FURTHER EVIDENCE OF THE DUP’S REJECTION OF ITS FORMER BELIEFS!
A most telling and sad headline appeared in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ of 30th June 2021!
The headline read: DUP MLAs hail major relaxation of NI booze laws.
The article goes on to state: “A bill which has been dubbed the biggest change to Northern Ireland’s alcohol laws in a generation has passed its final hurdle, with the DUP among those hailing its passage. . . . The changes will extend the opening hours for venues, allow people to buy booze in cinemas, and remove restrictions around Easter trading. Early opposition to the bill was voiced by groups as different as the PSNI, Unite the Union, and the Presbyterian Church.
It must be stated that the Free Presbyterian Church did voice its opposition to the plan.
The report continues: “Among those hailing the new relaxed laws yesterday were Pam Cameron and Paula Bradley of the DUP a party which had historically been seen as inseparable from Protestant traditionalism (particularly under Rev Ian Paisley, who famously dubbed alcohol “the devil’s buttermilk”).
It is hardly surprising that Paula Bradley, DUP deputy leader, voted in favour, given the recent report on the ‘BelfastLive’ news site: ‘DUP deputy leader Paula Bradley to take part in LGBT event’.
Endorsing an extension to pub hours is a lesser wickedness than supporting the perversion represented by the the LGBT movement.
Today’s ‘Newsletter’ report continues: “Mrs Cameron meanwhile called the bill a ‘legislative milestone’ and hailed ‘the progress that it represents’. She recognised this will cause ‘some concern for some’, but added ‘we do need to strike that balance, and recognise the consumer demand’ Whilst ‘all of us have seen the damaging impact alcohol can have on people’s lives’ she said, ‘this bill does not give any great latitude to exacerbating this problem.”
It seems now that the DUP have an appetite for the “the devil’s buttermilk”!!
How this party has changed – and yet Christians still support it!!
Picture of Dr Paisley used in the ‘Belfast Newsletter’ report
On Tuesday 28th April 2021, the same newspaper carried a report headlined: Minister of church with DUP ties: A party leader must halt moral decline
The minister of a church with deep and ongoing DUP ties has said whoever leads the party must take a stand against “moral decline”.
The minister in question was Rev Ian Brown of Martyrs Memorial FPC. He is reported as saying: “As a Gospel minister my perspective is going to be what Proverbs teaches: ‘Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people’ – that has to be my core guiding light,” he told the News Letter, quoting from the Book of Proverbs chapter 14, verse 34 (KJV).
“Therefore the more our country is allowed to drift from its moral rules then the worse it’s going to be for every single person. Countries do not prosper by surrendering moral principles. Therefore there’s a lot of ground to be made up again on the whole abortion issue; that’d be a chief concern of mine. As a local church we’re certainly praying that there will be a rolling back of the tide of moral decline.”
He re-iterated that it is abortion – above and beyond many other socially-liberal causes – that concerns him most, especially the imposition of it upon the Province from Westminster. “That’s something that is deplorable, and must be resisted,” he said. “People have talked a lot about red lines over the years. That has to be an absolute, non-negotiable red line.”
Well, today’s news indicates that no attempts at a stand against the “moral decline” has been taken, but rather, an encouraging of it with these more liberal licensing laws and extended drinking hours, which include a further desecrating of the Sabbath. The newspaper report states that: “Sunday opening hours will be the same as any other night” which means larger pubs will stay open until the wee small hours of the Sabbath morning in addition to the usual Sabbath Day opening hours!
There is no report of any DUP dissenters at the vote. Why did not those professing faith in Christ say ’No’ when the vote was called. If they did there seems to be no account of their opposition.
One question that must be asked of those supporting the extending of drinking hours is this: ‘Why is Cannabis outlawed while the sale of alcohol is not?’
The cost to the nation as a result of the sale of alcohol is astronomical!!
It was stated in 2019 that “Alcohol-related harm is estimated to cost the NHS in England £3.5 billion every year.” That does not take into account the suffering and misery booze entails, both to the boozer and to those of the immediate family who suffer the consequences of the lunacy induced by alcohol! Then there are hours lost at the work place, the damage to property as a result of accidents stemming from drunkenness. The list goes on. I just wonder if the full cost of the sale of booze can be calculated!
Cannabis has been restricted as a drug in the United Kingdom since 1928 though it is somewhat more tolerated today. Yet it is illegal for recreational use and is classified as a Class B drug. It is a Class B drug, with penalties for unlicensed dealing, unlicensed production and unlicensed trafficking of up to 14 years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. The maximum penalty for possession of cannabis is five years in prison and an unlimited fine.
While I totally oppose the use of Cannabis, it is plain to see that there appears to be a much lower adverse impact upon society by the use of this drug, whatever the impact may be on the user!
Why then do the DUP MLAs in Stormont support the liberalising of the sale of this deadly destructive drug which costs the nation so much financially, in suffering and by the innocent?
Could it be that they are rather fond of this ’tipple’ themselves?
Perhaps I might add this BBC report which has just been drawn to my attention about the latest decision by the apostate Methodist Church in England.
Methodist Church allows same-sex marriage in ‘momentous’ vote
The word ‘momentous’ carries the meaning: “Being of great importance or significance, especially in having a bearing on future events.”
How true that will prove to be! It is not just true believers amongst the Methodist people who will be grieved by such a decision but all who care for and love the name and honour of the Lord Jesus Christ. That the church which sprang from the labours of John and Charles Wesley should so embrace the wickedness that damned Sodom, is a clear indication that we are in the last days of this age.
“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, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away,” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
May the Lord stir His people to obey Him and ’turn away’ from those denominations which have sold themselves to the devil!
Heed the words of Ezekiel 9:4, 6. “And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. . . . . Slay utterly old [and] young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom [is] the mark.”
Only those who ‘sigh and that cry for all the abominations’ shall escape the coming judgment.
Heed God’s Word Christian!
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
1st July 2021.