Displaying items by tag: Law

16 April was pastor Andrew Brunson’s first day in court answering espionage charges. He pastors a small Protestant church, and is accused of supporting the attempted 2016 coup to overthrow president Erdogan by aligning himself with terrorist organisations. If convicted, the 50-year-old faces 35 years in prison. ‘I was never involved in any illegal activities,’ the American Pastor told the court in Turkish, the language he speaks fluently after 23 years in the country. After the hearing, instead of being returned to the prison he had recently been held in, he was taken to an overcrowded, extremely grim prison. The USA said prosecutors have no case against the pastor. He is accused of ‘the supposed crime of Christianisation’. Brunson’s Turkish lawyer told Reuters that prosecutors interpret the pastor’s religious work as ‘aiding terror organisations; there is evidence revealing that he was arrested due to his faith.’

On 22 March the gay clergyman Canon Jeremy Pemberton lost his appeal against the Church of England after he claimed its attitude to same-sex marriage breached equality laws. The Court of Appeal upheld a previous ruling that he was not discriminated against when he was barred from becoming a hospital chaplain after marrying his partner. The CofE has now established that it can continue to discriminate legally against some LGBT people in relation to their employment, even when that employment is not within the boundaries of the Church's jurisdiction.

Students have taken to the streets to protest on the gun control issue. Senator Bill Galvano said, ‘Enough is enough: something must change.’ President Trump - who was elected with the support of the National Rifle Association (NRA) - has so far offered a ban on a bump stock gun accessory linked to the Florida shooting, and the implementation of a law to enforce background checks already on the books but not fully operative. The NRA are willing to regulate bump stocks, but gun rights activists have already rallied to protect the devices. Trump’s latest words on the subject suggested arming teachers and school staff. Meanwhile, the ‘Fix Nics Act’ that Trump supports does not change the categories of who are barred from buying a gun, or the requirement for gun buyers to pass a background check before purchasing a firearm.

Abortions are illegal in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. There is a new wave of youth-driven campaigning on both sides of the abortion argument, which will come to a head over the next few months now that the Irish government has confirmed it will hold a referendum on reform of the country’s strict anti-abortion laws by the end of May.

Earlier this year we prayed for Felix Ngole, but the courts did not give him justice. Felix, a Christian reading for a degree in social work at Sheffield University, leading to Health and Care Professions Council certification, joined in a serious discussion on a US website about same-sex marriage.  Sheffield university was informed, summoned him, heard his defence and threw him off the course, saying ‘his writings might damage confidence in the social-work profession’. The university’s decision has now raised online comments by a  professor of commercial law, ‘that somewhere, at some time, a hypothetical service user might have seen Mr Ngole’s comments, discovered in some unspecified way that he was a social-work student, and as a result, again in some unspecified way,  lost confidence in social workers as a whole’.

On 9 November, the Scottish government launched a consultation exercise on proposed amendments to the Gender Recognition Act 2004. The suggested changes include creating a third gender, neither male nor female; allowing children as young as 12 to become transgender through the courts (even without parental consent); and removing the need to provide medical evidence of transgenderism, which will now be self-declared. Thomas Pascoe of the Coalition for Marriage said, ‘These proposals are terrifying. Making it easier to change gender removes all protection against medical manipulation. One academic study found that doctors in Oxfordshire were stopping male paedophiles from transitioning in order to win the confidence of children by appearing to be women. If the law changes, there will be no grounds to prevent abuses like this taking place.’ He said it is an attack on the family when children of 12 can change gender without parental consent; they are too young to understand the long-term effects of the decision. To see the paper go to

In this fallen world people in positions of authority break laws. The following are corruption instances in a three week period. Four Baltimore police detectives distributed heroin. A congressional staffer organised fraudulent money laundering schemes. A deputy secretary of state committed perjury. A Detroit deputy chief of police committed bribery and conspiracy. A Navy comptroller accepted illegal gratuities. A state judge dismissed cases in exchange for personal benefits. A Philadelphia judge and a witness made false statements to the federal election commission. Audio evidence in a federal investigation was tampered with for financial gain. A construction company paid $1 million in bribes for Atlanta contracts. A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent obstructed justice, committed perjury and other crimes; a former Task Force officer was also charged. A Pine Bluff man stole $1 million intended to feed hungry children. A Vigo County sheriff’s deputy committed fraud. Corruption damages the economy, reputations of businesses and of those fighting for justice.

A six-year-old boy’s parents removed him from a church school, in a row over another boy wearing a dress. Their son was confused as to why the boy dressed as both a boy and a girl. The couple were told that under the school's bullying policy their son faced being disciplined for misidentifying the gender of the other pupil. The diocese responsible for the school said it is required to ‘respect diversity of all kinds’, and its policy regarding boys wearing dresses is, ‘if a child wants to do that then we just have to accept it’. The couple are suing the school for ‘overriding their religious beliefs’. The Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust handle ‘under-18 gender issues’. Since 2015 the number of referrals to them of children under the age of ten has risen from 87 to 216 (32 aged five or under). See also

The Government is planning to reform gender identity rules to make it easier for people to choose their own gender in law. Under plans being considered by ministers, adults will be able to change their birth certificates at will without a doctor’s diagnosis, while non-binary gender people will be able to record their gender as ‘X’. Changes to the law will be consulted on and will ultimately be included in a planned Gender Recognition Bill, set to be published in the autumn. Under current laws, established in 2004, a person who wishes to transition must apply for a Gender Recognition Certificate. This requires a doctor's diagnosis of gender dysphoria and the person must spend two years of living as a member of the opposite gender.

Last week we prayed for religious freedom to be protected and upheld in the UK when Victoria Wasteney took her legal case to an Employment Appeal Tribunal. (see: http://www.prayer-alert.net/british-isles-ireland-pa-site/item/9618-christian-nhs-worker-s-legal-battle )  This appeal was refused and she is now taking her case to the European Courts. Victoria's career has been damaged simply for reaching out to a Muslim colleague with whom she had a friendly, positive relationship, and who at the time seemed grateful for her Christian support. The ensuing court cases have not displayed justice. It evidences the increasing hostility towards Christians and Christianity in the UK.