When a member of the royal family speaks, the world listens – not only because of their institutional importance but because they speak relatively rarely. Politicians tweet their way through Sunday lunch. The papacy has turned into a flying press conference. A royal, however, plans each sentence weeks in advance. They are seen and not heard. So when Prince Charles took the risk of talking about religion on Thought for the Day, it had to be because he cared deeply about the subject.
In the News
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December 22nd, 2016
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December 22nd, 2016
An Anglican church has banned women from applying to its vacant post of vicar on ‘biblical’ grounds.
Holy Trinity Church in Wallington in south west London will now issue a job advert that specifically excludes female clerics from seeking the job.
The Church of England said such a move was rare but not unique. A spokesman said that because vicars and priests are ‘postholders’ rather than employees, the church does not fall foul of equal opportunities laws.
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December 22nd, 2016
The storm over legislation seen as targeting transgender people is set to intensify in 2017 with several U.S. states proposing measures similar to a bathroom restriction statute in North Carolina that has prompted protests, lawsuits and economic boycotts.
Four states have legislation limiting transgender bathroom rights that will be on the agenda when lawmakers convene next year, and Republican leaders in other states have said more such bills will be filed soon.
North Carolina legislators, in a one-day special session on Wednesday, had widely been expected to repeal their law, which requires people to use the bathroom of their birth gender, but the effort fell apart.
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December 22nd, 2016
Prince Charles has spoken out about the danger of religious persecution, warning against a repeat of "the horrors of the past".
Delivering BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, the Prince of Wales said the rise of populist groups "aggressive" to minority faiths had "deeply disturbing echoes of the dark days" of the 1930s.
In the Christmas message, he urged respect for those of different faiths.
He said religious freedom was a "choice between life and death" for some.
It is the third time he has given the address on the Today programme.
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December 22nd, 2016
Abortion today is an extremely safe, straightforward procedure, provided in a highly regulated environment. One in three women in the UK will have an abortion in her lifetime, funded by the NHS (except if she lives in Northern Ireland). This will usually take place within an NHS hospital or in a centre run by one of the independent charitable providers – the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) or Marie Stopes International (MSI). But just because it is safe doesn’t mean corners can be cut, or providers can pick and mix from rules and regulations, as was unearthed in the course of the care quality commission’s investigation of MSI.
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December 22nd, 2016
Christians in Scotland have been advised to attend online "virtual services" on Christmas Day due to dangerous storm activity expected on Sunday.
Scotland faces storms of speeds of 50-60mph in its southern/central belt, up to and beyond 80mph in the far north. Senior Kirk officials are suggesting that congregations who are therefore unable to travel instead access a Christmas Day service online.
The online platform is already in use by some congregations, whereby the traditional church service is streamed live online. Now the Church of Scotland expects its largest online audiences for live-streamed services on the 25 December.
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December 22nd, 2016
A low mist was clinging to the beet fields around Newton Flotman in Norfolk when the Rev Sally Gaze ushered two dozen small children into her 14th-century church for a nativity play rehearsal a few days before Christmas.
As the gloom and chill deepened outside St Mary's mullioned windows, Gaze attempted to bring order to her unruly company of actors. "Who would like to be a wise man? We can have more than three," she called out. "Now, do you fancy being camels, because we've got some great camel costumes. Any more angels?"
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December 22nd, 2016
Satan, the world, and our own flesh seek to pull us apart with conflicting ideas of how to approach our sexuality. But before we can truly begin to arrange our sexuality in a God-honoring way, we must be made right before God himself. Only the children of God can genuinely please him with their lives, including their sexuality. Only the sin nature that has been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) can be overcome in our daily practice.
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December 22nd, 2016
A van laden with gas cylinders has exploded outside the headquarters of an Australian Christian lobby group, but police on Thursday said the blast was neither politically nor religiously motivated.
Australian Christian Lobby's managing director Lyle Shelton tweeted pictures of the burnt-out white vehicle and said he was "shocked that this could happen in Australia".
He added that the group this year received death threats for taking a stand against same-sex marriage, suggesting the incident could be linked.
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December 22nd, 2016
At least 4,200 people were employed by the Hillary Clinton campaign - five times as many as Donald Trump had on his payroll. Many were PhD students with expertise in data analytics who could command top dollar on Wall Street. Perhaps Mrs Clinton assumed that Trump's character flaws would alienate Christians. But they didn't, and he wooed churches with a promise to appoint judges who would fight abortion rights and protect religious freedom.
Her omission wouldn't be unusual in secular Europe, but when 25 per cent of Americans identify as such it amounts to "political malpractice". That's not my judgment but Michael Wear's, who ran faith outreach for Barack Obama. The additional 4 to 10 per cent of traditional Christians who voted for Obama but rejected his putative successor would have been enough to deny the White House to Mr Trump. When you lose the electoral college as narrowly as Mrs Clinton, the rest of your days are haunted by "if onlys" like this.