Lords back free speech shield in ‘gay hate’ law
The Government has been defeated in the House of Lords over its attempt to repeal a free speech protection from a sexual orientation ‘hatred’ law. Peers voted by 186 to 133 to keep the protection in place. The matter will be passed back to the House of Commons where MPs voted for repeal.
The protection makes clear that criticising homosexual conduct or encouraging people to refrain from such conduct is not, in itself, a crime.
Whilst I have no intention of treating homosexual people with contempt and accept their right to freedom of speech I am glad that at least we all can maintain that right.
Video of Brenton Brown talking about and singing “Everlasting God”
I know this song has been out for ages but I love it so much I thought I’d post it up here.
Video: quizzed by police for criticising ‘gay rights’
The 2005 story of Joe and Helen Roberts – an elderly Christian couple from Lancashire who were interrogated by police because they criticised a ‘gay rights’ project being run by their local council.
In this new video, Helen speaks about how intimidating it was to be questioned by police officers for over an hour. The officers told them they were near to committing a hate crime which carries a seven year prison sentence.
Joe says Wyre Borough Council kept talking about ‘diversity’ but the council’s brand of diversity didn’t seem to allow him and his wife to express their religious beliefs on sexual ethics.
He says he never thought he would see the day when British police officers would be interrogating citizens because they had expressed a point of view in a telephone call.
A year after the events, following a legal action supported by The Christian Institute, the police and the council admitted they had acted wrongly towards the Roberts and changed their policies to avoid it happening again.
Last year Parliament passed a free speech protection making it clear that criticising homosexual conduct is not, in itself, a crime. But the Government is trying to repeal it. We expect a vote in Parliament sometime in July.
Playing for Dundrum Cricket Club
After about 15 years away from playing cricket I am now playing for Dundrum Cricket Club. You can see more about the club, see scores and results and more on our web site.
I’m a bit rusty after all this time but with some practice I may yet get some runs and wickets. Mind you, I need to actually finish a game. In my debut against Templepatrick a couple of weeks ago I got hit in the head very hard with a cricket ball and had to go to hospital to get 3 stitches. What a memorable debut!!
My First Piece of Music!!
I’ve finally managed to finish a piece of music. I have so many unfinished pieces and so I’m really pleased to have finally completed something. This is a short instrumental piece of a solo Harp. I don’t play harp myself but composed it on the computer using Garritan Personal Orchestra, recording via MIDI keyboard to Cubase Studio 4.5 and mastering in Adobe Audition 1.5. I am in the process of writing a lot of songs and instrumentals for use on a forthcoming video I am filming and editing. This is one piece I intend to use as a short bridge between video clips. Hence I have called it ‘Selah‘. Selah is a biblical Hebrew word found a lot in the Psalms. According to Wikipedia:
“Selah (Hebrew: סלה) may be the most difficult word in the Hebrew Bible to translate. Selah is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like “stop and listen”. The Psalms were sung accompanied by musical instruments and there are references to this in many chapters. Thirty-one of the thirty-nine psalms with the caption “To the choir-master” include “Selah” so the musical context of selah is obvious. Selah notes a break in the song and as such is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage. Alternatively, Selah may mean “forever”, as it does in some places in the liturgy (notably the second to last blessing of the Amidah). Another interpretation claims that Selah comes from the primary Hebrew root word [calah] which means “to hang”, and by implication to measure (weigh)……It is translated into today’s general language with the meaning: ‘think about it’ or ‘praise [the Lord]‘”
Please have a listen and leave your comments. I’d appreciate any constructive feedback about the actual music, recording and mixing quality etc.
Listen:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Buy It:
File size = 1.16 mb.Format = ZIP file. Audio quality = 144kbs. Format = MP3.
Cost = £0.60 (approx. $0.90)
Video of Song “Shadow Of Your Wings”
I came across this song by accident while searching the Internet. I’ve never heard of Apryl Lynn before now but if all her other stuff is like this I think I’ll check out some of her other stuff.
Hope you like it too.
Apryl Lynn “Shadow Of Your Wings” from sarahlongnecker on Vimeo.
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