In Charleston, South Carolina, nine black Christians were shot dead at the end of a Bible study by a white man. A suspect, Dylann Roof, has since been arrested and has apparently confessed; he claims to have been motivated by racial hatred, but added, “they were so kind to me I almost stopped.” Yet the first comment on his Facebook page, after his name was publicised but before he was arrested, came from a gospel musician who was shot 8 times by gang members; he wrote, “I love you Dylann … even in the midst of the darkness and pain you’ve caused, but more importantly, HE loves you. Give your heart to Jesus and confess your sins with a heart of forgiveness.” And since Roof’s arrest, relatives of the dead have sent him video messages offering forgiveness while acknowledging the massive hurt that he caused.
Hillary Clinton has questioned her rivals’ Christian compassion in a speech by asking, “Did they not hear the same lessons I did in Sunday School? Did they not sing the same hymns? Did they not say ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I?’ “ Clinton and her husband are members of the theologically liberal United Methodist church. However, the rest of Clinton’s speech showed a somewhat selective compassion for the poor, gays, and women seeking abortions; she said nothing about compassion for the elderly, disabled, families, unborn babies or religious believers.
Elisabeth Elliott, author of the missionary classic “Through Gates Of Splendour”, has died at the age of 88. Elliott’s husband, Jim, was one of five young American missionaries who attempted to reach the Aucas, a tribe of Amazonian Indians, with the Gospel. The suspicious and hostile Aucas speared the men to death. However, the Aucas later expressed remorse for their actions, and having written two books about her husband and his work, Elliott took her newborn daughter and went to live among the Aucas for two years.
Two Christian pastors from South Sudan have been arrested in Khartoum, Sudan, and are on trial with a possible death penalty on charges of sedition and spying. Their actual offence seems to be that one preached a sermon in a church that had recently been nearly destroyed by the authorities, and the other spoke out to protest against the arrest of the first.
South Sudan itself is in the grip of a civil war in which government forces are fighting former government troops who are loyal to the former deputy president. UNICEF has announced that around 13,000 children as young as 8 have been forced to participate in the conflict, and that non-participating children have been subject to serious human rights abuses by both sides.
It has been reported that a group of death row prisoners in Indonesia, known as the “Bali Nine”, recited the Lord’s Prayer and sang the worship songs “Amazing Grace” and “Ten Thousand Reasons” just before their execution earlier this year. They also declined to wear blindfolds. Matt Redman, the co-author of the song “Ten Thousand Reasons”, said, “I don’t think it gets more profound than that. Forget the charts or the number of people at a worship event; where’s the stuff that’s immeasurable?”
Australian immigration authorities subjected a Chinese woman who was claiming asylum because of her Catholic faith to an “unusually difficult” Bible quiz. Questions included “what were Jesus’ final instructions to his disciples?” and “what was the name of Moses’ sister?” The quiz has been criticised as too difficult by a federal court, which told the Refugee Review Tribunal to re-assess its decision to reject her application.
A Christian charity that aims to support the implementation of just laws around the world has completed an investigation in Thailand into a child sex trafficking ring organised by Buddhist monks, and the ringleader is now behind bars. The investigation was complex because of the need for a great deal of solid evidence, to overcome the respect traditionally given to monks. Testimonies from abused boys and other monks pointed to monk Pra Chai as the procurer and ringleader. He was sentenced to 124 years in prison, although Thai law means he will “only” serve 50 years.
A Christian lawyer in the UK has spoken out against the Extremism Disruption Orders proposed by the Home Secretary. The problem is that the laws directly attack free speech. The Home Secretary has already been forced to deny that the law would criminalise people who criticised same-sex marriage, but the lawyer said they might still apply to people who declare that Jesus is the only way of salvation in a Muslim neighbourhood.
In sport, Lizzie Armitstead, the British Olympic cyclist, won the first stage of the (UK) Women’s Tour – and promptly collided with the race director, who was standing at the side of the track about 50 metres away. She has withdrawn from the Tour but announced that she has broken no bones and expects to take part in the National Road Race Championships next week.
And finally, an Australian man has earned the nickname of “The Man With The Golden Arm”, after saving the lives of an estimated 2 million babies by giving blood regularly. James Harrison received 27 pints of blood during surgery at the age of 14, and vowed to give blood regularly for the rest of his life. It was quickly discovered that his blood contains a rare antibody that counters rhesus disease, which affects unborn children where their blood type is incompatible with their mother’s blood type. He is now nearly 80 and has just made his 1,000th blood donation.
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