July Celebrations in North America

This week there will be a lot of nationalistic and patriotic celebrations all over  North America as both the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada take time out to pay tribute to the beginning of their nationhood and how is it that they came to be who they are. Celebrations will begin in Canada which will be celebrating 146 years of confederation on July 1 known as Canada Day (or Dominion day), while three days later the United States will be celebrating 237 years of independence in memory of the declaration made on July 4 1776.

Regardless of the fact that they are both celebrations of nationhood, the origin of the two major giants of North America couldn't possibly be more different, one was born as part of an evolutionary process, the other as a result of a violent revolution,  one came about as a result of loyalty to the Crown, the other was born out of treason and rebellion,  one came into being due to the genuine  desire for self government while the other born out of the desire of the political elite to seize power for themselves. One was about respect for tradition and the other was out of a desire to do away with tradition and establish something that had never been seen before.

Being a devout royalist, I hold no great adoration for George Washington and his ilk, what they did was treason, plain and simple and had they lost the war history would not have portrayed them as heroes but rather it would  have exposed them for the villains that they truly were, power hungry politicians and land owners lusting for supremacy, but instead America history continues to unjustly portray George III as a cruel tyrant and every schoolchild in the US  grows up in this false notion of what really happened, George III was by no means a despot, he was a constitutional monarch acting on the advice of his ministers, doing what he genuinely thought was best for the colonies. I find it disgustingly hypocritical that a man actively supported the enslavement of another race and  owned  huge slave plantations is being portrayed as a champion of freedom and liberty while someone was known to detest slavery so much that he banned all slave made products from the royal palace is being portrayed as a an enemy of freedom. But then again the so called "freedom" fought for by the American revolutionaries was never true freedom in the first place since freedom was limited to wealthy white property owners while having no real impact on anybody else, no wonder  most of the black slaves and the Native Americans choose to fight on the king’s side rather than  for the republic.

                  

The Canadian story is quite different , as it was born not out of rebellion but rather out of loyalty to the Crown, the people of British North America  had no intention of being joined to the United States yet there seem to be every chance that an invasion might take place especially with the US emerging out of their inter-state war stronger than ever and having determined to get rid of all monarchical forms of government on the continent, they had already forced the Emperor of Mexico to abdicate and there was no telling what they might try to do to Canada, after all they tried to invade twice before (Revolutionary War and War of 1812) but failed, what if next time they succeeded? So Sir John MacDonald and the other fathers of Confederation did the wisest thing they could and united  all the colonies into a single realm, the Dominion of Canada, founded up the values of solidarity, patriotism and loyalty to the Crown.

             

The Birth of a nation is always a special occasion and as far as national celebrations go Independence Day and Dominion Day are certainly among the biggest, of course due to the Americanization of our culture and the popularity of Hollywood more people outside of the US would know about July 4 than non-Canadians would know of July 1, of course it does not help that the name Dominion Day was later changed to Canada Day as a means to de-emphasizing the royal connection to the efforts of confederation, nationalistic nostalgia will no doubt  hit fever pitch in the  North, quite frankly I see only one occasion worth celebrating,  revolutionaries overthrowing their rightful monarch and setting up a republic in its place is not something to be lauded but rather to  be denounced, thankfully here in Jamaica our own independence story is a very much similar to what happened in Canada much more civil and dignified than as a result of a violent and seditious revolution. 

End Cultural Marxism

Cultural Marxism and Political correctness are taking over everywhere it seems as though this world is getting out of control, standards, principles and good old fashioned ethics are gone out the window, the cornerstones laid down by those who went before us are now being  torn down and replaced with moral decay and slothfulness, it’s too much to take, this world has gone stark raving mad thanks to the influence of political correctness that has penetrated particularly the western world, Countries and peoples that once promoted patriotism and were sticklers for tradition are now getting rid of virtually everything that once made them great. The Influence of cultural Marxism can be seen in the decline particularly in Christian standards upon which the Western world was built upon and functioned under for centuries and in its place are instead the rise of other belief systems or those with no belief at all, traditional marriage and family life is now being replaced by gay marriage and the institution of the family is completely destroyed,  more people especially among the younger  generation identify themselves as being transgendered and are demanding all kinds of recognition rights while National Pride stands  at an all time low.

                    

 What is even more disturbing is that those who are bold enough to speak out about this great injustice being done are bullied into silence, this is particularly so in some countries  where there seems to be an attempt to wipe out even the mention of God’s name in schools, where is it is  now illegal to have devotions to start off the day but quite fine to teach students that a family can have two Dads or two Mums  and students who are lucky enough to  have been properly raised by good  parents are being bullied by school administrations when they make it absolutely clear that they will not cooperate nor will they be indoctrinated by a system that turns them into mindless puppets instead of teaching them to think for themselves. Then there is the whole matter “Gay Pride” parades, quite frankly in my view, those who practice such unnatural acts have absolutely nothing to be proud about but instead should be locked up  for indecent exposure and violating the established laws of both God and Nature, yet such spectacles of disgrace are continually held in many countries in both Europe and the Americas, thank heavens for the Russians who have recently outlawed such vulgar exhibitions in public, other countries would do well to take a leaf out of Russia’s book.

                            

The decline of Christianity especially in Europe is also a most tragic phenomenon, it truly hurts to know that the continent that once was at the centre of Christendom is now taking a back seat in this regard as more people turn to either Islam, some other Pagan religion or to atheism, I guess this must have been what the Apostle St Paul must be talking about when he said in 2 Timothy 3: 1-4 “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” , are all these things now taking shape around us ?, the answer  sadly is a resounding yes.

                        

The left often love to throw around the word called tolerance as a means to justify everything they do, yet at the same time they are among the most intolerant people ever who will do anything to hurt anyone who does not enthusiastically support their views, for example, right here in a Jamaica, there is a great debate about whether or not people of an LGBT orientation should be accepted in the society, after unsuccessfully trying to get certain radio and TV stations to air their propaganda, the lobbyist turn to attacking both the media and the church claiming it’s their fault why  their lifestyle is not  accepted by the rest  of society.  Even now while it is said that parliament will soon hold a conscience vote on the buggery law, the Churches have decided that they will host a straight pride march to protest any change in the current law under which such acts are still illegal in Jamaica (thank God), the lobbyist however are not giving up  and to that end have made several uncalled statements and also  called for church leaders to be punished should they go ahead with this march, claiming that such a march is a violation of the constitution, last time I checked right of peaceful protest and assembly was part of our constitution, special rights for minority groups were not included and it should remain that way. But this was only one of many illustrations to show just how far cultural Marxist are willing go to tear down the building foundations of Western Society until nothing is left but ruin yet they have the nerve to talk about tolerance.

                                           

Of course  this is barely the tip of the iceberg there are many other elements of cultural Marxism that are not covered in this post but will be dealt with at a later date, but you get the idea, this has gone far enough for way to long it’s sickening, it’s time for the political and religious right to rise up and save our civilization, time to smash cultural Marxism, put an end political correctness and let true tolerance reign by tolerating intolerance, if not then we’re all doomed, the continuance to civilization as we know it depends on it. 

State of Affairs in Syria

This Week the Focus will be on an long ongoing crisis in the Middle East that has been the focus of many for the past two years, this concerns the Syrian Civil War between forces loyal to the Government and Rebels calling themselves the Syrian National Coalition , what started out as a simple protest at the height of the Arab Spring has now engulfed both Syria and it’s neighbours in an ongoing conflict with heavy casualties on both sides, so far it seems that neither side is any closer to winning and so the violence and bloodshed continues.

                      

Initially I was fully in support of the cause of the rebellion and what was then perceived as a group of freedom fighters who wished to liberated from the tyrannical regime of President Basahar Al Assad ( or at least this is what some would have us believe), recent events however has left me to question as to whether overthrowing Assad is a good idea after all, sure he’s corrupt but is the SNC any better, the same as Assad or are they worse than him?. It took  me a long while to see the true face of the rebels presenting themselves as a small band of guerrillas struggling against oppression but their true nature is far more sinister  as it now public knowledge that these same rebels are allied with  several extremist terrorist groups most notable Al Qaeda.

                                                          

It is often said that if one has to choose between two evils then choose the lesser in this case letting Assad remain in power seems like a far less dangerous option than allowing the rebels to take control, while true that  Assad can be described as a dictator but the rebels are far worse than he could ever be as their connection to Islamic Fundamentalist groups make them  a dangerous threat to the peace and security of the country and indeed the region, already in areas where they have majority control there have been incidents of extreme violence against all those who do not conform to their religious views which is cause for concern especially for Christians living in the area, at least Assad never tried to curtail freedom of religion as a matter of fact the constitution of Syria protects religious freedom.

               

This is by no means to be taken as an attack against all Muslims, just the extremist ones after all Assad and many in his regime are Muslims themselves but they are not in the business of imposing Sharia law like the rebels, if they are allowed to take control, Syria will soon resemble post 1979-Iran ruled by Allatoyahs, where all women would be required to wrap themselves in black from head to toe  or legalizing so called “Honour Killings” . Some would argue that not all within the SNC are Islamic fanatics or associated with Al Qaeda, this might very well be true but it only points to another issue of contention, the rebels are clearly not united under one banner, sure they all hate Assad and want him at very least gone (if not dead), but after that what next? How are they going to pick up the pieces with so much infighting? Clearly they don’t have what it takes to lead a country if they can’t even sort out their internal differences and get their act together.

                      

I’m also equally concerned about the reaction of International Community particularly western countries who seem to be lining up in support of the rebellion completely ignoring all the dangers therein, have they all forgotten the war on terror already? Or do they simply think that Al Qaeda is no longer a threat with Bin Laden dead  and as for Israel, they would do well not too belligerent towards Assad, should Syria fall into the hand of the rebels, they will present a far greater threat of Israeli National Security, I’ll be the first to admit President Assad is no friend of Israel but like I said before choose the lesser to two evils and as for the West, supporting the rise  another IslamicTheocracy under  will most certainly not be in their best interest, apparently Russian President Putin is one of the few that does sense the danger coming and decides that he would be better served supporting the regime.

Let me wrap by saying that I am by no means a supporter of the Assad Regime indeed I would feel much better to see the back of him, but putting the SNC in charge when they are known to associate with terrorist is most definitely not the solution. The task to remove Assad is a noble one but not like this, not while the wolves are at the door waiting to come in, Assad gone is a desirable  objective  but in doing so, the people of Syria must take care that do not find themselves out of the frying pan and into the fire. 

Rites of Coronation

This week’s edition will pay tribute to the 60^th anniversary of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which was celebrated last Sunday June 2, even though the Diamond Jubilee was already celebrated last year, this year the royal family and indeed the Commonwealth celebrated the diamond anniversary of this great coronation service, which is quite fitting considering that the Queen’s coronation took place a year after her official ascension.

                   

It must be noted that unlike in other monarchies, the coronation is not used to mark the beginning of the reign of a new monarch, as the reign of the sovereign begins immediately following the demise of the last bearer of the Crown, the ceremony is regardless a very necessary one as it is this ceremony that the new Head of State takes the most sacred oath that he or she is expected to stay true to for life. The Coronation oath taken by the sovereign of the Commonwealth Realms is very different from the inauguration oath taken by the President of a republic e.g. President Obama of the United States or even that taken by some other modern day monarchs e.g. King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands, these other oaths are normally civil declarations taken before a judge or parliament or some other temporal authority promising to uphold the laws and constitutional arrangements of the land. The Coronation Oath is not a civil oath but rather a religious one taken before God himself and witnessed by the bishops, peers and other senior officials of the various realms, not only does the monarch promise to rule according to the law but it goes deeper than that, the Queen’s oath calls upon her to exercise law, justice and mercy and above all to maintain and profess the protestant religion.

                                  

Following the taking of the oath comes anointing and the crowning, the Anointing underscores the sanctity of the occassion as it is reminiscent of the ancient Jewish custom of anointing the old Kings of Israel to show that the sovereign was set apart to rule and that his right to rule was indeed divine,  It’s has being likened to  the consummation of a marriage as it shows that the sovereign by taking this oath and being anointed is like being “married to the realm” as it were. Following this comes the presentation of the Crown jewels which includes but is not limited to the royal scepter, the Sword of State, the Sovereign’s Orb and of course the glorious St Edward’s Crown. At the end of this part of the ceremony comes the homage, in which the peers of the realm all pledging  their allegiance and fealty to the newly crowned King or Queen as their liege lord, after which the ceremony comes to a close with a hymn (most likely Zadok the Priest).

                               

It must be noted that with the fall of so many monarchies in the last century or the so called modernization of others, the Commonwealth Realm is one of the few left that still adhere to the ancient rites of a traditional coronation, as other realms tend to go for simpler enthronement ceremonies rather than a full coronation, some of them do away with even that designation and opt to have an inauguration instead, (I was previously under the impression that inauguration was something  that presidents do not kings), even as recently as this year two new monarchs officially ascended the throne in the persons of the King of the Netherlands and the Pope of Rome, neither of them were crowned-a break with the traditions set forward by earlier predecessors, perhaps because their thinking was that  it looked more modern?, I’m not sure

Personally speaking I prefer the Commonwealth Realms way of doing things, anything that looks too presidential is certainly not something I’m about to support, the more regality and splendor involved is the more I tend to gravitate towards it, Kings and Queens should be crowned, that is the way it has been done for centuries, I see no reason to change tradition now even in the wake of this 21^st century egalitarian nonsense.

             

This 60th anniversary represents everything that is excellent and noble about the monarchy under which we live, it’s about a Queen who has promised to devote a lifetime of service to the Peoples of the Commonwealth and most especially the Realms, an pledge she has never broke, about 6 decades (plus an extra year if you counting from the ascension) of loyalty and devotion, a life of service to the people and that is truly a momentous occasion worth celebrating

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN

A video featuring the Coronation service in 1953:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dui-0D_hpE