In Iraq, Islamic State have seized Quaragosh, the largest Christian city in the country. The usual appalling atrocities and exterminations against Christians have been reported. Up to a quarter of Iraq’s Christians are now believed to be refugees.
It has also emerged that one of the 28 Ethiopian Christians decapitated by ISIS in a recent video shot in Libya was not in fact a Christian; he was a Muslim who offered himself as a hostage because he would not leave his Christian friend. It is possible that Jamal Rahman hoped his presence in the group might win them better treatment; instead, ISIS decreed him to be apostate and killed him too.
In Northern Ireland, the Justice department has recommended a weakening of the abortion law to permit abortions in cases of “fatal foetal abnormality.” This was done despite the public consultation being massively against changing the law – just 0.7% of responses were in favour.
Also in Northern Ireland, there is to be yet another vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly on legalising gay marriage in the province. Despite the motion having been rejected in each of the past three years, four Sinn Fein MLAs have tabled the motion again … but this time, they have also dropped the clause that supported “freedom of religion” for those who oppose gay marriage.
The Guardian newspaper has claimed in an editorial that Christians’ concerns about marginalisation in the UK are “hysterical”, “morally distasteful” and “groundless”. It argues this on the grounds that there is more severe persecution of Christians overseas, so Christians in the UK shouldn’t complain about their own “lesser” problems. It also called Christian evangelism “obnoxious” and “embarrassing”. A Christian spokesman replied, “Why are Christians the only people the Guardian thinks should keep quiet when they are mistreated?” And he added, “The editorial seems to equate ‘civilised society’ to ‘endorsing homosexual relationships’.”
A court in New York has granted some human rights to chimpanzees. The animals are to be transferred to a Florida animal sanctuary, but a lobbying group known as the Nonhuman Rights Group brought a lawsuit on the same basis as the rules that apply to unlawfully detained human prisoners – and the judge ordered lawyers to respond to the suit rather than throwing the case out.
A church in Farnham, Surrey has taken an unusual approach to getting the whole church involved in service: it had dropped all its rotas. Instead, there are numerous cards with jobs written on them, and anyone can take a card on arrival at church and do that job. Many of the jobs are suitable to be done by children. For each overall area, there is a Host whose task is to put the box of cards out, and to do anything that requires preparation (e.g. bring the biscuits for coffee). The vicar says, “I never know who is going to step up to do a reading or to help me serve at the altar! But it has made the church more inclusive and even zanier. I would encourage every church to try it for their All-age services.”
In media news, rock star Alice Cooper has spoken out about his Christian faith. When he first sought help from Christian counsellors for his alcoholism and his marriage, he said to the pastor, "I can't be Alice and a Christian. He replied that God doesn't make mistakes. He said that God had put me in an unusual situation for a reason and now I should let my lifestyle do my talking for me and my beliefs. It wasn't the answer I was expecting." He now sees himself as “a rock star who happens to be a Christian; someone who doesn’t sing much about the light, but does sing about what I see because of the light.” For example, a recent album contains a song called “Sideshow” about a young man’s struggle to see the truth through the distractions of the modern world. And for Christians who find his stage show too violent, his response is, “Would it be OK if I was up there playing Macbeth? Because that’s about four times as violent as my shows are.”
In film news, “War Room” is a new Christian film about a couple who seemingly have it all together; but in fact their marriage is a war zone and their daughter is collateral damage. Then the wife discovers the power of prayer. It will be released in the USA later this year.
In technology news, a man in Colorado has been charged for killing his uncooperative computer with a handgun. He apparently became fed up with fighting his computer, so he took it outside and fired eight shots into it, effectively disabling it. But Colorado Springs has a law against discharging firearms within city limits. He told officers he did not realise he was breaking the law, and will be sentenced later.
And finally, a serial burglar who posed as a maintenance engineer at Birmingham University was captured by police because he left behind his rucksack at the scene of a crime … and it contained a police charge sheet with his name and address on it. Heroin addict Ricky Woolaston was swiftly arrested, and students identified him as the man responsible for four other burglaries. In court, he asked for five further burglaries to be taken into account.
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