By Shirley Edwards
November 21, 2015
NewsWithViews.com
[These are my views as a woman living in England, on how the culture and spirit of my country has changed over 50 years. Why the country does not feel protected or strong any more, how it has lost, and is losing it values and decency, and how we are daily losing our free speech.]
The lighthouse keeper does not compromise with the storm; neither does the light become friendly with the darkness… -A.W. Tozer. The Size of the Soul.
There is always something so very uplifting when you witness or hear about heroic acts of courage. They can give us the gift of encouragement and hope and can restore faith in human nature. Courage provides factual evidence that there is something which can always outshine the darkest of days. Courage has optimism and hope enshrined within it, even when it is sometimes coupled with sadness or with tragedy.
But in a world where the relentless reporting and promotion of sickness and fear is mandatory, the dirty seed of hopelessness is daily being planted. Despondency is growing for many people as we flit from one injustice to another, and it is taking sharp focus and a steady grip on truth to make sure that hopelessness doesn’t win. We often need reminding that genuine goodness exists, and should be strived for.
The announcement of the Annual Pride of Britain Awards recently offered a little light relief, and reported a mixture of courageous acts from the very young to the very old. My favourite award winners were:
Sergeant Duncan Slater who after losing both legs in a bomb blast in Afghanistan became the first double amputee to trek unsupported to the South Pole to raise money for wounded veterans.
Emergency responders Major David Cooper, Tom Waters and Dr Ben Clark who risked their own safety to reach young victims of a roller coaster crash at Alton Towers resort in Staffordshire. They dealt with an amputation, precariously balancing 25 ft high, to save lives.
The young people who were critically injured but survived the ordeal, Leah Washington, Vicky Balch, Joe Pugh and Daniel Thorpe. All of them have shown such remarkable courage.
The awards were handed out by some of the main leaders of the political parties, and many famous celebrities. One famous actor announced he was humbled in the face of such real courage, because actors can only act it. What an honest statement that was.
But there are so many truly courageous things that many people do. Every day, right this minute, someone is overcoming, or helping someone else. Usually they are miraculous and quiet events, and do not necessarily require physical strength. Inwardly searching for the light to overcome and overthrow the darkness has a qualitative strength of its own.
Real survivors and over comers are usually pushed underground and out of the limelight. Rarely would they intentionally showcase themselves. They just are, and can inspire others, sometimes in a wordless way.
However, I have also noticed you need a certain amount of discernment to make sure that actual heroism is not being confused with the upside down and back to front ideas about what really constitutes bravery. A ‘compromising’ through feelings, with unethical and potentially dangerous ideas on moral and ethical issues, means that we can sometimes see bravery, kindness or compassion as something it is not. In other words, misplaced kindness and compromising can kill you, and do more harm than good to others.
A Day to Remember
Ironically, September 11th in the UK this year was marked with MP’s debating the Lord Falconers’ Assisted Dying Bill at the Houses of Parliament.
Dignity in Dying, the organisation which is pushing for legalisation of assisted dying for the terminally ill are basing their supporting evidence of good practice on the system which has been in place in Oregon, USA, for the past 18 years. The Death with Dignity Act.
They claim that 80% of the British public would support the legalisation of assisted dying, with 71% of religious people and 75% of disabled people also supporting it. The organization also claims that assisted dying is a separate issue from assisted suicide or euthanasia. The patient has been given a terminal diagnosis by a doctor, they are in a mentally competent state, and would also have the choice to self administer to end their suffering.
Currently, these are very inaccurate statistics and could confuse and mislead the casual listener or researcher; who are influenced by statistics to evaluate truth, and have learnt to become conformists to what they perceive to be the majority. The survey was carried out on a Populus poll of just 5,000 people, out of the 54 million people who live in the UK.
Without thinking through the consequences of what helping someone kill themselves could really mean, there is also a mentality based on the overload of bad news, of what doesn’t yet affect you, doesn’t yet concern you; an indifference, a live and let live attitude, and this is a problem.
Going along to get along has become very dangerous and has allowed a minority of people calling for their human rights to change laws which can then morally and physically hurt others, especially the most vulnerable.
An excellent paper on the dangers of assisted death can be found here, which also covers the ‘safeguards’ which were not in place in Oregon and Washington. Written by Mary E Harned, Americans for Life.
A growing culture of choosing death when you see no hope at all has destroyed many lives. There are a lot of silent testimonies which should also be told about the suffering which has resulted from suicide, and those who help them, by those left behind.
Similarly, there are literally thousands of stories of people given terminal diagnosis who have overcome their illness.
What is the truth about our threatened demise, and were we ever created to die and suffer alone?
The Falling Man
The Alzheimer’s Society states that Dementia, a growing illness, is now affecting 44 million people worldwide. Two thirds of Dementia cases in the UK are reported as affecting women. Suicide in the UK, according to the Samaritans, which has the most accurate recording system, reported 6,708 suicides in 2013 with male suicide rates being the highest since 2001, and also growing.
The increase in Dementia, and in particular male suicide, should make people question why there is so much confusion and despondency in the world. Is it the poisoning of food, water and air pollution? Is it sin and immorality; or is it the pressure to conform and compromise to a created world of confusion, injustice and oppression, until we accept a lie (an abuse) which is creating the steady rise of mental health problems each year?
Does killing the pain really end the pain and is mass despondency and fear purposefully being instigated so that it will eventually lead to mercy killing as a pre-cursor for everyone’s final solution?
Hope for Mankind
Stories of courage most certainly lift the spirits. These days we need to know about the strength and integrity which is found in men. This is not to denigrate the bravery shown by women, but is it coincidental that we collectively feel a real sense of security when we hear or see men acting with courage and decency. Where have all the good male role models gone.
For a dose of inspiration, Suffragette, the movie, will be shown to 400,000 children and young people free of charge across the UK this month. Why is that? The story of the female British suffrage movement in order to win women the right to vote, has, I believe, been timed to keep alive and instigate anger and division.
It is not unusual to hear women who have watched this movie say it has fuelled some resentment, and made them more determined to fight for women’s rights.
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Cultural manipulation is at the real heart of those who encourage some minority groups to fight for a right which is obviously wrong. There is a very cruel interest in reducing the world population and diminishing men’s roles; which is evident when you look around. It clothes itself in a blanket called equality.
Free will and choice will always exist, but compromising with darkness, has dragged people down, it has never lifted them up to higher ground.
Finding the way that leads to real life, dignity, grace and freedom will take real courage in these troubling times.
Who will be your hero?
Sources:
1
- Death
with Dignity UK
2 - www.alzheimers.org.uk
3 - Assisted
Dying Oregon
4 - Public
Oppinion on Assisted Dying
5 - Dangers
of Assisted Suicide
6 - Education
7 - You-Tube
8 - Team
effort at Alton Towers response recognised at Pride of Britain Awards
© 2015 Shirley Edwards - All Rights Reserve
Share This ArticleShirley Edwards was born and lives in Great Britain. She has always worked in administration, but has also taught and studied complimentary health. In administrative roles, she has worked within The Church of England. She also worked for some years as a volunteer within the hospice movement.
Shirley has an interest in all health issues, loves the British countryside, and enjoys writing. She is thankful for talk radio and loves listening.
Shirley has always been concerned about the loss of freedoms in her country, and also the demise of America, a country she loves for the original reasons on which it was founded. She believes in the Pursuit of Genuine Happiness.
E-Mail: eshirley02@gmail.com
