London Riots: Symptom of a deeper malaise

Published: August 9th, 2011

The riots which are taking place in London are a symptom of a deeper malaise. A heavier police presence tonight may bring them under control, but it will only be dealing with an expression of a far deeper problem.

Britain is a power-keg of frustrations. Despite the incredible increase in living standards in the last 50 years, UK citizens are increasingly unhappy. People are feeling lost and isolated without family, community and faith.

The rioters are unlikely to have been taught to take responsibility for their actions or to respect authority. They do not mind if they destroy their own communities because they have little to lose. They will have been in schools which lacked discipline and where they learnt that they can behave how they like with few consequences for their actions.

People will say that the State needs to spend more money to solve the problem. The Government certainly needs to restore discipline in schools as part of its solution to these problems. Yet ultimately the answer does not lie with the State - we need a moral revolution.

In the past, the authority of teachers was respected in the classroom – can’t that be restored? How was it lost so quickly? As a nation we need to look after each other, but not create welfare state dependency without teaching people to take responsibility for their lives.

Then we have the breakdown of the family – how many of those rioting have fathers who take an interest in their lives? I would guess at very, very few. The breakdown of the family is a result of the nation choosing sexual liberation over sexual restraint, causing a huge surge in the divorce rate and in fatherlessness. The consequences have been disastrous for society. The Government needs to support marriage as a priority and address the decline of the family. But again, we need a complete moral revolution that will encourage people to take responsibility for their sexual behaviour, their marriages and their children.

The deepest problem of all is that Britain has, largely, rejected the Christian faith. This is why we now exist in a moral void. The Bible teaches us to train the young from an early stage to honour their parents, to honour authority and to honour God. If we do this, it will go well with the nation.

Yet instead of Christianity we have political correctness which providers the ‘moral’ compass for our political class and much of the establishment. What a terrible exchange. As discussed here, political correctness is a concept that arose from a Marxist Institute in the 1920’s. It is an ideology that is man-made and which is utterly hostile to the Christian faith. It is a morally relativist system which makes excuses for those who commit crime and portrays them as the victims. Political correctness is responsible for schools where the teachers cannot discipline the pupils and for an undermining of authority.

As we see the bad fruits of rejecting God, my prayer is that there will be a window of opportunity for this nation to wake up to the damage that has been caused and change direction.

And if these youngsters could be brought to Christ then that would be the greatest victory of all. They would have a new identity, a new purpose and a new calling in life. They would be able to live for Christ, not just live for cheap thrills.

Let’s start praying. We need a revival in this nation. We need a moral revolution.

Andrea

Submitted by scubajon72 on 18th September, 2011.

The riots.

Hi Andrea, I'm new to this site and would like to make a few comments on your blog. Firstly, All religions teach peace and love, there are no exceptions to that. Christianity is not alone nor does it corner the market on that score. It is people who misinterpret and take, out of context, lines from religious text and use them for their own evil ends that brings about riots, muggings, theft, war, conflict and a society that does not know how to cope with it. They say, we have lost faith in our politicians...are you surprised? They never give a straight answer to a question, they speak a lot but actually say little or nothing, or it is all complete lies. The rot starts at the top and goes all the way to the bottom. Religious texts are in themselves good concepts, as is communism. Unfortunately neither of them take into account the human factor and that makes both unworkable in an enlightened society. People today look for proof of this God you speak of, and there is none. you either believe it or you don't. We now know how creation occurred and it had nothing to do with any God, living or dead. And if one concept in a religious text can be disproved, so could all the others. Having said that, there are a lot of good teachings in all religious texts and we could do a lot worse than live by them. If they were just a moral code to live by and we were taught that from a very early age, there would be a lot less conflict in this world, but to put it under the umbrella of belief in a God, for whom no proof exists, takes it out of the equation for the vast majority of people who, having looked for him/her, find that element missing. As a set of rules it works, but not when it's complicated by adding an element that can't be proved and asking people to take your word for it. As you have no doubt realised I am not a believer but I do try to live by the "Christian" code and consider myself to more of a "Christian" so to speak, than many people I know who profess to be one themselves. Most, if not all are, in my experience, hypocrites who say one thing and do another. All are more concerned with the mercenary side of life, live luxurious lifestyles and give little of their time or money to help others, cross the street if they see someone begging, and call themselves Christians because they go to church regularly. That, in my book is not being a Christian. I try to live by the basic simple rule which covers just about everything, "Do unto others etc" and let other people to believe what they want to. We do not have the right to force upon others our beliefs and expect them to follow blindly. If you expect others to allow you the courtesy to believe what you want to, then, by any rule, you must allow them the same courtesy. If you do that you won't go far wrong. You may get trodden on occasionally and then you "turn the other cheek", which is something else most people I know would never think of doing. I'm sure this will bring all sorts of comments from your readers, but just remember what I said above about courtesy. I'm quite happy to respect your right to your beliefs and would never try to persuade you otherwise. Would you do the same for me? I wonder.

Submitted by Books on 16th August, 2011.

Political correctness spearheads the culture war

Andrea is right to point to the key role being played by the Frankfurt School and political correctness in the undermining of western Christian democracy. Quoting from Bill Muehlenberg's piece at www.billmuehlenberg.com/2009/05/11/the-frankfurt-school-and-the-war-on-the-west 'Their task ...was ..to undermine the Judaeo-Christian legacy. To do this they called for the most negative destructive criticism possible of every sphere of life which would be designed to de-stabilize society and bring down what they saw as the oppressive order. - continuing the work of the Western Marxists by other means.'
They recommended encouraging (among other things):

1. The creation of racism offences.
2. Continual change to create confusion.
3. the teaching of sex and homosexuality to children without any moral framework.
4. The undermining of schools' and teachers' authority.
5. Huge immigration to destroy identity.
6. The promotion of excessive drinking.
7. Emptying of churches.
8. An unreliable legal system with its bias against victims of crime.
9. Dependency on the state or state benefits.
10. Control and dumbing down of the media
11. Encouraging the breakdown of the family

Please check out the website as well as the work done by Michael Minnicino in The New Dark Age hosted by the Schiller Institute.

The followers of the Frankfurt School are now well embedded in our society at the highest levels.

Submitted by M.C.Nige on 18th August, 2011.

Thanks

Thanks for this Books. From a prayer point of view, it's very helpful to have something that sheds light on what is a very big picture indeed!

Submitted by Nunos on 13th August, 2011.

Who sets the example?

Those who refuse to look to faith in Christ will look elsewhere! Anyone who refuses to look to faith for outworking their life, will just look to another!

The "State" has become the provider of money, education, motivation for living, determining restraint and behaviour ( I can do what I like unless is is against the Law), and the reality is the State is not God, even is we make is our god! What is the fruit of it?

Christians look to a Higher and proven authority that empowers the individual, the family, the community and society. What is the fruit of their lives?

Submitted by LydneyLass on 12th August, 2011.

UK Riots

"The deepest problem of all is that Britain has, largely, rejected the Christian faith" - what a ridiculous statement.

The reasons behind the riots are many, and varied. Christians aren't the only people who recognise the importance of family values and heaping most of the blame on to a lack of faith is simplistic, foolish and painfully opportunist.

Submitted by Nunos on 13th August, 2011.

Recognising is not enough

Recognising family values is not enough! All the main political parties and PM's during the last decade have "recognised" the importance and value of family, but done little about it or have got no practical answers to the problem. The media have done the same, and many of the public "recognise" the family but again do little to facilitate change.

The Christian faith goes beyond that. As well as a framework of living that encompases fatherhood, motherhood, parenting, teaching for children, expectations of children, how to behave, being greatful, respecting authority, working hard, providing guidance on behaviour above and beyond the laws of the land (10 Commandments/Sermon on the Mount), it also establishes the motivation and ability to live it out in a practical way in society and Communities.

Jesus said that you will know Christians by the friut of their lives, not the words they say! The Bible says faith without works is dead.
He also laid the gauntlet to all people everywhere and challeneged them to prove him wrong! Hear what he says and do it, and your life will be built on a rock that will withstand the storms and floods of life. Hear what he says and dont do them, and you will be like a man who built on sand. This is proctical proof! Not myth!

These Christian principles are practical and have been proven to work by generations across the world and also in our own Country. It is not pie in the sky or some sort of "blind" belief! Faith is confidence in something you hope for, conviction of facts not seen. I have proven in my own life by acting upon the guidance my Christian faith provides, that life can be positive, filled with hope and purpose that is good for me, my family, my employer, my neighbours and society! Anyone who thinks faith has no practical outworking has misunderstood! Faith without a practical outworking is dead!

The Christian faith is life changing, and has been proven so in my own life and many others.

Submitted by MikeSerg on 12th August, 2011.

UK riots

Don't we also need to say that a huge responsibility rests on the Church. Whilst everything already said about decline in morality and absentee fathers is quite true; I have been reading 2 Chron 7:14 where God promises to heal our land if "my people" will humble themselves and pray...
Church, we are called to pray to the God who alone can bring the healing our land needs.

Submitted by M.C.Nige on 15th August, 2011.

Lets use our spiritual weapons!

Well said MikeSerg! It's going to be down to those of us who see this to encourage others to do the same. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10 v 4:

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds”

Submitted by Caractacus on 12th August, 2011.

Riots

Are you surprised though, for years the 3 main political parties, led by left wing teachers and trade unions have waged a constant war on Christian values, but despite this the mass of people brainwashed by the BBC and media outlets have repeatedly voted for them.

There has been alternative parties, especially one, that has consistantly warned that this sitution was heading our way because of P.C., E.O. and the encoraged invasion of our lands by anti christians, who even the so called Archbishop of Canterbury kow tows to.

Christians awake, ask yourself WHAT WOULD JESUS CHRIST DO? .