheists, also know as the Union of Belligerent Atheists, existed in the Soviet Union between 1925 and 1947. It was a drive to eradicate religion and replace it with 'Soviet power'. It hit the buffers when Comrade Stalin realised he was on a hiding to nothing with the eradication of religion. You used to occasionally see stories about Japanese soldier stranded on Pacific islands that refused to surrender for decades after WWII was all done and dusted. Perhaps the Bideford Union of Belligerent Atheists (BUBA) fall into the same category ? Didn't come to much then and it won't come to much now.

I My son, my chosen and beloved Share your wounds with your mother And because, dear son, I have always carried you in my heart, And always served you faithfully Speak to your mother, to make her happy, Although you are already leaving me, my cherished hope. ( Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery from the "Lysagóra Songs" collection. Second half of the 15th century) II No, Mother, do not weep, Most chaste Queen of Heaven Support me always. "Zdrowas Mario." (*) (Prayer inscribed on wall 3 of cell no. 3 in the basement of "Palace," the Gestapo's headquarters in Zadopane; beneath is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakówna, and the words "18 years old, imprisoned since 26 September 1944.") (*) "Zdrowas Mario" (Ave Maria)—the opening of the Polish prayer to the Holy Mother III Where has he gone My dearest son? Perhaps during the uprising  The cruel enemy killed him Ah, ...

Apologies for the sweary stuff, but it is rather funny!