Letter: Bible believing Ulster Christians make a stand on scripture, unlike the Archbishop of Canterbury

Church representatives in Northern Ireland have reacted with concern to the imposition by Westminster of compulsory sex education curriculum contact on all post-primary schools. A prominent church leader said that parents may pull their children out of classes, whilst teachers may boycott the lessons. Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris announced that new regulations covering relationships (RSE) makes it mandatory for pupils to be taught about how to access an abortion in Northern Ireland. Where is the autonomy of the devolved government? Westminster laid the regulations without consultation, almost impossible to amend or change in Parliament, a patronising imposition.

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Rt Rev John Kirkpatrick stated that parents may exercise their right to withdraw their children from the new curriculum saying, "There have been a number of parties already that have indicated that is the direction they would encourage parents to go. I think people will respond to that!” He also pointed out that a boycott by teachers is a real possibility stating, "We have a great deal of Christian teachers in our school system. I am not sure what they would do. I think many of them would feel uncomfortable about pointing young people to abortion services.".

These words serve as an example of how a church leader loyally stands by his flock, something which would be alien to the Archbishop of Canterbury, but look at the state of the Anglican Communion. The Bible believing Ulster Christians have laid down a marker of making a stand as opposed to apathy and indifference of woolies elsewhere in the UK., Psalm 119 v 3, ‘They do not compromise with evil, and they only walk in his paths.’ The biggest enemy to the faith here is compromise!

There is nothing new in 2023 as in the Old Testament compromise was the first step down for Solomon while he was amassing a fortune. Though scripture warns against this, he just couldn't stop and one compromise led to another. He ultimately concluded that everything is empty without God.

The verses from Lamentations 3 v 22 - 23, ‘It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness’, encapsulate yesterday, today and forever. The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few, more in Northern Ireland, who are to be applauded for standing up to be counted.

David Fleming, Norfolk