Greenwich Mean Time

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Hello Bishop. I was wondering how you felt about the possible abolition of Greenwich Mean Time for the UK, as proposed by all three major political parties? - Jenny

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I strongly oppose it. Quite apart from the fact that there has been no meaningful public debate on the matter, this is yet another assault on our identity and tradition which will only create more confusion and bewilderment. I have never been happy about moving into British Summer Time (BST) each year (as we did yesterday), only to return to Greenwich Mean Time come the autumn. I would prefer to always be in our unique time zone. Currently the clocks go back by one hour every October, providing more daylight in the mornings but meaning that it gets darker earlier in the afternoons. The change has taken place annually since 1916 when clocks went back by an hour to give farmers more time to work in their fields. Under one proposal the clocks would go forward by an hour throughout the year, not just during the summer months but permanently. There is even a proposal for the clocks to go forward by an hour throughout the year, so the winter would be GMT+1 hour and the summer GMT+2 hours. Tory, Labour and Liberal are all agreed upon some sort of change.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. It is commonly used in practice to refer to Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) when this is viewed as a time zone, especially by bodies connected with the United Kingdom, such as the BBC World Service, the Royal Navy, the Met Office and others, although strictly UTC is an atomic time scale which only approximates GMT with a tolerance of 0.9 second. It is also used to refer to Universal Time (UT), which is a standard astronomical concept used in many technical fields and is referred to by the phrase Zulu time. In the UK, GMT is the official time only during winter. I would like to see us return to GMT throughout the year. GMT is substantially equivalent to Western European Time. Noon Greenwich Mean Time is not necessarily the moment when the noon sun crosses the Greenwich meridian (and reaches its highest point in the sky in Greenwich) because of Earth's uneven speed in its elliptic orbit and its axial tilt. This event may be up to sixteen minutes away from noon GMT (this discrepancy is known as the equation of time). The fictitious mean sun is the annual average of this non-uniform motion of the true Sun, necessitating the inclusion of mean in Greenwich Mean Time.

Gordon Brown has already stated that abandoning putting the clock back by an hour every October was “worthy of consideration” and raised the prospect of a three-year trial. The Prime Minister recently told tourism leaders in the West Country that he had been “thinking carefully” about the switch. Gordon Brown said he had been considering the idea on a recent visit to Afghanistan last December, where the time difference is split by half hours. He said: “We have got to keep this under review. I cannot give you a promise of a three-year trial but it is something I was actually thinking about very carefully. It is worthy of consideration. Different parts of the UK have different views on this issue as well. It is important that we recognise the different requirements in different parts of the country, but I think the savings that you are talking about are potentially real.” Ben Bradshaw, the Culture secretary who is in charge of tourism policy, said: “It is an absolute no brainer. It is high time we moved on it.” Road safety campaigners welcomed a review of the rules. Cathy Keeler, deputy chief executive at Brake, said: “The practice of using Greenwich Mean Time is rooted in tradition, rather than common sense.” Opposition to the annual change has invariably come from people in Scotland where the days are shorter because it is nearer to the North Pole. The Scottish parliament might even opt to enter a different time zone if the British government decides to abolish Greenwich Mean Time. I might consider doing the same.

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Books

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Dear Bishop Manchester, Where can I buy your books in the Netherlands? I am very interested in your work. Do you have a representative in the Netherlands? Kind regards, Marco Roos, The Netherlands.

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I am receiving enquiries regarding my books which still remain in print and available for purchase. Mostly it is people outside Great Britain wanting to know how to obtain copies due to difficulty in finding a supplier. By far the most efficient method is to order direct from the publisher Gothic Press. If you live outside the United Kingdom, please be sure to click on the appropriate button when placing an order via the webpage found at the following link:

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http://www.gothicpress.freeserve.co.uk/Bookshop.htm

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Werewolfism

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Hello Bishop Manchester. I would like to ask you a few questions. First question is, has the Vampire Research Society ever investigated any situations of that might have involved werewolfism or any other kind of shapeshifting. Second question is how common do you think werewolfism is in America and western Europe? - Ruben H.

The Vampire Research Society has an interest in werewolfism and has investigated suspected cases in the British Isles and France, but it is impossible to know how common the affliction might be in such places as America and parts of Europe generally. This is largely because the lycanthrope/werewolf can fall under a number of different categories, some of them medical, and is of a different kidney to the vampire. I met a woman in Highgate in the 1980s who believed she was turning into a werewolf, but actually suffered from an extreme form of lupus syndrome which is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body's immune system attacks its own tissues and organs (auto-immunity). Inflammation caused by lupus syndrome can affect many different body systems, including joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, heart, and lungs. It occurs more frequently in women than in men, although the reasons for this are unknown. Four types of the condition exist — systemic lupus erythematosus, discoid lupus erythematosus, drug-induced lupus erythematosus and neo-natal lupus syndrome. Of these, systemic lupus erythematosus is the most common and serious form of lupus syndrome. These are medical conditions and not werewolfism.

Some people with lupus syndrome also have problems with their blood clotting too quickly. These people have anti-phospholipid antibody syndrome, lupus anti-coagulant or anti-cardiolipin. The condition is managed with blood thinner like coumadin or wafarin and must be carefully monitored. Lupus erythematosus is a connective tissue disease. There is also a mental illness called lycanthropy in which a patient believes he or she is, or has transformed into, an animal and behaves accordingly. This is sometimes referred to as clinical lycanthropy to distinguish it from its folkloric counterpart where the person has the apparent ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a wolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics.

The term lycanthropy comes from the Greek lykánthropos (λυκάνθρωπος): λύκος, lýkos ("wolf") plus άνθρωπος, ánthrōpos ("human"). It is sometimes used generically for any transformation of a human into animal form, though the precise term for that is technically therianthropy. The werewolf may be regarded as a man or woman who, either of his or her own will through the black arts, is able to assume the hideous appetite, ferocity, cunning, and other qualities of the wolf; so that he or she will attack human beings in the same way as a wild animal. There are recorded instances where the person has taken on a wolf-like appearance. Werewolfism can be hereditary, or acquired through a demonic agency, but, unlike the vampire, werewolves are living persons either afflicted, or self-afflicted, with the malady that sometimes results in an apparent transformation. Vampires, on the other hand, are demonic entities in apparent corporeal form which manifest at night to feed of the blood of the living whereby their material appearance is maintained and indeed nourished. Werewolves, on the other hand, are people who assume a wolf-form and wolf-like behaviour.

The lycanthrope werewolf should not be confused with the voluntary werewolf, under whom for this consideration any form of apparent shape-shifting may be included. An essential prerequisite is a pact, formal or tacit, with a demonic agency. Such metamorphosis as that examplified in the voluntary werewolf can only be wrought by engagement in the dark arts. Shapeshifting is certainly not uncommon where demonic agencies are involved, and I have, perhaps unsurprisingly, encountered this phenomenon in the course of my research and investigations.

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Communion of Saints

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I'm young, I'm naive, and I'm curious - all religion fascinates me. I was wondering why Catholics seem to pray to saints rather than Jesus / God directly. For example the Hail Mary's; why do you pray to Mary and ask her to pray for you? Does the bible not teach that we should pray to no man, bow to no graven image or statue? I'm not meaning to sound cruel or judgmental, I just want to understand. I would really appreciate an answer. Thank you. - Amanda

Jesus Christ is the one and only shepherd of the flock, ie the Church (John 10: 16). Yet in a subordinate way He shares His shepherding with others, beginning with Peter (John 21: 15-17) and extends it later to others (Eph. 4: 11). The saints in heaven are aware of what is going on, and they specifically pray for things that go on here on earth. The saints in heaven are not bound by time and space as we are. In eternity, 1 John 3: 2 tells us: "Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

Certainly by the year 100 AD Christians were honouring other Christians who had died, and asking for their intercession. Many people think that honouring saints was something the Church set up later, but it was part of Christianity from the beginning. Why do you keep pictures of your loved ones in your wallet or around your home or office? You might answer that you carry those pictures to remind you of people you love, to help you feel that they are close to you when you are not together, or to share with people you meet. You would not say you worshipped them. Those are some of the same reasons Catholics have statues and pictures of saints. Seeing a statue of St Therese of Lisieux who lost her mother when she was a child might make us feel less alone when we are grieving. A picture of St Francis of Assisi might remind us of how much he loved God's creation and make us more aware of our environment. Prayers to saints are meant to be a humble request to the saint, asking them to pray on the person's behalf. This practice has both Biblical and Church support, assuming one does not cross the line from prayer to worship. When a Catholic prays to a saint, they are not worshiping the saint, but rather asking the saint to pray for them. It is not meant to be any different than one person asking another person to pray for them. The saint and the person are praying together to Jesus Christ who alone we worship. Christ uniquely mediates between God the Father and men.

Mary's chief glory is in her nothingness, in the fact of being the "Handmaid of the Lord," as one who in becoming the Mother of God acted simply in loving submission to His command, in the pure obedience of faith. She is blessed not because of some mythical pseudo-divine prerogative, but in all her human and womanly limitations as one who has believed. It is the faith and the fidelity of this humble handmaid, "full of grace" that enables her to be the perfect instrument of God, and nothing else but His instrument. The work that was done in her purely the work of God. "He that is mighty hath done great things in me." The glory of Mary is purely and simply the glory of God in her. And she, like anyone else, can say that she has nothing that she has not received from Him through Christ.

Like all Christians, Catholics believe in life after death. Those who have lived good lives and died in the faith of Christ will, as the Bible tells us, share in His resurrection. While we live together on earth as Christians, we are in communion, or unity, with one another. But that communion does not end when one of us dies. We believe that Christians in heaven, the saints, remain in communion with those of us on earth.

   

“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2: 5)

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Civil Partnership Ceremonies

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Traditionalists fear clergy could be taken to court and accused of discrimination if they reject requests to hold civil partnership ceremonies or "gay marriages" on religious premises. This would apply to churches, mosques and synagogues. The warning follows a landmark vote by peers in the House of Lords that would allow the ceremonies to be held in all places of worship. What would you and the priests under your jurisdiction do if you were asked to marry homosexual and lesbian couples? - Clare

 
 

 
 

Our position remains unaltered. It will not happen. Nothing could prevail upon us to go against scripture on this matter. Under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, homosexual couples are allowed to hold civil partnership ceremonies in register offices and approved venues such as stately homes and hotels, but they were banned from doing so in churches while the events were not allowed to be religious in character. In the amendment to Harriet Harman’s controversial Equality Bill tabled by Lord Alli late on Monday night, the ban on religious premises was lifted. It was passed on a free vote by 95 to 21, with only two of the bishops – the Lords Spiritual – taking part. The amendment stated: “For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this Act places an obligation on religious organisations to host civil partnerships if they do not wish to do so.” But the fear is that the protection from discrimination in the "provision of goods or services" guaranteed in the Equality Bill will mean that homosexuals could take legal action against clergy who refused to hold the ceremonies in their church. 

 

 

Waheed Alli aka "Baron" Alli, pictured above, whose amendment to the Equality Bill in effect amends the Civil Partnership Act, making it legal under secular law for churches to celebrate civil partnerships and "marry" homosexual and lesbian couples. Alli is a multi-millionaire media entrepreneur and politician who sits in the House of Lords as Labour Peer "Lord" Alli. Born in 1964 of Indo-Caribbean parents, Waheed Alli is openly homosexual and also a Muslim. He has used, some might say abused, his political position to further "gay rights" and constantly campaign on behalf of homosexual causes. 

 

The Bishop of Bradford, the Rt Rev David James, warned during the debate of the “unintended consequences” of this amendment. He said that although it was being presented to “simply be an available option” to some religious groups, he was “not so confident” that it would remain so. The Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, said: “I believe it will open, not the Church of England, but individual clergy, to charges of discrimination.” Lord Waddington, the former Home Secretary, said a clergyman “prepared to register marriages but not to register civil partnerships would be accused of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in the provision of services.” The vote was nonetheless welcomed by equality campaigners such as Rabbi Aaron Goldstein, the joint chairman of the Rabbinic Conference of Liberal Judaism, who said his community was “looking forward to being able to celebrate its first ever Jewish spiritual blessing together with the English legal ceremony.” Quakers and Unitarians predictably also intend to hold homosexual and lesbian "marriage" ceremonies on their premises. 

 

My clergy and I seek the repeal of the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 which enacted recommendations that allowed for the first time in Great Britain homosexual acts and sodomitical practices between consenting males and married couples. Hitherto it had been a criminal offence for either heterosexuals or homosexuals to engage in sodomy. An amendment in 2000 reduced the age restriction to sixteen. Waheed Alli played no small part in that appalling decision. I and my clergy, therefore, would like to restore the status quo to how it was prior to 1967. We shall add our weight to any Christian group campaigning in that regard, ie for the restoration of traditional family values with morals based on the New Testament.

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