Evangelical Alliance rejects ‘extremist’ claim; Poll shows public ‘uncomfortable’ with private prisons; Charity demands tight controls over private military and security firms; Teenagers ‘can be corrupted’ by Hollywood sex scenes
Evangelical Alliance rejects ‘extremist’ claim
Christian Today – Head of the Evangelical Alliance criticises “woeful lack of religious understanding at the heart of Government”.
The Evangelical Alliance has hit out at a government adviser’s suggestion that the beliefs of evangelical Christians are on a par with ‘totalitarian Muslims’ and ‘segregationist Jews’. Alan Judd, an adviser to the Secretary of State for Education, wrote in The Telegraph last week that believers should be able to set up free schools so long as they do not teach extremist views.
“To ban believers from setting up free schools would be to exclude a large number of able, well-meaning and experienced people who can do much to raise levels generally,” he said.
“The trouble is, as always, when it’s taken to extremes, whether it’s evangelical Christians, totalitarian Muslims or segregationist Jews…
…Steve Clifford, General Director of the Evangelical Alliance, wrote a letter to The Telegraph in response to Mr Judd’s assertion.
The letter was not published by The Telegraph but has been posted online by anonymous blogger Archbishop Cranmer.
In it, Mr Clifford says it is “wrong and worrying” that a senior government adviser should brand evangelical Christians as extremist.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/evangelical.alliance.rejects.extremist.claim/30329.htm
Poll shows public ‘uncomfortable’ with private prisons
Ekklesia – The Howard League for Penal Reform has revealed new findings from polling firm Populus showing that half the public oppose privately run prisons. While just 37 per cent describe themselves as comfortable with private prisons, 49 per cent are uncomfortable, including 23 per cent very uncomfortable. The gap is even wider amongst women (32 per cent comfortable, 50 per cent uncomfortable) and the electorally crucial over-65 age group (32 per cent comfortable, 59 per cent uncomfortable).
When the specific example of G4S running a local prison is presented, just one in four (26 per cent) describe themselves as comfortable with the idea and even fewer (23 per cent) view the service as suitable for a payment by results approach.
Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, which campaigns for less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison, said: “It’s clear that the public understands the dangers of putting such a key service as the prison system into the hands of unaccountable companies, who are driven by cutting costs rather than cutting crime.
“The scandal of the Army having to step in to provide security at the Olympics after private firm G4S failed to do its job proves yet again that when private firms underperform, the public pays through the nose and safety is compromised. We shouldn’t be allowing the same thing in our prison system.”
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16854
Charity demands tight controls over private military and security firms
Ekklesia – The corporation which failed to deliver on its £284 million contract for Olympics security is at the centre of another storm over accusations that the British government has left private military and security companies such as G4S to police themselves.
This warning came from the charity War on Want only hours before MPs on the House of Commons home affairs select committee questioned G4S chief executive Nick Buckles over recruiting and training just 4,000 of the 13,700 guards pledged for the Games.
Four years ago, G4S bought the private military and security company (PMSC) ArmorGroup and in doing so joined the shadowy world of privatised war. PMSCs have been accused of profiting from war, conflict, and political instability at the expense of security and human rights.
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/16851
Teenagers ‘can be corrupted’ by Hollywood sex scenes
Telegraph – Watching sex scenes in Hollywood films can make children more promiscuous and sexually active from a younger age, a new study has suggested.
Psychologists concluded that teenagers exposed to more sex on screen in popular films are likely to have sexual relations with more people and without using condoms.
The study, based on nearly 700 popular films, found that watching love scenes could “fundamentally influence” a teenager’s personality.
The researchers, from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, concluded youngsters were more prone to take risks in their future relationships.
They also concluded that for every hour of exposure to sexual content on-screen, participants were more than five times more likely to lose their virginity within six years.
“Adolescents who are exposed to more sexual content in movies start having sex at younger ages, have more sexual partners, and are less likely to use condoms with casual sexual partners,” said Dr Ross O’Hara, who led the study.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9407978/Teenagers-can-be-corrupted-by-Hollywood-sex-scenes.html