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Their right to have a say in the destiny of their own lives will have been withdrawn forever, with the result that a much-envied civilisation built on Christian foundations of care and compassion would collapse as surely as did the 110-storey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

Clifford Hill reacts to the result of the General Election...

All the political pundits have been astonished by the result of the General Election. The polls predicted a very different picture with Labour and the Conservatives running neck-and-neck in England but significant gains for the minor parties.

None of this happened. The one place the pollsters got it right was in Scotland where even well-known Lib Dem and Labour political leaders were swept aside in a tsunami of nationalism.

The common factor

The one common factor between the result in England and that in Scotland is that the people have voted for their own self-interest. The Scottish National Party appealed not only to the tribal instinct of Scots but also to their own self-interest, pledging to be a force in Westminster that will ensure that a larger slice of the economic cake will go to Scotland and they will all be better off by having SNP members there to put Scotland first.

The one common factor between the result in England and that in Scotland is that the people have voted for their own self-interest."

South of the border, the Conservatives played the same economic card appealing to people's self-interest; that they will be better off by voting Conservative who are steering the nation towards more prosperous times. It was a message designed to appeal to those who are doing reasonably well and hope to do better.

The real losers

The losers in this election are the poor, the unemployed, the powerless - those who didn't even feel it was worthwhile voting. They knew that they would not get a larger slice of the cake - whoever triumphed at the polls. The millions who live in our inner-city areas and who exist on welfare, or scrape a living on a day-to-day basis with no job security: they are the forgotten multitude who live in ghettos of hopelessness and despair.

The real losers of this election are the poor, powerless and marginalised. What will happen to them now?"

What will happen to the poor and powerless as the nation enjoys increasing prosperity? The legacy of colonial slavery is still rampant among those from an African-Caribbean background, who still carry the names of their British plantation owners and are unable to trace their African roots. Will anyone in the new government stop and ask why there are more young black men in prison in Britain than in university?

Will anyone care for those who still suffer from the legacy of industrial exploitation leftover from the Industrial Revolution and the dark times of 19th century Britain? Will anything be done to change the culture of despair that engulfs whole communities in our big cities?

Deep-rooted problems

One thing is certain: if nothing is done; if no-one cares, deep-rooted sense of injustice and frustration will boil over once again, as they did in the riots that began in Tottenham in August 2011 and spilled over into other parts of London and Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol and other cities.

This is the word of the Lord to prosperous Britain- it is the word that Jeremiah gave to the city of Jerusalem at a time of prosperity when the word of God was ignored (Jer 7:4-8):

If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not opporess the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, in the land I gave to your forefathers for ever and ever. But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless."

Why is it that on the day before the General Election, polls are showing that the main parties are still neck-and-neck after six weeks of campaigning? We are facing a highly uncertain future.

Judgement Day Approaches

The gulf between Scotland and England grows wider with another vote on independence almost certain and the breakup of the Union comes closer. A Referendum on Europe could leave England even more isolated. Great Britain would soon be reduced to 'Little England'.

The British Empire that covered half of the globe when our present Queen was born has disappeared in a single lifetime. The great Commonwealth of Nations over which she was crowned Queen is rapidly slipping into oblivion. Whilst we do not endorse all of Britain's colonial history, it is clear that the global power and influence once given to our nation is crumbling away. How could this happen? Why have the mighty fallen? We are certainly not blaming the Queen, who has shown great integrity and fortitude through one of the most difficult periods in world history.

Right and Wrong Rejected

There is a very simple answer to these questions. As a nation we have collectively turned our backs upon God. If you reject the basic principles of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, the foundations of the nation are destroyed. When the storm strikes, all the great institutions of state are shaken and crumble before our eyes.

Inevitable Consequences

When we reject the word of God the consequences are inevitable – chaos and confusion follow. This is what we expect will be the outcome of the general election. The word of God to Britain is this:

The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind. (Deut 28:28)

A Good Outcome

But the Lord also promises good coming out of what appears to be disaster. Psalm 103 says,

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who respect him.

From Disaster to Blessing

For at least the past 30 years God has been warning us that he is going to shake the nation and all the material things in which we've put our trust will come crumbling down. But God's purposes are always for our good, for blessing rather than judgement.

If the great shaking that is coming upon us causes us to recognise that we have turned away from truth and righteousness, the whole situation can change overnight."

This sounds impossible, but with God nothing is impossible. When our lives are open to him he pours out blessings that are beyond our wildest dreams. How will we respond when the storm strikes?

Clifford Hill looks at drugs and money laundering in the banking industry...

HSBC has been a lot in the news recently, not simply for the celebration of its 150 year anniversary, but for what many commentators have said to be its questionable banking practices. The revelation by a Geneva-based whistle-blower that hundreds of wealthy clients have been shielded from tax obligations by the use of a private bank, has created both political and moral shock waves. This is being investigated in London and now HSBC says it is considering moving from London. Is this just coincidence?

The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) was born in controversy following the two Opium Wars, in which Britain inflicted what 20th Century Chinese historians labelled “A Century of Humiliation” upon China.

The 1830s was a time when Britain faced economic ruin, largely because of its enormous trade imbalance with China. The British were addicted to drinking tea: huge quantities of tea together with silk and porcelain were imported from China, but the Chinese wanted very little manufactured in Britain. Instead they demanded payment in silver. Stocks were rapidly running out in the British Exchequer. In 1833 Britain passed the Act of Emancipation setting African slaves free in the Caribbean islands and other parts of the British Empire. But this cost the Exchequer £20 million in compensation paid to the owners of slaves (though not one penny was paid to the slaves themselves, an injustice that is yet to be acknowledged by any British Government!).

HSBC was born in controversy, at a time when Britain was struggling to pay China for its growing addiction to tea..."

The Opium Trade

The East India Company had for some time been exporting opium from its poppy fields in India. By 1838 this trade reached 1400 tons of opium a year, which was doing immense harm to the population in China, millions of whom were now addicts. The Emperor of China appealed to Queen Victoria, citing the harm that was being done to his citizens by the immoral actions of the British. But his letter never reached the Queen. It was said to be “lost in transit” (no doubt diverted by some corrupt official).

The Emperor of China appealed to Queen Victoria by letter, but it mysteriously disappeared and never reached her..."

Send in the Navy

China reacted by closing the port of Canton and seizing and destroying 1,200 tons of opium in the East India Company’s warehouses. The British answered by sending the Navy – at that time the most powerful fleet in the world – to destroy Chinese ships and occupy the port. Thus began China’s Century of Humiliation with an ‘Unequal Treaty’ whereby China was forced to pay compensation to Britain and to grant British colonial status to Hong Kong. This unjust settlement of 1842 led directly to the Second Opium War of 1856 to 1860, when France joined Britain in invading Chinese ports and enforcing a settlement that legalised the opium trade and opened the Chinese interior to British merchants.

Just five years later HSBC was founded, primarily to deal with the huge profits from the opium trade, providing banking facilities for wealthy entrepreneurs who were happy to make fortunes out of a trade that many considered to be unethical. Now, 150 years later, they have been caught pursuing another trade that many would also consider to be unethical. They are reported to have provided facilities for storing the wealth of over 100,000 of the world’s richest individuals and organisations by offering them the anonymity of the Swiss private banking system.

Tax Evasion

According to reports in The Guardian,¹ evidence was given to the British tax authorities and to the British Government in 2010 of those individuals and corporations who were using the HSBC system; yet only one individual has been prosecuted for tax evasion. HM Revenue and Customs justify this by saying that they have used the information to recover millions of pounds in unpaid tax and have thus benefited the Exchequer more than if they had pursued these matters through the courts. But is this really an ethical use of national tax policy?

In effect HMRC are saying that money is more important than righteousness."

But there is no doubt a further reason for the Government not wanting to expose the alleged misdemeanours of powerful banks that are said to have aided clients in tax avoidance schemes. It is well-known that revenue from the City of London plays a major part in the British economy and anything that disturbs the activities and prosperity of the City could have a devastating effect upon the national economy.

Stephen Green

Perhaps the strangest element in the entire HSBC saga is the appointment of Stephen Green as Minister of State for Trade and Investment from January 2011 for two years. He had been working for HSBC since 1982 and had been its CEO and latterly Chairman, reportedly earning more than £25 million a year. If the Government had known since 2010 the information provided by the whistle-blower on HSBC’s alleged tax evasion services to clients, why did the Government honour him with a peerage and appoint him as a Minister of State? What was David Cameron’s role in this appointment?

Stephen Green had been at the helm of HSBC when it was fined by the USA for money laundering for Mexican drug cartels, as well as running a banking system in the Cayman Islands (where it had no staff and no office), and assisting states such as Iran and North Korea to break international sanctions.

Christian Initiative

Stephen Green is also an ordained Anglican minister and I was introduced to him by Dr Rowan Williams when he was Archbishop of Canterbury. I met him a number of times without knowing the nefarious practices in HSBC that were allegedly taking place behind-the-scenes. I had high hopes that he would back a Christian initiative to launch a new national newspaper in the UK which would break the monopoly of secular humanists on British journalism.

That initiative had the backing of many leading Christians as well as Christian journalists, but it required a substantial capital investment for a successful launch. Stephen Green could, of course, have provided this out of his own pocket without calling upon investment from the bank. But instead of seeing it as a faith project for which God would supply the prosperity he looked at it as a banker and said it was not a sound investment. He did not catch the vision of a newspaper declaring the truth of the word of God to the nation. In hindsight, maybe he feared the same for his bank!

References

1 The Guardian, 9 February 2015