Consent Lessons for 11-Year-Olds

24 March 2015

Education secretary Nicky Morgan has commissioned new guidance to schools for giving lessons about consent and rape to 11-year-olds. The new guidelines will start after the Easter holidays.

Scheduled to be taught in PSHE classes, the new lessons are supposed to give children “a better understanding of the society around them” so they can make smart choices and stay safe.

In an online statement, the PSHEA said: “The key learning set out in this guidance is respecting the rights of others, communication, negotiation and consider[ing] the freedom and capacity of others to make choices.” The association also said that students would learn that sexual activity for those under the age of 16 was illegal.

Additionally, students will learn about whether or not consent is attainable when a person is drunk, and the issue of gay rape will also be added to the curriculum later this year. Many of the lesson plans involve situational ethics and encourage the student to discuss what is right or wrong in these circumstances. For example, one of the questions is: “What misconceptions about consent would an alien get if their only evidence was from pornography?”

The Government has given formal guidelines for the classes, saying that the topic should be broached “before young people are sexually active,” because it will be ineffective after that. The proposal made sure to mention how acknowledgment of sexually active young people is not the same as “encouraging underage sexual activity.”

Ms Morgan publicized the measures on International Women’s Day and stressed that the curriculum will be age appropriate and in line with British values. The goal is to give instructors the tools and confidence to teach these difficult topics.

These guidelines were introduced amid growing concerns for the safety of children, particularly girls. Rising numbers of child “sexting” and child exploitation cases in Rotherham and Oxford are just some of the issues being cited.

Writing in The Sunday Times, Ms Morgan stated: ‘Mothers at the school gates often tell me about their worries for their daughters. They tell me that on top of the usual stress of school life and teenage years, they want to know their girls are being taught what a healthy relationship looks like and how to say “no.”‘

However, other parents are concerned that these classes could put even more pressure on children to engage in sexual activity at a young age, causing an “erosion of childhood.”

Family Education Trust spokeswoman Sarah Carter disagreed with the proposed effectiveness lessons, saying: ‘I work with vulnerable teenagers who have been groomed and this is not going to protect them. This creates the idea that you will find yourself in this situation so make sure you give express consent.’

This curriculum is not mandatory, and the PSHE Association has expressed disapproval of the fact that Morgan has made a harder push for these classes to be required in all schools.

The 60-page guidelines contain eight suggested lessons for teachers. By the end of the course students will understand what sexual consent is and what constitutes a healthy relationship (significantly, however, students are not taught that it is marriage that constitutes a healthy sexual relationship). They will also be taught about pornography and rape. See this article in The Daily Telegraph for a summary of these eight suggested lessons.

Despite these efforts, many are concerned that ‘consent lessons’ will do virtually nothing to help children stay safe, particularly girls. In a rape situation the assailant is not going to desist simply because the person he is attacking does not give consent. That is why child exploitation is a problem in the first place. The lessons do not address the root of the problem, which is men who think it is acceptable to take advantage of a child or woman. Instead, all these lessons will accomplish will be to lower important the barriers of innocent children by prematurely introducing them to the disordered side of sexuality.

In the cases of sexual activity between school children, schools should do more to promote chastity. Just because children engage in underage sexual activity does not mean it is right or normal, even if the parties involved have both consented.

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Street preacher convicted – and now acquitted!

Stephen

23 March 2015

Michael Overd with his wife Rachel outside Taunton Magistrates Court in 2012. — Street preacher convicted. Michael Overd with his wife Rachel outside Taunton Magistrates Court when he was acquitted in 2012.

STOP PRESS:

Michael Overd’s appeal was heard at Taunton Crown Court, Shire Hall, Taunton, Somerset TA1 4EU on Friday 11^th December 2015 at which he was acquitted when the prosecution’s case collapsed.

All you need to know is in our YouTube video ‘Street Preaching is Legal‘ !

Original report from 23rd March 2015:

A street preacher has been convicted over ‘homophobic’ sermons, the BBC reports.

Michael Overd was preaching in Taunton, Somerset, in June and July 2014.

He was cleared of a second similar charge and another of causing “racially-aggravated” harassment aimed at Muslims. During the case, Mr Overd told the judge he must be born again.

The charges were brought under the Public Order Act.

We were pleased to support Michael Overd when he faced similar charges and was acquitted at Taunton Magistrates Court in 2012.

Mr Overd, 50, was fined £200 and ordered to pay compensation of £250 and costs of £950 totalling £1,400 at Bristol Crown Court.

Sentencing, judge Shamim Qureshi told Mr Overd he “knew full well the power of words to hurt”. We understand the Muslim judge came down from Birmingham to sit in the case, and it was when he referred to Christianity and Islam as joint Abrahamic faiths that Michael Overd urged him to repent and be born again.

He was told to pay £250 to his ‘victim’, Darren Chalmers. Mr Overd said the judgement was “flawed” and told the judge he would have to “answer to the same God”.

After the failed case in 2012, the police began looking for complaints against the long-standing Taunton preacher again last year, appealing in a local newspaper for the public to record him making “offensive remarks”. A number of witnesses said they could not remember what Mr Overd said, just that it was ‘offensive’.

Support for the principle of street preaching came from the Bishop of Peterborough, Rt Rev Donald Allister, who said we should have freedom to express our views, provided it were done in a Christian manner.

A campaign by the Christian Institute to remove the word ‘insulting’ from the Public Order Act was meant to stop preachers being prosecuted, but the police have just switched to charging them with ‘threatening and abusive’ behaviour instead.

Intriguingly, the judge had reserved judgement, which indicates he wanted to take advice from those higher up.

Judge Qureshi told the preacher he seemed to enjoy testing the laws on free speech to their limits. He said: “In my view he enjoys coaxing people into asking him questions so that he can reply loudly into the microphone to answer them.

Mr Overd had “double standards”, the judge said, ‘believing he was right and everyone else was wrong’, according to the BBC, although that does not seem to indicate ‘double standards’, merely settled views. The complainant, Darren Chalmers, appears to have contrary views to Mr Overd which are just as settled.

“He happily shouts out the negative points in any other religion,” said the judge, without acknowledging that the negative points in Islam are not very hard to find.

Asked after the case whether he would tone down his sermons, Mr Overd said: “I follow my Lord and leader, so I won’t tone down.”

Mr Overd had faced two charges of using threatening and abusive words, and a third of causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. Only one charge succeeded.

We understand Michael Overd is being advised to appeal to the Crown Court.

PRAY: Thank God for Michael Overd and pray the Lord will bless him and grant District Judge Qureshi in the case repentance and faith in Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

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Christianity in the Face of ISIS

Robin

20 March 2015

As reports of ISIS’ activity have increased, the stories have become more and more discouraging. But despite the atrocities being perpetrated by these terrorists, God is still sovereign over all:

Isaiah 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

Below are two stories showing that some good can come from the horror.

Many have read about the 21 supposedly Egyptian Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS in late February. However, the story of one of those men has not been widely publicised.

This Chadian man, middle, converted to Christianity after seeing the faith of the other men.

Of the twenty-one Christians that were beheaded, only twenty of these men were Egyptian and already Christians.

Many, seeing the pictures, would have been puzzled by the presence of a black man amongst them. This man, a citizen of Chad, was not a Christian but he had been taken for one by the terrorists.

As he watched the Coptic Christians being martyred for their faith, he was convicted of his own lack of faith. When the terrorist reached him and demanded that he reject Jesus Christ, the man said: “Their God is my God.”

He was then executed like his Christian brothers. We do not know how this story emerged, but Patheos News reports, “the joy in this story is that 21 martyrs to Christ entered heaven that day.”

This man was kidnapped along with twenty other Christians, and could easily have denied Christ. But the faith of the twenty other men convinced him he was lost without Christ, just as the thief in Luke 23 was convicted of his sin at Jesus’ crucifixion:

Luke 23:39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

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Scottish registrars given ‘conscience clause’

Stephen

10 March 2015

The Scottish Government has given registrars a conscience clause not to take part in ‘gay marriage’ ceremonies.

The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014 provides that local authorities must provide a registrar to conduct a same-sex ‘marriage’ but does not say that every individual registrar is obliged to participate.

A spokesperson for the Scottish Government told the homosexual website PinkNews.co.uk: “Each local authority must provide an authorised registrar to conduct a marriage or civil partnership in the area chosen by the couple, regardless of that couple’s sexual orientation. It is a matter for local authorities to manage the provision of that service.

“There is no opt-out for individual registrars included in the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Act 2014.

“However, we have been clear that we expect local authorities to handle with sensitivity any registrar who objects to carrying out a same sex marriage on the basis of their religion or belief.”

Naturally, if the expression does not fall too awkwardly, the pro-gay National Secular Society is upset. It’s homosexual president, Terry Sanderson, complained: “The Scottish Government is putting local authorities in an invidious position of having to decide individually whether it is OK for religious registrars to discriminate against gay couples.

“There should be a clear policy to guide them and that policy should be that gay couples are entitled to equal treatment from all registrars.”

But Sanderson goes on to argue that the conscience of Christian registrars is increasingly being supported by the European Court of Human Rights.

Referring to the case of Lilian Ladele, who was sacked by the London Borough of Islington after she voiced concerns about participating in civil partnerships, he declared: “The court said that any policy aimed at restricting religious opt outs should have been agreed before any case is brought.

“Local authorities will have to make a very strong case for not allowing religious registrars to refuse to even administer same-sex marriages, let alone carry out ceremonies. If Lillian Ladele brought her case today, she would probably win.”

Indeed, a Christian registrar who was previously dismissed by Central Bedfordshire Council after refusing to conduct same-sex weddings was reinstated last year.

Margaret Jones, a senior deputy registrar at Bedford register office, was sacked by her employers after confirming that she would be unwilling to conduct same-sex weddings on the basis of her Christian beliefs.

However, Ms Jones was offered her job back after an internal appeal hearing in August last year (2014) found her employer had not taken a “balanced view” of her beliefs.

The tribunal overturned the decision by Central Bedfordshire Council, noting Equality and Human Rights Commission guidance “[encourages] employers and employees to find reasonable solutions to religion or belief issues at work”.

That outcome also had the National Secular Society convulsed by impotent fury, writing to the Council asking it to ‘clarify’ its position regarding employees’ requests to opt out of part of their job requirements.

Margaret Jones declined the job reinstatement offer, but Stephen Evans, National Secular Society campaigns manager, raged: “Discriminatory acts have a moral significance beyond the deprivation of the relevant service and the fact that other registrars could conduct the ceremonies is irrelevant.”

This may be no more than a faint glimmer of good news, but welcome as the homosexual juggernaut rumbles on.

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Protect sex-ed from parents says health board

Stephen

10 March 2015

A Scottish health board has said sex education needs protection from parents.

Dumfries and Galloway health board has voiced its opposition to a Scottish Government plan to allow teachers and students to opt out of lessons on equal marriage and same-sex relationships.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Scotland’s largest health board, is also opposed to new draft guidance for sex education lessons that would allow teachers or pupils to opt out on the grounds of ‘conscience’.

In a submission to ministers, the board said: “It is extremely concerning that teaching staff would be provided an opportunity to refuse to participate in this particular aspect of the curriculum … There are other areas of the taught curriculum where ‘conscience’ may be a factor – e.g. modern studies or religious education – where no option to withdraw is provided.”

The Glasgow & Clyde board argued that staff who opt out from sex education lessons on the grounds of ‘conscience’ may only need what they described as ‘training’ to overcome their objections.

Dumfries and Galloway health board warned against allowing pupils to opt out of lessons using a ‘conscience clause’, arguing, without any evidence, that this ‘could lead’ to ‘intimidation’ by parents of their children and the ‘entire basis’ of sex education being ‘undermined’ in Scotland.

“As we move forward into an era where same-sex marriage is permitted, there may be significant campaigns by parents in relation to (sex education) which alludes to same‐sex unions and there is a need to protect programmes from activities of this sort,” Dumfries and Galloway Health Board said.

Their comments indicate why sex educators and pro-homosexual teachers are prone to introducing amoral topics without telling parents in advance. Parents are regarded in sex education circles as a barrier to the sort of indoctrination the sex educators want to carry out.

Dumfries & Galloway Health Board HQ, taken by Darrin Antrobus — Dumfries & Galloway Health Board headquarters building.Taken by **Darrin Antrobus**

According to the homosexual website PinkNews, health chiefs also protested against the guidance recommending pupils learn about “the values of a stable and loving family life”, arguing this was insensitive to those youngsters who did not grow up in such an environment.

It gets worse. Some health boards even objected to the phrase “both sexes” being used in the guidance, stating this was “problematic” for youngsters ‘who are transgender’.

In response, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government is currently updating its existing guidance on the Conduct of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education in Scottish Schools document and as part of that has sought views from various organisations and individuals.

“We are considering carefully the comments we have received and will publish an updated version in due course.”

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ISIS Abducts 285 Syrian Christians

Robin

28 February 2015

The number of Christians kidnapped by ISIS has risen every day since their offensive began on Monday.

Terrorist group ISIS has abducted as many as 285 Christians from Assyrian villages beginning on Monday, 22 February.

Originally estimated to be between 70 and 100, the number of those kidnapped has risen every day since the attack began.

CNN reported Thursday that the number has reached 262 Christians kidnapped, and the BBC offers this newest report of 285 kidnapped.

Men, women, children, and the elderly were captured as the militants burned and looted their homes. Most of the captives are said to have come from the Assyrian villages of Tal Shamiram, located 50 miles southwest of the Hassakeh provincial capital of Qamishli, another city to the northeast.

Hassakeh borders Turkey and Iraq, and while it is mainly Kurdish, many Arab, Assyrian and Armenian Christians live in the province.

Over 3,000 people have been displaced since the early morning raid on Monday forced Syrian villagers out of their homes. ISIS has been targeting Christians for months, trying to force them to convert to Islam, pay a religious tax (called a jizya), or be put to death.

The motive behind these kidnappings is not yet clear, but one correspondent indicated that these captives might be used as part of a prisoner swap with Kurdish forces.

While Isis has not affirmed the kidnappings, photos have circulated online of ISIS’ fighters using machine guns and looking at maps. These pictures were reportedly taken near Tel Tamr, the area in which the abductions happened.

The captured people have been in touch with relatives, and people in Sweden, Germany, Canada, and the United States are worried for the safety of their family members.

Osama Edward of the Sweden-based Assyrian Human Rights Network, who has relatives in the area, told the BBC that his wife’s elderly aunt and her cousin were among the hostages.

“My wife tried to call her cousin’s house and there was somebody who picked up the phone and said: ‘This is not Akram’s house. This is the Islamic State’s house.’”

One Assyrian woman now living in Beirut has been trying to find out what has happened to her parents, brother and his family.

“Land lines have been cut, their mobiles are closed,” she told the Associated Press. “Have they been slaughtered? Are they still alive? We’re searching for any news.”

“I cannot do anything for them but pray,” she said on the telephone. She has not revealed her identity so to protect her relatives’ lives.

Sharlet and Romel David, another couple in Modesto, California, said they have twelve family members in Syria who were among those captured by ISIS.

“We pray, we pray all the time,” said Romel.

“What we’ve heard is it was like a sea of black uniforms marching through all the villages, burning down the churches, desecrating the crosses and wreaking havoc.”

Sharlet’s 59-year-old brother left California two years ago and moved back to Syria in an attempt to bring his family back to the United States. But he was unsuccessful in bringing them back, and now his family is being held captive by ISIS.

In response to this attack, a prominent Christian Syrian leader called for a US-led coalition to aid the Christian and Kurdish fighters to oust ISIS.

In January of this year, the Kurds attacked terrorists with the help of international air strikes. This was a four-month siege that eventually resulted in those terrorists leaving the border of Turkey.

Bassam Ishak, President of the Syriac National Council of Syria, said that foreign aid is needed to decidedly get ISIS out of their country.

Ishak’s appeal to stop the Islamic State advancement has been echoed by Syriac Catholic Archbishop Jacques Hindo of Hassakeh.

“I wish to say quite clearly that we have the feeling of being abandoned into the hands of those Daesh [the Arabic acronym for Islamic State],” Archbishop Hindo told the Vatican’s Fides news service.

“American bombers flew over the area several times, but without taking action,” he said. U.S analysts have confirmed this report. No military airstrikes against IS have been made in the Hassakeh region.

The area is currently being defended by local military units, but they lack sufficient arms to launch an attack. They said they are currently seeking air support to fight the extremists.

This civil war has been going on for years, and many of these Assyrians do not have basic necessities like food, water, and clothing.

“We have 100 Assyrian families who have taken refuge in Hassakeh, but they have received no assistance either from the Red Crescent or from Syrian government aid workers, perhaps because they are Christians. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is nowhere to be seen,” Archbishop Hindo told Fides.

The cry for help by Archbishop Hindo, Ishak and other Christian leaders follows a church burning and kidnapping spree that began on Monday.

Osama Edward fears that these Christians might face the same fate as the 21 Egyptian Christians who were beheaded earlier this month.

In Libya, ISIS fighters were filmed beheading 21 Egyptian Christians. The militants were dressed in black, the Christians in orange jumpsuits. After taking their captives to a beach, the ISIS militants forced the Christians to kneel before beheading them all.

In addition to the kidnappings, ISIS also engaged with Kurdish and Christian militiamen while it seized several villages in Syria.

ISIS has also released a video showing their destruction of artifacts in the lands under their control. The video showed men smashing ancient Mesopotamian artifacts with sledgehammers in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

This video only adds to the mounting fears surrounding the fate of the abducted Christians and other minorities targeted by ISIS’ cruelty.

Osama Edward said that these terrorists are wiping Assyrian heritage in Mosul, and at the same time wiping them geographically from the face of the Earth,” the director of the Assyrian Network for Human Rights in Syria said.

By systematically destroying Assyrian heritage, ISIS is eliminating what it views as heresy. It is also believed that they are acquiring and selling ancient artifacts to fund their cruel campaign.

The Assyrian Christians are an ancient race, and their presence in the area goes back to the ancient Mesopotamians.

Christians are believed to have constituted about 10% of Syria’s 22 million people before the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began almost four years ago.

Assyrians, of whom there were about 40,000 in Syria, are Nestorian Christians and speak Syriac, a form of Aramaic, the language of Christ.

The largest concentration of Assyrians in Syria is in Hassakeh province, but there are also smaller communities in Aleppo, Homs and Damascus.

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Organs of Aborted Fetuses Used for Research

Robin

24 February 2015

Organs of aborted fetuses are used for research in a new medical procedure.

The most successful experiment involves the kidneys of aborted babies to be harvested and transplanted into adult rats, where the organs grow until they are ready to transplant to awaiting human adults.

Researchers who conducted the study transplanted an aborted human fetus’ kidney into an adult rat without an immune system so as to avoid tissue rejection. Then they stitched the animal’s blood vessels to the organ.

The scientists surgically removed the rat’s own kidneys after about a month, and most rats were able to survive about four months with the transplanted human fetus’ kidney. One rat survived about ten months.

The key to the success of this procedure is to adjust the animal’s blood pressure to work with a human organ. To do this, researchers use a device called an arterial flow regulator. The blood pressure of rats is much higher than in humans which, if not accounted for, causes the organ to hemorrhage.

This experiment could be furthered to transplant a kidney into a human for development, but scientists would need to do much more research to decide if that is feasible.

Researchers implant a human fetal kidney into a rat, where the kidney grows until it is fully functioning. Then the rat's original kidneys are removed and the implanted kidney is used to sustain life. — Researchers implant a human fetal kidney into a rat, where the kidney grows until it is fully functioning. Then the rat’s original kidneys are removed and the implanted kidney is used to sustain life.

The human fetal kidneys were obtained from a California-based company that gives researchers tissue from deceased fetuses and adults. Consent was given for all procedures, and the scientists were not involved in the donation process.

Co-author of the study Eugene Gu said this “is definitely the first time an actual whole human organ has been grown in an animal, and has sustained the life of that animal. He went on to explain that the developers’ “long-term goal is to grow human organs in animals, to end the human donor shortage.”

Gu added that the fetal organs could also be used to test the effects of new drugs.

Understandably, this procedure has raised a number of ethical questions. The first and most is important is, should human fetal organs even be used as part of organ donation research?

Ethical and legal biomedical expert Hank Greely told Live Science that “the key issues are the existence of the pregnant woman’s consent and the total separation of the decision to abort from the decision to let the fetal remains be used in research.”

In practice, a woman must have already decided to abort before doctors can ask the mother about donating her baby to research.

Caty Dyer, Founder and CEO of Stem Express, a multi-million dollar research firm that sells human clinical specimens to biomedical researchers, reiterated the necessity of consent to this research. “All donors are properly consented through an Institutional Review Board (IRB) consent, and donors are made aware of the potential use of any sample that we collect”, he said.

A second concern is the very act of transplanting human organs into an animal. Greely said that researchers often do experiments that use human body parts in an animal host. Although this sort of research is usually done with cells or tissues, Greely claims that this practice is not ethically objectionable unless it involves human sex organs, brains, or external signs that distinguish a human from other animals.

But not all scientists are positive about this new procedure. NYU Langone Medical Center Bioethicist Arthur Caplan thinks “there is no way we’re ever going to use fetal human kidneys or any other solid organs for transplant. American society is morally uncomfortable enough about abortion that growing organs from fetal remains will never be accepted, and will be banned in state after state.”

Eugene Gu, Founder and CEO of Ganogen biotech company in Redwood, CA, believes the American public might find this idea “more palatable” if the recipients of such organs have no other chance of survival.

The third, and perhaps biggest concern, is that procedure like these can easily lead to abuse. The debate surrounding whether or not it is ethical to purchase fetal organs has been going on for years now. Invasive medical procedures like this can lead to all kinds of abuses. These include travesties like baby trafficking, and in the most extreme examples, women who are forced to having babies for the sole purpose of using that infant’s organs.

Even now, scientists do not treat a fetus as a human being until after it is born. There would not be many ethical objections to making a profit from the tissues and organs of a non-living mass of cells.

The success of transplanting infant organs and tissues has also led to the increasing demand in continuing research.
In mid-January, doctors at the Hammersmith hospital in west London performed the first UK organ transplant from a baby who died shortly after birth.

Hospital staff reportedly “praised” the parents for being so generous in consenting to the donation. Two different patients received the newborn’s healthy kidneys and liver tissue.

Doctors viewed this as a “milestone” in organ donation, and see the potential for more newborns to become organ donors.

Currently, UK guidelines do not make it easy for parents to allow their newborns to become organ donors, because doctors must wait until the newborn’s heart has stopped beating. But in the next few month the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) plans to publish new guidelines that will approve neurological tests for determining the death of a newborn.

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3-parent babies approved by UK Parliament

Stephen

4 February 2015

Much prayer is needed for our General Election.

The UK Parliament has approved the creation of children with 3 biological parents in the hope of preventing mitochondrial diseases. See how your MP voted below.

382 MPs voted in favour and just 128 against. Those voting against represented the views of the public, who are opposed. You can read the debate HERE.

This link explains the objections: http://citizengo.org/en/17728-please-keep-uk-allowing-germline-genetic-modification-human-embryos-and-creation-3-parent?sid=MTY0NDA0MzE5NDkxNTc1

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How your MP voted:

AYES
Abrahams, Debbie
Adams, Nigel
Afriyie, Adam
Ainsworth, rh Mr Bob
Alexander, rh Danny
Alexander, rh Mr Douglas
Alexander, Heidi
Allen, Mr Graham
Andrew, Stuart
Arbuthnot, rh Mr James
Ashworth, Jonathan
Austin, Ian
Bailey, Mr Adrian
Baker, rh Norman
Baldwin, Harriett
Balls, rh Ed
Barclay, Stephen
Baron, Mr John
Barron, rh Kevin
Barwell, Gavin
Bayley, Sir Hugh
Beckett, rh Margaret
Begg, Dame Anne
Beith, rh Sir Alan
Benn, rh Hilary
Benyon, Richard
Beresford, Sir Paul
Berger, Luciana
Betts, Mr Clive
Bingham, Andrew
Blackman-Woods, Roberta
Blackwood, Nicola
Blenkinsop, Tom
Blomfield, Paul
Blunt, Crispin
Boles, Nick
Bottomley, Sir Peter
Bradley, Karen
Bradshaw, rh Mr Ben
Brady, Mr Graham
Brake, rh Tom
Brennan, Kevin
Bridgen, Andrew
Brine, Steve
Brooke, rh Annette
Brown, Lyn
Brown, rh Mr Nicholas
Brown, Mr Russell
Browne, Mr Jeremy
Bruce, rh Sir Malcolm
Bryant, Chris
Buck, Ms Karen
Buckland, Mr Robert
Burden, Richard
Burley, Mr Aidan
Burnham, rh Andy
Burstow, rh Paul
Burt, rh Alistair
Burt, Lorely
Byles, Dan
Byrne, rh Mr Liam
Cable, rh Vince
Cairns, Alun
Cameron, rh Mr David
Campbell, rh Mr Alan
Campbell, rh Sir Menzies
Campbell, Mr Ronnie
Carmichael, rh Mr Alistair
Carmichael, Neil
Carswell, Douglas
Caton, Martin
Chapman, Jenny
Clappison, Mr James
Clark, rh Greg
Clark, Katy
Clarke, rh Mr Kenneth
Clegg, rh Mr Nick
Clifton-Brown, Geoffrey
Clwyd, rh Ann
Coffey, Ann
Collins, Damian
Connarty, Michael
Cooper, rh Yvette
Corbyn, Jeremy
Crabb, rh Stephen
Creasy, Stella
Crockart, Mike
Crouch, Tracey
Cunningham, Alex
Cunningham, Mr Jim
Danczuk, Simon
Darling, rh Mr Alistair
Davey, rh Mr Edward
David, Wayne
Davidson, Mr Ian
Davies, David T. C. (Monmouth)
Davies, Geraint
De Piero, Gloria
Denham, rh Mr John
Dinenage, Caroline
Djanogly, Mr Jonathan
Dobson, rh Frank
Doran, Mr Frank
Dorries, Nadine
Doughty, Stephen
Duncan, rh Sir Alan
Dunne, Mr Philip
Eagle, Ms Angela
Efford, Clive
Ellis, Michael
Ellison, Jane
Ellman, Mrs Louise
Ellwood, Mr Tobias
Engel, Natascha
Evans, Chris
Evans, Graham
Fabricant, Michael
Fallon, rh Michael
Farrelly, Paul
Farron, Tim
Fitzpatrick, Jim
Flynn, Paul
Foster, rh Mr Don
Freeman, George
Freer, Mike
Gapes, Mike
Gardiner, Barry
Garnier, Sir Edward
Garnier, Mark
Gauke, Mr David
George, Andrew
Gibb, Mr Nick
Gilbert, Stephen
Gilmore, Sheila
Goodwill, Mr Robert
Gove, rh Michael
Graham, Richard
Grant, Mrs Helen
Green, rh Damian
Green, Kate
Greening, rh Justine
Greenwood, Lilian
Grieve, rh Mr Dominic
Griffith, Nia
Griffiths, Andrew
Gyimah, Mr Sam
Hague, rh Mr William
Hain, rh Mr Peter
Halfon, Robert
Hames, Duncan
Hamilton, Mr David
Hamilton, Fabian
Hammond, Stephen
Hancock, Mr Mike
Hands, rh Greg
Harman, rh Ms Harriet
Harper, Mr Mark
Harris, Rebecca
Harris, Mr Tom
Hart, Simon
Harvey, Sir Nick
Haselhurst, rh Sir Alan
Havard, Mr Dai
Healey, rh John
Heath, Mr David
Heaton-Harris, Chris
Henderson, Gordon
Hendry, Charles
Herbert, rh Nick
Heyes, David
Hilling, Julie
Hodge, rh Margaret
Hodgson, Mrs Sharon
Hollingbery, George
Hood, Mr Jim
Horwood, Martin
Hosie, Stewart
Howarth, rh Mr George
Howell, John
Hughes, rh Simon
Hunt, rh Mr Jeremy
Hunt, Tristram
Hunter, Mark
Huppert, Dr Julian
Hurd, Mr Nick
Irranca-Davies, Huw
Jackson, Glenda
James, Margot
Jamieson, Cathy
Javid, rh Sajid
Jenkin, Mr Bernard
Jenrick, Robert
Johnson, rh Alan
Johnson, Diana
Johnson, Gareth
Johnson, Joseph
Jones, Andrew
Jones, Graham
Jones, Mr Kevan
Jowell, rh Dame Tessa
Kendall, Liz
Kirby, Simon
Knight, rh Sir Greg
Kwarteng, Kwasi
Lamb, rh Norman
Lancaster, Mark
Lansley, rh Mr Andrew
Latham, Pauline
Lavery, Ian
Lee, Jessica
Lee, Dr Phillip
Leech, Mr John
Leslie, Charlotte
Leslie, Chris
Letwin, rh Mr Oliver
Lewell-Buck, Mrs Emma
Lewis, Brandon
Lewis, Dr Julian
Lilley, rh Mr Peter
Lloyd, Stephen
Llwyd, rh Mr Elfyn
Long, Naomi
Loughton, Tim
Love, Mr Andrew
Lucas, Caroline
Lucas, Ian
Luff, Sir Peter
Lumley, Karen
Mactaggart, Fiona
Mahmood, Mr Khalid
Malhotra, Seema
Mann, John
McCabe, Steve
McCarthy, Kerry
McCartney, Jason
McDonagh, Siobhain
McDonnell, John
McFadden, rh Mr Pat
McInnes, Liz
McKechin, Ann
McKenzie, Mr Iain
Mearns, Ian
Metcalfe, Stephen
Miliband, rh Edward
Miller, Andrew
Miller, rh Maria
Mills, Nigel
Milton, Anne
Mitchell, Austin
Moon, Mrs Madeleine
Moore, rh Michael
Mordaunt, Penny
Morgan, rh Nicky
Morrice, Graeme (Livingston)
Morris, Anne Marie
Morris, Grahame M. (Easington)
Morris, James
Mosley, Stephen
Mowat, David
Munn, Meg
Munt, Tessa
Murray, Ian
Murray, Sheryll
Nandy, Lisa
Newmark, Mr Brooks
Newton, Sarah
Nokes, Caroline
Norman, Jesse
O’Donnell, Fiona
Offord, Dr Matthew
Onwurah, Chi
Opperman, Guy
Osborne, rh Mr George
Osborne, Sandra
Ottaway, rh Sir Richard
Paice, rh Sir James
Parish, Neil
Paterson, rh Mr Owen
Penrose, John
Perkins, Toby
Perry, Claire
Phillips, Stephen
Phillipson, Bridget
Pickles, rh Mr Eric
Poulter, Dr Daniel
Powell, Lucy
Prisk, Mr Mark
Raab, Mr Dominic
Raynsford, rh Mr Nick
Redwood, rh Mr John
Reeves, Rachel
Reid, Mr Alan
Reynolds, Jonathan
Rifkind, rh Sir Malcolm
Riordan, Mrs Linda
Robathan, rh Mr Andrew
Robertson, Angus
Robertson, rh Sir Hugh
Robertson, John
Rotheram, Steve
Rudd, Amber
Russell, Sir Bob
Sanders, Mr Adrian
Sandys, Laura
Sawford, Andy
Seabeck, Alison
Shapps, rh Grant
Sheerman, Mr Barry
Shelbrooke, Alec
Simpson, Mr Keith
Skidmore, Chris
Skinner, Mr Dennis
Slaughter, Mr Andy
Smith, Angela
Smith, Chloe
Smith, Henry
Smith, Julian
Smith, Nick
Smith, Sir Robert
Soames, rh Sir Nicholas
Soubry, Anna
Spellar, rh Mr John
Spelman, rh Mrs Caroline
Spencer, Mr Mark
Stanley, rh Sir John
Stephenson, Andrew
Stewart, Bob
Stewart, Rory
Straw, rh Mr Jack
Stride, Mel
Stringer, Graham
Stuart, Ms Gisela
Stunell, rh Sir Andrew
Sturdy, Julian
Sutcliffe, Mr Gerry
Swales, Ian
Swinson, Jo
Swire, rh Mr Hugo
Tami, Mark
Thomas, Mr Gareth
Thornberry, Emily
Thornton, Mike
Thurso, rh John
Tomlinson, Justin
Tredinnick, David
Trickett, Jon
Truss, rh Elizabeth
Turner, Karl
Twigg, Derek
Twigg, Stephen
Tyrie, Mr Andrew
Umunna, Mr Chuka
Vaizey, Mr Edward
Villiers, rh Mrs Theresa
Walker, Mr Charles
Walker, Mr Robin
Ward, Mr David
Watkinson, Dame Angela
Watson, Mr Tom
Weatherley, Mike
Webb, rh Steve
Wheeler, Heather
White, Chris
Whiteford, Dr Eilidh
Whitehead, Dr Alan
Whittingdale, Mr John
Wiggin, Bill
Willetts, rh Mr David
Williams, Hywel
Williams, Roger
Williams, Stephen
Williamson, Gavin
Willott, rh Jenny
Wilson, Phil
Winnick, Mr David
Winterton, rh Ms Rosie
Wishart, Pete
Wollaston, Dr Sarah
Woodcock, John
Wright, Mr Iain
Wright, Simon
Yeo, Mr Tim
Young, rh Sir George
Zahawi, Nadhim

NOES
Aldous, Peter
Amess, Sir David
Anderson, Mr David
Baker, Steve
Banks, Gordon
Bebb, Guto
Bellingham, Mr Henry
Berry, Jake
Binley, Mr Brian
Blackman, Bob
Bone, Mr Peter
Brazier, Mr Julian
Bruce, Fiona
Burns, Conor
Burns, rh Mr Simon
Burrowes, Mr David
Campbell, Mr Gregory
Cash, Sir William
Chishti, Rehman
Chope, Mr Christopher
Clarke, rh Mr Tom
Coffey, Dr Thérèse
Colvile, Oliver
Crausby, Mr David
Cunningham, Sir Tony
Davies, Glyn
Davies, Philip
de Bois, Nick
Donaldson, rh Mr Jeffrey M.
Donohoe, Mr Brian H.
Doyle, Gemma
Doyle-Price, Jackie
Drax, Richard
Durkan, Mark
Elphicke, Charlie
Evans, Mr Nigel
Evennett, Mr David
Field, Mark
Flello, Robert
Francois, rh Mr Mark
Fuller, Richard
Gale, Sir Roger
Gillan, rh Mrs Cheryl
Glass, Pat
Glen, John
Goldsmith, Zac
Gray, Mr James
Grayling, rh Chris
Greatrex, Tom
Hanson, rh Mr David
Hayes, rh Mr John
Heald, Sir Oliver
Hemming, John
Hermon, Lady
Hillier, Meg
Hinds, Damian
Hoban, Mr Mark
Hoey, Kate
Hollobone, Mr Philip
Holloway, Mr Adam
Howarth, Sir Gerald
Jackson, Mr Stewart
Jones, rh Mr David
Jones, Mr Marcus
Jones, Susan Elan
Kane, Mike
Kaufman, rh Sir Gerald
Kawczynski, Daniel
Leadsom, Andrea
Lefroy, Jeremy
Leigh, Sir Edward
Lopresti, Jack
MacNeil, Mr Angus Brendan
Mahmood, Shabana
Main, Mrs Anne
Marsden, Mr Gordon
McCann, Mr Michael
McCartney, Karl
McCrea, Dr William
McGovern, Jim
McGuire, rh Dame Anne
McIntosh, Miss Anne
McPartland, Stephen
Meale, Sir Alan
Menzies, Mark
Mudie, Mr George
Mulholland, Greg
Murphy, rh Paul
Neill, Robert
Nuttall, Mr David
Ollerenshaw, Eric
Owen, Albert
Pawsey, Mark
Penning, rh Mike
Percy, Andrew
Pincher, Christopher
Pound, Stephen
Randall, rh Sir John
Reckless, Mark
Rees-Mogg, Jacob
Ritchie, Ms Margaret
Robertson, Mr Laurence
Rogerson, Dan
Roy, Mr Frank
Ruffley, Mr David
Rutley, David
Scott, Mr Lee
Selous, Andrew
Shannon, Jim
Shepherd, Sir Richard
Sheridan, Jim
Shuker, Gavin
Stevenson, John
Stewart, Iain
Streeter, Mr Gary
Stuart, Mr Graham
Swayne, rh Mr Desmond
Syms, Mr Robert
Tapsell, rh Sir Peter
Teather, Sarah
Timms, rh Stephen
Turner, Mr Andrew
Vaz, rh Keith
Wallace, Mr Ben
Weir, Mr Mike
Wharton, James
Whittaker, Craig
Williams, Mr Mark
Wilson, Sammy
Wright, rh Jeremy

Gendercide Could Be on its Way Out of UK

Robin

28 January 2015

Gendercide--aborting a baby because of its gender--primarily targets girl babies. — Gendercide–aborting a baby because of its gender–primarily targets girl babies.

Gendercide–choosing abortion because of the baby’s gender–could be on its way out of the UK within the next few months after MP’s upheld a parliamentary motion to fast-track a new law last week.

The amendment, which prohibits abortion based on the baby’s gender, was signed by more than 70 MP’s. If passed, the amendment will be added to the Government’s Serious Crime Bill by May 2015.

The proposed law would mean that doctors who commit gendercide can be prosecuted.

Conservative member Fiona Bruce is one of the main supporters of the amendment. She related in The Daily Telegraph that the Government has shown a lack of interest in this issue, claiming that the coalition Government “persistently denied” that sex selective abortions were happening in the UK. Referring to the statistical analysis that the Government used to back up its claims, Bruce said:

“The Government statistics do not reflect the reality. And the reality is that sex-selective abortion is happening in the UK.

“We know this partly because UK women are coming forward in increasing numbers to tell their stories, and partly due to the existence of authoritative, peer-reviewed research which has found evidence of sex imbalances in birth ratios in some UK populations—most notably a paper authored by Dr Sylvie Dubuc of the University of Oxford which dug deep into the data and found strong circumstantial evidence that sex-selective abortions were common in certain communities.”

The head of Jeena International, which works with women who have been forced into sex selective abortions, said that “saying that there is no evidence is tantamount to saying that the women we work with are lying and that my organisation is making things up.”

Despite her disappointment with the Government, Bruce believes, as with issues like FGM and forced marriages, the issue of sex-selective abortions will also be addressed by the Government.

At the end of her letter to the Telegraph, Bruce asserted:

“The time has come to face up to the truth. Sex-selective abortion is a reality in the UK.
We can no longer ignore it. I do not pretend that my amendment can solve the problem of son-preference all on its own, but I know that it is a big step in the right direction. It is my hope that my colleagues in the Commons will agree that urgent action needs to be taken and vote in favour of my amendment when the time comes.”

And although we in the pro-life movement know it’s nowhere near enough to stop gender-based abortions—because every unborn child is equally valuable, regardless of the reason for abortion—we can also be confident that saving a few babies from death is the goal of the U.K. amendment.

“It’s a goal we can wholeheartedly support.”

Conservative MP Fiona Bruce has pushed for laws to end gendercide in the UK.

Opponents of the Bill claim it is a way to make abortion less available to women.

Mary Glindon, the Labour MP for North Tyneside, said: “If opposing the abortion of baby girls—often under coercion—makes me anti-choice, then I will wear the label with pride.”

Jasvinder Sanghera, founder and Karma Nirvana, and a spokeswoman for the campaign website stopgendercide.org, added: “Sex-selective abortion is a reality in the UK.

“This is widely known in diaspora communities and beyond.

“The Government has a responsibility both to women suffering under cultural pressures and to their baby girls.”

Controversy erupted last year when a 2012 undercover investigation by The Daily Telegraph revealed that girls were being aborted simply for being girls. Two UK doctors were committing gendercide based on a recording of the doctor agreeing to do this at the parents’ request.

After the Telegraph’s revealing investigation, Aisling Hubert, backed by the Christian Legal Centre, launched her campaign for action.

Dr Palaniappan Rajmohan received a summons from Birmingham magistrates allowing the case on Monday.
He is accused, along with Dr Prabhan Sivaraman, of a conspiracy to use poison to procure abortions. This act goes against the Offences Against the Person Act 1861.

Despite the nature of this case, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was asked by Sivaraman’s lawyers to take over and drop the case.

The CPS concluded in 2013 that there was enough evidence to convict Dr Sivaraman, but they decided not to prosecute because it was “not in the public interest.”

Hubert began her private prosecution because of the CPS’ unwillingness to prosecute. She is “pleased that the case will now go to the Crown Court.” She emphasized that the case must continue, if only for the sake of the baby girls whose lives are in danger.

Dr Sivaraman will appear before the Manchester Crown Court for a plea and case management hearing on 6 February. Dr Rajmohan is due to appear for the same type of hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on 21 May.

Both doctors are banned from performing abortions while their eligibility to practice is investigated by the General Medical Council.

In November 2014, MP’s backed a Bill introduced by Fiona Bruce to make gender selective abortion illegal in one of the most overwhelming majorities ever seen in the Commons.

Unfortunately, the vote has no legal force. It was simply clarifying that the practice of gendercide is unacceptable. This was in response to The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), the UK’s largest abortion provider, who “maintains that gender abortion is not illegal under the 1967 Abortion Act and that the law is ‘silent’ on the subject.”

However, this Parliamentary move would make sex selective abortion illegal because it would add a clause to the Serious Crime Bill and eliminate any uncertainty over the legality of the practice.

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Plans for LGBT School in Britain

Robin

27 January 2015

If approved, a gay-friendly school could open in Manchester within the next three years.

Plans to open the first LGBT school in Britain were revealed last week.

The school, which would open in Manchester, is designed for students age 13 and up who are bullied or otherwise struggling in mainstream schools.

If approved, the school could open its doors within the next three years. From the plans outlined so far, the school would have the capacity for 40 full-time students and 20 part-time students, with part-time students attending the mainstream school if they wish.

The Department for Communities and Local Government, which is looking into an alternative education for LGBT students, donated £63,000 for a “feasibility study.” This study will assess demand for the institution and help purchase the community centre from the Manchester City Council.

A Manchester City Council spokeswoman said:

“We supported LGBT Youth NW in their bid for funding to look at the feasibility of expanding their premises and developing the work they do,” she said.

“One of their development ambitions is around how they might make additional educational support available to LGBT young people. We’ve had an initial discussion with them about that but there are no current plans that we’re aware of to open a LGBT school in the city.”

Critics have lambasted the idea as lawful segregation that would inhibit tolerance efforts, not help them.
Tom Loughton, Tory MP and former education minister, said:

“We need to do a lot more to combat homophobic bullying and to create a more tolerant society.
“But I cannot see how segregating a group of young people identified by their sexuality can aid better engagement and understanding.

“The way to achieve more integration, understanding and empathy is not by segregating members of one group, and this would seem to me to be a step backwards from achieving tolerance.”

Paul Nuttall, educational spokesman and UKIP deputy leader stated: ‘This idea does nothing but foster division.

“At a time that successive governments have closed all but a few special schools, why this sudden exception, if not for reasons of political correctness?

“Integration is the key to understanding, and it is utterly bizarre to be taking a step that highlights differences and adds nothing of value to a child’s education.”

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said: “There is simply no way that we will approve a free school specifically for LGBT young people.

“Pupils regardless of their sexuality should be educated in mainstream schools which should be equipped to tackle any bullying that should occur.”

Director for the LGBT Youth North West, Amelia Lee, said this school is “not about making a little, safe enclave away from the real world.”

She argued that right now the education system “sets up 5%-10% of pupils to fail” because the structure does not take the needs of LGBT students into account.

In addition, Lee said that the school would be “LGBT inclusive, but not exclusive.”

Writing in the Gay Star News, Elly Barnes argued that “education is key to eradicating all forms of discrimination including those of different gender and sexual diversities.”

The Founder and CEO of “Educate to Celebrate” believes that creating an LGBT-friendly school in Manchester will help, but it is not the long-term answer.

“Making ALL schools LGBT-friendly is the solution. Giving all teachers, staff and parents the confidence, training and resources to change ingrained attitudes amd make positive institutional change; this is the way forward to achieving social justice in the education system.”

“The key is to make LGBT-Friendly schools though delivering training to all staff, updating policies, creating resources for an LGBT-Inclusive curriculum, increasing visibility in the environment and engaging the community in events.”

Sally Carr, Founder and Operational Director of LGBT Youth NW told Christian Today that because the school is open to all students, not just LGBT students, the criticism of creating a gay “ghetto” is misplaced.

“Much like you would expect Christian schools to be absent of prejudice towards Christianity, this would be a school free from homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. These things have no place in modern British society.”

Carr also believes that Christians can help prevent gay children from being bullied in UK schools.

“I think Christians, particularly straight Christians, need to listen more than we speak,” she said. “There’s a need to listen to young LGBT people, and if they say that the current system is not working we need to take that seriously. We need to change the system so that future LGBT people are able to live and find God and find that God loves them, both at work and at play and at church.

“That has to be our highest priority, keeping young people from giving up on life and giving up on God.”

David Walker, Bishop of Manchester, agreed that LGBT students in mainstream schools could use extra support. He said that “the Church of England has made its position very clear that we strongly oppose homophobic bullying in schools.

“We are committed to eliminating homophobic bullying in all Church of England Schools and we produce national resources and guidance for teachers to use.

“However we recognise that other schools are not there yet.

“If pupils are being bullied because of their sexual orientation I would support alternative provision for them within the council’s service.”

Rev Sally Hitchiner, who founded Diverse Church, a support network that allows LGBT Christians to connect, believes this proposed school could help struggling LGBT students.

“I think it’s a tragedy that it’s needed,” she said, “but for students involved it might be a lifeline. Far too many LGBT students face misunderstanding and isolation to the point that some of take their own lives.

“However, I think the highest priority has to be enabling every school in the country to be a supportive and safe place for all of its people.”

Amelia Lee will wait until after the general election to move forward with an application to the school. If approved, students would be able to start in about three years.The grant received from the Department for Communities and Local Government said the grant was not to set up the school, but only to help purchase the community centre from the Manchester City Council.

The plans for this school are based on the Harvey Milk School in New York, which is designed for, but not exclusive to, LGBT students. It is named after Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man elected to a public office in America.

Lee secured a meeting with Department of Education officials after visiting the Harvey Milk School last year.

While it is true that as Christians we are to love and minister to one another, there is a difference between loving someone and turning a blind eye to their sin. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:9: “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind.” Another name for “abusers of themselves with mankind is homosexuality. The Bible clearly teaches that people who practice these sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But if they repent of this sin, He will be faithful and just to forgive them their sin and cleanse them from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

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Kessab Churches Destroyed by Syrian Rebels

Robin

10 January 2015

Graffiti was plastered on church walls by rebels in Kessab.

Christian churches were destroyed by Syrian rebels in the town of Kessab.

Ruth Sherlock reports in the Telegraph how the Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical church was destroyed—its library, pews, altar, and graveyard burned and vandalized by Syrian rebels.

Before the assault on Kessab, rebel fighters were instructed to act like “moderate Muslims” and “natural allies of the West.”

Syrian rebels tried to reassure Kessab residents in March 2014 that they were not intolerant of Christians and other minority religions. They claimed that they were “non-sectarian protectors” of the city.

Rebels from Syria and the Islamist group Ahrar al-Sham snapped pictures of themselves guarding churches and conversing civilly with locals. Approximately 30 elderly Armenians were driven in buses to Turkey, where they received a warm reception that was covered by state television.

However, the destruction of the churches disproves the above picture of good intentions. As soon as the television cameras turned away, the rebels turned on the people they were supposedly protecting and began burning and desecrating churches.

Sherlock, who works as a Middle East journalist for the Telegraph stated:

The perpetrators had shown both purpose and glee in their destruction of Christian sites in the ancient Armenian town. Statues were riddled with bullets and Islamist slogans were scrawled across the walls of homes and shops.

Father Miron Avedissian, priest of the Armenian Apostolic Church related his story:

“They took photographs to show they were looking after the churches, and then set them alight…It all still happened in the first day.”

“There is no God but Allah” is now plastered on walls, doors, and shop fronts of Kessab’s streets. Father Avedissian’s church suffered the same fate. The crosses outside the church were peppered with bullet holes, and the interior was blackened by fire.

Nothing remained of the nearby Holy Trinity Armenian Evangelical Church but a charred shell. Graffiti covered the church’s walls, naming the rebel groups who participated in the vandalism.

One resident, Zavinar Sargdegian, witnessed one of the churches being set on fire by rebels. She said:

“I was at home with my husband when they raided the house…they broke down the front door. They pushed us on to the street. We were on our knees and they put a gun to our heads. From the road I saw the Angelic Church burning. Fire was coming out of the doors and windows.”

After Kessab was captured on 24 March 2014 by Muslim and Syrian rebels there was controversy surrounding how much damage was actually done. Some reports claim that much of the reports were propaganda.

But some facts are not debated. With the help of Turkey, rebels did overrun the Kessab, and its 2,500 Armenian Christian inhabitants were forced to flee for their lives. Numerous photographs show the destruction of churches and other buildings.

Rebels, by nature, are not moderate. Nor are they protectors of innocent people.

Please continue to pray for peace and protection for our fellow Christians in Syria.

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Religious Privileges in Scotland Under Audit

Robin

4 December 2014

Religious privileges in Scotland will be examined to create a more equal society.

Religious privileges in Scotland are under audit as part of a new research study at the University of Glasgow.

This 10-month project, funded by the Humanist Society Scotland (HSS), will audit Scots law to find out how much special provision is given to religion and religious organizations.

The HSS wants to use this project to encourage talks with Scottish Government to change laws that “reduce religious privilege and make the country more equal.”

If some laws are deemed to be too favorable to Christians they will be modified or disposed of, which could potentially inhibit Christians from practicing their faith in Scotland.

No such project has been launched in over 100 years. Some of the cases might go all the way back to the 16th and 17th centuries, although many of these cases are more recent.

This project’s development is located at the Humanist Studies Hub at the University of Glasgow and is led by Professors Callum Brown (History, School of Humanities) and Jane Mair (School of Law). Dr Thomas Green is research assistant.

Researchers working on this project will do so in an attempt to see how religion influences the different aspects of Scottish law, such as in the areas of marriage, education, and equality laws that grant religious exemptions. These findings will provide a firm foundation for the place of religious freedoms when making new laws.

Included in the project will be a “detailed study of contemporary and historical legal sources.” A report of these findings will be published in the summer of 2015.

Mr Brown told the Scotland Herald that “research could range from prohibition on a Sunday through to any restrictions in employment law.

“We’re interested in religious privilege, which is by and large now being eroded by human rights legislation from the EU, Westminster and Holyrood. Recent legislation has specifically sought to create an equality between those who have a religious belief and those who do not.”

Dr Green will carry out research in cases where the law was influenced by religion. One example would be Church of Scotland clerics having positions on education boards. According to Dr Brown, Prof Green’s report will be rooted in his findings on different aspects of the law, such as education, human rights, and marriage.

Professor Mair, talking about this project, said that contemporary legal systems historically were viewed as secular institutions. She says it is only recently that “driven by a combination of different and quite separate forces religion has re-emerged in law as a complex and highly contested concept.”

She believes some of this rise in interest might be attributed to “the protection of religious thought and belief through human rights and equality legislation; by the strong sound of religious voices in public debate and political consultation and by the visible presence of migrant communities who wish to live according to their own religion.”

Mair, an expert on discrimination in employment and family law, said that these issues are becoming increasingly tested in courts. She adds that “judges are being faced with very difficult decisions: what is religion, how should it be defined and how…should it be distinguished from other forms of belief; to what extent should religious employees be permitted to wear the symbols of their belief at work; should civil courts take account of religious arbitration in resolving family disputes and how should religious beliefs be measured against the belief in equality?”

Douglas Mclellan, HSS Chief Executive, said that:

“I am delighted that this opportunity has arisen. The HSS is investing £40,000 in this project to provide an exceptional level of research into the privileges enjoyed by religion in Scots law. The HSS believes that for Scotland to progress as a fair and equal nation, it needs to be a nation with no special laws, practises or exemptions for religions or religious organisations. We are supporting this project to demonstrate where religion currently has privileges which will then allow us to work with the Scottish Government and MSPs in the Scottish Parliament to take opportunities to amend legislation and reduce religious privilege.”

Prof Brown said: “This is a most important research undertaking. No complete guide to religion in Scots law has been compiled since the Victorian period, and there have been so many changes in church, religion and the law since then that there is a need to provide a one-stop resource for lawyers, Humanists, church people, journalists and academics. We are delighted with the funding HSS is providing, and hope this will expand into a wider relationship between the University and Humanist organisations.”

Reverend David Robertson, the soon-to-be Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, called this project “anti-Christian propaganda, dressed up as research.”

Commenting further, Rev Robertson said that “the Humanist Society, whose membership could fit into a phone box, has paid £40,000 to a humanist to investigate religion.

“I could have saved them the money because I can tell you now this particular investigation will say religion is privileged. Frankly it’s laughable.

“Personally I’d like to see a study of the privileged status of humanists and why they think their principles should be the only ones allowed in Scotland.”

However, the Church of Scotland also responded, saying it “works for and welcomes moves to make Scotland a more equal society.”

Church and Society Convener at the Kirk, Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton, had a slightly different take on the issue:
“One of the greatest strengths is our diversity and Scotland is not a blank-slate, but is composed of a number of institutions and groups, from within politics, business and civil society that make up its DNA.

“As one of these groups, religious organisations play an important role within society through our civic engagement, our work and advocacy for the poor and marginalised, and our contribution to the cultural heritage of Scotland, all of which should be reflected within Scottish law.

“Playing our part is not about privilege, but about service. Moreover, if we truly wish to make Scotland a more equal society then money and time might be better spent tackling issues such as child poverty, financial inequality and ending the need for food banks.”

Responding to these comments, Douglas McLellan said: “We find the (Free Church) comments insulting to the academics involved. This is high-quality research.”

A spokesperson for the University of Glasgow, responding to Robertson’s comments, said they welcomed this legitimate area of research.

National Secular Society’s spokesperson for Scotland, Alastair McBay, said: “The study of privilege is well-respected and covered in countless university courses across Scotland. To object to such an academic study simply because the form of privilege under investigation is religious reflects a desperate desire to keep such privileges beyond question.”

Additionally, the professors want to research laws that are still effective today. Dr Green said this approach is “a commentary on where we think law is heading. These kinds of surveys used to be produced by ecclesiastical lawyers. We’re producing one for the 21st century.”

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Salmond’s Independent Scotland to promote gay rights

Stephen

16 September 2014

'Equality Network' at Glasgow Gay Pride 2013 — ‘Equality Network’ at Glasgow Gay Pride 2013

Homosexuals in Scotland may only number around 1% of its population, but Alex Salmond is courting their votes in a final push for the ‘Yes campaign’, according to Pink News.

The First Minister told the ‘Equality Network’, a group of homosexual activists, that an independent Scotland would cement perversion in a new constitution.

Mr Salmond said: “Independence is a once in a lifetime opportunity to embed and enhance LGBTI rights. With Independence we will be able to enshrine LGBTI equality in a written constitution – ensuring our rights cannot be easily reversed by any government”. (‘Our rights’? What can that mean?)

“With a No vote we face the prospect of another Tory government committed to scrapping the Human Rights Act…It’s only with the full powers of an independent country that we can finally secure true equality for LGBTI people and a fairer society for all.”

The First Minister said the equality protections of a Scottish constitution would include: age, disability, gender identity, gender reassignment, intersex status, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

In reality, the gay-friendly Conservatives are not going to repeal ‘gay marriage’ or the Equality Act whether the UK remains signed up to the European Convention on Human Rights or not. Mr Salmond is erecting an Aunt Sally. But it gets worse.

Alex Salmond at 'Pride House'. The homosexual 'Rainbow' flag flew over St Andrew's House during the Commonwealth Games 2014. — Alex Salmond being ‘gay-friendly’ at ‘Pride House’. The homosexual ‘Rainbow’ flag flew over St Andrew’s House during the Commonwealth Games 2014.

Mr Salmond went on: “With complete control over foreign policy and international development we will be able to make full use of diplomatic relations and actively promote LGBTI equality and human rights around the world.”

So Indy-Scotland will not lift a finger to help Christians in Iraq but will promote sodomy across the globe. The UK has been been bad enough at forcing its view through its aid budget down the throats of Africans, but under Mr Salmond, whips seem about to be replaced by scorpions.

Scotland will also give foreign homosexuals priority in asylum applications: “With independence we can have a new humane approach to asylum seekers and refugees in line with our values and commitment to upholding internationally recognised human rights. Our approach stands in stark contrast to Westminster’s aggressive approach that is best exemplified by their offensive ‘go home’ advertising campaign.

“Scotland has a very clear position on promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and intersex rights both at home and abroad,” Mr Salmond concluded.

Christian Voice has remained neutral during the Scottish Independence debate, but Mr Salmond’s declaration now means that no Bible-believing Christian can vote for him or for independence, if it entails what its chief protagonist says it does.

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Independent Scotland won’t join anti-IS coalition

Stephen

11 September 2014

Alex Salmond - fiddling while Iraq burns. — Alex Salmond – fiddling while Iraq burns.

An independent Scotland won’t join an American/RUK coalition to defeat Islamic State, the Scottish First Minister has just said.

Responding to a question from Laurence Lee of Al Jazeera, Mr Salmond said in a press conference today that Scotland would only support military action against Islamic State if it were sanctioned by the United Nations. Presenting this as a ‘lawful’ way of going about things, it rules out action specifically requested by Iraq and puts an impossible obstacle in the way of intervention.

‘We will only participate in military action which has been sanctioned by the United Nations in accordance with international law,’ the First Minister said.

Mr Salmond added: ‘It is a vital matter and one in which we are being successful that we hold our own communities together in a difficult international circumstance’. He went on to say that the Muslim community of Scotland are ‘a vital part of our community and are not in any way responsible for the atrocities of the Islamic State and indeed have roundly condemned such atrocities in forthright terms.’

Community cohesion was an interesting context into which to place his opposition to action against Islamic State.

THE PURPOSE OF THE UNITED NATIONS

Mr Salmond raised the matter of the illegal invasion of Iraq, saying quite rightly that there was no United Nations sanction for it.

The need for a United Nations resolution would be perfectly valid in the context of the invasion of a sovereign state by another sovereign state, as was the case with the US/UK invasion of Iraq. The UN was founded to prevent war in the wake of the destruction of World War II. The UN Charter prohibits member states of the UN attacking other UN member states. That is central to its purpose. The United Nations deals, well or badly according to one’s perspective, with affairs between nations, or criticises or supports the actions of nations.

Iraqi Ambassador Faik Nerweyi has been asking the UK for military assistance to defeat Islamic State. — Iraqi Ambassador His Excellency Faik Nerweyi has asked the UK for military assistance to defeat Islamic State.

It can also call for peace between rival factions in a sovereign state or call for stability, as it did in Resolution 2103 over instability in Guinea-Bissau. In Resolution 1701, it called for the withdrawal by Israel from Lebanon. Calls in the Resolution for the cessation of hostilities by Hezbollah against Israel and the territorial integrity of Lebanon were inserted at the request of those country’s allies balanced the resolution.But the rise of Islamic State, a rogue army arising and invading sovereign states, is quite different. There seems to be little precedent for a United Nations resolution for military action against some rag-bag international movement, however powerful or well-funded it is. (Check out this list of recent UN resolutions)

If a sovereign state requests the help of another state in an internal emergency such as the one faced by Iraq, and is not doing anything remotely hostile against its own citizens, that state does not appear, under international law, to require the permission of the United Nations to come to its aid. That is why people who were completely opposed to the invasion of Iraq, such as ourselves, are strongly calling for the UK and the US to help Iraq with military intervention against Islamic State now.

There is a big difference between the two and it is strange that Mr Salmond cannot see that.

SCOTLAND WILL FIDDLE WHILE IRAQ BURNS

Given that Iraq has actually asked the United States and the United Kingdom for military assistance against Islamic State, Mr Salmond is saying that Scotland will not help the Iraqi government to recover land lost to the Christians around Mosul, ancient Nineveh, even though the Iraqi government has requested it. Scotland will insist on a United Nations resolution. Of course Scotland would not immediately be a member of the UN in any case, and would need to apply, as Israel did in 1948, and a resolution on defeating Islamic State in Iraq will not be forthcoming.

So an independent Scotland under Salmond will fiddle while Iraq burns. That is very sad if it is indicative of future foreign policy of an independent Scotland under Mr Alex Salmond.

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Islamic State: Hammond! Talk to Assad!

Stephen

27 August 2014

Ministry Of Defence Announces Army Job Cuts — Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP

Two top retired generals and the chairman of parliament’s intelligence and security committee are calling for collaboration with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria in order to defeat Islamic State, also known as ISIS and ISIL.

But HM Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs refuses even to pick up the phone.

Former army chief and committed Christian Lord Dannatt, General Sir Richard Shirreff and Sir Malcolm Rifkind have all called on Philip Hammond to work with President Assad.

Lord Dannatt told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “I think whether it’s above the counter or below the counter, a conversation has got to be held with him. Because if there’s going to be any question of air strikes over Syrian air space, it’s got to be with the Assad regime’s approval.”

Sir Malcolm, the chairman of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, and a former foreign secretary and defence secretary, said that the US and its allies must be prepared to work with the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad to have any hope of defeating Isis. He said history had shown that “sometimes you actually have to make an arrangement with some nasty people in order to get rid of some even nastier ones”. Sir Malcolm also called for Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop “the private funding and help that has been given to jihadi extremists by supporters in their countries for several years”.

But Philip Hammond rejected the calls, saying: “We may very well find that we are aligned against a common enemy but it would poison what we’re trying to achieve in separating moderate Sunni opinion from the poisonous ideology of Isil if we were to align ourselves with Assad.”

Today, General Sir Richard Shirreff spoke of the inevitability of talks with the Syrian president.

“There can be no eradication of Islamic State as a threat without a regional approach,” he said. “Islamic State is operating and has spread into Syria and therefore, there is likely to be – or inevitably going to be – a need to sit down and talk to difficult bedfellows.”

Christian Voice believes that Mr Hammond, like his predecessor, over-estimates his ability to turn the Syrian rebels into some sort of democratic body respecting the human rights of minorities such as the Christians and Alawites of Syria.

The Syrian regime was destabilised at the bidding of fanatical pro-democracy agitators like George Soros. Soros funded Syrian activists directly and through his links to avaaz.org. (See March 2011 in the link) (More on Avaaz here). It was only by the grace of God that a government motion to take military action against the Syrian Government was defeated in the UK House of Commons on 30th August 2013. But US intervention and UK and European logistical support inevitably fueled the rise of ISIS. Weaponry delivered to the rebels has inevitably found its way into the hands of Al-Qaeda and now ISIS.

There are recent reports that France has been supplying the non-ISIS rebels. Even while ISIS was getting going, America sent arms to Syrian rebels in April 2014. The US supplied TOW missile systems which are now in Syrian rebel hands. There are reports that the US trained Islamic militants at a base in Jordan: This is from WorldNetDaily and is too heavily laden with reasoned comment and good links to be dismissed. Another article from WorldNet Daily exposes the Soros links and shows that back in February this year, the US and UK were not even bothered about ISIS as they gaily pressed ahead arming the Syrian rebels and plotting President Assad’s downfall. The US was warned a year ago about ISIS, and ignored the warnings. Now it is the world’s best-funded terrorist group.

We have held a consistent view that only President Assad stood between Christians in Syria and a blood-bath, that the UK Government was wrong to support the Islamic militants trying to oust him. Our Government are responsible for a colossal loss of life and property, in fact for what Sir Malcolm calls the ‘destruction’ of Syria. They now have a face-saving opportunity to switch sides.

SEE:

10th March 2014: Kidnappers Free Syrian Nuns

16th February 2014: Senator McCain Defends Syrian Rebels in Unprecedented Temper Tantrum

16th February 2014: Syrian Rebels Kidnap Nuns and Orphans

13th September 2013: CIA-armed Syrian rebels attack Christian town

11th September 2013: Interview with Samuel Noble on Syria, Assad, and the US

9th September 2013: Why Obama Needs a War with Syria

6th September 2013: Vladimir Putin Warns America Not to Attack Syria

30th August 2013: Syria: How your MP voted

20th June 2013: How the West is Helping to Destroy Christianity in Syria

18th June 2013: Middle East state arms Syrian Islamists

10th August 2013: £32.5m for the anti-Christian Syrian rebels

27th July 2013: Syria – Thank God for the Russians

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World Humanist Congress meets in Oxford

Stephen

24 July 2014

The World Humanist Congress is meeting in Oxford from 8-10th August 2014.

The Congress meets every three years, bringing together activists from over forty countries under the auspices of the International Humanist and Ethical Union. Being ‘ethical’ is important to humanists, because they have constantly to repel charges that without God, they only have their own prejudices to base their ‘ethics’ upon.

This year, the British Humanist Association (‘BHA’) is hosting the World Humanist Congress. They are bringing together no fewer than seventy-seven speakers, from as far afield as Switzerland, America, Australia, India, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Uganda and Greece. The speakers are headed by humanist philosopher A C Grayling, writer Taslima Nasrin, Philip Pullman, Author of ‘His Dark Materials’, and Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka.

Other speakers include Jim Al-Khalili OBE, President of the BHA, Labour Party Peer Joan Bakewell DBE, Richard Dawkins, who is Vice-President of BHA, PZ Myers, Associate professor of biology at the University of Minnesota Morris, who describes himself as ‘A godless liberal biologist’, Peter Tatchell, and Prof Peter Atkins, Roy Brown of the pro-abortion International Foundation for Population and Development.

Also speaking are Professor Ted Cantle, London Assembly member Tom Copley AM, Andrew Copson, who is Chief Executive of BHA, former RC chaplain Catherine Dunphy, Liz Lutgendorff, Chair of the Conway Hall Ethical Society, author Zoe Margolis, Kerry McCarthy, MP for Bristol East, Maryam Namazie, Maajid Nawaz, the highly-paid co-Founder of Quilliam, in receipt of government grants to counter Islamic extremism, Prof Richard Norman, founder-member of the Humanist Philosophers Group and Vice-President of the British Humanist Association, journalist and broadcaster Nick Ross, and Guardian columnist Zoe Williams.

A number of speakers also have links to the National Secular Society, which is slightly more extreme even than BHA. Philip Pullman is a ‘honorary associate’ of NSS as is Professor Cantle, Richard Dawkins, Nick Cohen, Maryam Namazie and Maajid Nawaz.

According to the WHC website, P Z Myers ‘is an outspoken critic of creationism and intelligent design (for which he has “nothing but contempt”, saying that it is “fundamentally dishonest”)’. Prof Myers was featured in Ray Comfort’s video ‘Evolution vs God‘, trying in vain to think of evidence for evolution and claiming that human beings are fish.

See: Teach Children Creation, says report.

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Theresa May Resurrects “Snooper’s Charter”

Robin

12 July 2014

Theresa May is in favor of increasing internet surveillance in Britain. — Theresa May: in favour of increased internet surveillance in Britain.

Theresa May has resurrected plans for a “snooper’s charter” in order to counteract, she says, terrorist threats from British jihadists in Syria.

She stated again that she wants to “equip the state with greater surveillance powers—including the ability to access citizens’ email and social media accounts.”

May claims that it is vital for security authorities to have enough power to counteract terrorist in a world with ever-increasing internet capabilities. She claims that having this power is a matter of “life and death, a matter of national security.”

She related how many Britons have travelled to Syria to fight the Assad regime, and how this could represent a threat when they return to the UK.

It was of course British Foreign Secretary William Hague who encouraged the uprising against President Assad and paved the way for Islamist terrorists to become entrenched in Syria in the first place. The UK gave the anti-Christian rebels £32.5m. Only as a result of prayer and by the grace of God did the UK not send warplanes against Syrian government forces and make matters even worse.

May also claimed that at least 20 cases, 13 of which involved a threat to a child’s life, were dropped by the National Crime Agency in the past six months for lack of communication data.

Speaking at the Lord Mayor’s Defence and Security Lecture, May said that “the real problem is not that we have built an over-mighty state but that the state is finding it harder to fulfil its most basic duty, which is to protect the public.”

She believes that internet technology has given criminals more ways to commit crimes, and that the Government needs to be able to match these criminals in technological advances, which includes accessing information that can help stop them. She even referred to the internet as a “breeding ground for criminals.”

Emma Carr, acting director of privacy campaigner group Big Brother Watch, asserted that May differs from the majority opinion on this issue.

“Yet again the Home Secretary is clashing with the broad political consensus that no new powers should be introduced until a full independent review into the currently available surveillance legislation and oversight mechanisms has taken place,” she said in a statement.

“We know from surveillance transparency reports published by private companies that they largely comply with law enforcement requests for communications data.

“Therefore, if the Home Secretary is stating that communications data was unavailable in specific cases, then that would suggest that a warrant was either not submitted to, or was rejected by, the companies in question. The question therefore should be why is this the case?” Carr added.

May introduced the “snooper’s charter” proposal last year to increase surveillance of people’s internet and phone communications, but it was blocked by Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister. He believed her plans would be opening up doors for all sorts of mass surveillance by the government.

If passed, the proposed legislation would require internet firms to keep records of all email and social media interactions for up to a year, in case these records need to be accessed in an issue of national security.

Based on recent reports, May appears to want this legislation passed before the next general election.

May also denied a “surveillance state” programme as alleged by Edward Snowden, and she affirmed that Britain did not rely on the US to illegally obtain internet records.

“There is no programme of mass surveillance and there is no surveillance state,” May asserted.

However, Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) has already been accused by privacy campaigners of spying on citizens by hacking unlawfully into personal information.

Privacy International alleges that GCHQ was illegally spying on people and has broken the European Convention of Human Rights by doing so. This document ensures citizens a right to privacy and freedom of speech.

Privacy International claims that, based on information from whistleblower Edward Snowden, that the GCHQ and the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) used a monitoring programmed called Tempora, which “taps into the network of fibre-optic cables which carry the world’s phone calls and online traffic.”

The deputy director of Privacy International, Eric King, said this was the “modern equivalent of the government entering someone’s house and reading their diary, correspondence and journals.”

May denied these allegations as well, calling them “nonsense” and affirming that everything the Government is doing in surveillance is perfectly legal.

The Government received more criticism when Charles Farr, Britain’s most senior security official, said in a statement in mid-June that the Government is allowed to access citizens’ personal messages on social media sites because they are regarded as “external communications.” These include searches on Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, in addition to emails from non-British citizens.

This is the first time that the Government openly stated that they intercept, without a warrant, what citizens believed were private messages.

Farr said that today the biggest threat to national security in the UK and beyond is from “militant Islamist terrorists,” and it is therefore necessary to find these suspects before it becomes too difficult to trace them. If the government was only allowed to monitor individual people or locations, this would not provide an adequate degree of protection which the people expect.

In addition, ministers have proposed this week to enact emergency laws that would require phone companies to keep records of people’s phone calls, texts, and internet history. Labour and Liberal Democrats are supporting this move but also warned that they will not allow this new law to reinstate a more extensive “snooper’s charter.”

Many allegations have been recently made against the Government regarding surveillance, followed by profuse denial from Theresa May. Are online terrorists really a threat to our national safety and is this the only way we can counteract terrorist threats? It is hard to say. But one thing remains certain: as much of a danger as terrorism may be, an even greater danger arises when a populace is willing to surrender substantial liberties for the promise of security. As we pointed out earlier this year, the normalization of the modern surveillance state arises from the universal human temptation to surrender freedom for the often illusory promise of increased security. That is why, when Government officials begin talking about “matters of life and death,” one must be cautious about the motivation behind it.

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Ashers Baking ‘Discriminated’

Stephen

11 July 2014

The Politically-motivated cake was baked by another firm. — The campaigning cake was baked by another firm.

A bakery firm in Northern Ireland is facing a discrimination case after refusing to bake a cake with a slogan supporting ‘gay marriage’

Ashers Baking Company, which is owned and run by the McArthur family, who are Christians, declined an order from a gay rights activist asking for a cake featuring the Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie with a slogan saying ‘Support Gay Marriage’.

Marriage between people of the same sex is illegal in Northern Ireland. In April 2014 the Stormont Assembly rejected a Sinn Fein motion to change the definition of marriage for the third time in eighteen months.

The customer also wanted the cake to feature the logo of a Belfast-based campaign group called “Queerspace”.

The cake was ordered for a civic event in Bangor Castle Town Hall, County Down, to mark the invented ‘International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia’, ‘IDAHOT’ in May.

Cllr Andrew Muir campaigns for 'gay marriage' by cutting the 'QueerSpace' cake. — Homosexual Cllr Andrew Muir campaigns for ‘gay marriage’ by cutting the ‘QueerSpace’ cake.

The event, hosted by Councillor Andrew Muir, the openly-homosexual Mayor of North Down for the divisive Alliance Party, went ahead after another company provided a cake.

But now, six weeks after the event, the County Antrim firm has received a letter from a self-important quango called the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

The firm’s general manager, Daniel McArthur, said that his firm offered the customer a full refund, which was collected shortly after the order was refused.

“We thought that was the end of it, but approximately six weeks later we received a letter from the Equality Commission. The Equality Commission’s letter said that we had discriminated against the customer on the grounds of his sexual orientation.

“It asked us to propose how we would recompense the customer for this discrimination. It also said it would pursue legal proceedings if we didn’t respond within a seven-day time period,” Mr McArthur said.

The watchdog confirmed it is assisting the customer. In a statement, it said: “The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland provides advice and can provide assistance to people who complain to us that they have suffered unlawful discrimination.

“In this case the commission has granted assistance to the complainant, and has written to the company concerned on his behalf. The commission will consider any response before taking further action.”

Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, presents the Newtownabbey Business Person of the Year to Colin McArthur of Ashers Bakery. — Sammy Wilson, MP for East Antrim, left, presents the Newtownabbey Business Person of the Year award to Colin McArthur of Ashers Baking Company.

But the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said the Equality Commission had overstepped the mark and the complaint highlighted the need for a “conscience clause” to protect Christians and others who have deeply held beliefs.

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said: “The case re-opens the debate about how exactly religious belief is respected within the United Kingdom and the need for someone’s conscience to be protected whilst ensuring that discrimination does not occur.”

Mr Dodds could point out that Ashers have not discriminated against the complainant on the grounds of his sexual orientation, although this should in conscience be their right.

They have instead objected to manufacturing a product carrying a contentious political message.

Ashers could equally have objected to producing icing depicting the Sesame Street’s ‘Bert’ and ‘Ernie’ out of respect for the copyright protection attached to those characters.

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland is now considering its next step.

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland:
Telephone: 028 90 500 600
Textphone: 028 90 500 589 Fax: 028 90 248 687
Equality House 7-9 Shaftesbury Square Belfast BT2 7DP

information@equalityni.org

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British Man Believes Son Radicalised by Imam

UK Christian Constitution

Robin

5 July 2014

Rhahim Kalantar, father of Ali Kalantar, believes his son was radicalised by an imam at a mosque his son attended. — Rahim Kalantar, father of Ali Kalantar, believes his son was radicalised by an imam at a mosque his son attended.

A British man believes his teenage son, who traveled to Syria to join a jihadist group, was radicalised by an imam from a UK mosque.

Rahim Kalantar, father of Ali, 18, told the BBC he believes his son is now fighting for the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an active jihadist group in Iraq and Syria. Kalantar claims that an imam sent him “down this road,” but the imam denied the allegations.

Ali would be one of about 500 Britons who have gone to the Middle East to fight in the conflict.

Kalantar says he worries about his son “every minute” and that his grief is “limitless.” He believes that his son was brainwashed by the imam while Ali was taking classes at a mosque after evening prayer.

Although the BBC contacted the mosque to speak with the imam, he refused an interview and denied all allegations.

Kalantar believes this imam radicalized his son, as well as another 18-year-old, Rashed Amani.

Family members of Amani had travelled to the Turkish-Syrian border to search for the boys, but Amani’s father said they came back “empty-handed” after looking for over two weeks. He also feared that his son had joined ISIS.

“Maybe somebody worked with him, I don’t know. Maybe somebody brainwashed him because he was not like that,” he said.

This report comes after two other young Britons, Nasser Muthana and Reyaad Khan, both 20, appeared in a recruitment video posted by ISIS. In this video the two men encouraged other British Muslims to join the fighting in Iraq and Syria.

Former independent reviewer of terrorism laws, Lord Carlile, informed the BBC that the Muslim community itself was in the best position to prevent jihadists from recruiting in the UK. He also said that the UK needed to “reintroduce” tougher measures to stop terrorism.

“Mothers, wives, sisters do not want their husbands, brothers, sons to become valid jihadists and run the risk of being killed in a civil war,” he told the programme.

He also said that the Government needs to “look at preventing violent extremism before people leave the country and also we need to look for further measures.” He suggested reintroducing “something like control orders.” These were replaced in 2011 with Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (TPims), which are less restrictive than control orders.

United States President Obama announced on 19 June that he will send 300 U.S. special operation forces to Iraq in order to repel the uprising of Muslim jihadist troops involved with ISIS.

Although the jihadists recruit mainly Muslims, these incidents are just another way that the increasing Muslim population in Britain is affecting British culture.

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Ditch Christian School Assemblies says NGA

Stephen

3 July 2014

The National Governors’ Association (NGA) has suggested scrapping Christian assemblies in state schools.

The NGA, which told Christian Voice that one-fifth of state school governing bodies are members, says staff are “unable or unwilling” to lead pupils in prayer and that worship is ‘meaningless’ to non-Christian schoolchildren.

In a policy statement, the body said schools were “not places of worship but places of education” and “the worship of a religion or religions in all schools should not be … compulsory.”

“Few schools can or do meet the current legislative requirement for a daily act of collective worship, partly because there isn’t space in most schools to gather students together and often staff are unable or unwilling to lead a collective worship session,” it said.

“There is also the added issue that worship implies belief in a particular faith – if the ‘act of worship’ is not in your faith then it is meaningless as an act of worship.”

The NGA said dropping collective Christian worship from schools’ remit would “not prevent them from holding assemblies that address a whole range of topics, including faith and belief.”

The Church of England said dropping Christian assemblies would “deny children the opportunity to experience something they wouldn’t experience elsewhere in their lives”.

In 2012, Welsh Evangelical Alliance National Assembly Liaison Officer Jim Stewart said of Christian worship in schools: “If this right were taken away from us it would lead to further marginalisation of Christianity in public life. This is not just something that is beneficial to us though – it is for the common good and other faith groups in Wales are supportive of it as are people who don’t have a particular faith.”

Naturally, the British Humanist Association and the National Secular Society welcomed the NGA’s comments, with the BHA saying schools should be “holding inclusive assemblies that forward the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all pupils and staff”.

However, it isn’t at all clear what ‘spiritual, moral, social and cultural’ values would qualify as ‘inclusive’ nor whom or what they could be founded on if not on the God who brought this nation victorious through two world wars.

It is no good appealing to ‘multi-culturalism.’ Even though Islam is the UK’s fastest-growing religion, its practitioners still only number 5% of the population. Our African and Caribbean populations are overwhelmingly Christian. Britain is not ‘multi-cultural’ in any meaningful sense.

For some fifteen hundred years, as they became converted, rulers in this nation increasingly rooted their laws and morality in what Almighty God revealed in the Bible, revering Jesus Christ as King of kings. This process culminated in the late-ninth-century law-code of King Alfred the Great, who based his ‘dooms’ on the laws of God in the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses.

In a country with such a rich Christian heritage, who defines what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ if not Almighty God? The school head? The school governors? On what basis?

A collective act of worship has been a statutory requirement in state schools since the Education Act 1944 stated that ‘the school day in every county school and every voluntary school shall begin with collective worship on the part of all the pupils in attendance’. The Act gave parents the right to withdraw their child, perhaps in favour of separate arrangements. The Education Reform Act 1988 reaffirmed that position and reinforced it, stating that the act of worship should be ‘mainly of a broadly Christian character’.

Children in state schools should engage in a collective act of worship because ours is constitutionally and demographically a Christian country. As we lose respect for the sacred, we lose respect for each other. Britain would become just a bit more brutal, crass and disrespectful as a result.

The elimination of school prayer would rank alongside amoral sex education and the silencing of any possibility of creation as a prime motivator of antisocial behaviour. It would be irrational for anyone to ask why God permits this or that outrage of violence in schools which have legislated God out of the door.

The National Governors’ Association cannot claim to represent anything approaching a majority of school governors. But if it is true that staff are unable or unwilling to conduct an act of Christian worship, the way is open for a local church to offer the services of its pastor, youth leader or another committed member of the congregation. So there is an opportunity in the present situation for closer relationships between schools and churches.

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