Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

By David Robertson
Sat 8 Feb 2020 10:06 GMT

Scotland is an amazing country. I accept I may have a wee bit of bias but it has so much going for it – stunning countryside, a rich culture, incredible people and a society built on several hundred years of Christian civilization. However Scotland is in danger of throwing at least the last part of that wonderful heritage into the dustbins of history.

The Scotland that anyone over 50 grew up in is now almost unrecognizable – at least in spiritual and societal terms. In the past twenty years, I believe we have secularized faster than any nation in human history (although our Irish cousins are doing what they can to beat us in the race to the bottom!). And that has not been a change for the better.

Of course not everyone sees it that way. They believe that we are moving out of the Christian dark ages into a progressive, secular Nirvana. Tom Nairn over 50 years ago summed up the aim clearly: "Scotland will only be reborn when the last minister is strangled with the last copy of the Sunday Post."

His wish has come true. Scotland's clergy have been effectively neutered – the Established Church has now become little more than the spiritual wing of the secular thought police. Christianity is barred in all but name from much of public life – and the thought police want to ensure that it is limited in terms of private life as well.

This past week has seen two incidents that show just how far things have gone. Franklin Graham was banned from the SEC in Glasgow – at the request of Glasgow City Council (and a Church of Scotland minister) – on the grounds that his expressed [biblical] views on homosexuality and Islam could mean that the meeting was illegal.

Glasgow's motto is "Let Glasgow Flourish". Or at least, that is, the version you will get today. The real motto is "Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of Your Word and the praising of Your Name". It is this city that now wants to ban the preaching of that Word on the grounds that it might be illegal.

Then this week the Scottish government's Finance Secretary, Derek Mackay, was compelled to resign from his post and suspended from the SNP over accusations that he was grooming a 16-year-old boy by sending him hundreds of unsolicited messages. This has shaken the Scottish political establishment. They fear that worse is yet to come with the trial in March on charges of serious sex abuse (including attempted rape) of the former First Minister, Alex Salmond. I have written more substantially about this here.

This is not just a case of sex scandals from outliers – there have been too many of these. They are indicative of a wider, more systemic problem. We are reaping what we have sown. The trouble is, that having decided to jettison Scotland's Christian values, no one seems quite sure what to replace them with, other than whatever happens to be the 'woke' cause of the moment.

There is a distortion of priorities. In education, millions are spent on social engineering – not least in promoting the latest Queer Theory philosophies – whilst thousands of pupils are unable to read or write. I visited one classroom for 7- to 8- year-olds where the posters on the wall urged pupils to 'respect others' pronouns'. I would have been impressed if the children could have told me what a pronoun was!

The Scottish government having removed God, Christianity and the Bible from the curriculum are struggling to replace Him with themselves. They seek to control all kinds of private and individual appetites. They regulate eating, drinking, smoking and driving. The only drive they do not want to regulate is sex, which is seen as an appetite to be indulged.

The problem with this philosophy is the fruit of its outworking. Whilst it would be a bit much to call it grooming, I don't think it goes too far to say that it enables and makes grooming easier. When you are teaching vulnerable young children about anal sex, pornography, and other things that I don't want to mention in a family-friendly column, what do you expect when they want to experiment with these things?

It is beyond ironic that video material which is used by Scottish schools when posted on YouTube comes with an age warning! When schools are teaching children about sexual positions as documented by this parent, then you know that something is deeply rotten in the system.

Meanwhile the poor suffer as the bourgeois values of the elites are imposed upon all. Schools are under resourced, teachers are demoralized and the devastating effect of family background is seen at its worst in the poorest housing estates. It is beyond irony that having sidelined Christianity (and now actively discriminating against it) we have moved to a situation where the once most literate country in the world, the land of 'the people of The Book', now has one in five of its population functionally illiterate.

In the name of science we have removed Christianity and as a result fewer people are studying science than ever before!

Scotland, rather than being a progressive Nirvana, is becoming a deeply confused, depressed and dumbed down society – one in which we are no longer truly shocked when the latest sexual or corruption scandal is unveiled.

We are a warning to the rest of the Western world of what happens when you jettison your Christian foundations and have nothing tried and tested to replace them with, except the woke theories from academics in Harvard, Edinburgh and Oxford.

It's not all doom and gloom. Sometimes the darkness causes the light to shine all the more brightly. When the Finance Secretary resigned it was the day he was supposed to introduce the new Scottish budget. His deputy, Kate Forbes, stepped into the breach and did a remarkable job – acknowledged as such by even her opponents. In fact, she did so well that the latest odds have her as the favourite to replace Nicola Sturgeon when, as many expect, Sturgeon leaves sooner rather than later.

As the journalist Stephen Daisley commented, "India-raised, Cambridge-educated, Gaelic-speaking, pro-life, Bible-believing Christian. Kate Forbes is not your ordinary Scottish nationalist but, when placed in an extraordinary situation, she showed what she's made of."

Who knows but that may be a straw in the wind of something better to come for my beloved and beleaguered country. We can only pray so. O flower of Scotland...when will we see your like again?!

David Robertson is director of Third Space in Sydney, Australia
and blogs at www.theweeflea.com

Chamuco

Conflating "pro-life" with sexual preference issues is INSANITY and wholly counterproductive and damaging to the pro-life movement.
Abortion involves CHOICE.., sexual preference DOES NOT.
It is just as impossible for me to be attracted to men as it is for a homosexual to be attracted to women.
There is NO human right greater or more basic than the right to follow one's sexual preference.
There is no more ridiculous notion than to believe a person controls their sexual preference.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Couldn’t help but think of the Sodom and Gomorrah writings <as example~ Genesis 19:24 and in both the old and new testsments..

While this is not at all uncommon in many countries, the US as well, I take relief in knowing Christianity has been under attack since its struggles to even be and has survived while others have fallen..

While somewhat depressing I will stand with the tried and proven results of what my heart knows~ God has not forsaken us... Those who forsake He are the ones lost...God Bless us all even those who will perish in self indulgence of being their own Gods...pity the fool who believes themself Above the divine;Alpha and Omega of all things..🙏

Carol Kelly

Very good post, Linda. I have for several years been of the opinion that sex was replacing sanity and Christianity in our world. As you so aptly expressed, Christianity has been under siege for thousands of years. The Scots are a strong minded people and will no doubt come to their senses, but I’m afraid the influence of Muslims even there is part of the problem. I’m happy my ancestors chose to leave three centuries ago.

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Thank You, Carol~<~~Perhaps another lesson being given to help strengthen our faith???

Scotland has had many challenges with denominal influx, forced and chosen yet, Christianity remains and will.. strong willed Scots, absolutely!!!

Muslims~~ Ot so endearing and here comes my failure not to judge but I do not trust them or their “ current Qur’an as Rewritten ... They look to dominate the world... I’ll use as examples~~ The UK, France, Germany, Belgium etc..

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Human beings were created with the ability to choose. Many have chosen abstinence. Whether or not one chooses to control their sexual urges is up to each and every individual.

It separates us from the beasts of the field and forest, who do act purely on instinct.

Choice is as equally involved in which sex (of two), one chooses to have coitus, as is it's involvement in a mother's decision to murder or not to murder her own unborn child.

I don't consider advocating the murdering of children to be "a movement."

It is an immoral, legally sanctioned crime. It is an abomination. It is subhuman.

The strongest natural instinct of any woman is to protect the life and well being of her child, born or unborn.

The belief that one can make a logical, reasonable, "sane" choice of anyone or anything other than a human being of the opposite sex for the purpose of going through the motions, i.e., engaging in mating/procreating/sexual intercourse, whether for a lifetime or a one-night stand, is a fixed fantasy.

A fixed fantasy differs from a delusion or delusional system in that, superficially, a fixed fantasy tends to appear plausible, and the person expressing the fantasy is not suffering a break from reality, as occurs in a delusional state, but has been grievously brainwashed by a secular society under the sway of the little "g" "god of this age."

They have chosen to live and to function in the existent dark side of the life with which they were gifted.

The belief that anyone HAS to act upon their attractions, and has no choice but to indulge them is a cop-out and a fallacy.

Two year olds reach for every glittering bauble. Being able to deny oneself gratification is a mark of maturity.

We each have a conscience within us which we cannot escape, thus we are without excuse.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Hi Linda,

Jesus is indeed the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of our faith, which is linear, rather than circular, as is Eastern religion: reincarnation (transmigration of souls).

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom. The official state religion of England (the seat of the monarchy) is the Church of England (Anglican in UK, Episcopalian in U.S.) but it is not established in Scotland.

The largest religion by membership in Scotland is Christianity (of which the Church of Scotland 42% and the Roman Catholic Church 16% are the two largest denominations).

The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian Calvinist Protestant. It is not managed by the government.

Islam is the fastest growing religion in Scotland, not only in Scotland but in the world, not due to conversion, but to their birth rate.

28% of the Scottish population claimed no religion in the last census (2001).

Much of my interest in the current situation of Christianity, worldwide, is due to Jesus' admonition to his disciples to "Watch, and know the signs of the end-times" (Matthew 24).

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4).

That falling away, - apostasy - from the teachings of Jesus Christ is occurring now throughout western civilization.

God will never forsake those who are secure in their faith in Christ Jesus, for they are sealed for eternity by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

They are, however, losing, through government dictates and in the courts, their legal rights and freedom to teach and to preach their beliefs, i.e., the gospel, when opposing groups, Homosexuals, Islam, Transgenders, etc., claim "victimhood," and to be offended by the teaching of the Bible regarding them.

At the end of time, God will judge the nations, just as He has promised.

All those who have faith in Jesus will be secure.

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Hi Carol,

My maternal grandfather's grandparents left Renfro, Scotland, for the U.S. in the 1860s.

Scotland has been described as the fastest secularizing nation in history, a nation where religion is in retreat.

Since 2016, humanists in Scotland have conducted more marriages each year than the Church of Scotland (or any other religious denomination).

The Humanists, Secularists and the Church of Scotland are agreed. They think that the churches are failing to keep up with the spirit of the times and that is why they are declining.

The only slight flaw in that argument is that it is the Church of Scotland, which is going along with the spirit of the times, which is in freefall – whereas the Catholics and the Free Church are growing! The fantasy of the secularists is that they think we can have the fruits of Christianity without the roots, the fantasy of the liberal Christians is that they think they can have Christianity without Christ and his Word. Both are illusions which will disappear like mist in the night.

https://theweeflea.com/2016/06/01/welcome-to-secular-scotland-a-nation-where-religion-is-in-retreat/

It has been astounding these last few decades inside the western "Christian" nations, to observe how Satan can get mankind's head so twisted around their own reproductive organs they can no longer set clear priorities!

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

Good Morning Zemirah,

To this I will add:

MARANATHA
Come, dear Lord, Come

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Well said and agreed~~Zemirah

This must be paid attention as the Wrath is coming~~
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4).

Family from Sweden and Scotland many left both for the US centuries ago..
My grandfather often spoke of the constant conflict of religion in Scotland.. An amazing journey for sure...

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. (2nd Thessalonians 2:3-4).
We are in witness of this now ~~~

Yes, losing for the moment and more persecution to come no doubt.. We have left moral standards and faith to the wind of evil but both will rise up again...If it is to be that is... Perhaps the end is sooner than thought with all the signs warning us... This I know~~ I know where I am going and hold steadfast to it... It is the generations to come I fear for...

Muslim birth rate is exactly used for total dominance later~~Hell on Earth~~

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Amen!!!!!!🙏🙏🙏🙏

Zemirah Loc: Sojourner En Route...

Good morning to you this beautiful February morning, TexaCan,

It's 36 degrees here, 4 degrees above freezing which is a good thing!

We are already seeing that there is reason for the biblical question:

"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man returns, will He still find faith upon the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

And a good morning to you!!🌤🌤🌤🌤🌤🌤

“And we’ll all be shouting Hallelujah when He comes!”🗣🗣🗣🗣🎼🎼🎼🎼🎼

Radiance3

================
I understand why Europe's civilization declined. This is a very sad news when history claims Europe as the Cradle of Christian civilization. Those magnificent Middle Age Cathedrals, some are now owned by Muslims.

With the advent of millions of Muslims, now almost majority, they rapidly populate Europe, civilization indeed declined. It became the antithesis of the Cradle of Christian civilization during the Middle Ages. They mostly disguise in sheep's clothing. While Christians profess love for diversity of cultures, Muslims profess violence against those who differ from them.

This is a warning here in the US. Muslims are rapidly populating due to their hidden practice of Sharia law. E.g. In New York, and Minnesota, Muslim men still practice having several wives to propagate their people fast.
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90857818

bggamers Loc: georgia

They are following the rules to remove religion to remove moral inhibitions to remove history to get control of the education to get control of the bank's, breakdown the culture and voila you are in a position to take down a country