TOUGHER INTERVIEW FOR TONY BLAIR THAN COSY HTB CHAT-SHOW – Mr Blair’s interview with Alpha founder the Revd Nicky Gumbel at London’s Holy Trinity Brompton
Excellent post from Cranmer’s Curate on the “Interview” with Tony Blair by Nicky Gumbel.
TOUGHER INTERVIEW FOR TONY BLAIR THAN COSY HTB CHAT-SHOW
This commentary by Cranmer’s Curate on the recent interview at Holy Trinity Brompton with former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair features in VirtueOnline’s Viewpoints. What question would you like to put to Tony Blair if he came to your church to be interviewed by the vicar?
The Church of England Newspaper report of Mr Blair’s interview with Alpha founder the Revd Nicky Gumbel at London’s Holy Trinity Brompton includes questions about the former UK Prime Minister’s religious awakening at Oxford University; how he copes with difficult headlines; how he finds time for prayer and Bible reading in the midst of his Faith Foundation globe-trotting; and how he managed to secure an audience with Bono.
During Mr Blair’s ten years in charge of the country from 1997 to 2007, the age of consent for homosexuals was lowered from eighteen to sixteen (prior to 1994 it had been twenty-one), removing the distinction in UK law between heterosexuality and homosexuality and also leading to an increase in sexually transmitted diseases amongst adolescents.
Civil partnerships were introduced, creating a same-sex imitation of the God-created institution of heterosexual marriage and leaving Christian marriage registrars with a livelihood-threatening crisis of conscience.
The Sexual Orientation Regulations were introduced, forcing Roman Catholic adoption agencies to close because they refused to place children with homosexual couples and also facing Christian hoteliers with the threat of bankrupting legal actions; and now the Equality Bill looms with more horrors for orthodox, Nicene Christians in the secular workplace.
For all his intellectual, communication, and leadership qualities, Mr Blair’s administration entrenched the permissive society in Britain and firmly laid the foundations for the persecution of Christ’s followers and servants.
‘How do you square all that with your profession of Christian faith, Mr Blair?’ would surely be a reasonable if challenging question. But Mr Blair was spared anything approaching that from the Revd Gumbel during the cosy chat-show in front of a packed Knightsbridge church of 1,200.
The most challenging question was: ‘Do you think you were right not to talk about God when you were in office?’ That produced quite an illuminating answer and in fact Mr Blair’s former press officer Alastair Campbell emerged with some credit in the advice he gave. Mr Campbell was concerned that if Mr Blair gave public interviews about his faith whilst leader of the opposition, he would give off the message that you can only be a proper Christian if you vote Labour.
But that was as tough as it got.
Thank the good Lord, there is a much tougher interview to come with the One who will ‘rescue the weak and needy’ and ‘deliver them from the hand of the wicked’ (Psalm 82v4 – NIV).
Please see my previous posts on Tony Blair:-
Blair is EU president candidate
Tony Blair and Barack Obama, angels or demons
Tony Blair is not someone worthy to trust on religious matters
Cardinal will not join Tony Blair Faith Foundation
Tony Blair talks about his Philanthropic efforts
If you have stumbled onto this blog and are not a Christian, get yourself a hot drink, pull up a comfy chair and then tuck into the following article written by one of the best in the business:- All Of Grace by Charles Spurgeon
Tags: Christian Life