Tea at Trianon: British Values?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

British Values?

From Christianity Today:

Parents are threatening to keep their children from attending class on the day the Church of England primary school in Hartfield, East Sussex holds its "transgender day" event, which was designed by the school to "empower lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people." The school's head teacher, Emma Maltby, said the classes are part of meeting the government's requirement to teach children "British values."

"As part of the national curriculum, we spend time talking to the children about British values of tolerance, respect and celebrating differences," she said.

But Christian parents are outraged, according to Charisma News. The classes on transsexualism will encourage children to "explore" their sexuality, and parents are complaining that the event is only going to "satisfy adult political agendas."

The Christian Institute spokesman Simon Calvert said children do not need to be taught about the homosexual lifestyle to show respect towards it. (Read more.)