On Tuesday, at the beginning of the tenth Church of England General Synod, Archbishop Justin Welby used his presidential address to say he had two fears for the Synod. ‘If I might begin with the worst,’ he said, ‘it is that we approach this Synod as a place of suspicion and conflict. To use Pope Francis' phrase, we cannot come together in a “hermeneutic of conspiracy”’. The Archbishop said the system of Synod suggested one side must win and the other lose, but this was not the case. ‘If any lose, we all lose. If any win, we all win. The Church must not be ashamed that it has its arguments in public, it is healthy and good.’ He cited the Church's discussions on sexuality as a successful way Christians were able to discuss a controversial issue in a respectful way but he accepted the next five years of Synod offered 'enormous challenges to the future of the Church'.
Talking Jesus: New Year prayer call
27 Nov 2015
The Evangelical Alliance, HOPE, and the Church of England are launching a time of prayer from 31 December 2015 to 3 January 2016 in response to the game-changing research about perceptions of Jesus published earlier this year, ‘Talking Jesus’. The three organisations have collaborated on resources to encourage churches and individuals to pray during watch-night services on New Year's Eve and on the first Sunday in 2016 that more people would come to understand better the hope that is in Jesus. The research showed that an increasing number of people in the UK have little understanding of who Jesus is. Christians are being encouraged to respond in prayer to the publication, as well as to embark on a long-term commitment to changing the story in the UK, so that people might meet Jesus, love him and follow him. Resources include a video to play at the prayer events, a Talking Jesus New Year prayer, and a leaflet to equip congregations to pray.
Alarming scale of steroid abuse in Welsh rugby
27 Nov 2015
UK anti-doping figures reveal that Welsh rugby players constitute 34% of all sportspeople serving drugs bans. An ex-player told BBC Wales he is surprised more people have not been banned, but WRU chief Martyn Phillips says he is ‘not overly concerned’. The player, who would not be named, said, ‘It's totally off-the-scale. I think people are probably blind to it and if the truth came out there would be a lot more players who are banned from playing.’ An anti-doping expert said it was easy for cheats to avoid being caught because some drugs leave the body quickly. Seventeen Welsh rugby union and league players, from grassroots to semi-pro, are currently banned, with the majority found to have traces of anabolic steroids in their systems. In a survey of one hundred rugby union clubs, fifteen players said they had used a performance-enhancing drug, but only five had been drug tested.
Hopes are rising that a series of strikes by junior doctors can be averted as their leaders and the health secretary hold talks at ACAS to try to settle their dispute. Negotiations to find a compromise agreeable to both sides over a new contract have begun - the first formal face-to-face discussions in thirteen months between representatives of the British Medical Association, NHS Employers, and Department of Health civil servants. As recently as last weekend Hunt had ruled out direct talks without preconditions between the two sides, despite NHS bosses and senior doctors making it clear privately that he should be more flexible to avoid industrial action.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pension Secretary, says that after the Paris terror attacks, ‘people need to know there is something else in their lives', and that politicians need to be more open about their faith. He feels that MPs are ‘very wary’ about the role of religion, and added: ‘Everywhere, faith is a natural discourse. In Italy, nobody would get bothered about faith being involved in politics. I think the political class in Britain is kind of ridiculous about talking about faith.’ He also said that he has the ‘highest respect’ for faith-based charities which tackle alcohol abuse and other deep-rooted social problems.
Alarm voiced over ban on Lord’s Prayer
27 Nov 2015
Pressure is mounting on cinema advertising chiefs to reverse a ban on an advert featuring the Lord’s Prayer. The cinema chains, Odeon, Vue and Cineworld, banned the one-minute film earlier this week in case it ‘offends’ non-Christians. In it the Archbishop of Canterbury and members of the public recite the Lord’s Prayer. It was due to be screened throughout the week before Christmas and was given a Universal certificate by the British Board of Film Classification and approved by the Cinema Advertising Association. However the cinema chains said it could be ‘offensive’ to movie-goers. The Church of England is considering legal action, saying it was the victim of religious discrimination by Digital Cinema Media, which handles adverts for the cinema giants. Now politicians, including David Cameron, describe the ruling as ridiculous. Stephen Fry, a critic of religion, said it was ‘bizarre, unfair and misguided’, while Boris Johnson condemned it as outrageous. Watch the ad at: http://www.justpray.uk/
Cameron calls for airstrikes against IS in Syria
27 Nov 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron told MPs on Thursday it was time to join airstrikes by other nations against Islamic State militants in Syria, saying Britain cannot ‘subcontract its security to other countries’. He needs to persuade several MPs in his own Conservative Party and some in the opposition Labour Party to back his cause if he is to win Parliament's backing for military action. Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee criticised extending airstrikes into Syria earlier this month, saying that without a clear strategy to defeat the militants and end the civil war such action was ‘incoherent’. However since IS claimed to have killed 130 people in Paris, some MPs who had been reluctant to launch new strikes in Syria have increasingly felt action was needed to protect Britain from such attacks. Cameron’s response to the committee's objections was, ‘We do not have the luxury of being able to wait until the Syrian conflict is resolved before tackling IS’. See also this week’s Prayer Alert World article, for a different opinion.
Following the release of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report assessing the human rights situation in Bahrain, MEPs are calling for an urgent rethink of relations between the EU and the Gulf states. Ten detainees interviewed by HRW had been subjected to electric shocks, suspension in painful positions, forced standing, extreme cold, and sexual abuse. They reported that government interrogators boasted of their reputation for inflicting pain on detainees. MEPs said that given the unrest and violence in the Middle East, it is key that Bahraini authorities accept their responsibilities and work on democratic reform, calling on the Bahraini government to investigate all allegations immediately. All of the EU's ‘international partners’ must adhere to the same high standards of human rights as the EU, and any accusations of torture must be taken seriously. HRW said there is still a ‘culture of impunity’ among security forces, which has not yet been tackled.