During the Golden Globes award ceremony in January in Hollywood, a presenter noted the lack of thanks given to God by this year’s award winners. She said: “God, the Creator of the universe, didn’t get any mentions”, then quipped: “No surprise in this godless town” – at which the roomful of celebrities erupted in laughter.
by Andrew Halloway
USA: Wildfires follow Hollywood mockery of faith
Christians in the US who were watching the Golden Globes award ceremony in January could not help wondering if the devastating Los Angeles wildfires were connected to statements by a presenter mocking God and Christian faith. Shortly after the awards, the fires broke out and destroyed thousands of homes in the Pacific Palisades – including those of many famous names in the film industry such as Mel Gibson and socialite Paris Hilton. At least 24 lives were also lost. (Photo from video shared on Facebook and Youtube)
Evangelist Franklin Graham was quick to deny that God was judging Hollywood. Meanwhile his Samaritan’s Purse charity sent teams of crisis-trained chaplains to support those who had lost homes or were bereaved Graham said: “Could God be judging Hollywood? I don’t know, but I don’t think so… We want to reassure them [those affected by the fires] of God’s love – that he cares for them and that he hasn’t turned his back on them.”
“God hasn’t turned his back on them” – Franklin Graham
President Donald Trump was accused of insensitivity and inaccuracy when he blamed the left-wing politicians of California for failing to control the fires. However, he was supported by California pastor Jack Hibbs, who blasted the “horrific politicians” and called California a “third-world state”. Hibbs, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, linked the fire crisis to state policy decisions, including Governor Gavin Newsom’s water management policies. The UK’s Daily Mail also reported that Newsom had limited water reserves in order to conserve the smelt, a small fish. (Photo – Pastor Jack Hibbs)
BBC Verify, normally no friend of Trump, confirmed that Newsom has previously opposed efforts to redirect more water to southern California. It also agreed with Trump’s claim that there had been no water for some fire hydrants, which hampered the emergency response and was admitted by Newsom. The BBC also confirmed that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had made cuts to the city’s fire department budget, and that Fire Chief Kristin Crowley believed the cuts had “severely” affected the department’s ability to respond to the disaster, although that was denied by others. Further criticism was directed at the LA Mayor not only for cutting the fire department’s budget in favour of supporting the city’s homeless, but for spending taxpayers’ money on fashionably ‘woke’ causes.
CANADA: Pro-lifers thank God for Trudeau’s resignation
Canada’s leading pro-life organisation, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), has welcomed Justin Trudeau’s resignation as Prime Minister. A CLC press release stated: “CLC thanks God for the news that Justin Trudeau, Canada’s most pro-abortion Prime Minister, is stepping down as Liberal leader.” CLC National President Jeff Gunnarson told LifeSiteNews: “Trudeau has done more than any other Prime Minister in our country’s history to move our country away from its Christian foundation toward an anti-life and anti-family dystopia that undermined the rights of Canadians. Thank God he’s stepping down.” (Photo – Justin Trudeau in 2023. Credit European Union, 2025 via Wikimedia Commons)
Under Trudeau, Canada has legalised euthanasia, expanded abortion access, proposed legislation to strip pro-life pregnancy centres of their charitable status, brought in free contraception when Canada’s fertility rate is at an all-time low, denied grants to pro-life and pro-family employers, banned pro-life and pro-family citizens from running as Liberal Party candidates, and enacted a range of pro-LGBT and transgender policies.
MAID in Canada
Those concerned about the UK government’s attempt to introduce assisted dying point to its rapidly increasing use in Canada. In Quebec, assisted dying, euphemistically called MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying) now accounts for almost 10% of all deaths. While 97% of MAID recipients cite ‘loss of ability to engage in meaningful activities’ as causing them to lose the will to live, only 58% blame inadequate pain control, while, worryingly, 49% perceive themselves as being a burden to family, friends and carers. (Source: The Canadian government’s 2023 annual MAID report)
CANADA: Mayor and town fined for not celebrating gay pride
The small Canadian town of Emo and its mayor Harold McQuaker have been ordered to pay a total of CA$15,000 (£8,306) between them for refusing to celebrate ‘Pride’ month. The Evangelical Times reports that McQuaker was unwilling to pay his $5,000 (£2,700) part of the fine, so the authorities ordered that the fine be taken from his bank account. The mayor has also refused to attend training intended to change his thinking on the issue – imposed on him by the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. (Photo – Mayor of Emo Harold McQuaker – TBT News)
The Corporation of the Township of Emo has to pay its share of the costs to Borderland Pride, the gay activists who brought the case against the town.
CANADA: House arrest for pastor who opposed drag queen storytime
Pastor Derek Reimer has been given one year of house arrest and is on probation for protesting against ‘drag queen storytime’ for children at a public library. Reimer plans to appeal against his sentence, telling LifeSiteNews that he believes “the Lord is at work here”. He was thankful to be at “home with my wife and newborn son for Christmas”. Government lawyers wanted him to be jailed for a year. (Photo – Pastor Reimer being arrested by local police)
After being arrested, Reimer endured 22 months on bail and 43 days in jail before being sentenced on 23 December. He has been arrested many times for protesting drag queen story times and other pro-LGBT events.
USA: Christian sacked for beliefs on homosexuality
Russ Salerno was fired from a Fortune 500 financial institution because his biblical views clashed with his employer’s support of LGBTQ ideology. Salerno, now CEO of a new online banking company, told ‘The Daily Signal Podcast’ that he got into trouble when, on one of his own podcasts, he questioned the morality of drag queens reading to children in public libraries. Salerno told the Daily Signal: “It just isn’t proper for anyone to read sex stories or cartoons that are sex stories masked in cartoons to little kids.” (Photo – Russ Salerno. Credit – Tyler O’Neil on X.com)
His employer told him to “basically shut my show down”. Salerno refused, telling them they were denying him his constitutional right to free speech. Later, at a performance review with his boss, he was told that he could advance his career if he joined the ‘Ally Network’ – a group promoting LGBTQ views. Salerno told his manager that he felt “the organisation did not have a place for Christians in their [diversity] program”.
Later, he was told he had three weeks to find a new job because his role was being eliminated, yet subsequently he found an email revealing the company was trying to find someone to fill the same role.
Salerno began a legal case against the business, supported by the Christian advocacy firm, Alliance Defending Freedom. The bank settled with him, so long as Salerno agreed not to disclose its identity. They also tried to get him to sign an order preventing him from discussing the issue in public, but he refused.
He concluded that his disagreement with the LGBTQ movement isn’t about hate: “As a Christian, I don’t hate anybody. The Christ in us compels us to love other people.”
GLOBAL: Charity urges Christians to stop supporting orphanages
The Hope and Homes charity is encouraging Christians to stop donating to orphanages and instead support family-based care. According to Premier News, a report for the charity says UK Christians are donating hundreds of millions of pounds every year to overseas orphanages where children become institutionalised. The charity wants Christians to encourage the orphanages to find families for the children in their care.
Hope and Homes surveyed 4,552 people, of whom 722 were practising Christians, and found that 38 per cent had donated to an overseas institution in the last year. The report states: “As the body of research surrounding the benefits of family care for children over institutional care has evolved and grown, education within the UK Church itself has lagged behind.”
International News items provided to Heart Newspaper by Andrew Halloway.
Andrew is a British freelance editor, writer and publishing consultant. He is also editor of Good News—a national monthly evangelistic newspaper (www.goodnews-paper.org.uk). Andrew has 18 years’ experience as an editor and publishing manager in the Christian publishing world, and holds a first class honours degree in Humanities. He has long had an interest in the creation/evolution debate, and is the contributing editor of ‘The Delusion of Evolution’, a magazine-style evangelistic booklet that has sold over 23,000 copies in the UK (available from www.newlife.co.uk).