One of my favourite movies is called Hope Floats. It is a modern day scenario which incorporates many of the dilemmas that we all personally face in life. There is the betrayal found in marriage and friendship, there is rejection, there is the cruelty of strangers, and there is the loss of husbands, fathers, friends and parents, all weaved and tightly packed in to 120 minutes of emotional pain. It sounds wonderful doesn’t it? But like the sinking of the Titanic, although the ships going down, hope still floats. There is a love element, which is why the movie is also called a chick flick. In this particular story, the man gets his girl, the girl gets her man, the children get parents, and they all move on.
Affairs of the heart sometimes appear like that. Yes, we have to move on, but life often deals with change in a very superficial and romantic way. Happy after afters often leave untold stories of confusion and grief. We have to muster up an awful lot of forgiveness.
People who believe they are in positions of power can be adept at looking over the real harm they create.
With the cultural and social shifts which we witness in attitudes towards marriage, family, gender, religion and abortion, it is clear to see that unless you have the correct information, genuine hope, the willingness to overcome your problems, and a love for doing the right thing, life can step over and crumble so many of those untold stories. Excuse the pun, but you do have to be anchored. Life is changing so quickly that you can be left standing there alone, wondering if anyone truly sees and understands, whilst others merrily wave you on your way.
Yet, there are those who still believe and hang on to such things as the sanctity of traditional marriage and the stability those vows can create for children. There are those who value life. There are those who know that ‘feelings’ are not the basis on which to build your life, and there are those who stick by those principles and offer a life jacket out to those who will potentially drown. It has nothing to do with prejudice. But it’s a risky business.
When someone decides that it is wrong to have traditional beliefs, and worse, penalize and silence people for seeing and living by them; they do not always understand how they themselves are being discrimatory and are being used to de-stabilize society and hurt others in an attempt to enforce a ‘one world’ common view. They have been trained to lead and enforce in a wrong way.
It is reported that just two of many people currently being disciplined in the UK for holding on to their traditional views, their individuality, and also their conscience, are Richard Page and Felix Ngole.
Richard Page is a magistrate of 16 years for the county of Kent and has also worked in mental health for 20 years. In 2015, it is reported the Lord Chancellor, Michelle Grove and the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd barred Mr Page from sitting as a Magistrate after he had expressed his traditional views on marriage and his belief that it was in the best interests of a child to be placed in a traditional family setting rather than with a same-sex couple.
Mr Page is quoted as saying “This is not a matter of prejudice or bigotry but is based on knowledge and evidence that I have applied when seeking the best interests for a lifetime of a vulnerable child”
Felix Ngole is a Christian student who has been expelled from the University of Sheffield after he expressing his support for American, Kim Davies in a face book discussion in which he explained biblical teaching on sexual ethics. It is reported that; The Faculty of Social Sciences Fitness to Practice Committee for the university ruled that he should be removed from the course. This has meant he will no longer be able to pursue his chosen vocation as a social worker.
You can read more through The Christian Legal Centre who are assisting in both of the ongoing cases. [Link 1], [Link 2]
They are but a small reflection of how certain ethical standards outside the enforced ‘new normal’ ones, are being marginalized and ostracized in education, the workplace and also within religion, in the pursuit towards this collective vision. True individuals are having to stand alone whilst society becomes re-wired.
As society sinks into an abyss of one world thinking, all individual and intuitive reasoning’s may become lost, unless we speak up about certain values which need to be saved.
Women and Children First
Hope Floats popped up again most recently when I was introduced to the story of country singers Rory and Joey Feek via the writings of Rory Feek called This Life I Live. He writes that he wants to be the best man he can be.
In one of his articles Rory happened to reveal how his wife Joey, who was dying with cancer, also loved the film. His blog has been followed by many who have witnessed the grace and the dedication of a family living under the prognosis of a terminal illness.
Now that Rory is a single parent, and also a widower, he continues to write his story. It is very encouraging. With a young child to look after, he states that he made a few mistakes in the past with his other children, but he loves being given another chance to be a good father.
Here in the UK there are over 400,000 families reported as being headed by single fathers, just like him. Many of them will also be widowers. It can only be a biased system that chooses to edify the struggle of the single mother at the expense of the many fathers who love and raise their children too. But we hear so little about them.
Why.
This is only the tip of the ice berg in relation to the millions of untold stories experienced by many men who long to be fathers, and who have also been side-lined from having any say in the outcome of their unborn child. The popular belief that it is men that usually encourage women to have abortions may be viewed differently if people could hear the testimonies about the grief that is experienced by many men as their vision of fatherhood dies. You can read one of those stories here.
This together with the mental health issues and the regrets which some women report after having had an abortion often escapes our attention. They need our help. They too have been marginally silenced in order that authoritarians can further another agenda.
And whilst the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, (the BPAS) who are Britain’s largest abortion provider, campaign for the decriminalization of abortion up until the birth of a child for any reason, it is very troubling to hear that they are being supported by Cathy Warwick Chief Executive and General Secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, who it is reported is also a trustee of the BPAS. In setting the record straight against a backlash of criticism from the public and from the midwives she is meant to represent, she confirms that the RCM are supporting the ‘We Trust Women’ campaign which is headed by the BPAS. You can read what Cathy Warwick has to say in her own words here: [Link 1], [Link 2]
So, Does Hope still Float?
Boat Lift – The Untold Story
Vincent Ardolino, captain of Amberjack V, could not stand by and watch other people suffer on the morning of September 11th. He took part in one of the biggest sea evacuations in maritime history.
Boat Lift is not a story of romance, but it is a true story of morally doing the right thing. The story does not incorporate political correctness, discrimination or bigotry. Like Hope Floats it incorporates some fear, but primarily it focuses on saving lives.
It is reported the evacuation was bigger than the evacuation of Dunkirk and from one phone call hundreds of boats intuitively ascended upon the island of Manhattan and did all they could to evacuate 500,000 people from the thick black smoke which had engulfed the island. That’s the spirit……
It is such an inspiring story and speaks of intuition, courage and compassion. In comparison to the culture of destroying people it is encouraging that people can still live by their instincts to do everything that they can to save the lives of others. Life is very valuable.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. —1 Corinthians 3: 16-17
To quote the Fuhrer, “When an opponent declares: ‘I will not come over to your side,’ I calmly say ‘your child belongs to me already. Who are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing but this new community.’” —Roberts, Craig; The Medusa File, Consolidated Press International; Tulsa, OK; 1997; p 90.
Sources:
[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.]
© 2016 Shirley Edwards – All Rights Reserved
