The Canadian authorities have issued a new birth certificate
to a 12 year old girl who identifies as a boy, even though she has not yet had
transgender surgery. The certificate was presented during a (gay) Pride
festival in Edmonton. Meanwhile, Vancouver School Board trustees have passed a
motion [no pun intended] to introduce gender-neutral toilets in schools, so
that a child will not have to give away their gender by choosing an appropriate
toilet.
The lead singer of the American Christian heavy metal band As
I Lay Dying has admitted that at least half of the band (including himself) switched
from Christianity to atheism, but continued to pretend to be Christian in order
to sell more records. The revelations came after he was convicted of hiring a
hitman to attempt to murder his estranged wife.
The singer says he lost his faith while studying religious studies
online, because he started thinking the opposing arguments were stronger, and
then atheism became a convenient belief when he started to cheat on his wife.
He added that he thought that only one in ten of the “Christian” bands he
toured with were actually Christians.
A pastor in Texas has been cleared on appeal of interfering
with public duties after crossing a police line. The pastor was one of a number
of Christians who were handing out tracts near a gay rights march when police
appeared and instructed them not to approach the march – although Christians
who supported gay rights were allowed to pass. The pastor crossed the police
line and was arrested. The appeal judge said that the police line “prohibited
all members of the church from exercising their right of free speech simply
because their association with a church … it is far too broad a limitation.”
John MacArthur, a pastor in California has instructed
parents of children who come out as gay, but still profess to be Christian, to
go through the procedure for a “brother who sins” outlined in Matthew 18. The
ultimate sanction of this procedure is “to have nothing more to do with them”
and, in the pastor’s words, “to turn them over to Satan.” MacArthur’s
theological views can be summarised as very traditional Calvinist, which has
led him to be strongly critical of various other Christian movements in the
past, including the charismatic movement, seeker friendly churches, and the
“free grace” movement.
Thousands of people marched through Washington DC on
Thursday to demonstrate support for marriage being between one man and one
woman. One of those attending was the Roman Catholic Archbishop of San
Francisco, despite being criticised by his city’s mayor for attending an
“anti-gay” event. The Archbishop responded in an open letter that the march was
pro-marriage, not anti-anything. In a speech at the march, the Archbishop
predicted that the current increase in support for gay marriage would be
reversed when “people figure out that a child comes from a father and a mother.”
The Polish Prime Minister has said that doctors must carry
out abortions even if it goes against their consciences after a Catholic doctor
refused to do so. Poland allows abortion where the mother’s life is at risk;
the baby is seriously disabled; or the baby was conceived through rape or
incest.
In sport, England’s football team won their latest World Cup
match 2-1. However, England’s men’s football team didn’t do quite so well.
And finally, a new book called “How To Pick Up A Stripper
And Other Acts Of Kindness” turns out to be a description of Strip Church
Ministry, a “servant evangelism” outreach in Nashville, Tennessee. The authors,
a pastor and his wife, explain how they visit strip clubs with food and gifts
to show Jesus’ love to the women there, and urge other Christians to get out of
their comfort zones.
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