DEFEND MARRIAGE NOW

Fact:

The family unit is a characteristic of every civilisation. Marriage is undoubtedly the most important and oldest social structure known to humanity. The marriage-based family comprising husband and wife, children and a network of relatives is the basic building block for our society. A highly organised campaign by powerful pressure groups is seeking to change the meaning of the word ‘marriage’ itself. Incredibly the politicians are doing this without any mandate, without proper consultation and against huge opposition in the country. They are rushing through hastily drafted legislation to sweep on one side the established definition of marriage.

The third reading of the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill is on 20th & 21st May in the House of Commons. Although a large majority of MPs voted for the Bill at the second reading IT IS NOT TOO LATE for this Bill to be defeated. If it is voted in by MPs it will then be taken to the House of Lords. This gives further opportunity for opposition to be expressed.

They have not told us whether or how they are going to change the meaning of other words such as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ and ‘mother’ and ‘father’. Although it is currently being considered in Parliament, they have, so far, totally failed to define the crucial terms ‘adultery’ and ‘consummation’ for their new regime.

In this new situation the State will inevitably have to introduce some form of propaganda into our schools to feed to our children and to seek to explain to them this absurd new concept. To make matters worse the State will inevitably force teachers, against their conscience, to teach children, what many of them consider to be a lie, probably on pain of losing their jobs. The proposals are being presented in the name of ‘equality’. This is grossly mislead. The reality is that the proposed legislation gives no additional rights whatsoever to those already given in civil partnerships.

If future anomalies and confusion are to be avoided far more time needs to be spent on this controversial proposal, which has split the nation. MPs need to be told of the folly of what they are doing. There has been no public demand for this legislation and once again, many politicians have failed to recognise the deep chasm which divides them from the public. The membership of their parties in their constituencies is in most cases pathetically small – considerably less than the membership of local churches. We have now reached the stage where the majority of the public often choose not to vote in elections.

There is still time for MPs to have second thoughts about this miserable Bill. A vast section of the public now opposes it. Significantly, many of them have suffered abuse and vilification by militant supporters of the proposals.

Between now and next week MPs are vulnerable to influence by electors. Hopefully, the House of Lords will save the nation from the consequences of this malign legislation which future generations will regret.

DEFEND MARRIAGE NOW

Action:

This is what you can do NOW to oppose this pernicious proposal:

• TODAY email your MP here, expressing your concerns, or write to them at The House of Commons, Westminster, London, SW1A 0AA.
• Ensure there is an avalanche of individual emails and letters to every MP by next Monday, 20th May. Write again even if you have already written.
• THIS WEEKEND arrange for a group of your friends to lobby your MP at his/her constituency office.
• IMMEDIATELY write a letter to your local press opposing the proposals and demanding a referendum. Get others to write as well.
• TODAY sign the Coalition for Marriage petition (http://c4m.org.uk/) if you have not already done so. Get others to do the same.
• THIS SUNDAY make sure that the congregation of your church is informed about what is happening.
• OVER THE WEEKEND Encourage your church itself to write urgently to your MP.
• THIS WEEKEND send a petition letter to your MP with local signatures.
• NEXT MONDAY leave a telephone message at your MP’s office in Westminster (0207 219 3000) urging him/her to oppose the legislation.
• ABOVE ALL, PRAY FOR WHAT IS HAPPENING – BOTH AT HOME AND AT CHURCH. ESPECIALLY PRAY FOR THE CHILDREN OF OUR NATION.

NOTE: There are national prayer gatherings outside Parliament next MONDAY AND TUESDAY, 20 & 21 MAY (12-2pm & 5-7pm). Also Sunday 2nd June is being set aside in many churches as “Prayer for Marriage Day”.

The Maranatha Community strongly supports the ‘Coalition for Marriage’

Further information available from the Maranatha Website: (or hard copy from our office)

Trumpet Call (February 2012) ‘Marriage – The Battle is on’
Trumpet Call (December 2012) ‘A Huge Mistake’ – 18 Facts
Trumpet Call (February 2013) ‘We must not be silent on this issue’ – 34 questions

Maranatha Submission (March 2013)
‘The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill to the House of Commons Public Bill Committee
Also
“The Big Question – What on Earth are we Doing to our Children?” (December 2012) presented in Parliament. (Available from the Maranatha online bookshop)

Maranatha Parliamentary Consultations
2004 ‘Survival of the Marriage-based Family – Does it Matter’, House of Lords
2006 ‘Family and Marriage – An Overview’, House of Commons
2008 ‘Future of the Marriage-based Family’, House of Commons
2012 ‘Equal Civil Marriage Consultation’

The Maranatha team has a continually growing pool of research information which is being used to brief Members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Supplementary information on same-sex marriage is being produced next week by our researchers for submission to selected Parliamentarians.

The Big Question: What on Earth are we Doing to our Children?

An important book, written by members of the Maranatha Community, has been recently launched. “The Big Question – What on Earth are we Doing to our Children?” presents a comprehensive overview of research into a wide variety of concerns about children.  It points to one conclusion – that the future for the children and young people of Great Britain is in serious question.

It is well established that the current adult generation has saddled future generations with serious debt.  More importantly, however, the evidence of this book points to vast numbers of children and young people growing up without any sense of identity or purpose.

• The number of 16-24 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEETs) in England has reached 938,000. This represents 15.6% of this age group. (Department for Education, 2011)
• The estimated cost of hospital treatment for underage drinkers in England is thought to be about £19m a year. (Alcohol Concern, 2010)
• 21,955 under 18’s accessed specialist substance misuse services in the UK in 2010-11.  128 were under the age of 12 years and 315 were aged 12-13 years.  (National Drug Treatment Monitoring System 2012)
• Nearly  a quarter (24%) of children live with only one parent and nine out of 10 of those households were headed by lone mothers (The Office for National Statistics, 2012)
• Forty eight percent of all children born today will experience the breakdown of their parents’ relationship. (Centre for Social Justice, May 2012)
• 39% of school teachers claim to have been abused with sexual swearing and 75% of pupils are aiming sexually abusive swearing at each other. (A Serious Business: NUT & University of Warwick Survey, 2006)
• There were 50,552 children on child-protection registers or the subject of child-protection plans in the UK by the end of March 2011. This has increased from 32,492 in 2006. (NSPCC Inform, 2012)
• A 50% increase in the number of people over the age of 65 is forecast – 12.9 million by 2030.  Today there are 5.3 people of working age to help pay for every citizen who is 70-plus. By 2030 that will have dropped to 3.7. (Daily Telegraph 27 August 2012)

This book was the subject of a Parliamentary Consultation on Tuesday 4th December which was chaired by Fiona Bruce MP. Speeches were given by

• Rt. Rev Peter Forster (Bishop of Chester)
• Dr Linda Stalley (Co-Leader of the Maranatha Community and retired GP)
•  Dr Trevor Stammers (specialist in Bioethics and Medical Law)
• Adam Wisdih (a Student – giving a young person’s perspective)
• Dennis Wrigley (Co-Founder and Leader of the Maranatha Community)
• Dr Tani Omideyi (Founder of Liverpool Lighthouse & LJM Group)
• Annmarie Moran (Principle Author of “The Big Question” and educational consultant)
• Sheldon Thomas (Gangs Consultant/Co-Founder & CEO of Gangsline-T.A.G)
• Juan Fernandez-Arias (Co-Leader of the Maranatha Community)

Click below to hear the full consultation

“The Big Question – What on Earth are we Doing to our Children?” is available from the Maranatha Community Bookshop, price £5. (and post and packaging is FREE until the end of January 2013).

Please leave us your thoughts and comments.

September Trumpet Call

For 17 years ‘Trumpet Call’ has been an effective Christian witness in our land. As part of the Maranatha Community, the ‘Trumpet Call’ network now embraces thousands of Christian activists in all the churches. Working with our team of researchers we collaborate with other agencies, with whom we have friendly relationships. ‘Trumpet Call’ goes to tens of thousands of Christians across the land. Many members including Priests, Pastors and Ministers, copy hundreds to members of their churches. A huge number of issues now call for a Christian response. The Gospel demands that we are salt and light in our nation and in our communities. Your participation in ‘Trumpet Call’ is greatly appreciated.

Click here to download this edition of Trumpet Call, which highlights:

• Major National Event at Wembley
• The Maranatha Lecture
• Special Training Courses
• The Big Question – What on earth are we doing to our children ?
• Protecting our children from drugs
• Protecting our children from pornography
• Protecting Marriage and Freedom
• Protecting the young from government-funded filth
• Persecution of Christians overseas
• De-Christianising Britain

This Trumpet Call lays out the facts and gives suggested actions for you to take. Please pray and act now, and leave comments (which are moderated) here.

Drugs – Protect our children

Fact

On 27th August a report by an international team showed that young people who smoke cannabis run the risk of a significant and irreversible reduction in their IQ. The researchers writing in the US journal ‘Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences’ report that those who use cannabis in adolescence show a considerable decline in IQ averaging 8 points. The more cannabis smoked the greater was the loss of IQ and memory.

The project was carried out over 20 years by researchers who have followed the lives of a 1,000 people in New Zealand. They were assessed as children and then re-interviewed over the years. One member of the team Professor Terrie Moffitt of Kings College, London’s Institute of Psychiatry, said the study “will have a significant impact on our understanding of the dangers of cannabis”. Professor Robin Murray says this sample “is probably the most intensively studied cohort in the world and therefore the data are very good”. He said “There are a lot of clinical and educational anecdotal reports that cannabis users tend to be less successful in their education achievement, marriages and occupations”.

This report is bad news for the pro-drug lobby, which is seeking to legalise drug use under the guise of ‘harm reduction’. Maranatha has produced a range of briefing papers on cannabis and also arranged three Parliamentary consultations on the subject. Together with others we succeeded in getting it re-classified.

Action

Write to your Member of Parliament c/o House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A 0AA (or via www.writetothem.com). Draw his/her attention to this report. Urge your MP to press for a public education campaign, warning children and others of the consequence of using cannabis, which is still being presented as a ‘recreational’ drug. Also write to your local head teachers drawing their attention to this. Our children have the right to know the dangers.

Protecting Innocence Online

Did you know that that one in three 10 year olds have watched pornography online ?

Or that the single largest group of viewers of pornography are children aged 12-17 ?

Or that four in five 14-16 year olds regularly access explicit photographs and footage on their home computers ?

This situation has got to stop.

That is why we and many Christians are calling on the Government to force Internet Service Providers to make pornography an adult-only opt in service. This will give adults the freedom to view such content but, more importantly, ensure our children our free to surf the web safe from harm.

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD.

Thank you to our friends in Premier Christian Radio and Safermedia for this.

URGENT: MARRIAGE – THE BATTLE IS NOW ON!

FACT:

The marriage based family is the basic building block of our society. Children need the security and the role models of committed mothers and fathers. Our nation, (and particularly young people) is already paying a high price for the collapse of families.

Politicians are now preparing to REDEFINE marriage so that it no longer means a covenant relationship between a husband and a wife. In doing this they are striking at the roots of civilised society.

Tyrants and dictators REDEFINE the meaning of words in this way. It is happening because of immense pressure from the secular humanist lobby which wants to get rid of marriage as it has been defined and practised for centuries.

All over the country people are saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and a national campaign is currently being mounted. It is not about civil partnerships or homosexuality or political correctness. It is about the very serious consequences of demolishing the concept of marriage between a man and a woman as it has been known for centuries and as it is defined throughout the world.

ACTION:

Please write TODAY to your Member of Parliament.  It is important that our elected representatives are made aware of the seriousness of what is being proposed.  Ask them specifically whether they will oppose the redefinition of marriage.  Ask them specifically whether they affirm the value of the marriage-based family. and oppose the imposition of so-called same sex “marriages” currently being pursued by the Prime Minister.

For contact details for your Member of Parliament, including email addresses see:
www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/
Note: MP’s only accept correspondance including emails from people who live in their constituency.

Warn of the extremely serious consequences of the destruction of this basic unit of society.  This is not an argument about civil partnerships, homosexuality or political correctness.  It is about the folly of trying to redefine marriage as it is defined throughout the world and as it has been understood throughout the centuries.

The Maranatha Community held a Consultation in the House of Lords on The survival of the marriage-based family – Does it matter?   In 2006 Maranatha published the report ‘Family and Marriage – an Overview’ which is valid today and is available from the office.  In 2008 Maranatha held a Consultation in the House of Commons on ‘The future of the marriage-based family’  Since 2010 Maranatha researchers have amassed a substantial body of information on the marriage-based family which is being used extensively today.

Please Pray & Act Now!

Influence sex and relationships education

The Department of Education is currently conducting a review of PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) Education. The closing date is Wednesday 30th November. Please make response to the questionnaire online here.

Although PSHE Education includes a wide variety of topics the main area of concern is sex and relationships education. This is particularly relevant for Primary Schools where many of the topics are taught in an ‘age-appropriate’ way.

The following points are key. Please endeavour to include these in your responses:

• Education should include moral as well as intellectual training and development, especially in the case of PSHE education. There is no such thing as ‘value-free’ teaching and this approach should be abandoned, especially with regard to sex and relationships.
• Expecting children to make “informed choice” about sex without giving them any moral framework for doing so is unfair.
• Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) teaching should include the full facts. In particular, the health and other benefits of marriage, abstinence and faithfulness should be clearly presented. The health risks for mother and baby of teenage pregnancy, the dangers of abortion and the failure of condoms to protect adequately against a number of sexually transmitted diseases should also be clearly defined.
• Medical evidence showing the benefits of marriage and the harm which results from many so-called alternative sexual practices should not continue to be ignored in SRE teaching. Abstinence and faithfulness should be presented as commendable choices.
• The welfare of children should be paramount. Parents’ views should therefore count for most, not those of lobby groups or self-styled experts. There should be greater parental choice and input with regards to the teaching of PHSE.
• Parents are the best judges of whether a child is at a suitable stage in its psychological, biological and emotional development for a particular level of SRE teaching. Parents should therefore continue to have the right to remove their children from SRE classes.
• Experience in the Netherlands is often cited in support of the propositions (a) that better sexual health outcomes and a lowering of teenage pregnancy rates will result solely from a more open and positive approach to SRE and (b) that sexuality education will in and of itself lead to later and more responsible sexual behaviour. Evidence does not in fact support such conclusions from the Dutch experience. The two key factors are (i) strong family units, (ii) a strong sense of purpose and goals for life.
• There should be no teaching of SRE in primary schools. Children experience a latency period between about six and ten years of age during which they are naturally reluctant to become involved in sexual matters. These instincts exist for their protection. They should not be forced to deal with such things before nature intended.
• PSHE education cannot influence children for good in isolation. If Government is serious about addressing teenage pregnancy and the epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases it must take measures to remove the excessive sexual content of advertising and the media in general with a review of the messages being broadcast to children and young people.

Do not be concerned if you feel unable to answer all the questions. It is more important to state your specific concerns. Do encourage others to complete this online response also.

‘Joy of Teen Sex’ returns tomorrow

Channel 4’s explicit ‘Joy of Teen Sex’ programme returns tomorrow
- Thursday 27 October at 10pm

We’re forwarding this message to you from our friends in Safer Media.

As some of you will remember, the first series of ‘Joy of Teen Sex’, shown in January / February this year, caused a great deal of controversy and alarm and was widely thought to be harmful to young people by both the public and by healthcare professionals (see more details at the end of this message). Sadly Ofcom did not uphold the “considerable number” of complaints, and Safer Media are still following this up.

We would be very grateful if you were able to watch at least one episode of ‘Joy of Teen Sex’ which is on for 6 weeks. You don’t have to watch the whole thing to comment, and it is now easier to contact the regulators than ever before: Go to the new website – www.parentport.org.uk - a one-stop shop where parents and anyone concerned about children, can lodge a formal complaint with Ofcom and ALSO post general comments by clicking on ‘Have your say’. This is important because statistics will be drawn from this feedback, and other people will be able to read your comments.

Thank you.

Some comments on the ‘Joy of Teen Sex’ series earlier this year:

23 healthcare professionals told Ofcom: ” …sexual and reproductive healthcare and education has been grossly misrepresented, leading to parents feeling anxious, young people’s right to accurate information not being delivered, and professional advice being ignored at all stages of programme development.”

Safermedia wrote to Ofcom: “The teenagers are encouraged to ‘improve their sex lives’ with exceptionally detailed advice on oral and anal sex, genital plastic surgery and genital piercing… S&M, sex toys, ‘sex-enhancing’ drugs and working in the sex industry. Young people do not benefit from this sort of information, quite the opposite in fact. By neglecting to discourage risky promiscuous sex, C4 is tacitly encouraging it, because the power of television imagery normalises the behaviour shown … It disinhibits, seriously undermines a healthy sense of modesty and virtue and can drive a wedge between generations by undermining parents’ guidance.”

Please Pray & Act Now!

Sex education in Primary Schools

We’re forwarding this message to you from our friends in Christian Concern.

Sex education campaigners, and some backbench Peers, want to make sex education compulsory in primary schools by forcing a vote at the Report Stage of the Education Bill on Monday 24 October.

At present primary schools are not forced to teach sex education. Yet if it becomes part of the national curriculum then highly explicit resources are likely to be widely used for children as young as five.

Please write to a Peer and ask them to (in your own words):

• Oppose any amendments which force sex education onto primary schools.
• Protect children from graphic material in the classroom.
• Protect the right of head teachers and governors to decide what is best for children at their schools.

You can pick a Peer to write to here

The coalition, which does not support this measure, does not have an overall majority in the Lords and could lose the vote, so please help lobby on this issue if you can.

A guide with further details and examples of the graphic teaching materials used has been produced by the Christian Institute and can be found here.

Please Pray & Act Now!

Safer media – 2 campaigns

Our friends in Safermedia have highlighted the following campaigns to us, which we would like to bring to your attention:

1. Frontpage Campaign re Pornographic Magazines

This urges the Government to introduce measures to ensure that these magazines are not displayed at or below children’s eye-level, near children’s publications or without opaque sleeving; to establish an independent UK regulator to replace out-of-date and ineffective legislation; and to introduce regulations so that magazines are assigned age ratings like films and DVDs:

http://www.thefrontpagecampaign.org.uk/Petition.aspx

2. CUT (Christians Unplug your Televisions)

“TV programmes directed at children should carry a government health warning”:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/12644

Please pray and act now, and leave comments (moderated) here: