The final vote on the Scottish Parliament’s gay marriage
bill will take place this week. Church ministers and officials have urged the
Scottish government to accept last-minute amendments tabled to protect civil
liberties, including those of public sector employees; churches that use public
facilities; and registered charities. The level of mistrust of the Government
by opponents of gay marriage is indicated by the fact that a petition with
54,000 signatures was handed to the Government, but the signatories’ addresses
were redacted for fear of later discrimination.
However, a Scottish pro-marriage adoption agency has just
been told that it can keep its charitable status despite its policy of
preferring to place children with married couples. The Roman Catholic agency
had been told to change or be de-registered by the Scottish Charity Regulator
(following a complaint by the National Secular Society), but this week the
Scottish Charity Appeals Panel ruled in the agency’s favour, saying that its
actions are a “proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.”
The disqualification of the song “Alone Yet Not Alone” from
the Oscar nominations (for pre-nomination communication by an influential
figure) has led one of the producers of the film Schindler’s List to write an
open letter to the Oscars committee. “If the same standard was applied to every
Oscar nomination,” he wrote, “there would be many nominees and past winners
returning their awards.” He further added, “This was a very low budget film
with a song sung by a quadriplegic woman who wasn’t a professional singer. It
was a Cinderella story, and Hollywood has chosen to play the wicked
stepmother.”
The parliaments of Nigeria and Uganda have recently passed
strong laws against homosexual behaviour (though the Ugandan president has
blocked the implementation of the Ugandan law). The Archbishops of Canterbury
and York have written to their counterparts in Nigeria and Uganda saying that
“homosexual people are loved and valued by God and should not be victimised or
diminished.” The Archbishop of Uganda has written back; he praises amendments
to Uganda’s anti-homosexuality Bill that moderate the legislation, but he also
calls on the UK Archbishops to ban the Anglican churches of the USA and Canada
from the next Lambeth conference because they have violated the Church’s
existing policy that “homosexuality is incompatible with Scripture.” The key
points at issue are that the UK Archbishops’ letter fails to distinguish
between homosexual attraction and homosexual behaviour; and that the Church of
England is focussing on “facilitating discussions between those who disagree
[on this issue] so they can hear each other as authentic Christian disciples”,
even though the Bible seems to say (in no uncertain terms) that practising
homosexuals cannot be authentic Christian disciples.
Sex education videos in England and Wales are to be given
certificates by the British Board of Film Classification. Additional material
will also be produced outlining the content of videos. This is in response to increasing numbers of
parents removing children from sex education classes, and outcries against certain graphic videos,
such as one recently produced by Channel 4.
In sport, Britain’s men’s tennis team are through to the
quarter finals of the Davis Cup for the first time since 1986, after beating
the USA in the Davis Cup for the first time since 1935. Andy Murray won his three games, and world
number 175 James Ward managed to overcome world number 45 Sam Querrey. Britain
will play a strong Italian team in April.
Also in sport, the American Football Superbowl saw the
favoured Denver Broncos suffer a defeat to the Seattle Seahawks that was so
comprehensive that some people are calling for an investigation into
match-fixing. The Seahawks’ first score came after just 12 seconds when the
Broncos messed up the first snap of the game and a Broncos player had to dive
on the ball in his own end zone, scoring two points for the opposition. The final
score was 43-8.
And finally, a Christian family who had recently moved to
Knoxville, Tennessee, had not yet joined a church and so decided to give their monthly
tithe as a tip to their waitress on Wednesday night. The 26 year old waitress,
who had recently taken time off work to visit her sick mother and had returned
to a threat of electricity disconnection, was stunned to find the couple had
left $29.30 for their meal with a $1,075 tip. They also left a note saying, “Jesus
blessed us and we were led to give it to you. God bless!”
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