Dame Louise Ellman MP, the vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, presented a bill in Parliament on 9 January under the ten-minute rule, arguing that British taxpayers are funding the teaching of a curriculum that preaches martyrdom and jihad. She told the House of Commons that young Palestinian minds are being poisoned, and the opportunity for Britain to help promote the values of peace, reconciliation and coexistence is being squandered. ‘This is not about a peaceful future. It is a scandal.’ Britain will donate £125 million to the Palestinian Authority by 2021, and. £20 million will go towards the education curriculum. The bill, which is supported by a handful of MPs,l will be read for a second time on 8 March.
Praying for our leaders
17 Jan 2019
The Evangelical Alliance writes, ‘Paul reminds Timothy that praying for our leaders “pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.’’ (1 Timothy 2:4) So we should not just be praying for competence for our leaders, but that they would know Jesus Christ. If they already say they know Jesus, we should be praying that their faith would deepen and grow. Paul’s life gives us a number of principles that can guide our prayers for those in authority. However, there is still a difficult question: how do we pray together for our politicians when we may disagree quite strongly on their policies? This question is an important one for Christian unity, and will get more acute as the Brexit debates enter a new stage.’ Nevertheless we can all recommit to praying for our political leaders to know Jesus.
Northern Ireland exit agreement
17 Jan 2019
Arlene Foster, its leader, has said that the DUP will act in the best interests of the UK. ‘The promotion and protection of the Union is at our core’. She added, ‘We had made clear in all discussions that letters of reassurances were not enough to win our support for the backstop.’ She also said that the backstop did not respect Northern Ireland's constitutional position: ‘Immediately after the Government's meaningful vote defeat, I said we would work to set out a plan which deals with the flawed backstop. When meeting with MPs from all parties over the last few days, I have emphasised that the DUP's clear preference is to have a deal and an orderly exit from the EU. We will meet again with the Prime Minister in the coming days, and will stand up for the Union. We shouldn't fear uncharted waters. We should see them as an opportunity to seize and lay a better foundation for the next generation.’
A disturbing atheist trend
17 Jan 2019
Ten years ago the notorious atheist bus campaign marked a high point for militant atheism. But now there's a new and more serious challenge to the Church. It is ‘identity politics’. Although it highlights oppression or injustice in a way that the Church can support, at its worst it pits different social groups against one another, black vs white, female vs male, transgender vs feminist, rich vs poor. It encourages judgement and prejudice against those who are allegedly powerful - a white, straight man is deemed ‘privileged’ though he may have experienced many power-limiting experiences in his life. It provokes its followers to see antagonism within every social interaction. Identity politics has taken over much of the media, academia and political discourse. Google employee James Damore lost his job for asserting that the gender gap in the tech industry is due to biological differences.
37 experts from farming, climate change and nutrition groups across the world came together as part of the EAT-Lancet commission. They took two years to come up with their findings, now published in the Lancet. The world population is expected to reach 10 billion by 2050 and will keep on climbing. Better diet will prevent about 11 million dying from heart attacks, strokes and some cancers. The use of land for farming and forestry accounts for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions - substantially more than from all trains, planes and automobiles on the planet. The commission will take its findings to governments around the world and bodies such as the WHO, to see if it can bring changes to what we eat. The recommended ‘planetary health diet’ does not completely banish meat and dairy, but it requires an enormous shift in what we put on our plates. We will have to turn to foods that we now barely eat.
Greece: snow hardship for refugees
17 Jan 2019
Winter makes life in an improvised refugee camp even harder than it already is for asylum seekers - especially for the most vulnerable. Pregnant women, new-born babies, and the elderly, sleeping in tents without heating, are among hundreds exposed to worsening weather. Hours after a 24-year-old man from Cameroon was found dead at Moria refugee camp in Lesbos, an Oxfam report stated that hundreds of vulnerable people, including survivors of torture, ‘are being abandoned’ in substandard conditions. Oxfam said its concern is that there could be more deaths with the recent freezing weather and the poor preparations for winter in the camps. Every year conditions in and around the camps deteriorate further with the onset of winter because they are not equipped for cold temperatures, heavy rain or snowfall. Pray for those living in muddy bogs, burning anything they can find to keep warm to receive suitable accommodation, and medical support. See also
Netherlands: Nashville Statement
17 Jan 2019
Evangelical Christians are living in a period of historic transition as Western culture becomes post-Christian and attempts a revision of faith values. By and large the spirit of our age no longer discerns or delights in the beauty of God’s design for human life. Many deny that God created human beings for His glory, and in our personal and physical design as male and female. After a group of 250 Dutch pastors signed the Nashville Statement (which promotes a biblical view of sexuality), they were met by strong opposition - even the Hague flew a rainbow flag in protest. The country’s public prosecution service is examining the statement to see if there is any basis for a criminal investigation against the pastors. Over recent days, the public outcry against them for their Christian convictions has been ferocious. Politicians and celebrities have publicly denounced them. See also
Catholic charity CAFOD is asking communities not to become divided after al-Shabaab attacked the DusitD2 hotel complex in Nairobi on 15 January. CAFOD's Catherine Ogolla described the attacks as ‘horrifying and worrying’. She explained, ‘What terrorists of any type want to do is to divide communities and sow violence. Therefore, all people must stand together for peace and unity in this time of trouble, sending the message out that any form of violent terror will not succeed; will not divide the Kenyan nation’. President Kenyatta said 700+ people were evacuated during the security operation, all terrorists were eliminated, and the country is safe. He urged Kenyans to ‘go back to work without fear’. Sixteen Kenyans, a Briton, and an American (a survivor of 9/11) are among the 21 dead, and 28 are in hospital. See also