CHURCH OF ENGLAND - DEMISE

There are many reasons why I think the Church of England is in Decline Freefall.  Personally I believe it has a lot to do with trying to be all things to all people and getting stuck.

I was quite religious during my youth and up until my late teens until I started to question religion and didn't just follow the story hook, line and sinker. 

If you look at history, as people became more literate  they were less adherent to strict rules of religion - they didn't blindly accept but began to question.   Pilgrims flocked in huge numbers to the Shrine of St Thomas Becket in the 12th Century and continued to do so for centuries.  But pilgrim numbers were in decline by the time Henry V11 had the shrine destroyed in 1538.  As people became more literate were they questioning their faith?

If I were to return to a religion I would choose Catholicism because it has not bent this way and that trying to please everyone.  There is a great deal I disagree with in the Catholic religion - for one I believe that Catholic priests should be allowed to marry.  How can a man, who has never been kept awake with a teething child and had all the problems of day to day life, possibly offer counselling and advice to his flock. But the Catholic Church has remained faithful to it's roots and doesn't bow to every passing 'Happy Clappy' wind.  

But recently I think the C of E hit an all time low when the Current Archbishop - a woman - presented a prize for peace to a Muslim Cleric. There was no due diligence and it was later discovered that this same cleric had  praised  Osama Bin Laden after the 9/11 Attacks.  The Peace Prize was rescinded.

What offended me, almost more than the Prize was the picture of the presentation.  Dame Sarah Mullally is the Archbishop of Canterbury and a woman.  A century ago, women even died to get the vote for women - the Suffragettes.  Women have fought for their freedom to break glass ceilings and Dame Sarah has done that.

Standing between her and the Imam was a person  - presumably a woman - completely shrouded in black from head to toe with only a slit through which to see.  Dame Sarah has benefited from all the advantages which goes with equality between men and women in this country - although not always practised!  How can the Church embrace other faiths which subjugate women in this way.  I understand that as the Muslim population grows in numbers and strength, there are areas where Sharia Law is adhered to - where a woman has no rights to her children in a divorce and cannot instigate a divorce even if she is being abused.  Surely any person living in this supposedly free country should be subject to the same laws.

I despair and am only too glad I am now old and won't live to see what further damage is done to this once (when I was young) wonderful country.

In London apparently the young are turning to Catholicism.  I wonder if it is because this religion doesn't move and shake in all directions - allowing discos in Cathedrals, helter skelters, mini golf etc all in the name of 'inclusion' and trying to attract the young.  In my humble opinion I really cannot see how this would attract the young to religion.  We have become a relatively Godless society.

Roman Catholicism is not democratic. It doesn’t ask the culture to weigh in on what it believes—it declares it. And in an age when society is debating everything—from truth to gender to morality—there is something profoundly reassuring about a church that does not budge.

LABOUR CONFERENCE - Read between the lines

It sounded half good - in exchange for losing the triple lock on pensions, the elderly would receive CARE COSTS in their latter years. But that is precisely what he means and I took this from his Conference Speech

The national care service will cover personal care costs but not the residential element of staying in a care home, it is understood.

Care Costs can be heavy but so too is the Residential side of Care.  My mother was in a Care Home for 18 months before she died and 12 years ago that cost was roughly £4,000 a month.  My stepfather was in the same care home for several years dying in 2024.  His Costs were £6,000 a month - that's £72,000 a year and he did have the money to pay for it but thousands of folk do not have that kind of money.  I don't know what element was Care Costs and what Residential Costs but it is a substantial sum.

It's also been reported that this taking away from Pensioners will not cover the Promise and taxes will have to be raised.

I totally agree that something has to be done about elderly care which is badly inadequate but taking it away from pensioners will not solve the problem.  I would like to see any MP trying to live on the State Pension especially when the Personal Allowance is not rising whilst cost of living is leaping ahead.

Our country has been badly run by successive Governments who have not thought ahead - look at our lack of reservoirs, nuclear power stations and reliance on imported Energy  It's all well and good to have Green credentials - like Ed Milliband - and we must do our bit towards saving the planet - but to have to import energy when we still have plenty of our own is MADNESS IMO.