Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman who was sentenced to
flogging and hanging for apostasy after she married a Christian man, has
apparently been freed from prison (along with her son and newborn baby girl) after
both sentences were rescinded on appeal. Despite being re-arrested with her
husband at Khartoum airport when they attempted to board a plane to the USA, she
and her family are expected to leave Sudan shortly; her lawyer said the court
had placed no travel restrictions on her, and suggested the new arrest may be
due to government infighting.
There has finally been some good news for Peter and
Hazelmary Bull, the Christian bed and breakfast proprietors who were fined (and
vilified) for their “married couples only” policy. Baroness Hale, who was one
of the Law Lords who rejected the Bull’s appeal against the fine, took the
unusual step of not making the Bulls pay the costs of the legal case, and then
called for the Government to introduce a “conscience clause” that required
employers to provide “reasonable accommodation for the manifestation of
religious beliefs.” The Bulls, who had been planning to sell their guesthouse
(Chymorvah House in Marazion, Cornwall), have received enough support to keep
it going; Hazelmary Bull commented, “Why can’t two lifestyles live together?”
The Vancouver School Board has mandated new pronouns for
teachers to use to describe children who believe they are transsexual if the
children request it. Teachers have been told to use the pronouns “xe, xem” and
“xyr.” When a parent’s meeting was told of the change, one parent replied, “Six
year olds aren’t qualified to understand all the intricacies of identity
issues; some of them can’t even use the toilet yet.”
A 21 year old Christian basketball player who was expected
to be the top pick in the imminent NBA draft has been diagnosed with Marfan
syndrome, which affects the heart, eyes, bones and joints, and has been forced
to withdraw from professional basketball. Isaiah Austin said, “I have been blessed
enough to play basketball at the highest level despite the odds stacked against
me. I would say to anyone, do not take the privilege of playing sports for
granted. And God is still great.”
Following the case of a woman who opened her shopping bag
from Saks Fifth Avenue to find a plea for help from a (wrongly) imprisoned
African who was making the bags in a Chinese jail, a UK woman found the dress
she bought from Primark had the words “Forced To Work Exhausting Hours”
hand-stitched onto the label. She contacted Primark who asked for the item to
be returned so that they could determine “whether there are issues that need to
be looked into.” Primark were one of the brands supplied by a Bangladeshi
factory that collapsed last year, killing over 1000 people; Primark has pledged
several million pounds in compensation to relatives.
In technology news, Labour’s shadow business secretary Chuka
Umunna reported a survey that said 20% of people in the UK are unable to send
emails and/or fill in a form on the Internet, and (perhaps unwisely) in the next
sentence suggested that people who feel disconnected from the global economy
tend to vote for UKIP. Some newspapers linked these two statements to generate
a headline that Umunna didn’t think UKIP supporters capable of sending emails. Umunna has since been bombarded with emails from UKIP supporters
demonstrating that this isn’t true; one respondent noted that UKIP’s Facebook
page has more ‘likes’ than Labour’s Facebook page.
And finally, a church in Joplin, Missouri, USA has been
criticised after they decided to make their Father’s Day service more
attractive by having a raffle – with two
semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifles as the prize. The pastor said, “If we get
people in the door we can preach the Gospel; if it gets people to follow Jesus,
I’ll give away 1000 guns.” One critic wrote “WWJD? Not this;” a church member
responded with a (presumably unintentional) double entendre: “Come to our
church next Sunday and we will welcome you with open arms.”
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