Thursday 17 January 2013

Alliance of Pro-Life Students


I attended the London Launch and fundraiser for the Alliance of Pro-Life Students (APS) last night at the Thistle Hotel, Marble Arch in London.  We were greeted by a  posse of about 30 vociferous protesters chanting pro-"choice" slogans but the police had them sensibly cordoned off away from the actual entrance to the hotel.

Eve Farren and the other organisers were greatly enthused at the number of people attending.  Lord David Alton spoke very well, dividing his talk up into three related areas of abortion, embryo research and experimentation and end of life issues, speaking cohesively and passionately to inspire the students to campaign in this counter-cultural area.  I noticed his talk was liberally sprinkled with G.K Chesterton quotes. The statistics and methods of moving on the pro-"choice" agenda are really quite frightening.

The students from across the country who have begun this project are really enthused and seem bright and intelligent and willing to engage with the issues in new ways - for example in one instance by working with "Pagans for Life" in this pro-life area.  May God bless their endeavours.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope you don't mind me contacting you directly. I'm having some serious doubts about Christianity and I hope you can provide me with an answer or proof.

I have some questions regarding Christianity that have recently affected me deeply. To get to the point, I was wondering if you could shed some light or explain a couple of points. I have been researching Christianity during the Middle ages and, as a result, have stumbled onto Islam.

Before it is said that Islam is a false religion and Muhammad is a fraud, can you please tell me your opinion about Muhammad and the Qur'an. Without doubt, the Qur'an in the most advanced piece of Arabic writing ever seen, and no one denies that. This leaves only a few explanations about its origin, considering that Christina believe it is not the word or God. Does the Church teach that the Qur'an is the work of Muhammad or someone else? Or even that Muhammad might have been delusional?

As this is a sensitive topic, I hope you can help me here.

Putting the Qur'an aside, I would like to ask another question, which I urge you not to take as an offense or insult. I am not trying to be rude. Sir, about the Trinity, is it true that there is no mention of the Trinity in the Bible? And that god is 1, but 3? Muslims find it hard to believe that God can have a son and be a man, and that man can be God.

I appreciate the time you took to read this,

Thank You.

Fr David Palmer said...

Dear. Anonymous,

I hope you don't mind me replying rather than the blogger himself, but i am also a Catholic priest. Judging from the way you phrased your comment I suspect that you are already a Muslim, however assuming your questions are genuine (rather than an attempt to convert a Priest to Islam) could I direct you to :

http://aam.s1205.t3isp.de/?L=1

This website will answer all your questions about Catholics and Islam.

Yours sincerely,

Fr David Palmer

Simon Platt said...

Might I add something?

From time to time I have heard the claim that "there is no mention of the Trinity in the Bible". This claim can only be made by one who has never read the New Testament, which is shot through with allusions to the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, culminating in Our Blessed Lord's commandment to his disciples to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.

Rhoslyn said...

I enjoyed the talk but was a little saddened by the lack of praise for certain pro-life organisations who have been campaigning for 40+ years. Let us hope that Lord Alton...forgot to mention them and that no harm was intended.

Rhoslyn said...

p.s. I am very sorry that I didn't speak to you at the Alliance of Pro-life Students event! You seem to be a very interesting person :)

Neil Addison said...

Rhoslyn I too was there and also regret the fact I did not know Fr Simon Henry was attending.

Lord Alton was giving a talk for this specific organisation on its establishment and it was right of him to concentrate on encouraging it rather than going through a list of all the other excellent organisations working in the pro-life area.

There is a definate attempt by some to close down or restrict pro-life groups within Universities and in my capacy as Director of the Thomas More Legal Centre I have been involved ins some of those struggles