Recently the government has decided to bring in legislation which will allow homosexuals the right to 'marry' in a church building. It is argued by some it should be the right of anyone who wants to get married to marry wherever they like. And because of equality legislation, these people should not be discriminated against. Most people I know do not have an issue with homosexuals, I don't either, what these people do in the privacy of their own homes is up to them. What I have a problem with is the drive to normalise homosexuality, and this drive has almost become religious in its intensity.
A number of years ago homosexuals were given the right to enter into civil partnerships, with very little outcry from the established church. I do not what to enter the debate about the rights and wrongs of homosexuals being able to 'marry', but what concerns me with this piece of legislation is what could happen if a homosexual couple want to get 'married' in a church but the vicar refuses. The government has said that the legislation allows for religious beliefs, and churches will not be forced to allow this to happen, but for how long?
What if a homosexual couple want to 'marry' in their local Anglican church and the vicar refuses, will we then see the church taken to court? The government says this won't happen but as has happened before, many within the 'gay rights' movement who act like religious zealots will see this as discrimination and will then try to dismantle this last bastion of traditional beliefs.
Recently a Christian couple were taken to court and sued because they would not allow a homosexual couple to have a room with a double bed in their B&B. You could argue this is a different case, but I don't think it is. This couple had religious beliefs that did not allow them to condone homosexuality, likewise many Christians feel the same as this couple including many church ministers. What if a homosexual couple wanted to get married in a church and went to court, and used the recent equality legislation could we not see the same result as the above case? I think we could, and as a Christian that really concerns me.
One thing that really bothers me about this legislation is the simple question of why? Why do the government feel they need to push forward this piece of legislation? Were there any homosexuals complaining about not being able to get 'married' in a church? Does every homosexual couple feel it is an issue that they are denied this 'right'? Probably not, so what is the reason behind it?
For the past 40 years there has been a gradual undermining of the traditional values that have underpinned this country, and the two main ones have been the church and the traditional two parent heterosexual family. I believe the drive to destroy these traditions is gathering pace and this is another nail in that coffin. I wonder where we will end up? Will we end up with a situation were I will not even be able to write what I am writing here for fear of prosecution or imprisonment? I do not think we are too far away from that stage. You might say it won't come to that but don't be too sure.
Just one other point, does this legislation include getting married in mosques?
Monday, 21 February 2011
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Traditions
I am very proud of being British, I love my country, I am a royalist and greatly respect the Queen, I was bought a mug for my birthday with a picture of our dear Queen on. I believe in traditions and am a great believer in the old adage 'if it isn't broken don't try and fix it'.
One of the things which I have loved about this country is imperial measurements; miles, yards, feet, inches, stones, pounds, ounces. I know some people will say these are old fashioned measurements and we should look to the future and move with the rest of the world. I have to ask the simple question, why? I do not see why I should be told what I can and cannot measure in, I do not see that measuring things in imperial measures has a detrimental effect upon our country and its economy. Just look at America, the most successful economy and the most technologically advanced country in the world, and it still uses imperial measures. It is interesting that its next door neighbour Canada, which has tried to enforce metric measures on its population has had to abandon this and still uses; pounds ounces, feet, etc.
I suppose my main problem with the metric system is being forced to use it, what other country would enforce a ridiculous law that actually makes it illegal to sell goods in imperial measures? I have nothing against the metric system, if you want to use it fell free, but I would like to be able to use it when I go to the shops and so would many millions of others. What is interesting is this drive to force us to use metric measurements has been gradual, but over recent years it has increased in speed. Chefs now only use metric measurements on TV and in their cook books, the BBC seems to be obsessed with them as you may have noticed recently when giving the depth of snow in their weather forecasts.
Some weights are still given in imperial measurements, such as babies weights, even the arch Europhile Tony Blair announced his babies weight in pounds and ounces. You might argue that it is better to have one system or another because it will confuse people, especially our children, but I learned both. My children seem to be able to cope, as when they are helping cook they speak in pounds and ounces, and if they have ever weighed themselves have spoken their weight in stones and pounds.
In 2001 market trader Steve Thorburn was prosecuted for selling his fruit and veg in pounds. He said he would sell his goods in kilos and grams if that was what his customers wanted but in all the time he was trading he said he had only one person ask for their fruit in metric. Off course this held no weight with the trading standards zealots who wasted £1000's of tax payers money taking him to court, they also forced many hundreds of thousands of businesses to replace their old scales on pain of prosecution. Sadly in 2004 at the age of 39 Steve Thorburn died of a heart attack, many thought it was brought on by the stress of fighting these jobsworths and petty bureaucrats.
You may argue that in the grand scheme of things it does not really matter, and there are more important things to worry about, and in some ways you would be right. But I believe there are some fundamental points here about freedom, does it really matter what we sell or buy our goods in? Does it really matter if I say my weight in stone, pounds and ounces? I believe not, and that is my point, over recent years we have been forced to endure change after change and most of the time it is change for changes sake. Many changes have been forced on us over recent years without any consultation and have not been for the better.
I believe strongly in freedom, and I believe I should be free to deal in imperial measurements if I want and so should anyone else. So if you believe in traditions and like them carry on using them and don't let anyone tell you you can't!
One of the things which I have loved about this country is imperial measurements; miles, yards, feet, inches, stones, pounds, ounces. I know some people will say these are old fashioned measurements and we should look to the future and move with the rest of the world. I have to ask the simple question, why? I do not see why I should be told what I can and cannot measure in, I do not see that measuring things in imperial measures has a detrimental effect upon our country and its economy. Just look at America, the most successful economy and the most technologically advanced country in the world, and it still uses imperial measures. It is interesting that its next door neighbour Canada, which has tried to enforce metric measures on its population has had to abandon this and still uses; pounds ounces, feet, etc.
I suppose my main problem with the metric system is being forced to use it, what other country would enforce a ridiculous law that actually makes it illegal to sell goods in imperial measures? I have nothing against the metric system, if you want to use it fell free, but I would like to be able to use it when I go to the shops and so would many millions of others. What is interesting is this drive to force us to use metric measurements has been gradual, but over recent years it has increased in speed. Chefs now only use metric measurements on TV and in their cook books, the BBC seems to be obsessed with them as you may have noticed recently when giving the depth of snow in their weather forecasts.
Some weights are still given in imperial measurements, such as babies weights, even the arch Europhile Tony Blair announced his babies weight in pounds and ounces. You might argue that it is better to have one system or another because it will confuse people, especially our children, but I learned both. My children seem to be able to cope, as when they are helping cook they speak in pounds and ounces, and if they have ever weighed themselves have spoken their weight in stones and pounds.
In 2001 market trader Steve Thorburn was prosecuted for selling his fruit and veg in pounds. He said he would sell his goods in kilos and grams if that was what his customers wanted but in all the time he was trading he said he had only one person ask for their fruit in metric. Off course this held no weight with the trading standards zealots who wasted £1000's of tax payers money taking him to court, they also forced many hundreds of thousands of businesses to replace their old scales on pain of prosecution. Sadly in 2004 at the age of 39 Steve Thorburn died of a heart attack, many thought it was brought on by the stress of fighting these jobsworths and petty bureaucrats.
You may argue that in the grand scheme of things it does not really matter, and there are more important things to worry about, and in some ways you would be right. But I believe there are some fundamental points here about freedom, does it really matter what we sell or buy our goods in? Does it really matter if I say my weight in stone, pounds and ounces? I believe not, and that is my point, over recent years we have been forced to endure change after change and most of the time it is change for changes sake. Many changes have been forced on us over recent years without any consultation and have not been for the better.
I believe strongly in freedom, and I believe I should be free to deal in imperial measurements if I want and so should anyone else. So if you believe in traditions and like them carry on using them and don't let anyone tell you you can't!
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