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The only Muslim Cabinet minister has said Britain should become more Christian. Writing in The Telegraph, Baroness Warsi suggested it was ok for Christians to be proud of their religion and that having a strong faith identify could help people to better understand people of other faiths. ‘We need to create a country where people don’t feel like they have to leave religion at the door. That means being proud of Christianity, not downgrading it,’ she said. ‘It means encouraging people to say that their faith inspires what they do. It means supporting religious charities in delivering public services in schools, hospices and rehabilitation.’ Lady Warsi’s message will be assuring to many Christians who have felt under increasing pressure in recent years to keep their faith private, while others have perceived a tendency towards respect for Muslims and intolerance towards Christians. Lady Warsi suggested that Christians should not feel they have to water down their faith.
Pray: for God to give the Christian church and its members greater confidence to proclaim the faith. (Heb.10:35)
Muslim leaders have been criticised by a University of Oxford academic for not doing enough to tackle extremists. At the same time a parliamentary committee has attacked a central plank of the Government’s counter-extremism programme by arguing that its ‘Prevent’ strategy has ‘stigmatised and alienated Muslims'. Nick Chatrath, a researcher at Oxford’s Faculty of Oriental Studies, claims in a paper to be published this week that in the face of growing radicalisation in Britain, Muslim leaders are ignoring extremists’ points of view and glossing over some of the more unsavoury parts of Islam’s ancient texts. In an essay in next month’s Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Mr Chatrath calls for a more open engagement by moderate Muslims with the arguments of extremists. Mr Chatrath says: ‘Moderate Muslim leaders are doing a poor job of tackling extremism in Britain.’ He called on moderate community leaders to do more to counter this.
Pray: against those who promote extreme ideas in any form that they would be moderated. (Ecc.7:18b)
More: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7082139.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797084
Angry mums have blasted a primary school’s plan to show pupils an explicit sex education video, and warned that it could cause children to experiment sexually. The video, a Channel 4 production called Living and Growing, shows a naked cartoon couple chasing each other around a bed and then having sex, while a voice-over gives a detailed description of the action. Cliff Lane Primary School was planning to show the video to seven-year-old pupils, but outraged mums were left horrified after they saw the graphic DVD during a consultation. Emma O’Brien, whose seven-year-old son attends the school, said: ‘There are some body parts kids don’t need to know yet. They shouldn’t be taught that.’ Bryony Surtees, the acting head teacher, responded to the objections, saying: ‘We wanted to be open and honest about this sensitive issue as we are mindful that some parents have very strong views on this matter’.
Pray: that the schools authorities would respond to the parents' objections. (Ps.34:17)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/mums-anger-at-plan-to-show-sex-ed-video-to-primary-kids/
Last month the Advertising Standards Authority told a group of Christians in Bath that they could not continue to make any claims in their advertising which state or imply that, by receiving their prayer, people could be healed. The group, called ‘Healing On The Streets Bath’, were specifically banned from using their leaflets which stated: ‘Need healing? God can heal today! We believe that God loves you and can heal you from any sickness.’ Atheist Hayley Stevens took offence at the group’s adverts, complaining to the ASA that the claims by the Christians could 'not be substantiated'. Her complaint was upheld and the ASA ordered the group to stop stating on their website or in literature that God can heal. Now three Christian MPs, Gary Streeter (Con), Gavin Shuker (Lab) and Tim Farron (Lib Dem) have written to the ASA asking them to produce ‘indisputable scientific evidence’ that prayer does not work, otherwise they will raise the issue in Parliament. (See Prayer Alert 06-2012)
Pray: that the work of HOTS will continue unhindered and that the ASA will reverse it’s decision. (Jn.16:33)
A report by a committee of MPs has rejected proposals to raise the minimum age of military recruitment to 18. But Forces Watch, an NGO working on ethical issues around the armed forces, has suggested that the wording of the report reveals a lack of clarity over the law in this area, even among MPs and senior officers. The MPs on the Committee on the Armed Forces Bill disagreed with each other over raising the minimum age of enlistment from 16 to 18. In the end, the majority were opposed to an increase and they recommended no change. The Committee reported that they have raised concerns with the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen. Sir William Rollo. Forces Watch has suggested that William Rollo's evidence was itself unclear as to which provision this refers to. In law, a Discharge As Of Right (DAOR) applies to recruits under 18 for only the first six months of service. Pray: for our young soldiers that God would protect them and that the military authorities who make decisions on their behalf would be given wisdom. (Jas.3:13)
MPs have confirmed that a controversial public order law that criminalises ‘insulting’ words or behaviour will be reformed to give greater freedom of speech. The move follows the Government giving way on the issue last month, after a vote in the House of Lords. The bid to change the law was spearheaded by Reform Section 5 – a campaign supported by The Christian Institute, the National Secular Society, the Peter Tatchell Foundation and others. Reacting to the news, Simon Calvert, the Campaign Director for Reform Section 5 (RS5), said it was ‘a great victory for free speech’. He also commented: ‘This is a fulfilment of the Home Secretary’s promise to accept the amendment, which was passed by the House of Lords in December. We can now say, officially, that Reform Section 5 has achieved its goal. The amendment cannot now be overturned, and so will become law later this year.’
Pray: that the outworking of this bill will bring a greater freedom of speech. (1Pet.3:10)
More: http://www.christian.org.uk/news/mps-confirm-public-order-law-reform-in-free-speech-victory/
Religious education in schools is to come under attack in a report which will warn that more than half of those who teach the subject do not have any expertise. A cross-party group of MPs, peers and bishops will claim that “a raft of recent policies” have undermined the teaching of RE in schools. Their report, includes a survey of 430 schools, which found that 10 out of 130 secondary schools broke the law by not teaching RE to some pupils. In a quarter of the primary schools surveyed, pupils were being taught by teaching assistants, rather than qualified teachers, while 43 per cent of staff teaching RE in primary and secondary schools did not have any specialist training in the subject. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Education described its findings as “unacceptable”. “A raft of recent policies have had the effect of downgrading RE in status on the school curriculum, and the subject is now under threat as never before.
Pray: for those with control over the content of schools' curriculum will recognise the vital importance of R.E. In our multicultural and multi-faith society. (Dt.6:5-8)
More: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9934940/MPs-attack-Governments-downgrading-of-religious-education.html
A Conservative MP has said the House of Commons should stop saying prayers at the start of its proceedings. The contentious proposal could, Jo Johnson MP said, ‘save three or four minutes every day’ and would better reflect the UK. Another Tory MP, Peter Bone, challenged this claim, saying a recent poll showed ‘75 per cent of British people thought that they were Christians’. Jo Johnson, the MP for Orpington, said ‘I am not against going to church, which is something that people should feel free to do, but it is something that MPs should be encouraged to do in their own time’. The MP is the brother of Boris, the Mayor of London. Last year the Mayor backed prayers in Parliament, saying it was helpful for both believers and non-believers. Pray: that our MPs would reject this move to restrict prayer and give God at least three or four minutes every day. (Mk.12:17)
A member of David Cameron’s government is calling for a ban on marriages at Christian churches if they refuse to also perform same-sex unions. ‘As long as religious groups can refuse to preside over ceremonies for same-sex couples, there will be inequality,’ wrote Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, in an August 21 letter to Cameron. While Weatherley’s proposal is currently a ‘minority view,’ it ‘could quickly become a main stream point of view,’ warned Neil Addison, national director of the UK‘s Thomas More Legal Centre. The UK‘s 2004 Civil Partnership Act, which legalized same-sex unions, forbade them from being performed in religious venues or from using religious imagery. But Cameron’s Coalition government has proposed an amendment to the 2010 Equality Act that would allow churches and other religious venues to perform same-sex unions if they choose.
Pray: that this proposal would not gain support within parliament and lead to a further erosion to God’s laws. (2Ki.17:37)
More: http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/british-mp-urges-government-to-force-churches-into-same-sex-unions
Lewisham East Labour MP Heidi Alexander is putting forward a Private Member's Bill to force YouTube and other websites to take down videos which could encourage gang violence. "At the moment we have a situation where these appalling videos proliferate on the Internet, They act as a recruitment mechanism for gangs and they glorify guns and knives.” She said that both the Government and the police needed to "wake up" to the threat posed by the videos. "If the Government is serious about bringing an end to serious youth violence, then they need to tackle the ways in which young people get caught up in gangs in the first place,” Many of the videos, she said, are filmed in daylight on housing estates across London, and are watched by thousands of people. The bill would give courts the power to order Internet service providers to "remove certain material which incites gang violence".
Pray: for this and other initiatives aimed at reducing gang culture and violence. (Ps.7:9)