Government proposals to ban all forms of conversion therapy for LGBT people could ‘restrict individual freedom’ and ‘criminalise Christians and common church activities’, said Peter Lynas, director of the Evangelical Alliance. A public petition to make the practice illegal in the UK, which gained more than 250,000 signatures, was debated in the House of Commons last week. The equalities minister said that the Government was committed to outlawing the ‘abhorrent’ practice, and would shortly be bringing forward plans to do so. Mr Lynas argues that, while electro-shock treatment and corrective rape should be ended, the lack of a clear definition of conversion therapy by the Government was challenging: ‘Many lobbying for change are seeking an expansive definition that we could not support.’ Current proposals could restrict individual freedom and impinge on essential religious liberty, potentially criminalising Christians and common church activities.
Rev Brian Casey is making a fresh appeal to the Home Office not to deport 13 year old Giorgi Kakava, who has lived in Scotland since he was three. He faces being sent to Georgia, where he was born. He came to the UK with his asylum-seeker mother, who feared the gangsters her husband owed money to would either kill Giorgi or sell him to sex traffickers. She died in 2018 while awaiting the outcome of her asylum appeal, leaving Giorgi in the care of his grandmother and legal guardian Ketino Baikhadze. His residence permit expired in December. 90,000+ people signed a petition asking that he be allowed to stay in Glasgow. Rev Casey said it was a ‘scandal and a moral outrage’ that he was still living under a cloud of uncertainty. His plea for ‘decency and compassion’ comes as the Scottish parliament prepares to vote on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on 23 March.
Northern Ireland: new IRA bomb-making activities
18 Mar 2021
Police investigating the New IRA's bomb-making activities have arrested a 52-year-old man in Londonderry. It follows a search in the Creggan area targeting the dissident republican group's storage of explosive devices and equipment. A detailed forensic examination of a house is also underway. Det Ch Supt Raymond Murray said the man was arrested as part of Operation Ledging and described it as ‘significant’. He said this was a ‘discrete, stand-alone strand’ of a wider investigation - a surveillance-led operation targeting dissident republican activities. He added, ‘The New IRA continues to pose a very real danger, most especially to the communities in the areas where they construct and store their bombs and guns. We have witnessed, on numerous occasions, that they are willing to put the lives of local people at risk in their reckless haste to carry out bombings and shootings.’
Mourners and Day of Reflection
18 Mar 2021
As Church of England cathedrals and parishes prepare to mark the first anniversary of lockdown with a National Day of Reflection on 23 March, they released findings from a survey of over 2,000. Seven in ten wanted to attend a funeral but were unable to do so. 89% had not been able to say goodbye properly while 84% said they had not been able to fulfil the funeral wishes of the person who died. The majority of those surveyed said they believed the CofE should provide both outdoor and indoor spaces for quiet reflection and prayer for those coping with death, dying and grief. The chair of the Churches Funeral Group said, ‘The Day of Reflection will prompt us to remember and reflect on so much that’s happened in the past year. Nothing will be more poignant and heartfelt than our treasured memories of those who have died during the year.’
Islam in Europe
18 Mar 2021
In recent years, Algeria, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, among others, have distributed hundreds of millions of euros to finance the spread of Islam in Europe. On March 9, the Danish Parliament voted 79 to 7 to approve a new law banning foreign governments from financing mosques in Denmark. The measure is aimed at preventing Muslim countries from promoting Islamic extremism in Danish mosques and prayer facilities. Denmark joins a growing list of European countries including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland - which have taken varying degrees of action to prevent foreign governments from financing the construction and upkeep of mosques on their territories. Denmark's legislation, sponsored by the ministry of foreign affairs, came into force on 15 March.
Europe: worst droughts in 2,000 years
18 Mar 2021
New research raises the alarm for ecosystems and agriculture. Samples from 2015 to 2018 showed that summer droughts were the most severe Europe has seen in 2,110 years as climate change stokes punishing heat waves. Using data from tree rings in living and dead European oaks going back to the time of the Romans, scientists identified a long-term drying trend that suddenly intensified in 2015 beyond anything seen in two millennia. The researchers said that this cluster of abnormally dry summers was likely caused by human-driven climate warming and changes to the circulation of the jet stream. ‘Climate change does not mean that it will get drier everywhere. Some places may get wetter or colder, but extreme conditions will become more frequent, which could be devastating for agriculture, ecosystems and societies as a whole,’ said lead author Ulf Buntgen, professor of environmental systems analysis of Cambridge University.
Denmark: plans to monitor sermons
18 Mar 2021
Concerns have been raised over new laws being proposed in Denmark to monitor all foreign- language sermons. Under the draft legislation, all sermons in languages other than Danish will have to be translated and submitted to the authorities for inspection. The Danish government says it wants to curb Islamic extremism, but a number of Christian denominations have warned that it poses a threat to religious freedom. Dr Albert Mohler, president of one of the largest evangelical Bible colleges in the USA, described the proposed law as something that was almost ‘unprecedented in modern church history’.
‘You must be vegan to be saved’
18 Mar 2021
As the church’s global growth continues, leaders must disentangle its ‘health message’ from views on salvation. Many Seventh-day Adventists believe you must be vegan to be saved. While Adventists around the world have heeded their co-founder’s teachings on eating a plant-based diet, for some of them veganism has risen to a place next to godliness. Researchers found that many members in South Asia believe salvation is ensured two ways: through Jesus Christ (92%), and through giving up meat, animal products, alcohol, and tobacco (80%). Within the denomination’s East-Central Africa division - which has the second-most vegan or vegetarian members (42%) - 74% of members maintain that dietary choices contribute to salvation. Adherents in North America and Europe were far less likely to believe their healthy lifestyle contributes to salvation. While over half of Adventists in North American are vegetarian or vegan - more than any other region of the church - just 4% see the diet as necessary for salvation.