December 2, 2016 – BARONESS-J.COM

Christians should not be afraid of of speaking “freely” about their faith at work and in public places, Theresa May has said.

The Prime Minister said people should be able to celebrate Christmas as she endorsed a report which said that Christianity should be “celebrated, not denigrated”.

The report says that many employers will have “little problem” with Christians discussing their faith at work “in the same way you might talk about sport, hobbies and family life”.

Mrs May’s intervention came after David Isaac, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, warned that over-anxious employers are failing to celebrate Christmas for fear of offending other staff.

The Prime Minister, who is the daughter of a vicar, said that Christians should “jealously guard” their right to speak out about their faith as she endorsed a report by the Evangelical Alliance and the Lawyers Christian Fellowship

She said: “You raise an important issue that matters to both you and me, and I think that the phrase that was used by the Lawyers Christian Fellowship was ‘the jealously guarded principle’ of that ability to speak freely, as you say respectfully and responsibly, about one’s religion.

“I’m happy to welcome the publication of this report and its finding. “Of course we are now into the season of Advent, and we have a very strong tradition in this country of religious tolerance and freedom of speech and our Christian heritage is something we can all be proud of.

“I’m sure that we would all want to ensure that people at work do feel able to speak about their faith, and also be able to speak quite freely about Christmas.”

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The report warns that society is forgetting “that its many freedoms derive from centuries of applying the Bible to public life”.

It says: “Although these liberties have been hard-won, however, they can also be easily lost. If not attended to, they will wither away.

“Like a muscle, without exercise they will atrophy. The Bible tells us that we grow as we give, and the truth about our gospel freedoms is that ‘if we don’t use them we’ll lose them’.

“The lost need the gospel, so we need to be intentional about sharing it.

“We hope that this resource will inform followers of Christ about the freedoms we have to do this, and encourage confident and fruitful evangelism in every area of public life. Freedom, in every sense of the word, depends on it. So let’s speak up.”

The report says that employees should look for the “opportunities” to “spread the gospel” as long as they do so in a “respectful” manner and do not “brow-beat” colleagues.

It says: “Religious beliefs have protection that other beliefs do not. If you are expressing an opinion that is informed by your Christian beliefs, you have greater legal protection than if it is simply expressed as your opinion on a topic.

“This is, therefore, a good reason not to be shy about stating how your faith informs your opinions.”

It adds: “[Christians should] foster a culture of conversation about faith. The more such discussions are commonplace, the less it will be felt to be ‘wrong’. Ongoing natural discussions are better than forced, isolated occasions.”

The document also suggests that Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media present a “wonderful opportunity for getting the good news of Jesus Christ out to a vast audience at little cost”. It comes after Theresa May, a practising member of the Church of England, said that Christianity “lies behind what I do.

fb_img_1480695053944 — BIG JOHN’S AFRICAN RESTAURANT. Plumstead High Street. London

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Many Africans fail in our duty of taking due care of ourselves or of our health. Many of us are ignorant of basic issues that can have bearings on our health and generally people do not know that simple daily practices can help save lives .

Heart and Utility Specialist, Dr. Abdullahi Oluwalogbon gave a few useful tips in a question and answer session .

Question. What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?
Answer:
1. Diet – Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil
2. Exercise – Half an hour’s walk, at least five days a week;
avoid lifts where possible and avoid sitting for long periods of time
3. Quit smoking
4. Control weight
5. Control BP – Blood pressure and Sugar

Question. Can we convert fat into muscles?
Answer: It is a dangerous myth. Fat and muscles are made of two different tissues, fat is fat … Ugly and harmful… Muscle is muscle. Fat can never be converted into a muscle.

Question. It’s still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Answer: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.

Question. Are heart diseases hereditary?
Answer: Yes

Question. What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?
Answer: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.

Question:. Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?
Answer: Walking is better than jogging, since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints

Question. You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?
Answer: Mother Theresa, who was my patient.

Question. Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?
Answer: Extremely rare.

Question. Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I’m currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?
Answer: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.

Question. How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ?
Answer: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body’s enzyme release for digestion gets confused.

Question. How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?
Answer: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.

Question. Which is the best and worst food for the heart?
Answer: Fruits and vegetables are the best and oilis the worst.

Question. Which oil is better – groundnut, sunflower, olive?
Answer: All oils are bad.

Question. What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?
Answer: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.

Question:. What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?
Answer: Help the person into a sleeping position, place an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit, since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.

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Question: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?
Answer: Extremely difficult without ECG.

Question. What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.
Answer: Increased awareness has resulted in increased reporting of incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.

Question. Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
Answer: Yes.

Question. Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?
Answers : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may NOT have a software engineer as a child

Question. Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend?
Answer : When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as yougrow older, respect the biological clock.

Question. Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short/long term)?
Answer: Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.

Question. Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?
Answer: No.

Question. Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?
Answer: No.

Question. How would you define junk food?
Answer : Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , Samosas, and even Masala Dosas. th (39).jpg

Question. You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?
Answer: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.

Question. Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?
Answer: No.

Question. Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded e-mails on this)?
Answer: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put anaspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.

Question. Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?
Answer: No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.

Question. Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise?
Answer : Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.

Question. Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?
Answer: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.

Question: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?
Answer: Diet, exercise, drugs on time , Control cholesterol, BP, weight.

Question. Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when comared to day shift workers?
Answer : No.

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Question. What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?
Answer: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.

Question. Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
Answer: No.

Question. Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?
Answer: Nature protects women till the age of 45. (Present Global census show that the Percentage of heart disease in women has increased than in men )

Question. How can one keep the heart in a good condition?
Answer: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkups if you are past the age of 30 ( once in six months recommended) ….