Displaying items by tag: North America

Twelve people, including a police officer, were killed on 7 November at a bar in Thousand Oaks, California. When the shooting began at 23:20 local time, at least 200 people were enjoying a country music night at the Borderline Bar and Grill. David Long, an ex-Marine suffering from PTSD, entered the bar and opened fire. He may have also used smoke grenades. People reportedly escaped by using chairs to break windows, while others sheltered inside the toilets. The local sheriff described the scene inside the bar as ‘horrific’ and said there was ‘blood everywhere’. Long ended the bloodbath by turning his gun on himself. His motive for the attack is currently unknown.

2,500 people attended a vigil at a memorial hall and 1,500 stood outside in the rain, listening to loudspeakers, the day after an anti-Semite murdered eleven people and injured six in their place of worship on 27 October, their Shabbat. ‘We need love, not hate’, said the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. The Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Michael Curry, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and others stood by the Bishop of Pittsburgh whose response to the shooting was, ‘This terror is added to the heap of such crimes we have witnessed in the past. Yet our hope is not dimmed. “Behold, I set before you this day, life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live’’ (Deuteronomy 30:19).’ See

Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Dowd of Montreal is the sixth-youngest episcopal leader taking part in this month’s synod of bishops on young people. He insisted that observers will get the synod wrong if they conceive of its aim as bringing more young people into the Church. ‘Something we emphasised in my small group is that it’s about bringing young people to Christ. The new evangelisation is not the new ecclesialisation. If we can bring people in contact with the living Christ, and if we believe that he’s actually alive and still speaking to us through the Spirit, that’s what we want.’

For over a week, 4,000 migrants from Central America have trudged north towards the US, fleeing poverty and violence in Honduras. Many are children, some with families, some alone. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have endemic levels of crime and violence. More than a third of all Latin Americans reported being victims of violent crime in 2016. The region is home to just 8% of the world’s population, but 33% of its homicides. World Vision (WV) has released a statement demanding that the needs of the immigrants in the caravan, especially the health and safety of children, be looked after. It wants measures to be taken to care for children on the move. WV understands the violence and sense of hopelessness that is driving families to leave their homes. As Christians, we are called to love and serve the most vulnerable among us, to welcome the stranger, and to show hospitality to those in need.

Brett Kavanaugh replaces Justice Kennedy as a US Supreme Court judge, and is expected to keep the position for decades. He was one of the lead writers of the report that led to Bill Clinton’s impeachment, and was a White House lawyer and adviser under the George W Bush administration. A devout Catholic, Kavanaugh is expected to establish conservative control of the court as he becomes Trump's second appointment to the nation's highest judicial body. The Supreme Court’s decisions have a profound impact on American society. It is often the final word on highly contentious laws. Disputes involving abortion, immigration, gay rights, voting rights and transgender troops could all be ruled on soon. Kavanaugh is expected to cast conservative votes in all of them. He is against abortion and supports the right to bear arms including semi-automatic weapons. Historically he has ruled against regulations regarding air pollution and climate change.

Christian rapper Lecrae visited Yale University recently to talk about mental health and social justice. He had been sexually assaulted when he was seven, a trauma that was never dealt with. His drug addict father disappeared when he was four. He focused so much on trying not to be like him that he didn’t consider who he was supposed to be. ‘To the world, I was this level-headed, God-fearing man; behind the scenes - a ticking time bomb.’ He went on to tell of spiralling down into a world of gun violence, hatred, witnessing murder, experiencing rejection, having PTSD, and losing his faith. His powerful message ended by telling the students how God had healed him and restored his faith.

With the second largest land mass in the world and a sparse population, it is easy for a Canadian prayer ministry, house of prayer or city-wide worship ministry to feel isolated. Ears to Hear responded to this need with a prayer network connecting and uniting senior leaders of Christian ministries for mutual encouragement, support, growth, and much more. They have been active and growing for ten years.

A maximum of 30,000 refugees will be allowed to resettle in the United States in the next fiscal year. The new ceiling marks a dramatic decrease from this year’s 45,000-person cap, which had also been a significant reduction from previous years. Evangelical and Catholic advocates for refugees were quick to argue that reducing the number of refugees allowed into the USA is a continuation of a series of unprecedented attacks on American values and on the humanitarian nature of the refugee resettlement programme; they said it falls far short of helping the large number of vulnerable people around the world. This argument over quotas comes as the number of displaced people worldwide reaches a record high. UNHCR said there are 68.5 million displaced people in the world today, more than 28 million of whom are considered refugees or asylum-seekers. The Trump administration says Christians in Iraq face genocide; yet only 18 have been allowed to resettle in America this year.

The United States has admitted 40% fewer Christian refugees in the past year. As the US administration implements stricter immigration policies, almost 11,000 Christians looking for a safe place to go were reportedly refused entry. Christians from the Middle East who have lived in the USA for years are also affected. Dozens of Iraqi Christians are in detention centres, facing likely deportation. ‘This suggests that the president has no real interest in religious persecution or the tenets of religious freedom,’ said the director of Refugee Council USA. Last year the Pew Research Centre reported that the net number of Christian arrivals to the USA was shrinking. Figures released in the UK showed that during the first quarter of 2018, a ‘very low number of religious minority Syrians were recommended for resettlement by the UNHCR and resettled by the UK government’.

In Louisiana, Americans United decided to sue a school district earlier this year, asserting, ‘School officials throughout the school system coerce students into religious practices and subject them to unwelcome religious messages and indoctrination.’ They did not want prayers being delivered during school-sponsored events, school events held in churches, or teachers encouraging Christianity in the classroom. The school board voted to fight the lawsuit. Pray for their defence of Christian values to be successful in the law courts. In Pensacola, Florida, a panel upheld a ruling ordering the removal of a cross from a public park, stating that they were ‘bound by existing circuit precedent’. But two of the three judges said they were uncomfortable with the result, and called upon the full circuit court to overturn their own ruling. The argument is ongoing.