Two British bishops – one Catholic, one Anglican -- have condemned the
UK government’s decision not to support search and rescue missions for migrants
in the Mediterranean as ‘unChristian’. The Home Office claims that the search
and rescue missions have actually led to more deaths by encouraging people
traffickers, but the Anglican bishop, speaking in the House of Lords, said, “I
don’t think any of us believe that people are putting their families at risk
thinking ‘Oh well, it does not matter if we are likely to drown because we might
be saved.’ That would be incredible.” The Catholic bishop referred to words
spoken by the Pope on the tiny island of Lampedusa which is the first port of
call for many migrants, saying, “He warned us against becoming insensitive to
the cries of other people.”
An influential journalist has questioned why two issues, of the sort
that are often reported in Not The BBC News, have been raised at all. One issue
is an article in ‘Slate’ that expresses worry over the fact that so many
doctors treating Ebola in Africa are missionaries, on the grounds that the
author does not trust missionaries to separate their religious beliefs from
their medical practices; the other is about a US Christian college that is
threatened with having its accreditation removed (effectively shutting it down)
because its behaviour policy forbids homosexual behaviour on campus. The
journalist’s conclusion is that: “Contemporary
liberals increasingly think and talk like a class of self-satisfied commissars
enforcing a comprehensive, uniformly secular vision of the human good. The idea
that someone, somewhere might devote her life to an alternative vision of the
good — one that clashes in some respects with liberalism's moral creed — is
increasingly intolerable.” He argues that this “is a betrayal of what's best in
the liberal tradition,” and accused liberals of an “irrational animus” towards
religion – which are the same words that the Supreme Court uses as a test to
decide if laws against homosexual behaviour are unconstitutional.
Tributes are being paid to
evangelist Rev. Johnny Lee Clary, a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan
from Louisiana, who has died of a heart attack at the age of 55. Clary said he
felt compelled to give his life to the Lord after reading the story of the
Prodigal Son. After his conversion, he dedicated himself to racial harmony, and
he became the first ever white elder in the predominantly black Church Of God In
Christ denomination.
The mayor of Houston has
announced that the city’s subpoenas against five Christian pastors are to be
withdrawn, although she reiterated her support for the city’s equal rights
ordinance. The announcement was made ahead of national events planned for Sunday
showing support for the pastors.
As the
release of the film “Moses” starring Christian Bale approaches, Bale has
described Moses as mentally unbalanced. "I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most
barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life," said Bale.
"He's a very troubled and tumultuous man who fought greatly against God,
against his calling." However, a Christian Hollywood scriptwriter replied
in his blog, “Bible heroes are NOT perfect sinless creatures. Moses did have a
troubled and tumultuous faith, but … I can only hope that Bale’s comments are
more reflective of his ignorant bigotry than of the actual movie.”
In technology news, the YouVersion Bible app recently reached
a target that few other apps ever reach – it has 100 million users, including a
number of pastors who invite their congregations to follow Sunday morning’s
Bible reading using the app. The free app uses a number of techniques to keep readers
engaged -- it offers Bible reading plans; it makes it easy to share verses to
Facebook or Twitter; it reminds readers of how many consecutive days they have
opened their Bible reading plan; and it sends reminders and messages of
encouragement to registered users. At least one user felt that God himself was
talking through the app, after the app sent him a text message immediately
after he walked into a strip club – he left just as quickly.
And
finally, two football clubs who were participating in the Indonesian league’s
first division play-offs have been disqualified from the competition, after
scoring a total of five own goals in the last five minutes. With the score at
0-0 after 85 minutes, a PSS Sleman defender, with no opposition player nearby,
made a sharp back pass to his goalkeeper which the keeper made little effort to
intercept. A minute later, the same thing happened – only for PSIS Semarang to
do the same thing a further three times, leaving Sleman as 3-2 winners. The
winners were due to face Borneo FC in the semi-finals, who have strong associations
with the local mafia.
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