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James Brokenshire, the UK's crime and security minister, said an update on the government's plans to tackle terror content online was imminent. The government is to order broadband companies to block extremist websites and empower a specialist unit to identify and report content deemed too dangerous for online publication. The crime and security minister, James Brokenshire, said on Wednesday that measures for censoring extremist content would be announced shortly. The initiative is likely to be controversial, with broadband companies already warning that freedom of speech could be compromised. Ministers are understood to want to follow the model used to crack down on online child abuse. The Internet Watch Foundation, which is partly industry-funded, investigates reports of illegal child abuse images online; it can then ask service providers to block or take down websites.
Pray: for the success of the government's plans to tackle terrorist and extremist websites. (Pr.21:15)
More: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/nov/27/ministers-order-isps-block-terrorist-websites
Parents who buy their children tablet computers at Christmas should ensure anti-porn filters are applied, Culture Secretary Maria Miller says. Tablets such as iPads and Kindles are expected to be one of the top presents this year - with Tesco and Argos coming on the market with cheaper versions. But the Culture Secretary warned last night that unless parents switch on family filters, their children could stumble across porn and other inappropriate material. The top four internet service providers have agreed to ask all households whether they want to install a filter over the next year, thanks to the intervention of David Cameron and pressure from the Daily Mail. But until that happens, Mrs Miller said parents had to take the initiative and install filters themselves. TalkTalk and Sky have already made network filters available, meaning parents do not have to install filters on every separate device. BT and Virgin will follow within the next two months.
Pray: that anti-porn filters will be readily available and fitted; pray also that other providers such as BT and Virgin will speed up their availability. (Ps.73:7)
More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2515354/Porn-risk-children-iPad-presents.html#ixzz2mJUMGnrt
Iain Duncan Smith last night signalled support for a major campaign to promote marriage and turn back the ‘appalling’ tide of divorce. The Work and Pensions Secretary, widely seen as the social conscience of the modern Conservative Party, indicated he was wholeheartedly behind a bid by High Court judge Sir Paul Coleridge to end the ‘destructive scourge’ of family breakdown. Sir Paul will formally launch the Marriage Foundation in a bid to raise awareness of the vital role of marriage in bringing up children. The senior family court judge said he felt compelled to speak out because of the unprecedented scale of the problem. It is unusual for a serving judge to speak out in such a way but Sir Paul, who sits in the Family Division, has been outspoken on the issue of marriage and divorce.
Pray:for the campaign as it grows and gains more support that more MP’s will join and add their support for marriage. (Heb.13:4)
More:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2137659/Iain-Duncan-Smith-backs-campaign-promote-marriage.html
Comedians Jo Brand and Meera Syal have become two of England's first 'dementia friends', in an initiative launched by the Alzheimer's Society. And the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has pledged to become one too. The scheme aims to reach one million people in England by 2015 with free information sessions exploring what it is like to live with the condition. The £2.4m project is supported by the Government and funded by the department of health and cabinet office. The Alzheimer's Society says around 800,000 people in the UK have a form of dementia. And one in three people over the age of 65 will go on to develop the condition. The organisation wants the volunteer-led sessions, taking place in workplaces and town halls across the country, to ‘change the way the nation thinks, talks and acts’.
Pray: that this initiative would succeed in finding many hundreds to come alongside those in need. (Job.19:14)
More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21415594
November 6th will be a National Day of Prayer for our Armed Forces. A number of Christian organisations support the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom and work closely with the Service chaplaincies. These organisations include the Armed Forces’ Christian Union; others can be seen at www.afcu.org.uk. All these organisations work together to encourage Christians serving within the Armed Forces, to pray for them, evangelise, provide Bible teaching and studies and Christian resources, to support marriages and family life and to encourage discipleship and spiritual growth. There are also links to Christians of other Armed Forces, through Military Missions International. There are 120 Military Christian Fellowships (MCFs) worldwide so far and they desire to encourage the formation of more MCFs to support and equip Christians in Armed Forces around the world. Pray: for the work of all these MCOs in the service of our Armed Forces (Heb.12:11)
Former head of the army said Britain is losing its moral compass to such a degree that the armed forces can no longer rely on young recruits to behave in a way once expected. General Lord Dannatt, a committed Christian, has previously expressed concern about British society, suggesting that many members of the armed forces lacked moral values when they joined up. Speaking in a lecture sponsored by Theos, a thinktank he said now the military can teach society about the importance of ethics and morality. ‘In the past it was often assumed that young men and women coming into the armed forces would have absorbed an understanding of the core values and standards of behaviour required from their family or from within their wider community. Such a presumption, he adds, cannot be made now.
Pray: that ethics and morality will become central to our forces and to our nation. (Jas.1:21)
More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/nov/08/military-moral-values-ethics-dannatt
Labour leader Ed Miliband has released a video thanking churches and Christian agencies for their efforts in social justice, and emphasising the importance of Christians being involved in politics. "You do incredibly important work here at home: helping people who go to food banks, helping the homeless and helping all those at risk of disadvantage and those who are vulnerable in our communities," he says. He also commends the action Christians undertake in different countries across the globe "for development, against climate change, on all the important issues that matter". The video encourages Christians to engage with politics and Miliband spoke of his support for Christians on the Left - formerly the Christian Socialist Movement - which works in partnership with the Labour Party to put Christian values and ideas around social justice into political action. The society, which counts forty MPs among its members, believes that to make lasting change, Christians must be a real voice from within the political world, not just outside of it.
Pray: for a greater recognition of the significant and crucial role played by Christians inboth public and political life. (Mk.16:15)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/miliband.urges.christians.to.engage.with.politics/34861.htm
UK-based international development agency Christian Aid has welcomed Labour leader Ed Miliband’s determination to tackle the tax havens which are harming UK public finances but it urges him to go further, because financial secrecy is a curse for poor countries too. The intervention comes as the opposition leader and the Conservative Prime Minister exchange words about 'responsible capitalism' which critics say have rested on amelioration rather than a tackling of fundamental problems and injustices. ‘It’s great that Mr Miliband has recognised that tax haven secrecy is damaging people in the UK, by providing a cover for people and companies to hide their wealth and avoid paying the taxes that are so urgently needed,’ commented Dr David McNair, Christian Aid’s Principal Adviser on Economic Justice, earlier this week. But, he added, ‘We now hope the Labour leader will also recognise that financial secrecy has devastating effects on public services and people’s lives across the world, especially in poor countries.’
Pray: for message from Christian Aid to heard and acted upon by all parties in Parliament. (Lk.16:11)
More: http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16120
Two midwives went to court Tuesday (17 Jan) to challenge a policy introduced by Southern General Hospital in Glasgow which requires midwives to help with abortions, regardless of their religious convictions. The right of midwives to refuse to participate in abortions on the basis of their religious beliefs is explicitly protected by the 1967 Abortion Act, and has
historically been respected by the hospital. However, the hospital recently changed its stance by imposing an obligation on midwives to watch over, and sometimes assist, with late abortions, which were frequently being transferred from the gynaecology department to the labour ward. The two midwives, Mary Doogan and Teresa Wood, both Catholics, were unable to persuade the hospital to uphold their right to refuse to participate in abortions during the statutory grievance procedure.
Pray: for Mary and Teresa as they face this challenge to their faith and their rights. (Is.7:9b)
The Methodist Conference in Portsmouth last Saturday heard a fresh call from the new President to pay attention to God and to those who have been discarded or rejected by society. The Rev Alison Tomlin said paying attention to God meant living with Him at the centre and loving, even enemies. ‘We talk about God as central, except of course that the God we serve tends to spend a lot of time on the edge, on the periphery, on the outside, not within our buildings, not within the places we choose to call home, but out there with those who have been discarded, rejected, those who are distressed and distraught. So if we are serious about paying attention to God at the centre of our lives we have to make sure that we are paying attention far wider than ourselves.’ Pray: for all Christians to renew their commitment to put God at the centre of our lives. (Rev.7:17)