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In the News

  • Mail: Student union bans 'he' and 'she' to avoid making gender assumptions
    January 1st, 2017

    A students' union is discouraging its members from using the pronouns 'he' and 'she', to avoid assumptions being made as to how people identify.

    Sussex University students' union has released a gender inclusive language policy, which applies to all its meetings, radio broadcasts, communications, societies and elections.

    The policy states that preferred pronouns should be stated at the beginning of every meeting, regardless of whether they have been stated at previous meetings, and that gender neutral language should be used when the pronoun is not known.

    Read more. 

  • Reuters: U.S. judge blocks transgender, abortion-related Obamacare protections
    December 31st, 2016

    A federal judge in Texas on Saturday issued a court order barring enforcement of an Obama administration policy seeking to extend anti-discrimination protections under the Affordable Care Act to transgender health and abortion-related services.

    The decision sides with Texas, seven other states and three Christian-affiliated healthcare groups challenging a rule that, according to the judge, defines sex bias to include "discrimination on the basis of gender identity and termination of pregnancy."

    Read more. 

  • GAFCON: Is Gafcon the problem? by Peter Jensen
    December 31st, 2016

    An interview with the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, was recently published as an article in the Church of Ireland Gazette. The newspaper’s website carried the audio of the interview in full here.

    https://gazette.ireland.anglican.org/interview-67-archbishop-josiah-idowu-fearon/ 

    For a self-confessed Ambassador and reconciler, Archbishop Josiah Fearon uses some undiplomatic language. The frank expression of his views on the Anglican Communion and the sexuality debate, and his sweeping dismissal of GAFCON and African church leaders have caused considerable dismay. However they reveal the thinking of the Anglican Communion Office and presumably those who endorse its leadership. 

    Read more. 

  • BBC: Merkel: Islamist terror is 'greatest threat' to Germany
    December 31st, 2016

    Islamist terrorism is the biggest challenge facing Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in her New Year message.

    Referring to the deadly truck attack in Berlin by a Tunisian asylum seeker, she said it was "sickening" when acts of terror were carried out by people who had sought protection.

    She said 2016 had been a year of "severe tests".

    Read more. 

  • Archbishop Cranmer: Daniel McArthur leads the UK's Top 100 most inspirational Christians 2016
    December 31st, 2016

     

    By popular democratic consensus (which some may term 'populism') Daniel McArthur has been chosen as the most inspirational Christian of 2016. The swell of nominations received for him eclipsed those of the Queen, bishops, archbishops, missionaries, church pastors and Aunty Tammy Cobley and all. If you haven't heard of him, he’s a baker. Or, rather, he’s the general manager of a bakery in Belfast (and branches roundabouts).

    And it’s all about cake.

    Perhaps not since King Alfred burned a batch somewhere in Somerset, or Queen Marie-Antoinette exhorted starving peasants to partake of brioche instead of bread, has a cake been so (in)famous. And this was a gay cake. No, not a pansexual gateau with exotic hormonal inclinations, but an iced Ulster cake advocating same-sex marriage. 

    Read more. 

  • Guardian: My son's Down's syndrome does not define him
    December 31st, 2016

    Six days after our first baby was born, it was confirmed that he had Down’s syndrome. The news was devastating: I assumed a lifetime of "difference" and exclusion, all my aspirations for my child seemingly in tatters. I had never known anyone with Down's syndrome, so I threw myself into researching the condition. Everything I read listed possible problems, physical differences and challenges we could face, and I felt overwhelmed and weighed down by his diagnosis.

    The reality could not be further from that bleak vision. Bit by bit, the hurt began to lift as I fell in love with my baby. Eventually I stopped seeing Down’s syndrome and realised that Seb was simply my son.

    Read more. 

  • Denny Burk: 'Nonjudgmental affirmation' is not a parenting strategy
    December 30th, 2016

    National Geographic has released a special issue titled "Gender Revolution," and it includes one article offering advice for parents of transgender children. Here is the bottom line:

    Your most important role as a parent is to offer understanding, respect, and support to your child. A nonjudgmental approach will gain your child's trust and put you in a better position to help your child through difficult times.

    When your child discloses an identity to you, respond in an affirming, supportive way…

    In short, parents must affirm whatever identity a child embraces or risk "harming" their child. But there are some obvious questions that never get asked and answered in this article. Are children really helped when parents decline to make judgments about what is best for their child? Must parents accept and affirm any identity that a child might assume? What kind of child-rearing strategy is it that disallows moral discernment and mandates unconditional affirmation?

    Read more. 

  • Culture Watch: On 30,000 Islamic Terror Attacks by Bill Muehlenberg
    December 30th, 2016

    We all remember the 9/11 Islamic terror attack - or we certainly should remember! The 2001 attacks in America were a wakeup call to many about the enemy we face. Yet sadly for the 15 years that have followed, we don’t seem to have learned all that much.

    Consider this shocking fact; since that fateful day in September, there have been 30,000 Islamic terror attacks carried out around the world – well, 30,010 to be precise. And we have one terrific website to thank for giving us these useful but shocking numbers: www.thereligionofpeace.com/

    Read more. 

  • Guardian: Pentecostal church looks to white Britons to boost congregations
    December 30th, 2016

    The UK's biggest and fastest growing Pentecostal church is embarking on an ambitious expansion programme in 2017, in part aimed at attracting white Britons to join its black majority congregations.

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), which already has almost 800 places of worship in the UK, plans to open another 100 next year, according to one of its leading pastors.

    "We might not hit 100 but if we hit half that it will still be significant," Agu Irukwu told the Guardian. "We're a bit more intentional now about planting churches in communities other than the traditional places you would expect to find us."

    Read more. 

  • Guardian: Ministers put British bill of rights plan on hold until after Brexit
    December 29th, 2016

    Theresa May has accepted that she will have to put David Cameron's plan to publish a British bill of rights on hold until after Brexit, and perhaps beyond the next general election.

    Cameron, May's predecessor as prime minister, had planned to repeal the Human Rights Act, passed by the Labour government to enshrine the European Convention on Human Rights in domestic law, and replace it with a distinct and more limited British bill of rights.

    The justice secretary, Liz Truss, reaffirmed that policy in August; but No 10 has now accepted that it would create too much of a backlash among restive Conservative MPs. "We have got a lot on our plates at the moment," said one Downing Street source. 

    Read more.