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In the News

  • The Conversation: Who are the Coptic Christians?
    April 17th, 2017

    On Palm Sunday, April 9, the Islamic State targeted two Coptic churches in coordinated bombings in the Egyptian cities of Tanta and Alexandria. The explosions killed dozens of Egyptians and injured many more in the worst of a number of such attacks that have taken place in the last decade.

    The interrelated challenges of violence, economics and discrimination have led to the increasing departure of Christians from the Middle East. For centuries they have been part of the rich religious diversity of the region.

    So who are these people that National Geographic has called "The Forgotten Faithful"?

    Read more.

  • Independent: Young British Muslims think Isis fighters returning from Syria should be reintegrated into society, research finds
    April 17th, 2017

    Young British Muslims think Isis fighters returning from Syria should be reintegrated into society and rehabilitated rather than being sent to prison, a study suggests.

    The national study found young British Muslims across the UK believe returnee fighters should be reintegrated into society, with one saying the Government should "give them a chance" and another warning that "otherwise they are gonna find another extremist group and join them".

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: Muslims too revere Jesus Christ, and Easter should be a time to commemorate his teachings
    April 17th, 2017

    Easter is a time for thinking about Jesus, for Christians and others. Sadly, though, we in Britain today take too little notice of the example of the man whom the holiday commemorates. That might sound odd coming from a Muslim like me, but it's true – and I'm not alone in thinking so.

    Jesus, who is known as Isa in Arabic, is referred to by name 25 times in the Qur'an. That book calls him the "spirit" and the "word" of God, and believing in Jesus is a fundamental pillar of faith for a Muslim. Our belief is different, of course; we don't accept the doctrine of the Trinity, or that Jesus was the son of God (in fact the Qu'ran has Jesus denying this in his own words). The Qur'an states that Jesus did not die nor was he crucified; instead, he ascended to Heaven. Still, for Muslims, he is one of the greatest prophets who was a precursor to Prophet Mohammed.

    Read more.

  • LifeNews: Shocking Report Shows Almost 6,100 People Were Killed in Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands Last Year
    April 17th, 2017

    The Dutch News reported that the number of reported assisted deaths increased by 10% in 2016 with 6091 reported assisted deaths, representing 4% of all deaths in the Netherlands up from 5561 reported assisted deaths in 2015.

    Since 2006, there has been a 317% increase in euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands.

    Every five years the Netherlands conducts a major study on euthanasia. The 2010 study that was published in the Lancet (July 2012) indicated that 23% of all assisted deaths were unreported in the Netherlands. If this trend continued, that may have been 1400 unreported assisted deaths in 2016.

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: Teach toddlers about transgender issues, National Union of Teachers say
    April 17th, 2017

    Toddlers as young as two should be taught about transgender issues, the National Union of Teachers (NUT) has said.

    Delegates at the NUT's annual conference in Cardiff called on its members to promote LGBT+ issues to children starting from nursery school.

    They urged ministers to make proposed sex and relationship education (SRE) "inclusive" to so that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students "are told explicitly in the law that their lives are important too".

    Read more.

  • Mail: Royal ballet school's first transgender scholar
    April 17th, 2017

    A former male racing driver has become one of the first openly transgender ballet students to pass a Royal Academy of Dance exam.

    Sophie Rebecca, 35, was a racing driver for nearly a decade before leaving motorsport to chase her childhood dream of becoming a ballet dancer.

    She originally began learning ballet as James at 17 but was dropped from class after the teacher found out about her gender struggles.

    Read more.

  • Telegraph: Major fall in churchgoers in Scotland over 30 years
    April 16th, 2017

    The number of people regularly attending church in Scotland has fallen by more than half in the last 30 years, according to a new survey.

    The survey of Christians across the country found there are around 390,000 regular Sunday churchgoers, down from 854,000 in 1984.

    The research also revealed that two fifths are over 65, prompting a warning that Christianity is "in crisis" in Scotland.

    Read more.

  • BBC: Archbishop of Canterbury: Don't let terror triumph
    April 16th, 2017

    Today's world is full of terror, pain, poverty and despair, but those things should not be allowed to triumph, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said.

    In his Easter message, the Most Reverend Justin Welby remembered the victims of the recent bombings at two Coptic Christian churches in Egypt.

    He called on his congregation to bring "restoration and hope".

    Read more.

  • Hindustan Times: ‘Islamic’ kindergartens: Vienna’s Muslim preschools cause a stir in Austria
    April 16th, 2017

    A debate is raging in Austria after a study suggested that Islamic kindergartens in Vienna were helping to create "parallel societies" or even produce the dangerous homegrown radicals of the future.

    According to its author, Ednan Aslan, a Turkish-born Austrian professor at Vienna University, some 10,000 children aged two to six attend around 150 Muslim preschools, teaching the Koran much like Christian ones do with Bible studies.

    At least a quarter are backed by groups propagating arch conservative strains of Islam like Salafism, or organisations that see religion not just as a private matter but integral to politics and society, Aslan believes.

    Read more.

  • Spectator: If you want to save the CofE, then get stuck in (and go to church)
    April 16th, 2017

    Christ is risen; happy Easter all round. It's a pleasing festival in all sorts of ways, chief of which is that it's wildly uncommercial, being the Sunday following the full moon following the spring equinox, if I've got that right. So, not a usefully neat date like 25 December, and one that retailers find much more difficult to exploit except as a means of flogging lamb legs (folks – lambs have only four legs, but they also come with shoulders, you know, which are even nicer) and obviously, chocolate eggs… though Eastern Christians do it better, with hand coloured eggs, which they get blessed at church.

    Read more.