INTEGRATION OR SEGREGATION: WHAT SAITH THE SCRIPTURE?
FURTHER to the rise and spread of Islamic Fundamentalism across the UK, Ruth Kelly MP (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) has launched a new Commission on Integration and Cohesion.
The Commission will consider innovative approaches looking at how communities across the country can be empowered to improve cohesion and tackle extremism.
Darragh Singh was appointed chair of the Commission in June and, at the official launch of the Commission on 24th August, thirteen other Commissioners were announced. They are Professor Michael Keith, Nargis Khan, Hamza Vayani, Leonie McCarthy, Frank Hont, Harriet Crabtree, Ed Cox, Sam Tedcastle, Chief Superintendent Steve Jordan, Decima Francis, Steve Douglas, Dr Ebrahim Adia and Ramesh Kallidai.
The Commission held its first,meeting in September and is currently undertaking a programme of consultation and public meetings across the country. Recommendations are expected in June 2007 and the Commission will report directly to Ruth Kelly.The terms of reference are (i). examining the issues that raise tensions between different groups in different areas, and that lead to segregation and conflict; (ii).suggesting how local community and political leadership can push further against perceived barriers to cohesion and integration; (iii). looking at how local communities themselves can be empowered to tackle extremist ideologies; and (iv). developing approaches that build local areas’ own capacity to prevent problems, and ensure they have the structures in place to recover from periods of tension.
There are a number of points to make here. Firstly, one cannot help feeling how ironic it is that Ruth Kelly should have launched the Commission when she is not only the grand-daughter of Phil Murphy – who was Quartermaster of the West Fermanagh IRA Battalion during the 1919-21 Irish War of Independence -but is herself a Member of Opus Dei (a conservative Roman Catholic sect), particularly when the IRA are still actively maiming and murdering our compatriots in Northern Ireland and the Church of Rome itself has done little, if anything, to excommunicate IRA members from its ranks or surrender control of its schools to the state to facilitate non-denominational integrated education in place of separate church schools.
Secondly, on the subject of schools, one cannot help feeling that Roman Catholic maintained schools are as much a breeding ground for hostility towards the Protestant succession to the British throne and our constitutional monarchy as enshrined in the 1689 Bill of Rights and 1701 Act of Settlement as grant-aided Muslim schools are for nurturing Islamic fundamentalists intent on proclaiming jihad (holy war) on to the indigenous UKÂ Â population.
Thirdly, there is increasing evidence that indigenous Christians are being prosecuted – or should one say persecuted by civil authorities (e.g., the police and the courts) for purportedly “inciting religious hatred”, be it by open-air preaching of the Gospel or the distribution of Bible tracts and other literature explaining Christian opposition to issues such as abortion and homosexuality, when those self-same authorities are simultaneously turning a blind eye to the activities of Islamic fundamentalists, which threatens to destroy the freedom of speech and publication of indigenous Christians and extinguish the very light of the Reformed Faith which liberated our country from the Dark Ages during the Reformation.
Fourthly, amidst the drive to foster racial integration and thus facilitate our descent into a multi-racial Hell on earth, the question must be asked for how long will ethnic minorities in England and Wales be afforded grants under Section 11 of the 1966 Local Government Act to finance initiatives and projects to enable members of ethnic minorities to overcome so-called “disadvantage” brought about by differences of language or culture which, in turn, has spawned apartheid in the provision of amenities, facilities and services (as opposed to integration and cohesion) in areas contaminated by large-scale immigration; and
Fifthly, whilst one wishes to see harmony between different races and cultures, one does not condone the move to unity at any price. Ecumenism and syncretism are anathema to all true believers and patriots who believe John 17:17 (i.e., “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth”) to teach the sanctification (i.e., setting apart) of God’s people to prevent their minds, bodies and souls, being polluted by inter-racial breeding and multi-faith bonding, etc, just as surely as Deuteronomy 17:15 (i.e., “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother”) to be an exhortation not to afford Non-Christian-Israelites authority over our land and people.
On a not-unrelated note, one may be interested to know that Ruth Kelly MP has recently announced the appointment of Trevor Phillips as the Chair of the new Commission for Equality & Human Rights (CEHR). The CEHR, which all become operational in Autumn 2007, all form a new organisation and all inherit the responsibilities of the existing equality commissions: the Commission for Racial Equality, the Disability Rights Commission and the Equal Opportunities Commission, whilst 2007 itself marks the “European Year of Equal Opportunities For All” when initiatives and policies will be launched across European Union member-states to outlaw discrimination on the grounds of age, race, sex, sexual orientation, disability, and political and religious beliefs.
