Christianity news

• Southern Baptists reject push from right and elect Ed Litton as president

  16-06-2021 16:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Alabama pastor who worked to bridge racial divides won 52% of the vote in runoff against Mike StoneThe Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) tamped down a push from the right at its largest meeting in decades on Tuesday, electing a new president who has worked to bridge racial divides in the church and defeating an effort to make an issue of critical race theory.Ed Litton, a pastor from Alabama, won 52% of the vote in a runoff against Mike Stone, a Georgia pastor backed by a new group called the Con
  
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• C of E investigates possible slave trade origins of £9.2bn fund

  16-06-2021 13:53 via theguardian.com
  
  17th-century Queen Anne’s Bounty, which has grown into investment fund, could pose ‘reputational risk’The Church of England is to investigate possible slave trade links to an 18th-century endowment which has grown into a £9.2bn investment fund supporting parishes and cathedrals across the country.Queen Anne’s Bounty, a sum of money set aside to augment the incomes of poor clergy in 1704, could present a “reputational risk”, said the annual report of the
  
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• Canadian Pastor Arrested on New Charges After ‘Underground Worship’ Following Church Building Seizure

  15-06-2021 09:22 via christiannews.net
  
  (RebelNews) — Pastor Tim Stephens was arrested on Monday afternoon on new charges, after Fairview Baptist Church gathered for underground worship for the second week in a row since their church was effectively seized by Alberta Health Services last Saturday. Alberta authorities were forced to drop other charges against Pastor Tim last month, after...
  
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• Two leaders of very different Catholic values | Letters

  14-06-2021 18:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Paul Dolan contrasts Boris Johnson’s faith with Joe Biden’s, while Zaki Cooper says that religion should inspire but not dictate an individual’s political agendaI suspect that many left-leaning Roman Catholics regard the fact that Boris Johnson is Britain’s first Catholic prime minister as more a matter of regret than pride, and certainly not “a watershed moment” for the nation’s Catholics, as Catherine Pepinster suggests (A Catholic prime minister in No
  
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• Stonewall accused of attempting to silence barrister who defends biological sex

  14-06-2021 09:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A barrister is suing Stonewall and her legal chambers, arguing that the charity applied pressure on them to have her investigated for affirming men cannot become women.
  
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• A Catholic prime minister in No 10 is a watershed moment | Catherine Pepinster

  12-06-2021 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It would have once been unthinkable, but Boris Johnson’s conversion to Catholicism shows how far we’ve comeThere’s a quip that both Boris Johnson and David Cameron have used – one that shows they are aware of the pitfalls of signing up to a specific religion in secular Britain while also wanting to keep co-religionists on side. Both have said that their Christian faith is a bit like the signal for Magic FM in the Chilterns: it comes and goes. But while Cameron the Christi
  
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• ‘Unique problem’: Catholic bishops split over Biden’s support for abortion rights

  12-06-2021 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  US bishops to debate whether the president should be denied communion over his pro-choice stanceAt some point this weekend, Joe Biden will take his place in a line of people approaching the altar of a Catholic church to receive communion.The US president, a devout Catholic whose speeches regularly include biblical references and who carries a rosary that belonged to his late son, attends Mass every weekend – in Washington, his home town of Wilmington in Delaware, or wherever he happens to
  
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• Council admits unlawful discrimination in cancelling church event

  11-06-2021 16:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Edinburgh Council has admitted acting unlawfully in cancelling a Christian conference because of the beliefs of a guest speaker.
  
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• ITV urged to ban gambling ads during Euros

  11-06-2021 16:28 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  ITV has been urged to ban gambling advertisements during its coverage of Euro 2020.
  
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• Stonewall: Ditch 'mum' for 'parent who has given birth'

  11-06-2021 16:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Stonewall has been criticised over advice given to employers seeking recognition under one of its schemes.
  
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• Pressure grows on Westminster to introduce minimum pricing

  11-06-2021 16:03 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Evidence from Scotland and Wales that minimum pricing reduces alcohol consumption has led to renewed calls for Westminster to take similar action.
  
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• Bioethicist: Legalising assisted suicide devalues human life

  11-06-2021 14:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Legalising assisted suicide in Scotland would throw out the principle of the equality of all lives, a leading bioethicist has said.
  
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• Stonewall co-founder says 'disparage and mislead' tactics causing lobby group to shed support

  11-06-2021 11:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Stonewall co-founder turned critic, Simon Fanshawe has hit out at the LGBT lobby group’s “divisive” actions as a host of organisations leave its ‘Diversity Champions’ programme.
  
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• Virginia Mom Who Survived Maoist China Eviscerates School Board’s Critical Race Theory Push

  11-06-2021 06:50 via christiannews.net
  
  (Fox News) — A Virginia mom who endured Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution before immigrating to the U.S. ripped a Virginia school board at a public meeting Tuesday over its stubborn support of the controversial critical race theory. "I’ve been very alarmed by what’s going on in our schools," Xi Van Fleet told the Loudoun County School Board members....
  
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• ‘Australians are very sceptical’: Michael Kirby warns against ‘excessive protection’ of religious freedoms

  10-06-2021 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Former justice says religious rights can’t come at expense of minorities or the 70% of Australians who say religion is not personally importantThe former high court justice Michael Kirby has warned against the “excessive protection” of religious freedom that could diminish the rights of non-believers and minorities, as a report reveals 70% of Australians say religion is not personally important to them.In an interview with Guardian Australia before the release of new Rationalis
  
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• Court rules belief in biological sex is protected by Equality Act

  10-06-2021 17:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Maya Forstater, who lost her job for defending the reality of biological sex, has won her appeal.
  
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• No-fault divorce law delayed until April

  10-06-2021 16:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Government’s ‘no fault’ divorce law, which would allow a person to divorce their spouse without having to give a reason, has been delayed until next year.
  
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• Judicial review allowed against Westminster over NI abortion roll out

  09-06-2021 16:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The High Court has granted a major pro-life group permission to launch a judicial review against the Westminster Government’s new powers which could override the Stormont Executive on abortion.
  
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• Gay conversion: C of E bishop backs prosecution of proponents

  09-06-2021 13:34 via theguardian.com
  
  David Walker says faith leaders should face full force of law if they fail to comply with proposed ban Faith leaders should face prosecution if they fail to comply with the government’s promised ban on so-called gay conversion therapy, a senior bishop in the Church of England has said.David Walker, the bishop of Manchester, told the Guardian: “Where activity has harmed someone, the person who has caused the harm should face prosecution.” That activity should include prayer aime
  
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• C of E bishop backs prosecution of those who defy ‘gay conversion’ ban

  09-06-2021 13:34 via theguardian.com
  
  David Walker says faith leaders should face full force of law if they don’t comply with proposed banFaith leaders should face prosecution if they fail to comply with the government’s promised ban on so-called gay conversion practices, a senior bishop in the Church of England has said.David Walker, the bishop of Manchester, told the Guardian: “Where activity has harmed someone, the person who has caused the harm should face prosecution.” That activity should include prayer
  
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• Down’s syndrome test will bring ‘great loss to the world’

  07-06-2021 17:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Parents of children with Down’s Syndrome fear the rollout of controversial Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) across NHS England will lead to more babies with the condition being aborted.
  
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• Time limits on embryo experimentation abandoned

  07-06-2021 12:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The body representing worldwide stem cell research has jettisoned long standing protections which banned research on human embryos beyond 14 days after fertilisation.
  
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• Pope Francis stops short of apology over deaths in ex-Catholic school in Canada

  06-06-2021 13:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Pontiff fails to issue direct apology for church’s role in residential schools where children were abusedPope Francis has said he was pained by the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former Catholic school for indigenous students in Canada, and called for respect for the rights and culture of native peoples.He urged Canadian political and Catholic religious leaders to “cooperate with determination” to shed light on the finding and to seek reconciliation and healing.
  
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• Scotland’s ‘cradle of Christianity’ on Iona is saved by small mercies

  06-06-2021 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The Benedictine abbey on the Hebridean island reopens tomorrow after a £3m renovation funded by bake sales and sponsored walksA Christian community on a tiny Hebridean island which for centuries has attracted pilgrims from all over the world will reopen on Monday after a mammoth campaign raised £3.75m to save it from closure.The Iona community, centred on a Benedictine abbey in whose grounds John Smith, the late Labour leader, is buried, has spent the past three years making its buil
  
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• Ex-LGBT Visit DC to Warn Senators About Dangers of the So-Called Equality Act

  05-06-2021 05:22 via christiannews.net
  
  (LifeSiteNews) WASHINGTON, D.C. – Former gay, lesbian and transgender individuals have come to the nation’s capital this week to warn members of the U.S. Senate against the dangers of the so-called Equality Act, which threatens to diminish religious liberty and severely hinder those seeking to deal with unwanted same-sex attraction and gender...
  
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• German cardinal offers to resign over sexual abuse ‘catastrophe’

  04-06-2021 17:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Reinhard Marx tells pope he wants to share responsibility for church’s failure to deal with abuse by clergyCardinal Reinhard Marx, one of Germany’s most senior Catholics, has offered his resignation to the pope over the “catastrophe” of sexual abuse by clerics and other church members.Marx, the archbishop of Munich and Freising and a prominent liberal, said in a letter to Pope Francis that he wanted to share responsibility for the abuse that had taken place over decades a
  
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• Paralympian Peer: ‘Writing on wall for disabled people in assisted suicide Bill’

  04-06-2021 13:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has warned the latest attempt to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales poses a serious threat to the lives of disabled people.
  
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• Ivy League law profs blast prosecution of Christian politician

  04-06-2021 09:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Law professors from several elite universities in the US have criticised the prosecution of a Finnish Christian politician accused of ‘hate crimes’ for sharing the Bible’s position on sexual ethics.
  
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• Pakistani court acquits Christian couple sentenced to death for blasphemy

  03-06-2021 18:22 via theguardian.com
  
  The pair were convicted in 2014 after sending a text message insulting the prophet Muhammad A Pakistani court has ordered the release of a Christian couple sentenced to death for blasphemy, lawyers said, weeks after the European parliament blasted the country over the case.Shafqat Emmanuel and Shagufta Kausar were jailed in 2013 and convicted of sending a text message insulting the prophet Muhammad – even though both are illiterate. Continue reading...
  
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• Welsh Govt backs ‘conversion therapy’ ban

  03-06-2021 13:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Welsh Government has thrown its weight behind activists seeking a ban on so-called conversion therapy “in all its forms”.
  
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• Pro-abortionists push for buffer zones across Scotland despite record abortion rate

  03-06-2021 11:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Pro-abortion activists are using the record abortion rate in Scotland to push for nationwide ‘buffer zones’ around abortion clinics. 
  
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• 'Flood' of public bodies exit Stonewall scheme

  02-06-2021 16:05 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Several high-profile public bodies are leaving Stonewall’s ‘Diversity Champions’ programme, following the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s recent departure. Concerns about the scheme centre around Stonewall’s aggressive promotion of trans ideology.
  
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• Chief Constable: no age-verification for porn ‘completely bizarre’

  02-06-2021 14:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Easy access to violent pornography online is “corrupting” young people and fuelling sex offences in school, a senior police officer has warned.
  
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• Texas ‘heartbeat Bill’ protects unborn from sixth week of pregnancy

  02-06-2021 13:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Texas has become the largest US state to pass new protections to defend life in the womb.
  
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• Teachers’ union promotes ‘Transsexual Jesus’ play

  02-06-2021 09:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A teachers’ union has promoted a controversial play that portrays Jesus as a transsexual.
  
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• Mystified by Catholic church’s blessing for Boris Johnson’s wedding | Letters

  01-06-2021 18:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Readers question why the twice-divorced prime minister was allowed to marry at Westminster CathedralI worked for 10 years as a Roman Catholic priest in south London and was obliged to leave the ministry when I met Clare and we decided to get married (Catholics question why Boris Johnson was able to marry in church, 30 May). Pope John Paul II refused us permission to be married in church. Is it that Boris Johnson always gets what he wants, or is it that the church’s rules defy any rational
  
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• Peter Tatchell’s life on film: ‘So far I’ve been violently assaulted 300 times’

  01-06-2021 17:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Peter Tatchell has protested against everyone from Mike Tyson to Tony Blair. So what did the human rights campaigner make of the Netflix documentary Hating Peter Tatchell?The title of Hating Peter Tatchell was the brainchild of its director, Christopher Amos. When, in 2015, he first became interested in making a documentary about my 54 years of LGBTQ+ and other human rights activism, he was taken aback by the volume and ferocity of hatred against me.So far I’ve been violently assaulted ove
  
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• ‘Sinning Against Our God’: Teacher Put on Leave After Speech on Refusing to Lie About ‘Transgenderism’

  01-06-2021 16:45 via christiannews.net
  
  (Fox News) — An elementary school physical education teacher in Virginia was placed on leave after an explosive speech in which he told his school board he wouldn't "affirm that a biological boy can be a girl and vice versa," Fox News has learned. During a Loudoun County school board meeting Tuesday, teacher Byron "Tanner" Cross voiced his opposition to...
  
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• Boris Johnson’s outdone Henry VIII in having his third marriage blessed by the Catholic church | Christopher Lamb

  01-06-2021 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It seems like double standards when the twice-divorced prime minister can marry in church while other divorcees cannotThe prime minister’s marriage to Carrie Symonds in Westminster Cathedral has left many Catholics with a question. If the mother church of the Catholic church in England and Wales can kill the fatted calf and welcome the twice-divorced prime minister as a prodigal son, why are so many other divorcees being turned away?People are upset by what feels like double standards. Too
  
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• CI threatens legal action if NI Executive uses 'conversion therapy' ban to outlaw prayer

  01-06-2021 09:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  The Christian Institute has said it “will not hesitate” to take legal action if the Northern Ireland Executive introduces a ban on ‘conversion therapy’ which outlaws “the wrong kind of prayer”.
  
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• Schools give boys' names to girls without parents’ knowledge

  01-06-2021 05:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Schools are using boys’ names for girls as young as 13 and recording them on official documents, a newspaper investigation has revealed.
  
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• Man in Black at 50: Johnny Cash’s empathy is needed more than ever

  31-05-2021 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The country star is not always remembered for his politics, but his about-face to withdraw support for Nixon and the Vietnam war may be his finest moment“I speak my mind in a lot of these songs,” Johnny Cash wrote in the liner notes to the album Man in Black, released 50 years ago today. He might be better known now for the outlaw songs of his youth or the reckonings with death in his final recordings, but Cash used his 1971 album to set out his less-discussed political vision: long
  
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• Calls grow for free speech protections in Scots universities

  31-05-2021 11:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Pressure is mounting on Holyrood to follow England’s example and require higher education providers in Scotland to promote free speech on their campuses.
  
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• Catholics question why Boris Johnson was able to marry in church

  30-05-2021 19:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Clergy and worshippers raise query as faith’s law does not recognise divorceCatholics, including members of the congregation at Westminster Cathedral, have questioned why the prime minister was able to be married in a Catholic church following his two previous divorces.Boris Johnson married Carrie Symonds at the cathedral in a ceremony with 30 friends and family on Saturday, planned in strict secrecy and reportedly carried out by Father Daniel Humphreys, who baptised their son Wilfred last
  
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• ‘Fear and regret’: US detransitioners speak out

  28-05-2021 17:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  An American news channel has highlighted the plight of people in the US who regret undergoing ‘sex change’ treatment and wish to revert back to their birth sex.
  
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• Scotland records highest ever abortion rate

  28-05-2021 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Public Health Scotland has announced the highest abortion rate since records began in 1968.
  
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• Disabled peer speaks out against new attempt to legalise assisted suicide

  28-05-2021 15:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A disabled peer has hit out at at the latest attempt to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales.
  
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• The invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea – podcast

  28-05-2021 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world. By Robert P Baird Continue reading...
  
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• Peers back ban on gambling sponsors on football shirts

  28-05-2021 12:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  Gambling companies should not be allowed to advertise on football shirts, more than 150 peers have said.
  
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• Fewer Americans Support Black Lives Matter Movement, Poll Finds

  27-05-2021 21:45 via christiannews.net
  
  (Forbes) — The popularity of the Black Lives Matter movement has fallen in the year since the killing of George Floyd sparked a global reckoning over racial justice, while a majority of Americans are pessimistic about the future of race relations in the country, according to a Morning Consult-Politico poll of more than 2,000 adults conducted last week. KEY...
  
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