CAMERON “UNDERMINED CHRISTIANITY”
ONE IN THREE VOTERS believes PM David Cameron has undermined Christianity and 50 per cent think marriage should be defined as an ‘exclusive commitment’ between a man and a woman, a recent poll showed.
Colin Hart, director of The Christian Institute, which commissioned the poll, said Christians had been marginalised and the poll should act as a “wake-up call” to Mr Cameron. The Sunday Times gave it the blunt heading, “Christians flee Tories.”
The ComRes poll results were announced the week before the local council and European parliament elections which saw the major parties lose heavily to UKIP.
Sources: Breaking Christian News, Christian Institute, Sunday Times
ARCHBISHOP WELBY ALLIES WITH HOMOSEXUAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGNERS
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTEBURY has unveiled new guidance on “challenging homophobic bullying” in church schools, drawing on information provided by homosexual lobby group Stonewall.
He also gave an interview to Pink News, the first one given by an Anglican Primate, in which he said: “We have to accept, and quite rightly, that the same-sex marriage act is law, and that it’s right and proper, it’s the law of the land.”
Source: Christian Concern
PRO-MARRIAGE EX-JUDGE SPEAKS OF “SILLY” REPRIMAND BY LORD CHIEF JUSTICE
SIR PAUL COLERIDGE, THE FORMER TOP FAMILY JUDGE, who spoke out in support of marriage, has described his subsequent reprimand by the Lord Chief Justice as “unfair” and “silly”.
As founder of the Marriage Foundation, Sir Paul, 64, retired in April to focus more on the work of the Foundation, thinking he could do more good there than in the Family Courts where he had witnessed the unhappiness of family break-ups for four decades.
He told The Sunday Times that after voicing concern in 2012 that the government was spending too much time on its same sex marriage bill, a handful of letters from the public resulted in three misconduct investigations with the Lord Chief Justice Baron John Thomas, decreeing that he had brought the judiciary into disrepute.
“SAFE HOUSES” FOR MUSLIM CONVERTS
THERE ARE UP TO 1,100 FORMER MUSLIMS AT RISK IN BRITAIN, but the true number could be 3,000.
So says Christian Concern, which has launched a national network of safe houses for Muslim converts who face ostracism or violent reprisals for leaving their religion.
Andrea Williams, Christian Concern’s CEO, said: “We are motivated by a deep sense of love and compassion for those who feel trapped in a situation from which they cannot escape. The penalty for them at best is to be cut off from their family; at worst they face death. This is happening not just in Sudan and Nigeria but in east London. The government has failed to deal with the rise in anti-Christian sentiment.
Some Iranian converts have had their families in Iran threatened, beaten and jailed after being pictured in a church, according to evidence given at last year’s “Being Wise Shepherds” conference held in Crawley by the Emmaus Group.
Source: Sunday Times
NO SEX PLEASE, I’M ONLY 18
AN 18-YEAR-OLD PUBLIC SCHOOLBOY featured in the national press after announcing publicly that had abstained from the culture of casual sex.
Phin Lyman, a sixth former at Wellington College in Berkshire, said that many boys are educated about sex through online pornography. He also claimed 90 per cent of young people were drunk when they lost their virginity.
He said: “I am at the top of the school now and I can look down and see there is so much pressure on younger pupils to have sex.”
Meanwhile US campaigners say that use of pornography should be seen as a major public health crisis. Speaking ahead of a two-day conference last week on the topic of sexual exploitation, Dawn Hawkins, the executive director of Morality in Media, warned of an “untreated pandemic of harm.” She said: “There’s a lot of science now proving porn is harmful.”
Source: The Christian Institute
MUMS’ VICTORY IN SHIELDING CHILDREN FROM GRAPHIC MAGS
THE CHILD EYES CAMPAIGN, FEATURED IN THE NATIONAL MEDIA, reports success with Morrisons supermarket agreeing to stop displaying women’s weeklies like Chat, That’s Life and Take A Break that always feature sensationalised rape and child abuse stories on their covers, at till points and near children’s merchandising. And in May Co-op members voted overwhelmingly to put The Sun newspaper on the top shelf.
The campaign group, started by mothers but with plenty of men supporting it too, is now putting pressure on all the supermarkets to follow suit and protect children from damaging media. Supporters can sign their Facebook petition.