Dated 17th November 2008
Following the concerns raised by Keith Vaz, chairman of the Home Affairs Committee, that the battle to tackle knife crime is 'clearly not working', the director of a Christian group warns today that it will never work.
Stephen Green, of Christian Voice, said today that the breakdown of the family, a culture of disrespect and the way in which the value of human life in Britain has been legislated away, have left the Government with no tools to do the job.
Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, said today:
'Divorce on demand and encouraging teenagers to view sex as no more than a recreational activity mean that half of children are growing up without a father. That has led to a lack of restraint, to anti-social behaviour, and to children looking to the peer-group instead of to their family for their identity.
'The culture of disrespect is typified by Rowan Atkinson's blasphemous sketch in front of the Prince of Wales on Saturday night and by the treatment of Andrew Sachs by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand. People have ceased caring about each other.
'And with the abolition of the death penalty in 1965 and the Abortion Act 1967, Parliament took the death penalty away from the guilty, by the state, where it belongs, and imposed it upon the innocent, in the family, where it does not. Both measures were against public opinion and in opposition to the laws of God.
'It takes time for some of these things to filter through, but there is a principle of sowing and reaping which applies to nations as well as individuals. The law says a human life is worth twelve years in jail, or £250 in an abortion clinic. It all has an effect, even if one does not believe in a direct divine judgment for national sins.
'Urgent legislation to ban divorce on demand and no-fault settlements, together with a new emphasis on chastity in sex education would start to rebuild the family and help people to understand that sex is for marriage and that promises are meant to be kept.
'Banning abortion coupled with the reintroduction of the death penalty for murderers convicted on overwhelming evidence would send out a signal of the true worth of innocent human life, made as it is in the image of God.
'With those measures in place, we would begin to see a reduction in knife crime and in all violent crime. We would have a more responsible and compassionate society, and that is a blessing we need urgently today. If the Government's secularist paradigm means more to them than rebuilding society, more young people will die.'
References: Gen 9:5-13; Deut 24:1-2; Matt 19:3-9; Acts 25:11.
