In Texas, a judge has upheld a law that forces abortion clinics to meet similar standards of clinical health to other medical clinics, including having the ability to admit patients to hospital in case of emergency. While these provisions may seem sensible to a neutral observer, they were seen in Texas as an attempt to close down most abortion clinics in the state, and there were loud and angry protests against the law and against the belief that Christian principles underlay the law (a group of protesters repeatedly chanted “Hail Satan!” at one point). However, with the law passed and upheld, a large number of abortion clinics are indeed expected to close.
A massacre of Christians in Lahore, Pakistan, was prevented back in May partly due to three Muslim leaders standing up against other Islamic imams inciting a mass attack on Christians for alleged blasphemy. A total of 22 Muslims have so far been arrested in the incident. A local Christian man was accused of burning pages of the Quran, which is considered blasphemous; police saved him from the lynching by arresting him, but Islamic protesters then turned their anger toward the local Christian community. A spokesman said, "The imam of the mosque in Lahore, Abdul Khabir Azad, having learned of the unrest, went immediately on the spot and stayed there until three in the morning, parleying with local Muslim leaders to stop any form of violence. He and another senior Muslim condemned any retaliation on innocent Christians, helping to restore calm.”
Saeed Abedini, the Iranian-American pastor who has been imprisoned in Iran since 2012 for encouraging the creation of local churches, has been beaten in prison – just one day after his wife was given the opportunity to speak to the US Congress on his behalf. Saeed suffered multiple bruising round his eyes, but no broken bones; prison guards did not intervene when he called for help. There is mounting pressure on the US Government to intervene to get him released.
A former senior leader at Mars Hill church in Seattle has published a lengthy confession of what he now sees as past sins. “I pray that someone—even just one person—can be spared the consequences of his/her own mistakes by paying careful attention to mine beforehand. I also pray that my public confession of sin and admission of mistakes will further enhance opportunity for reconciliation and restoration among those with whom I have experienced conflict”, he said. He admits perpetuating the “damaging culture” in the church; and describes true repentance as “confession to contrition to change”, as opposed to “unchecked, unevaluated and unrepented”.
Pope Francis has approved the first-ever system for judging, and possibly deposing, bishops who fail to protect children from abusive clerics, a major step in responding to Catholics who have been furious that guilty priests have been defrocked while bishops have largely escaped punishment. The plan is based on the recommendations of a special commission on sex abuse that Francis set up. A former victim of child sexual abuse who now sits on a senior pontifical committee tweeted that she was “very pleased”.
This is the time of year when “gay pride” marches take place in many countries. In Brazil, however, the (government funded) marches have included so many desecrations of Christian images, with crosses in particular being smashed or being displayed as part of portrayals of nude LGBT sexual activity, that a new law has been proposed to make “Christophobia” a crime. A senator denounced the parades for “sowing intolerance and disrespect for Christian liberty”.
Meanwhile, legalising gay marriage is being debated in Australia. One Christian couple have announced that if it is legalised, they will divorce, since they hold their legal marriage to be a contract with the State, and they argue that legalising gay marriage would change the definition of marriage so much that their marriage contract will become null and void.
In the UK, an atheist sociologist has criticised the implementation of “British values” in UK schools by OFSTED and the Education Secretary. He wrote, “It is increasingly clear that the UK government’s failing attempt to promote British values has inadvertently turned into a sanctimonious and intolerant campaign against traditionalist religious institutions. According to today’s official guidelines, religions are acceptable as long as their adherents don’t take them too seriously.” He also said that a “tolerant, democratic society” would understand that the aim of religious schools is to “instill in children their own values”, rather than those of the Department for Education.
In film news, the film “United Passions”, covering the recent history of world football organisation FIFA, was recently released. The film, starring Tim Roth, Sam Neill and Gerard Depardieu, was funded by FIFA and cost $30 million to make. However, the New York Village Voice called it “not merely ham-fisted, but pork-shouldered, bacon-wristed, and sausage-elbowed”. It took just $607 on its opening weekend in the USA, with one cinema reporting that it sold one ticket all weekend. And on the Internet Movie Database, it is currently rated at number 33 in the bottom 100 films of all time, slightly better than 1958’s “The Aztec Mummy Against The Humanoid Robot”, but not quite as good as 2004’s “The Maize: The Movie”.
In sport, the Women's World Cup has begun with at least one result that was a dream of punning headline writers. Germany beat the Ivory Coast 10-0, with Sasic sashaying her way to a first-half hat-trick; Mittag completing her hat-trick with Germany's two middle goals either side of half-time; Laudehr raising the volume with a 7th in the 71st minute; Däbritz doing da business in the 75th; Behringer being a harbinger of doom with the ninth; and Popp popping up to score the tenth. The Ivorian's top female was Thiamale, their goalkeeper, who made several excellent saves. Meanwhile, England lost their opening game to group favourites France, but France surprisingly lost their second game to Colombia, so the group is very open.
In technology news, an investigation by Sky news has revealed the existence of fake mobile phone masts that are erected by the police or other government agencies, that trick phones into communicating with them so that their data can be captured. Using software from a German security company, Sky located 20 such masts in London in the space of 3 weeks. A government spokesman said the data from the masts were only used in targeted investigations.
And finally, a builder from Southend has proved that old dogs (or rather, men) can learn new tricks – it’s just that his method is pretty drastic. 67 year old Des Walker was working on a house roof when he fell through and landed on his head at ground level. He spent 18 months in and out of hospital, and has been left with a deaf ear, a partially sighted eye and a slightly palsied face – and also a newly discovered love for cricket, curry, and poetry. “I love things I used to hate, like onions, cheese, beetroot and curry”. He said. “I love cricket now and I like to write poetry – all kinds, but especially comedy. I think I must have been a boring g*t before the accident.”
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