Duncan Heaster en Carelinks onverbiddelijke verhinderaars

Christadelphian Hall in Bath/England (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Met verdriet in het hart hebben de vele verzoeningspogingen van de Belgische Christadelphians om CBM en Carelinks gedoopten in België samen te laten komen niets uit gehaald.

Marcus Ampe en zijn Belgische confraters betreuren het dat er zo veel verdeling is tussen de verscheidene Christadelphian groepen. er bestaan wel enkele groepen die ook beweren voor eenheid te zijn, maar daar in vinden wij ook mensen terug die zich op andere plaatsen verzetten tegen een samen gaan. zo is er Duncan Heaster die het onmogelijk maakt om Carelinks leden samen te laten gaan met CBM (Christadelphian Bible Mission) leden.

Na maanden geprobeerd te hebben om de CBM leden samen te laten gaan met Carelinks leden in België heeft Carelinks zich daar ondoorgrondelijk blijven verzetten.
Ook bleken de Belgische pogingen het hoofdkantoor van CBM Groot-Britannië niet te plezieren en heeft onze linkman in Groot Britannië Chris Edwards zijn functie doen opgeven. Wij betreuren ten zeerste deze gang van zaken en kijken nu uit hoe de verdere samenwerking met CBM UK verder zal verlopen.

Erg genoeg moeten wij nu vele verzoekers voor een Nederlandse bijeenkomst in hun Vlaamse streek teleurstellen. Als zeer kleine gemeenschap hebben wij namelijk nog geen mogelijkheid gehad om regelmatige bijeenkomsten te voorzien in de provincies West-Vlaanderen, Oost-Vlaanderen, Antwerpen en de Limburg.

Het enige wat wij de geïnteresseerden kunnen voorstellen is ofwel dat zij zelf Carelinks contacteren en hun verzoeken hen in contact te brengen met een ecclesia in hun streek of met de ecclesia van Gent of Antwerpen.

Onder deze omstandigheden zouden wij echter het liefst hebben dat deze mensen moedig genoeg zouden zijn om zelf in hun streek een ontmoetingsplaats te regelen waar zij met iemand van ons samen zouden kunnen komen.

Wij zijn namelijk tot het besluit gekomen dat de weinige Broeders in Christus in het land België zelf hun eigen boontjes zullen moeten doppen en zelf zullen moeten proberen om in deze woestijn een geloofsgemeenschap op te bouwen van scratch.

Wij geloven in de Kracht van God en in de mogelijkheid dat God ook voor ons de weg zal banen wanneer de tijd rijp is. Hiervoor zullen wij dan ook het nodige geduld moeten oefenen.

Mogen wij u als lezer uitnodigen om ons ook te komen versterken en er voor toe bij te dragen dat eenieder de moed kan hebben om door te gaan en verder te proberen meerdere gemeenschappen in dit kleine land in eenheid op te richten, waar wel de broederliefde en naastenliefde zullen kunnen uitgeoefend worden?

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 2014 February 14 update:

Mijn verontschuldiging naar al diegenen die mijn blog wensen te volgen en commentaren willen zien en geven.
Deze site bleek evenneit bereikbaar te zijn voor het algemene publiek en de commentaren werden weerhouden van publieke zichtbaarheid wegens een klacht van iemand wegens ontoelaatbare teksten.
Geleive hier daarom meer over te vinden op: Certain people trying to stem freedom of speech

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For those who commented on this article and can not see their comment, I do apologise. This website was also some time off public, beyond my own wishes. Because a person and his organisation attacking me a complaint was made about this site being inappropriate. Therefore it got censored. I did also ask Google to reconsider the complaint and hope all reaction will soon be again available to the general public.

Please see also my open reaction about this dangerous situation of censorship: Certain people trying to stem freedom of speech

Related articles

• Those who call the Christadelphians a cult (christadelphianworld.blogspot.com)
• The First Christadelphian Haitian Conference (christadelphianworld.blogspot.com)
• Kapalpal Christadelphian School, Vanuatu (christadelphianworld.blogspot.com)
• Strengthening Connections in the Ecclesia, and The Stomach Virus from Hades (nextcomesafrica.wordpress.com)
  Why do people leave the community of believers? I think a lot of times it boils down to a lack of connectedness, either to the people, the beliefs, or the emotions. A connection was either never made or wasn’t maintained. There are other reasons people leave obviously, but this seems to be a big one. The other reason I’m interested in this is that when I was in Africa, at times I felt very disconnected from America. Obviously. I was disconnected. There were ways to feel more connected – emails, Facebook, Skyping with people or into Bible class – that often made me feel almost as connected as if I were in the room with those people. Since I’m going back for an extended period of time, I’ve been thinking about these connections. Actually I guess there’s a third reason too. Connections are sometimes severed. Which leads to the question of whether they were really real to begin with. I guess there’s nothing that inherently says they weren’t, but the question remains.
• 6. Voting Right or Duty? (12160.info)
  Voting may be seen as a civic right rather than a civic duty. While citizens may exercise their civil rights (free speech, marriage, etc.) they are not compelled to. Furthermore, compulsory voting may infringe other rights. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses and most Christadelphians believe that they should not participate in political events. Forcing them to vote ostensibly denies them their freedom of religious practice. In some countries with compulsory voting, Jehovah's Witnesses and others may be excused on these grounds. If however they are forced to go to the polling place, they can still use a blank or invalid vote.
• Nobody Will Observe added a discussion to the group No Confidence Party (12160.info)

Our stance against certain religions and immigrating people

Though crime may have decreased, lots of people do think there is more criminality than a few years ago. We can see that there is a lot of discrepantion in the ciphers and real feeling.

Statistics which have been made recently are based on extensive crime survey research and not police figures. though some people suggested that the national statistics must be masking concentrations of problems on deprived housing estates, where life gets ever more brutal. Yet others suggested conspiracies of data-fiddling or statistical jiggery-pokery.

When people walk on the streets of big cities they see more foreign faces and people who clearly show to be from an other culture. Perhaps this frightens them more than they nod to have fear. The unknown cultures frightens them off.
Many want to blame the migrants for  the crimes taking place in their environment. It does not help when youngsters of foreign origin are related to certain crimes which reach the news.

In a series on immigration Marcus Ampe tries to offer some insight on the attitude people take and the attitude people should take to come to a community where everybody can share the different things with each other.

Ally Fogg of the Guardian writes:

Criminologists have documented extensive evidence of correlations, and some causal relationships, between fear of crime and negative psychological and physiological outcomes. It is commonly cited as a factor in the development of many mental health conditions. Other research invites caution. While people may report generalised anxiety about crime, they often struggle to recall many occasions when they have themselves felt fearful at the time. Of course, this could be explained by individuals adapting their lifestyles to avoid or avert situations they perceive as risky, and one of the most damaging effects of excessive fear may be on social capital – the benefits accrued by communities when neighbours meet in shared spaces, relate to each other and help and support each other.

Sceptics might suggest that the fear of crime has in itself helped to reduce actual levels of crime. If everyone lived behind reinforced shutters, only venturing out to drive a steel box from one locked garage to another, then of course there would be a reduction in crime. This is rather belied by data showing that family violence within the home is declining just as rapidly as stranger violence outside. It would appear that it is not just the opportunities to commit crime that are declining, but the motivation too.

Can anything be done to reduce fear of crime? It won't be easy. Psychology has taught us how cognitive biases skew our perceptions of risk. Neurologists explain that we have evolved physiological and emotional mechanisms to identify and avoid physical danger, which operate far more quickly and effectively than any conscious rationalisations. Newspaper editors and broadcasters have always known what sells their products and rule No 1 in the book is this: if it bleeds, it leads. Charities and campaigners have little incentive to report good news and progress made. Those who would stoke unease about immigration and community cohesion have always found fertile ground in fear of crime. Politicians realise there are very few votes to be won in calm reassurance that things are, in one respect at least, improving. The prevailing mood is always that the world is going to hell in a handcart, and woe betide any political candidate who suggests otherwise.

All in all, just about the only people who have nothing to gain from disproportionate anxiety are those who experience it. Acknowledging the truth may be difficult for some but the alternative is to live with needless stress and ill health, to wilfully accept a narrative that corrodes communities, degrades our society, and propagates racism, class prejudice and fear.

 

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Please do find the articles:

1. Migrants to the West #1
2. Migrants to the West #2
3. Migrants to the West #3
4. Migrants to the West #4
5. Migrants to the West #5
6. Migrants to the West #6
7. Migrants to the West #7
8. Migrants to the West #8
9. Migrants to the West #9 
10. Migrants to the West #10
11. Immigration consternation

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We should all unite no matter of which origin, culture or religion and spread love and peace

Related articles

• Crime Statistics: Fact or Fiction? Perhaps @AllyFogg has some answers?
• Europe takes us to court over our payments to migrants
• Is UK Crime Falling?
• Crime: Price of fear - impact of urban violence
• No link between migration levels and attitudes to immigration
• New report assails criminal justice approach to illegal immigration problems
• Abuse And Human Trafficking Prevalent Among Central American Migrants Crossing The Mexico-U.S. Border
• One Nation, Under Fear
• Neighborhood Watch and the best sign for the job
• Public fear crime rise when Wood Farm police base closes