Two personal perspectives on the up-coming Assisted Dying Bill.

On 11 September, Rob Marris MP's Assisted Dying Bill will receive its second reading in Parliament. That this date has been chosen for such an important debate on British freedom, democracy and the sanctity of life, is perhaps pertinent – perhaps sadly ironic.

We bring you two personal perspectives on the bill and some practical advice on how to pray and act in the days leading up to it.

Charles Gardner

An alert has gone out from concerned Christians about a deadly Bill to be debated in the British Parliament on September 11. The so-called 'Assisted Dying Bill', better known as assisted suicide, is a bid to make it legal not only for people to take their own lives, but for others to assist them in doing so.

I trust it will not escape the notice of too many that it comes on the day we recall the death and destruction committed on a grand scale 14 years ago by a group of suicide bombers who flew jet liners into New York's tallest skyscrapers, leaving some 3,000 dead and a world in shock.

Although primarily an attack on Israel and the Jewish people whom America is perceived as supporting, it was also seen as an attack on Western democracy which allows the freedom of thought so despised by Islamic fundamentalists.

But if the Assisted Dying Bill is passed, it would spell a death of democracy of our own making as we would effectively be committing democratic and national suicide; for the effect of the Bill would be to pressurise the weak, vulnerable and elderly into ending their lives prematurely out of fear of being a burden to society.

Their right to have a say in the destiny of their own lives will have been withdrawn forever, with the result that a much-envied civilisation built on Christian foundations of care and compassion would collapse as surely as did the 110-storey Twin Towers of Manhattan.

If the Assisted Dying Bill is passed, it would spell democratic and national suicide. Our much-envied civilisation built on Christian foundations of care and compassion would collapse as surely as did the Twin Towers.

As its detractors state, the Bill does not speed people towards a natural death, but rather sanctions state-sponsored killing. Thank God for campaigns like Christian Concern who are doing all they can to 'help keep death from Britain's door'.

Certainly 9/11 was a devastating, earth-shattering event. But who remembers the millions of innocent babies murdered in the womb for spurious social reasons? So now we have death lurking in the shadows both at the beginning and end of our lives – and in the latter case, all in the questionable cause of the relief of suffering.

The Religion of Secular Humanism

This is the poisonous fruit of so much humanistic, secular and atheistic influence on our once Christian culture which says that since this life is all there is – and there is no God – we should alleviate pain and discomfort at any cost. And we are daily bombarded by noble-sounding campaigns to rid the world of disease, poverty and environmental destruction. And we humans are capable of dealing with this. On our own!

But we aren't. For as long as we ignore the real reason for our troubles – our sinful obsession with self – and act independently of God, we are only putting off the evil day when divine judgement will show up our pitiful attempts at making the world a better place.

Not Belittling Suffering

I do not wish to minimise the dreadful plight of those who suffer – and those who care for them. I watched my late wife dying in agony of cancer, which had spread from her breast to her bones. In all she suffered for some four-and-a-half years; and that was in addition to being blind since the age of 16. But she 'saw' through her pain and sorrow to a better world beyond this life as she trusted implicitly in Jesus. I well remember how, with very little lung capacity left, she raised her arms in worship of her Lord as I played some Christian songs on my guitar.

True, in view of her suffering towards the end, she wanted to go sooner rather than later. So when she asked her lady doctor how much time she had left, and "two weeks" was the reply, she was somewhat exasperated, saying she would rather it were two days. And it was! But that was a prayer to God, not a nudge for her doctor to prescribe a lethal injection.

A nation which has rejected God will soon also dispense with all his precepts and laws, eventually leaving a society with neither mercy nor justice.

A nation which has rejected God will soon also dispense with all his precepts and laws, eventually leaving a society with neither mercy nor justice.

But for those who trust in Christ, their suffering is only temporary. They look forward to a day when "he will wipe every tear from their eyes; when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Rev 21:4).

Dr Mark Houghton

None of us who watched 9/11 on our televisions will ever forget 2001 when nearly 3000 people died. Yet September 11th 2015 may go down in history as the prelude to a higher – far higher -- intentional death toll. That day the House of Commons holds a critical vote on the Assisted Dying Bill (No 2).

Back in 2005, the deaths predicted by a Select Committee were around 650 a year if assisted suicide was legal in the United Kingdom and we had a law like Oregon, USA. The Dutch experience, on the other hand, could lead to around 13,000 deaths a year in the UK.

Britain, being the first large nation to legalise assisted 'killing for the willing', would show other nations how to remove laws currently in place. Globally, anti-abortion laws fell like a pack of cards after our 1967 law was passed.

My experiences, as a doctor and as a patient in pain, have shown me how much we all need the protection of the law. Good care kills the pain, not the patient - and this has been shown again and again. But show a crack in the door to the patient, the family or the carers, then the protection of the vulnerable melts away; killing for the unwilling begins. The 'safeguards' of the law allowing assisted suicide are regularly flouted in Holland and the handful of tiny countries that have legalised it.

We all need the protection of the law. But show a crack in the door to the patient, the family or the carers, and the protection of the vulnerable melts away.

Action Points

1. Pray that you "speak up for those being led away to death" (Prov 24:11). Pray that Britain will promote palliative care, not suicide. Pray for Christ to prevent Parliament from weakening his 6th Commandment: "You shall not kill" (Ex 20:14).

2. Learn about the debate. Go to Christian Concern for information, resources and personal stories from a Christian perspective. See also carenotkilling.org.uk and notoassistedsuicide.org.uk for resources from a secular perspective.

3. Say to your MP how you want them to vote on 11 September (this site makes it easy to email your MP).

4. Share resources others by posting on social media, or sharing in home groups or at church.

Is there any prophetic significance in the warnings given to MPs that the Houses of Parliament are crumbling?

Just look at the facts. It was back in October 2012 that MPs were first alerted to the serious problems in the Grade 1 listed building, part of which is nearly 1000 years old and is listed as a World Heritage Site. A new report this week gives further urgency to the warnings that unless urgent repairs are carried out the building could collapse in 20 years.

Warnings

MPs have also been warned that if they insist on staying in the buildings whilst repairs are carried out it could take up to 32 years and cost up to £7 billion. The building doesn't just require minor repairs. The whole structure is crumbling. Built on London clay, it is slowly sliding towards the river. There are serious problems with the roof, the walls are crumbling and the foundations are cracking so MPs are facing a number of options. If they move out the work could take up to 10 years and cost about £3 billion, which is clearly the surveyors' favoured option.

But where do they go?

A number of different scenarios have been proposed including moving out of London to Manchester or Birmingham. Most MPs will probably favour staying within London which would certainly be the cheapest option, particularly if they can stay close to Westminster so that all the Whitehall offices can be maintained and the hugely costly movement of the civil service bureaucracy will be unnecessary.

A number of buildings in Westminster and nearby are being considered such as the Methodist Central Hall, or the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, just across from Parliament Square. Other suggestions include moving Parliament into the Olympic Park in East London – which is the downmarket option. The upmarket option is to move into Buckingham Palace. But the Queen might have something to say about this! Another alternative is to build an entirely new building somewhere in London and sell the old building to the highest bidder who would no doubt either be an Arab sheik or the Chinese!

Is there a deeper reason for the crumbling condition of the Houses of Parliament? Is God saying something about the laws passed there that have been anathema to his will and word?

Neglect

Why has the 'Mother of Parliaments' reached such a state of neglect? We have just been celebrating the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta and earlier this year we marked the 800th anniversary of the Simon de Montfort Parliament, the oldest in the Western world. The Houses of Parliament are part of our national heritage. Of course, those responsible for the buildings should have carried out many of these repairs as routine maintenance over past decades. Surely, to allow the buildings to reach such a state of decay shows a failure in caring for the property somewhere along the line. Why has the building been allowed to drop into this desperate state of disrepair?

Why has it happened?

Could there be a deeper reason for the crumbling condition of our Houses of Parliament? Is God saying something to us about the laws that have been passed through both Houses of Parliament in the past 40 or 50 years that have been in direct opposition to biblical standards and the teaching of his word?

As a nation we have acknowledged Christianity to be the faith of our people for more than 1000 years. At the Coronation of each Monarch we expect them to declare their commitment to uphold the Christian faith- and yet we have required the Queen to put her signature to Acts of Parliament that are anathema to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose Bible we claim to revere.

Unholy laws

We have passed laws abolishing the Sabbath and permitting Sunday trading and Sunday sports and entertainment, making it a day like any other day. We have undermined family life through abortion, easy divorce, and same-sex 'marriage'. We have sent our soldiers to fight in wars that had little or nothing to do with our national security. We have passed laws that favour the rich and deny justice to the poor.

Greed and corruption have been exposed in every part of the life of the nation over the past 10 years – among the bankers, among MPs, among newspaper moguls and journalists, among the police, among celebrities and entertainers, among all sections of society – even in the church – because God is shaking the nations as he promised in Hebrews 12:26-27. Now we are seeing our Parliament buildings cracking at the foundations.

The sorry condition of Parliament is a powerful metaphor of Britain's crumbling moral and spiritual state.

So what is God saying to us?

For those who are unwilling to view the sorry condition of Parliament as a prophetic sign, it is nevertheless a powerful metaphor of Britain's crumbling moral, spiritual, economic and political state. Should we not be calling upon our MPs to cancel business in the House for a whole day and get before the Lord in prayer, in humility and repentance, seeking what he is saying to the nation? If the Commons will not do this, surely Members of the Lords, who are ostensibly older and wiser, will recognise the need to seek what God is saying to the nation today? At least the bishops in the House of Lords should lead the way!

But will this happen? Is there any spiritual life left in the great Mother of Parliaments where in former years the word of God was often quoted and always upheld? In the words of King David, "When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psa 11:3)

Revolutionary winds of change are beginning to blow across Europe. CLIFFORD HILL asks: Are we heading for a new social revolution?

There is a groundswell of protest from ordinary people who are fed up with politicians who have held a stranglehold on power for decades. New political movements are spawning and growing fast. People are tired of the political establishment and are looking for alternatives - any alternative!

In Greece a protest party came from nothing in a little over five years and are now ruling the nation. Could a similar thing happen in Britain? Could UKIP, SNP and the Greens break the stranglehold of the two-party system that has ruled Britain for 100 years? People are looking for change.

Grassroots Unrest

The social unrest at the grassroots has been sparked by unemployment, the credit crunch, austerity measures; and the corruption, lies and deceit that are being exposed among politicians. People no longer trust their leaders.

But there is something deeper going on, similar to a kind of ‘Peasants’ Revolt’ spreading across Europe. Widespread immigration has led to rapid cultural change. On 15 April this year it was reported that 8,000 migrants had crossed the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy in the past week, some of whom will no doubt head for Britain. Such influxes often lead to fear that precious social heritages are being lost. At the same time freedom of speech is being strangled by so-called Equality Laws. But the challenge to the political establishment from the grassroots is beginning to impact political and cultural leaders as demonstrated in two significant events.

Unrest from the top down

Two significant events have occurred in the past month that may signal change from the top down as well as from the grassroots up!

The first is a resolution passed by the Council Assembly of the European Parliament entitled "Tackling intolerance and discrimination in Europe with a special focus on Christians". Its object is to draw attention to the fact that the "expression of faith is sometimes unduly limited by national legislation and policies which do not allow the accommodation of religious beliefs and practices”. In plain language – we are losing our freedom of speech! Christians can’t talk about their faith for fear of offending someone and losing their job! Most significantly, the resolution calls for member states to “uphold freedom of conscience in the workplace” (Section 6.2.2).

It is in the workplace where many Christians have fallen foul of British equality laws. There have been reports of Christians being entrapped by hostile colleagues who ask questions or pretend to want advice or prayer and then complain to the authorities that they have been offended. Many Christians have lost their jobs and reports of these dubious practices created by the equality laws have been highlighted in the press and have outraged public opinion. At last, the European Parliament is getting the message! The so-called “tolerant society” has become a monster of intolerance!

"It is in the workplace where many Christians have fallen foul of British equality laws. But at last, the European Parliament is getting the message!"

The second significant event is the action of Trevor Phillips, the former Chair of the Commission for Racial Equality. He has made a groundbreaking exposure of the multicultural mess that exists in Britain created by the social engineering of idealistic politicians pursuing Utopian dreams based upon their secular humanist principles which ride roughshod over centuries of Judaeo-Christian tradition.

The Racket of Multiculturalism

Trevor Phillips has attacked what he calls the ‘racket of multiculturalism’ sparked during the Blair Government era, that led to the silencing of debate on racial issues and the intimidation of anyone who dared to question the action of those in authority in society. The so-called ‘hate’ and ‘equality’ laws have been responsible for enormous harm in our national life.

"The 'racket of multiculturalism' has led to the silencing of debate on racial issues and the intimidation of anyone who dares question the action of those in authority."

Thousands of girls in Rochdale, Rotherham, Oxford and other cities have had their lives ruined by gangs of Pakistani men who have systematically groomed and sexually abused them. Although many people in authority in the so-called 'caring professions' as well as the police were aware of this abuse, they were afraid to speak out in case they were accused of being racist or Islamophobic or some other modern invention of secular sin.

The height of stupidity in our multicultural mess was surely when the actor Benedict Cumberbatch was immersed in a barrage of criticism for using the word 'coloured' instead of 'black' when making an important point about the lack of employment opportunities for young people.

Election Challenge

Now is the time to challenge politicians and would-be politicians in the run-up to the General Election. We have the chance to put on the political agenda all these issues that affect our freedom of speech.

Christians should be taking every opportunity of raising these issues in local newspapers, in hustings, on chat shows, local radio and social media. It is not enough to say “a plague on all your houses!” to the politicians; we have to make the voice of sanity heard in the nation or we will lose our freedom of speech forever.

Most Christians who take an interest in the affairs of the nation know that Britain is in a mess! This has been increasingly evident over the past 10 years as we have stumbled from one crisis to another.

7 July this year will be the 10th anniversary of the London bombings when 55 people lost their lives and hundreds were wounded. This showed that God’s protection had been removed from over the nation.

God Speaks

God always gives us forewarnings. The Prophet Amos said “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plans to his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). But we have to be looking and listening, and able to interpret the signs that God sends.

The great hurricane in October 1987 was a dramatic warning that God sent. 15 million trees were felled, disrupting road and rail transport around the rich commuter area of London. It was followed 3 days later by a dramatic fall on the stock market. Both of these signs were rightly interpreted in the magazine Prophecy Today, but the warnings were not heeded.

When warning signs are ignored God says, “I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen” (Isa 65:12). There are inevitable consequences when we do not listen. Some more recent ones are listed in the article “What Is God Doing?”.

Consequences

The history of Israel recorded in the Bible shows the consequences when a nation refuses to heed the warnings that God sends to them: things start to fall apart in the life of the nation. It was at one of these times that the Psalmist cried out “Help, Lord, for the godly are no more; the faithful have vanished from among men. Everyone lies to his neighbour; their flattering lips speak with deception” (Ps 12:1). In another of David’s Psalms he asked “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).

The response of Christians should be, “Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jer 37:17) This was the question King Zedekiah asked the Prophet Jeremiah when the Babylonian army was surrounding Jerusalem. But it was too late then. He should have asked this question much earlier.

Is it too late for us? Is Britain already in a time of judgement?

Foundations Crumbling

Certainly, the Judaeo-Christian foundations of our nation have been steadily eroded over the past 40 years! We have passed one law after another that has undermined the biblical values of the nation:

• the Abortion Law has killed millions of unborn babies,
• the Sunday Trading Act has turned every day into a day of commerce with no time for the family, for quiet reflection and worshipping God,
• the Divorce Laws that the Bible says God hates have devastated family life (Mal 2:16), and most heinous of all political crimes:
• the Same-Sex Marriage Act, which actually dares to 'redefine' marriage, part of God’s act of creation!

So what can Christians do? The General Election gives an opportunity to eject ungodly MPs. But where are the godly men and women to replace them?

Here are a few things we can do.

1. Use your vote. Be determined to use your vote. And use it wisely.
2. Find out who your local candidates are and find all you can about them. If you have a sitting candidate discover how he or she voted on key questions such as the Same-Sex Marriage Act. Information on this is available on the Marriage Foundation’s website. Ask the candidates questions – for help look at the special election websites provided by Christian Concern and CARE.
3. Meet with other Christians and discuss the local situation and arrange to meet candidates. If there is no local meeting – organise one!
4. Read the Bible; study the word of God with other believers, especially the prophets.
5. Pray together: ask the Lord what should be done and decide on a plan of action. Agree to meet both before and after the election to pray for candidates and pray for the new MPs.
6. Get involved in local action instead of leaving it to the secular humanists. Paul says the whole “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed” (Rom 8:19).

Time for Action

Surely it’s time for Christians to make the word of the Lord heard in this land! With Paul, we should be saying, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16). If we remain silent at such a time as this we will be accountable to the Lord for the mess in our nation.

Now is the time to awake from sleep; to rise up in the power of the Lord and declare the truth to a corrupt generation!

We need to pray for boldness and the power of God’s Spirit and he will certainly respond with the promise “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty” (Zech 4:6).

The current election promises to be one of the closest – and most important – in a generation. Polls have been remarkably consistent for a long time, all predicting a ‘Hung Parliament’. How have we got here?

Why No Clear Winner?

Surely the Conservatives ought to have won an overall majority in 2010 against a weak and ineffective Labour administration that had run out of steam – and thus ought to be able now to win a second term outright. Conversely, why have Labour been unable to position themselves as a Government-in-waiting, as in 1995-7, given the Coalition’s rather modest achievements?

Motivating Voters

An important factor in winning an election is the degree to which voters can be motivated and engaged. Reviewing the key achievements of the last five years of the Conservative/LibDem Coalition, it is hard to see much to praise from a biblical standpoint. Modest progress has been made to reduce the deficit, and although many more people have a job than five years ago, we should not ignore the reality that Chancellor Osborne has been as addicted to debt as was Chancellor Brown.

Coalition’s Record

The deficit is less than it was five years ago, but the National Debt is vastly higher. Some disincentives to work and bureaucratic control over education have been reduced. However, from a biblical perspective, the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013 and the non-binding vote on recognising Palestine are of great concern. Both are symptomatic of the change in values that characterise 'modern' Britain today: the abandonment of traditional Judaeo-Christian understandings of sexuality and personal behaviour, and the rejection of Israel, both in favour of humanistic values and worldview.

A Good Manifesto

Political manifestoes are intended to set out what a party will do in office. A good manifesto will state the sort of policies that the party will seek to implement. Some party manifestoes reflect timeless values; others seek to reflect changes in society. Given the huge changes in the past decade we should not be surprised that the main party manifestoes are quite similar and reflect humanism rather than traditional Judaeo-Christian values.

The Present Manifestoes

Of the major parties, the Liberal Democrats have the most humanistic manifesto, but the Conservatives’ and Labour’s are also essentially humanistic. The Green Party’s values are a mixture of humanism and paganism. The SNP’s values combine humanism with nationalism; whereas UKIP’s combine nationalism with traditionalism. None of the major parties show any concern for biblical values.

Political Chaos

The key reason for the present political impasse is that our politicians have pursued a humanistic agenda, while neglecting the biblical values that were at least acknowledged by former generations of politicians. A measure of God’s judgement on us as a nation will be a change from the two-party stability that 'first past the post' gives to us, to a chaotic situation after 7 May in which the only two parties that can form a coalition together will be the Conservatives and Labour. In such a scenario government will be very difficult indeed, with each vote potentially requiring its own coalition to enable it to be passed.

Judgement

While such a scenario might be the natural end for a campaign without a clear winner, it should also be seen as judgement by God on a country and in particular on a parliament that has been greatly blessed by him in times past but which has rejected him, his word, and his values.

Such a scenario does not take into account the wider global situation and the likelihood of a multi-dimensional crisis affecting us all and requiring an urgent Government response. What will it be? Will it be humanistic, or can it be more in line with biblical values? The challenge will be for Christians both to pray and to witness actively in the public square, before the election and beyond.