Almost everything that can be said on the subject of refugees and immigration has been said in recent weeks. I should state my interest at the start: I am an immigrant to this nation and I married a daughter of an immigrant family.
Many people are wanting to come to the UK for economic reasons or for their safety and asylum. The UK is seen as a desirable place to live. We need to be quite clear on why this country is attractive and respond accordingly. Some people want to come to exploit weaknesses in our country or even to spread fear and violence. Unless we are clear about people’s motivations and what our own priorities are, we will not be able to respond in the right way.
We should encourage people who want to come to the UK – whether from Poland or Syria. We should be glad that our nation is so attractive to people around the world, and there are many great reasons this is the case. This nation is still a place of opportunity for business, for education and for families to thrive. There is still plenty of room for new people and we have a great history of absorbing people from many cultures into the ‘British way of life’. Who would have thought thirty years ago that the most popular dish in England in 2015 would be Chicken Tikka Massalla?
Many people coming from Romania, Poland, Syria and Iran are entrepreneurial, enterprising, ready to work, and often have a good education already. We should be glad of all these people wanting to get here.
Why do they want to come here?
The UK offers opportunity, economic prospects, stability, relative peace, generally good race relations, and access to the rest of the world, to begin with. This nation still upholds the rule of law, general respect for human life, children do not have to work to eat, and the police are generally unlikely to break into your home if your politics does not agree with the government! We should be delighted that we are enjoying all these reasons that people would want to come here.
So what’s the problem?
The problem is that we have lost our way and disconnected from the values that gave us all these benefits. The disaster that is the secular humanist experiment which has promoted multiculturalism specifically to undermine our Christian heritage has left us disorientated. We should welcome newcomers on the clear basis of Christian hospitality. We have lost the confidence to call ourselves a Christian nation and with that we have lost the basis to require certain constraints on newcomers. It is not OK to promote the downfall of the nation; It is not OK to have multiple wives; It is not OK to expect to enjoy the peace and infrastructure of this nation and at the same time seek to undermine the traditions and culture. We need to recognise as a nation that it is Christian truth which defines the rule of law, the respect for human life, the respect of personal property and the protection of the family. It is Christian thinking which has promoted freedom of speech, children’s rights and increased freedom for women in society. We should be unashamed in requiring compliance with our traditional rights and culture by those who want to come and make a life in the UK.
It is bland, directionless multicultural, humanism which has led us into the confusion of attempting to be tolerant of every position and ultimately being intolerant of truth.
If we welcome people from around the world on the basis of Christian hospitality we will be the richer for it, newcomers will be blessed, and troublemakers will become obvious and more easily thwarted. Our Christian legacy is the compass we need in this stormy season!
John D Manwell's Blog 
The Boy on the Beach
October 16, 2015Imprint of Life
The horror of finding a drowned boy on a beach is more than a news headline to me. The recent ‘news’ photograph of a dead refugee child on a beach brought back awful memories for me.
Some years ago I was on holiday with family and friends and we went swimming in a lake on a hot day. The beach was developed for leisure and the section of the lake for swimming was partitioned off with a cable and floats. In fact many swimmers would swim out the 15 metres or so to the cable and hang onto it as a resting place. Children paddled on the sandy shore and older kids played on inflatables. Towards the end of the afternoon many families retreated to their BBQ and snacks. I took that opportunity to swim in the freed up expanse of water. As I did I became aware of a young man calling out across the water. I was immediately concerned: Calling to people from the shore is fine when there are people swimming or floating, but the lake was empty. I asked the young man what he was doing and he said he was looking for his cousin. I asked if the missing lad could swim, to which the reply was no. I raised the alarm and shouted to people to start looking in the adjacent woods in case he had wondered off that way. I then swam back and forth underwater urgently looking – knowing that every moment might be a matter of life or death. As I searched I hoped that I was over-reacting and that the boy would wander out of the woods any minute. Within minutes as I swam and stared through the murky lake water I saw a sight which will never leave my memory, the motionless submerged body of a young man.
With all my strength I hauled him up to the surface and held him afloat while trying to get to shore and shout for help at the same time. I dragged the heavy limp lad onto the dry sand and yelled for help. My friend took over with attempted mouth to mouth resuscitation. Although he, and then the paramedics, tried for a while, this was unsuccessful.
As I stood next to the lifeless boy, while every effort was made to revive him, I prayed, and asked God what this was about and why it had happened. I was painfully conscious that I, a strong swimmer, had been near this tragedy for the whole time. I felt God speak to me in that intense moment. The gist of what I heard was, ‘Many give the impression of being able to swim, and lack of accountability leaves them in danger of death.’
Accountability is not about someone being in control of us – but a relationship which guides and ultimately protects.
It seems that this young guy had probably worked his way along the cable – well out of his depth – and lost his grip. He must have thought it unlikely that he might let go of the cable – but one slip was deadly.
Lack of real relationships means that many in our disconnected world are giving the impression of being able to swim in life – but can’t really. Many are in mortal danger. Many know the language of knowing God and his salvation, but may be in danger of slipping off at any moment. Many act confidently but are disconnected and unsupported. In a world of flimsy connections on Facebook and Snapchat we all need to ask whether we are in right relationships – life giving relationships.
If one person had asked that young man if he could swim; if one person had been watching when he slipped; I could have been that person and he might well be living life to the full right now. We are all accountable for those around us.
Imprints of Many Lives
The Bible says that ‘Righteousness exalts a nation” (Proverbs 14:34) William Barclay translated the word ‘Righteousness’ as ‘Right Relationships’. God calls us to righteousness – let us pursue a right relationship with Him – which is possible through Jesus, and promote right relationships all around us – for the sake of life!
Tags:accountability, boy on a beach, danger, disconnected, drowned, God, guidance, life or death, protection, relationships, right relationships, righteousness, safety, unsupported, urgency
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