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Christian Today
- Christians express dismay over Dispatches episode on churchrelated child abuse
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:27:30 GMT
The Evangelical Alliance Churches Together in England and the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service have criticised Channel 4 over the imbalance of Monday nights Dispatches on the abuse of children by some churchesimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32752/f/517092/s/c5fc48b/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Christians+express+dismay+over+Dispatches+episode+on+churchrelated+child+abuselink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fchristians.express.dismay.over.dispatches.episode.on.churchrelated.child.abuse%2F26384.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" //a/tdtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Christians+express+dismay+over+Dispatches+episode+on+churchrelated+child+abuselink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fchristians.express.dismay.over.dispatches.episode.on.churchrelated.child.abuse%2F26384.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788899331/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207602827/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788899331/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207602827/a2.img" border="0"//a
- William McDowell continues to inspire with I give myself away
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:23:15 GMT
Worship leader William McDowells powerhouse worship song I Give Myself Away continues to affect thousands of people Every week the song is being sung and opening the hearts of worshippers in congregations around the worldimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32752/f/517092/s/c5f5f02/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=William+McDowell+continues+to+inspire+with+I+give+myself+awaylink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fthe.anthemic.i.give.myself.away.by.william.mcdowell.continues.to.affect.lives.around.the.world%2F26375.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" //a/tdtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=William+McDowell+continues+to+inspire+with+I+give+myself+awaylink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fthe.anthemic.i.give.myself.away.by.william.mcdowell.continues.to.affect.lives.around.the.world%2F26375.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788597747/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207576834/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788597747/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207576834/a2.img" border="0"//a
- Spain orders judge to return salary over gay adoption trial
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:42:24 GMT
A judge in Spain has been suspended for ten years and ordered to return his salary of nearly 100000 euros to the government because he delayed a decision to allow a lesbian to adopt her partners childimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32752/f/517092/s/c5f5f03/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Spain+orders+judge+to+return+salary+over+gay+adoption+triallink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fspain.orders.judge.to.return.salary.over.gay.adoption.trial%2F26383.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" //a/tdtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Spain+orders+judge+to+return+salary+over+gay+adoption+triallink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fspain.orders.judge.to.return.salary.over.gay.adoption.trial%2F26383.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788597746/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207576835/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788597746/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207576835/a2.img" border="0"//a
- Lutherans seek justice and environmental sustainability
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:31:08 GMT
The highest legislative body of the Lutheran World Federation closed its eightday meeting on Tuesday with a message to the 145 church bodies in 79 countries that make up the global Lutheran communionimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32752/f/517092/s/c5f50ab/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Lutherans+seek+justice+and+environmental+sustainabilitylink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Flutherans.seek.justice.and.environmental.sustainability%2F26382.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" //a/tdtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Lutherans+seek+justice+and+environmental+sustainabilitylink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Flutherans.seek.justice.and.environmental.sustainability%2F26382.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788894637/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207573163/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788894637/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207573163/a2.img" border="0"//a
- Massive OM outreach gets underway in the Mediterranean
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:17:50 GMT
Half a billion people live around the Mediterranean Sea yet most do not know the story of Jesus or who He isimg width='1' height='1' src='http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32752/f/517092/s/c5f3890/mf.gif' border='0'/div class='mf-viral'table border='0'trtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/sendemail2.html?title=Massive+OM+outreach+gets+underway+in+the+Mediterraneanlink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fmassive.om.outreach.gets.underway.in.the.mediterranean%2F26380.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/emailthis2.gif" border="0" //a/tdtd valign='middle'a href="http://res.feedsportal.com/viral/bookmark.cfm?title=Massive+OM+outreach+gets+underway+in+the+Mediterraneanlink=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christiantoday.com%2Farticle%2F3%2Fmassive.om.outreach.gets.underway.in.the.mediterranean%2F26380.htm" target="_blank"img src="http://res3.feedsportal.com/images/bookmark.gif" border="0" //a/td/tr/table/divbr/br/a href="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788595848/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207566992/a2.htm"img src="http://da.feedsportal.com/r/77788595848/u/0/f/517092/c/32752/s/207566992/a2.img" border="0"//a
Christian news from Ekklesia
- Schools must be free from sectarianism, say education campaigners
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:03:19 +0000
!-- google_ad_section_start --div class=field field-type-text field-field-teaserdiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpSchool equality campaigners have welcomed government assurance over free schools and extreme groups, but caution that more detail is needed./p/div/div/divdiv class=field field-type-text field-field-bodydiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpUK Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove said yesterday that extremist and sectarian groups will not be allowed to run free schools. /ppSchool equality and access campaigners have welcomed the assurance, but cautioned that further detail is needed./ppMr Gove told MPs on the cross-party Commons education committee: There are concerns about inappropriate faith groups using this legislation to push their own agenda, but we have been working on the regulations to ensure that we dont have any extremist groups taking over schools./ppThe Secretary of State additionally assured the committee that creationism, a fundamentalist-aligned religious doctrine which denies evolutionary biology, would not be taught as part of a schools science curriculum./ppMr Gove told MPs that he recognised that there are some people who explicitly do not want their children educated in a faith-based setting and encouraged atheists to start their own schools./ppAndrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said: We are pleased that the Secretary of State has finally responded to some of the concerns that humanist MPs and peers have raised throughout the Academies Act?s passage through Parliament. We welcome his assurances in relation to the dangers of the influence of fundamentalist religious groups in our school system./ppHowever, Copson added that there is nothing in the Academies Act itself that will prevent children being exposed to religious indoctrination, nor to stop any particular group from applying to run a state-funded free school. We want to see the government introduce robust safeguards, such as legislative change and statutory guidance, to support today?s assurances./ppCommenting on the question of atheist free schools, Mr Copson continued: The BHA campaigns for totally inclusive schools for children of all faiths and none. In our view, many inclusive community schools are already more or less humanist in their ethos and values. If compulsory collective worship was ended and RE became universally objective, fair and balanced, community schools would indeed be ... open and accommodating to all./ppSimon Barrow, co-director of the Christian thinktank Ekklesia - which along with the BHA, a leading teaching union and Muslim, Jewish and Hindu participatants is part of the Accord Coalition, an association of religious and non-religious groups and individuals working for inclusive schooling - said that the Secretary of State needed to specify more explicitly how hard-line and extreme groups would be prevented from monopolising the new free schools./ppWhether schools are sponsored by community groups, businesses, faith organisations, humanists, or anyone else, they should all have open admissions policies, a policy against discrimination on grounds of belief in employment, a commitment to promoting community and equality, and a willingness to teach a balanced curriculum, Barrow added. /ppFree schools ought not to mean a free-for-all, in the sense of no effective protection for parents from different backgrounds. Likewise, children with disabilities and from low-income and disadvantaged communities should not find themselves pushed aside in a rush to enfranchise the already wealthy, articulate and assertive. From a practical policy perspective, the government has not yet demonstrated how its new free school and Academies programme will work for all, rather than for a minority, with respect to these concerns, said the Ekklesia co-director./pp[Ekk/3]/p/div/div/div!-- google_ad_section_end --
- Government urged to review and consult on marriage equality
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:42:11 +0000
!-- google_ad_section_start --div class=field field-type-text field-field-teaserdiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpUK Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone has been urged to initiate a government review and public consultation on the ban on gay civil marriage./p/div/div/divdiv class=field field-type-text field-field-bodydiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpUK Equalities Minister, Lynne Featherstone has been urged to initiate a government review and public consultation on the ban on gay civil marriage./ppThe call came during a meeting between Ms Featherstone and a range lesbian and gay rights campaigners, including Peter Tatchell, which took place at the House of Commons on Tuesday 27 July 2010./ppThe meeting was convened by Ms Featherstone to take soundings on allowing civil partnerships to have a religious content, which is currently prohibited, and on the option of extending civil marriages to same-sex couples./ppThe coalition government should undertake a public consultation to determine whether the ban on gay marriage ought to be lifted. It should invite representations from individuals and organisations and, on the basis of the submissions received, decide if the ban should stay or go, said human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell./ppMaintaining the ban without considering public opinion is unreasonable and unjustified, he added./ppMs Featherstone responded by saying that the government needed to take one step at a time, beginning with giving religious bodies the option to hold civil partnerships, if they wished, in accordance with Lord Allis successful amendment to the Equality Bill earlier this year./ppMr Tatchell replied: Action on improving civil partnerships and reviewing the ban on gay marriage are not mutually exclusive. They could run together in tandem./ppThis is an issue of equality. In a democratic society, we are all supposed to be equal under the law. The bans on same-sex civil marriage and on heterosexual civil partnerships are not equality. They are discrimination. Its anti-democratic, Tatchell declared./ppHe added: The government is out of step with popular opinion. Without any major campaign or wider debate, nearly two-thirds of the British public now say that the law on civil marriage should not discriminate./ppA Populus poll for the Times newspaper in June 2009 found that 61% of the public believe that: Gay couples should have an equal right to get married, not just to have civil partnerships. Only 33% disagreed. /pp[Ekk/3]/p/div/div/div!-- google_ad_section_end --
- African Catholic episcopal gathering to tackle self-reliance and development
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:35:02 +0000
!-- google_ad_section_start --div class=field field-type-text field-field-teaserdiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpThe plenary assembly of the Symposium of Catholic Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar is due to be held in Accra, Ghana, from 27 July to 1 August./p/div/div/divdiv class=field field-type-text field-field-bodydiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpThe plenary assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) is due to be held in Accra, Ghana, from 27 July to 1 August 2010. /ppThe event will be attended by some 250 key figures in the Church, including cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay persons from Africa and other parts of the world./ppSECAM, the president of which is Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, Catholic Archbishop of Dal-es-Salaam, Tanzania, is celebrating its fortieth year of activity with a week of reflection on the theme of Self-Reliance and the Way Forward for the Church in Africa/ppWithin the context of plenary assembly, Archbishop Leon Kalenga Badikebele, apostolic nuncio to Ghana, will deliver an official Message from Benedict XVI to the participants./ppThe plenary assembly, the highest administrative body in SECAM, meets every three years. This years agenda includes a meeting of bishops on the central theme of the gathering and a round table discussion, as well as a renewal of their joint commitment to achieve the ideals of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar./ppThe national and regional episcopal conferences of Africa and other bodies affiliated to SECAM will present their evaluations on the Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which was held in the Vatican last October on the theme of The Church in Africa, at the Service of Reconciliation, Justice and Peace/pp[Ekk/3]/p/div/div/div!-- google_ad_section_end --
- China on their minds
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:19:09 +0000
!-- google_ad_section_start --pThis week I can almost smell the fear of China wafting from the corridors of Whitehall./p!-- google_ad_section_end --
- Japanese refugees living under constant threat, say churches
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:10:36 +0000
!-- google_ad_section_start --div class=field field-type-text field-field-teaserdiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpA Japanese Christian leader has warned that many refugee status applicants are living under constant threat of detention and deportation./p/div/div/divdiv class=field field-type-text field-field-bodydiv class=field-itemsdiv class=field-item oddpA Japanese Christian leader has warned that many refugee status applicants in Japan are living under a constant threat of detention and deportation, and if detained they risk being split from their relatives. /ppThe greatest problem are detentions that separate family members, Naoko Sato, secretary general of the Tokyo-based Christian Coalition for Refugees and Migrant Workers, told a 25 July 2010 gathering with refugees in the Japanese capital. /ppFathers and mothers are separated from their children for one or two years, Sato told the meeting, which was organized by the Protestant coalition - a group linked to the ecumenical National Christian Council in Japan. /ppThere were 2,332 recognised refugees in Japan as of January 2010, according to the United Nations refugee agency. /ppIn 2009, 1,388 people applied for refugee status in Japan, of whom 30 were recognised as refugees, the governments immigration bureau announced in February this year./pp[With acknowledgements to ENI. a href=http://www.eni.ch/Ecumenical News International/a is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and the Conference of European Churches.]/pp[Ekk/3]/p/div/div/div!-- google_ad_section_end --
BBC News
- British Airways sees £164m loss
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 06:11:10 +0000
BA reveals a steep quarterly loss after being hit by cabin crew strikes and disruption caused by the volcanic ash cloud.
- Family funeral tribute to soldier
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:55:12 +0000
The family of a soldier killed in Afghanistan pay tribute ahead of his funeral, calling him "brave, courageous and loyal".
- Greek dolphin park welfare row
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:54:41 +0000
Animal welfare groups in Greece are calling for the closure of the country's first dolphinarium and urging schools not to visit the attraction.
- Murray battles through LA opener
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:46:54 +0000
Andy Murray survives a second-set wobble to beat Tim Smyczek 6-1 4-6 6-2 and book his place in the Farmers Classic quarter-finals in Los Angeles.
- UK author's Singapore trial delayed
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 05:46:23 +0000
The singapore trial of UK author Alan Shadrake - for defamation and contempt of court over a book on the death penaly - opens and is adjourned.