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In the News

  • Telegraph: How church choirs could hold secret to reinventing Islam as 'English' faith
    September 12th, 2016

    Mosques are being encouraged to draw inspiration from church choirs as part of a drive to develop a distinctively “English” brand of Islam led by the former Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi.

    Muslim devotional verse and music could be adapted to sound similar to hymns sung in parish churches, drawing from the centuries-old traditions of English choral music, it has been suggested.

    The idea is among a series of proposals being discussed at a “very English” tea party in Surrey hosted by Lady Warsi and organised by the think-tank British Future.

    Read more.

  • World Watch Monitor: What next for India’s beleaguered Christian minority?
    September 12th, 2016

    Fifty religious leaders from the Christian and Muslim minorities in India met together last week to discuss the religious freedom challenges facing both groups under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

    Christians are “facing physical, symbolic and structural violence” from Hindu extremists across the country, said Father Z. Devasagaya Raj at the conference in New Delhi on 5-6 Sep.

    This view is backed up by the recent report from the Evangelical Fellowship of India’s Religious Liberty Commission, which recorded 134 attacks on Christians or their churches in the first half of 2016 – already almost as many as the annual totals for both 2014 and 2015.

    Read more.

  • Christian Today: Tory MP proposes to kick 21 bishops out of the House of Lords
    September 12th, 2016

    A Conservative MP has proposed removing bishops from the House of Lords in response to Government plans to reduce the number of MPs from 650 to 600 as part of its manifesto bid to "cut the cost of politics".

    Charles Walker, who is chair of the Commons' Procedure Committee, has set out plans to eject 21 Church of England bishops from what he calls the "bloated" Upper House, which has 805 members.

    Read more.

  • PinkNews: Finnish Parliament considers overturning equal marriage after anti-LGBT Citizen’s Initiative
    September 12th, 2016

    Finland’s Parliament discussed a bid to block equal marriage, after a string of citizen’s initiatives on the issue.

    In November 2014, the Finnish Parliament passed a citizens’ initiative on gender-neutral marriage by a tight vote of 105-92, after a number of previous defeats.

    Read more.

  • TIME: Indiana Fertility Doctor Who Allegedly Impregnated Patients With Own Sperm Faces Felony Charges
    September 12th, 2016

    A 77-year-old fertility doctor who is accused of impregnating patients with his own sperm is now facing felony charges after nine children of former patients found out they were siblings.

    Dr. Donald J. Cline was charged in an Indiana on Friday with two felony counts of obstruction of justice, NBC News reports. Cline appeared in Marion Superior Court on Monday and was released on the condition that he return on Oct. 17 to court.

    Read more.

  • China Aid: Christian camp leaders detained, accused of 'indoctrinating minors'
    September 12th, 2016

    Two organizers of a Christian summer camp were detained in China’s northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, for 10 and 15 days, respectively, on Aug. 4 on the charge of indoctrinating minors with superstitious beliefs.

    Zhou Yanhua and Gao Ming, both members of Yining County Church, were preparing to drive a group of children to a summer camp when, half an hour before they were set to depart, police arrived to detain the two women and take all of the children present to the police station to register their IDs.

    An elder from Yining County Church, Xie Xianhua, said officials also called the families and school teachers of the children involved, threatening to deduct the teachers’ wages or keep the students from being admitted to higher grade levels.

    Read more. 

  • Independent: Hundreds of children under 10 were 'at risk of extremism' in one year
    September 12th, 2016

    More than 350 children under the age of 10 have been reported for being ‘at risk of extremism’ in just one year.

    The youngsters were earmarked for possible intervention by the Government’s Channel mentoring programme, it has been revealed.

    Read more.

  • ABC: Anglican Church leaders accuse Sydney Archbishop of silencing same-sex marriage supporters
    September 12th, 2016

    In the wake of the likely failure of the plebiscite bill, a group of 68 priests and church leaders across Australia have signed a petition urging the Archbishop of Sydney to allow "free and open debate" about same-sex marriage within his church.

    The move — unprecedented within the Anglican church — comes after the Sydney Archbishop, Glenn Davies, refused to renew the licence of a Sydney priest, Keith Mascord, due to theological differences, particularly his support for same-sex marriage.

    Read more.

  • Guardian: Sexualised behaviour in very young children increasing, say teachers
    September 12th, 2016

    There is a "slow creep" of sexualised language and behaviour among children as young as five in the classroom, teachers have told the Guardian.

    Primary and secondary school teachers described the level of sex and relationship education (SRE) available to children as inadequate in response to a call out via the Guardian's online Teachers Network.

    Their evidence, although anecdotal, gives a troubling glimpse into classrooms where teachers are trying but failing to tackle sexual bullying, harassment and other sexual violence experienced by pupils.

    Read more.

  • Guardian: Rowan Williams and 200 faith leaders call for revised refugee policy
    September 12th, 2016

    More than 200 leaders of faith communities have signed an open letter to Theresa May calling for urgent changes to the government’s refugee policy, particularly to allow families to be reunited.

    The signatories are headed by Rowan Williams, the former archbishop of Canterbury, who will give a speech on Monday in front of an audience of faith leaders and refugees to reiterate the letter’s demands.

    Read more.