Sunday 24 August 2014

Religious freedom.

It was the need to be able to worship in their own way that made the English people on the Mayflower cross the Atlantic to the New Found Land .

It is enshrined in American law...that all people are equal and have the freedom of worship that many died for.

Today in this country it is taken for granted that we have the right to worship or not to worship in any way we chose which is why it comes as so great a shock to find that young British men are involved in slaughter based on religious discrimination in Syria and Iraq.

It is foreign to our way of life regardless of whether we are Christian, Jewish ,Muslim or Humanist.

In our schools we teach tolerance. In our churches we preach love. So why have a small section deliberately chosen to join a country determined set up a Muslim state?

Surely it is obvious that people cannot be made to believe something that can only come from the heart and mind. We can not force anyone into changing their religion by threats of violence...

Christian martyrs through the centuries have died to defend their beliefs and now in this brave new world with all our digital technology it is happening again!

As we get more and more shocked and worried by the news coming from the Middle East please take a moment to remember that we are not free from stain on this issue and remember those in this country who were burnt at the stake for failing to give up their religion...further back still the crusades , the inquisitions , the courts set up to make people recant their faith....

Religious war is not new unfortunately and through all the horror it is surely time to pray....for all those involved in the bloodshed, for all those who are contemplating joining a new crusade, for all those who grieve for their loved ones.

God is love and those who live in love live in God and God lives in them. The peace of The Lord be with us all!