TEACHERS ON THE FRONT LINE IN THE CULTURE WAR

In the distant past I was a school teacher, a job which I loved doing but never imagined it would become a major front in today’s culture wars. Now Christian teachers are being put into the position of denying their faith or losing their employment. Three recent cases arising from the transgender epidemic illustrate what they face.

Ben Dybowski

Ben Dybowski, an agency supply teacher working at The Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School near Cardiff was sent with 80 other teachers on a mandatory training seminar designed to uncover unconscious bias amongst teachers. The seminar was run by Diverse Cymru, a left-wing charity which trains teachers on ‘workforce diversity practice’, ‘unconscious bias’ and ‘trans-gender identity and gender expression awareness’.

THE DANGEROUS HYPOCRISY OF ‘LUXURY BELIEFS’

What difference does it make to society if a people are Christian or not? Surely what a person believes is a purely personal matter which has no impact on others? As Nietzsche pointed out, when God dies so does morality. When individuals and then a people turn from Christianity, something is going to take its place, and it is never good.

The LGBTQI+ movement is something which is seen only in the late stages of a civilisation.

Luxury Beliefs

Rob Henderson, an American scholar, has coined the term ‘luxury beliefs’ to describe those values promoted by Western elites which act as status symbols. In the past, the elites showed their wealth and status by displaying their luxury goods. However, today even hoi polloi have access to items such as cars, telephones and foreign holidays, so the elites now display their status by developing a set of ‘luxury beliefs’. 

What a Great Fall

When archbishops begin to share an epistemology with Humpty Dumpty we know the church is in trouble. In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass we read, ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

The Church of England in its latest report, Love Matters, commissioned by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and published last month, puts forward a vision of the future based on what it terms ‘love in action’, and for the archbishops love means something other than what it means in the Bible. It means ‘neither more not less’ than acceptance and affirmation of that which the Bible terms sin.

A SPIRITUAL CONFLICT

Much of what constitutes our Western elites, the decision makers and influencers in politics, business and the media, are in active denial of the Christian roots which form the foundation of Western civilisation. As a result we are experiencing an extremely potent move by wealthy and powerful people, many of whom may not fully understand what they are doing, to overturn all natural order.

Those markers which have traditionally enabled us to identify our place in society, our religious, moral, national and even our sexual identities, are being denied or relativised. The result is the gradual eradication and ultimate denial of that which identifies us.

AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT

Sex is the battering ram progressives use to achieve the destruction of Western culture. The latest front in the culture wars, the movement to normalise transgender ‘rights’, is decisive. The transgender movement’s demands attack not only the foundation of Western society but the order of creation itself. If progressives get their way on this the doors are opened wide to anything they desire, and from the ensuing chaos they see themselves remaking humanity in their own image.

If any man can become a woman, the distinct category of ‘woman’ disappears.

A CORONATION FOR ALL

It is 70 years since our last coronation, and the United Kingdom today is a very different nation. The social and cultural changes are such that our predecessors all those years ago would have difficulty in recognising the place. The UK is no longer a nation where the cultural significance of Christianity holds sway. Yet the coronation, apart from a few minor changes, remains essentially a Christian ceremony.

WHITHER SCOTLAND?

Today’s post is a personal reflection on Scotland in the midst of political turmoil. The CEO of the ruling party arrested, the Treasurer arrested, and we await the arrest of the former First Minister. We Scots are used to national ignominy, but it still hurts. Even those of us who are unashamedly unionist are toe-curlingly embarrassed by the state of Scotland today.

Be patient with me. If I am a unionist, it is because I am a patriotic Scot and firmly believe that, as in the past so today, the union is of great benefit for Scotland and for the other nations of the UK. If I believe in the union, a significant part of that is because I want the best for my country.

CHRISTIAN RESISTANCE Pt 4

Writing in Prophecy Today, Kathryn Price presciently states: ‘A battle is looming, indeed is already under way, as Christians are discovering that they are not just in the minority, but frequently actively under increasing attack for holding traditional biblical beliefs. Many . . . believe that this is set to intensify – with the country facing continued judgement for our decades of turning away from Him.’

Disciples do not have all the answers, but they have a glimpse of the right path.

Christians in the West are not being persecuted. To pretend we are is to insult our brothers and sisters elsewhere who face very real dangers for the faith. However, it is increasingly clear that the testing of our faith will escalate in intensity, and some will not come through with their faith unimpaired.

CHRISTIAN RESISTANCE Pt 3

We know who we face (Pt 1); we know who we are (Pt 2). We now move into the more difficult area: how are we to respond personally to the efforts to radically alter our society?

(At the outset I have to admit that when writing this I was very conscious of my own failure to live the life of Christ whilst urging others to do so. I too am a work in progress and know how hard that progress can be.)

Grasp Realism We must be realistic and grasp that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle (Eph. 6:12). We see what is happening in society and instinctively recoil from it. As Christians we know that we do not live in a purely material world: there is a spiritual reality which is the grounding of all that happens. There is something deeper going on than the changes in the culture which cause us to shudder.

CHRISTIAN RESISTANCE Pt2

Cynical Attack

The recent furore surrounding Kate Forbes’s campaign to become Scotland’s First Minister illustrates the intolerance shown to openly biblical Christians having a place in the public square. Christians are tolerated when we confine ourselves to the ceremonial, but face rejection by the opinion-formers when we overstep the boundaries and intrude into the public sphere. The progressives’ claim that they are tolerant and uphold the freedom of worship is actually a cynical attack on biblical Christianity. God is reduced to a private hobby for a few somewhat eccentric people, but has no permission to intrude into the public square. However, for the biblical Christian the faith cannot be confined to the church building or private devotions but has to be let loose in the world.