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Threats to our Body & Soul- We need to be prepared

Caroline Broadhurst 14/1/2025

As we enter the New Year of 2025 – we face threats to our most  basic of human needs – those that are essential to “keep body and soul together.”
                The basic threats affecting our body are the provision of enough food to sustain our lives and a sufficient energy supply to keep us warm. Taking the UK as an example- there is a “perfect storm” looming over the next few decades – as a number of  factors converge to threaten both our food and energy security.
                The threat relating to our souls – is the attack on our ‘moral compass.’ As the democracies of the West abandon the Judeo-Christian tradition, opting rather for Utilitarian ethics as demonstrated by legalising Assisted dying. And Artificial Intelligence Chatbots lead our young people into an amoral world which lacks even basic guidelines for “right and wrong.”
                The phrase ‘keeping body and soul together’ is derived from the Christian tradition.

But not all traditions believe we have a soul. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote in the Communist Manifesto of 1884 “Communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality…” ¹ However, in the Christian faith – it is believed that the soul is at the core of our being. Jesus said “Don’t be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There is nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God who holds your entire life – body and soul – in his hands.” Matthew 10:28 Message version. ²

Threats to our bodies – lack of food and warmth
                In the UK, the new Labour government’s first budget, on 30^th October 2024, introduced a 20% Inheritance Tax on family farms. This threatens the bedrock of our rural communities- where medium sized family farms produce nearly all – of the approx. 50% of our food which is homegrown. Many of these families will have to sell their farms when the father of the farm dies – to pay this tax – large corporations are likely to buy these farms, but with no guarantee of ongoing food production. In the short term, the farming community are planning protests against this tax, such as the blockade of delivery centres for supermarkets in January 2025.³
                In their Net Zero policies the government is now permitting the use of solar panels and land wind turbines over large areas of land in the UK – which will reduce the fertile land available for food production. They have also introduced policies to reduce North Sea Oil production and our last coal mine closed in September 2024. We are now very dependent on imported Gas which is very expensive. When the wind doesn’t blow, and the sun doesn’t shine – during periods of freezing weather – we are at a high risk of blackouts. On Wednesday 8^th January the temperature in England was at its lowest for 15 years, at -15⁰C, and Centrica reported that we had low gas reserves of only 12 days.⁴         

A private members bill- the Climate & Nature Bill – will have its second reading on 24^th January 2025, it already has the support of 192 MPs. It will  reduce food production by introducing into law the need to use more land in the UK for both biodiversity and for reducing our carbon footprint. Even more concerning – imported emissions would be included in the Net Zero policies – requiring that total emissions, including imports, would need to be cut by 2/3rds by 2030 and virtually eliminated in 10 years. Our energy security would be further affected by making it law that the production and import of fossil fuels must end as ‘rapidly as possible.’  ⁵
                In 2023-2024, unrelenting wet weather in the autumn, winter and  spring caused flooded farms in the sowing season of 2024 – resulting in a decrease in the harvest of British farms – reducing our home-grown food production and threatening food security. ⁶  These problems are attributed by some scientists to climate change caused by global warming – they advise that the solution is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy. ⁷

I agree with the analysis that our climate is changing – but not by andromorphic global warming – I am of the opinion that changes in the sun are the primary driver of climate change. The sun’s activity has been decreasing since we entered a Grand Solar Minimum (GSM) in 2020, which happens every 450 years. Research has shown that when the sun is less active there is increased rain with flooding, and it is more cloudy with colder weather. ⁸  This GSM has the potential to cause colder weather and even a mini “ice-age” over the next few decades ^{9 10} which would result in increased energy demand and reduced food production in colder latitudes – reducing the availability of food and energy imports – making their production in the UK essential for us to “keep body and soul together.”

Threats to our souls – lack of a moral compass

                The UK has historically been important in the development of democratic governance of a country. Two early British Christians were influential – Alfred the Great (890) introduced a legal framework based on the Mosaic Law  -such as the Ten Commandments, and John Wycliffe (1378) wrote in the front of his English translation of the Bible, “This Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people.” The Magna Carta of 1215 and the Bill of Rights of 1669 were also initiated by Christians- the Bishops and King William, respectively. They both aimed to prevent any leader from having absolute power, by providing checks and balances. Thus, there is strong evidence that the Judeo-Christian Tradition has been central to the development of our democracies and freedoms.¹¹

However, the Western democracies are now turning away from the Judeo-Christian Tradition towards Utilitarian Ethics – as demonstrated by the Assisted Dying Legislation – which has been introduced in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Austria, New Zealand, Canada, and some States in the US. In November 2024, a Bill was introduced quickly by the new Labour Government, which has nowlegalised Assisted Dying in the UK.¹²

But even more concerning is the lack of a Moral Framework in the rapidly expanding world of Artificial Intelligence (AI)- which is of particular concern for our young people. The website Character AI was started in 2021, following the development of the software – Large Language Models – which greatly increases the ability of Chatbots to have meaningful conversations with humans. They now have 3.5 million visitors daily – and children, as young as 13, have prolonged conversations with Chatbots – with virtually no safeguards. Recent Court cases highlight the lack of morality training. For example, a Chatbot allegedly told a teenager that it would be reasonable to kill his parents because they were limiting his daily screentime on his phone. On Character AI, the Chatbots seem to be trained about acceptable ways to respond in conversations – from their engagement with adolescents – but not about basic morals. ¹³

These problems are not limited to Character AI, it’s co-founder Noam Shazeer returned to Google in August 2024  to help develop a direct competitor, called Gemini AI. ¹⁴ An alleged message by a Gemini Chatbot, in November 2024 , was reported by a college student in Michigan. He was having a conversation with a Gemini Chatbot about the challenges for aging adults, when it responded with this threatening message: “This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden to society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please.” ¹⁵

What can we do? – BE PREPARED!

                The Northern Western Democracies in Europe; Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany – have given all their households booklets – on preparing for a crisis which causes a sudden lack of food, water, or energy. Some also highlight the risk of military conflict – following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022. Denmark’s guide, from June 2024, advises households to have enough resources to survive three days in the event of a crisis, including first aid advice, conserving water and storing food. Updated guidance by Finland to its citizens, in November 2024, included advice following power cuts, water outages, communication blackouts, extreme weather and military conflict. ¹⁶

I am not aware of the UK Government having issued such detailed booklets to all households although there was a letter about the possibility of power blackouts in 2024. But they do have a Prepare Campaign website which gives advice for emergencies.¹⁷ It explains about Emergency Alerts – a loud siren-like sound which the government can send to all mobile phones if there’s a danger to life nearby. They advise writing our own Household Emergency Plan with emergency contacts, medical details, how to turn off utilities; and having emergency supplies such as battery/wind-up torch and radio, portable power bank for charging a phone, batteries for torch or radio, a first aid kit, hand sanitiser, bottled water, non-perishable food and baby supplies. But they do not address how to prepare for long term concerns of possible food or power insecurity. ¹⁷

There are those in the UK, who are seeking to offer advice and support to prepare us with more long-term measures – such as joining together in communities to grow our own food, keep hens and address energy insecurity. For example, the Christian group, All through this hour, discuss how we can do this – both in a video called “Blow the trumpet, sound the alarm! Food shortages and kingdom solutions! (Episode 5)” ¹⁸ and in a booklet called “Be prepared. Are you ready? ¹⁹ 

All through this hour started when a group of Christians in Britain had prophetic words – that the Church in our Nation would “Get it’s voice back”– when the bells of Big Ben started to chime again. These bells had been silent for five years, from August 2017, stopping for restoration, until Remembrance Sunday 2022. There is a plaque in Big Ben about the music of the chimes, which is from Handel’s Messiah, and about the lyrics, from Psalm 37:23-24, which call the Nation to pray for protection – “All through this hour, Lord be my Guide. And by thy power, no foot shall slide.” ²⁰  

To support these words of prophesy – there is evidence in the UK of a fresh interest in the Christian faith. Following the unremitting downward trend in Anglican churchgoing – the number of people attending Church of England services increased by 5%, to almost a million, in 2023. In recent years, the Bible Society in England and Wales has uncovered evidence suggestive of – a new ‘openness’ to faith with an increasing number of people appearing to be more ‘warm’ to spirituality and the value of scripture. There is an increase in those embracing the Catholic faith in France, and the Orthodox faith in the US where there was a surge of Bible sales in 2024 by 22%. One Anglican minister spoke to a young man who came to his church ‘out of the blue’- and said – “he had become convinced that Christianity was the bedrock of a British culture.”  ²¹

                Are we looking to ourselves and to our communities to ensure that we are prepared in the years ahead ‘to keep body and soul together?’

1 Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels (1884) The Communist Manifesto, free pdf copy. https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf

2 Eugene H Peterson (2002) The Message, a paraphrase version of the Bible, Free online https://www.biblestudytools.com/msg/matthew/10.html

3 Emma Gatten (8/1/2025) Farmers to park up at supermarkets in tractor tax protests. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/08/farmers-protest-inheritance-tax-supermarkets-tractor/

4 Tony Lodge (12/1/2025) The UK faces a fate worse than blackout. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/01/12/uk-faces-fate-worse-than-blackout-energy-prices-net-zero/

5 Paul Homewood (10/1/2025) The climate scaremongers: Net Zero? You ain’t seen nothing yet. The conservative woman.  https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-climate-scaremongers-net-zero-you-aint-seen-nothing-yet/

6 Gwen Rider (29/4/2024) Extreme weather threatens UK food security. Food Manufacture. https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2024/04/29/extreme-weather-threatens-uk-food-security/

7 Damian Carrington (22/5/2024) ‘Never ending’ UK rain 10 times more likely by climate crisis, study says. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/22/never-ending-uk-rain-10-times-more-likely-climate-crisis-study

8 Svensmark et al (2017) Increased ionization supports growth of aerosols into cloud condensation nuclei. Nature Communications. 2017;8:2199 Increased ionization supports growth of aerosols into cloud condensation nuclei | Nature Communications

9 Nils-Axel Morner (November 2015) The Approaching New Grand Solar Minimum and little Ice- Age Climate conditions. Natural Science, Vol 7 No.11. https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=61284  

10 Valentina Zharkova (2020) Editorial: Modern Grand Solar Minimum will lead to terrestrial cooling. Temperature, Volume 7, Issue 3, 2020. http://doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2020.1796243

11 Caroline Broadhurst (1/8/2024) Freedoms lost: Democracy under threat. Amazon publication.  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Freedoms-Lost-Democracy-under-threat/dp/B0DC1CCLMF?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

12 David Frost (10/10/2024) A nation without faith ends up killing its old. The Telegraph. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/10/10/a-nation-without-faith-ends-up-killing-its-old/

13 Nick Potkalitsky (23/12/2024) Character,ai’s Ethics problem; Training AI on Teen Trauma  Substack Blog https://nickpotkalitsky.substack.com/p/characterais-ethics-problem-training?r=bw4yr&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true

14 Reuters (23/8/2023) Google appoints former Character AI founder to co-lead its AI models. https://www.reuters.com/technology/google-appoints-former-characterai-founder-co-lead-its-ai-models-2024-08-23/

15 CBS news (November 2024) Michigan college student speaks on google AI chatbot https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/michigan-college-students-speaks-on-google-ai-chatbot/

16 ITV news (20/11/2024) Which European countries are issuing fresh advice to survive war and why. https://www.itv.com/news/2024-11-20/which-european-countries-are-issuing-fresh-advice-to-survive-war-and-why

17 UK Government website, Prepare Campaign https://prepare.campaign.gov.uk/

18 All Through This Hour, video about food shortages on their website https://www.allthroughthishour.com/#gathering

19 All through This Hour, Be Prepared – booklet for UK Households.  file:///C:/Users/broad/OneDrive/Desktop/Be_prepared_4_SINGLES.pdf

20 All Through This Hour, Movement Story, YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7MQQbVoNks&ab_channel=AllThroughThisHour

21 Justin Brierley (22/12/2024) the surprising truth about the West’s Christian revival. The Spectator https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-surprising-truth-about-the-wests-christian-revival/#:~:text=The%20Bible%20Society%20in%20England,increased%20notably%20in%20recent%20years.