Christians and equality : The Queen’s speeches : Next Chief Rabbi’s wife to be interviewed : MPs told to rebel over gay marriages : Gearing up for the Olympics
Trevor Phillips – Christians ‘aren’t above the law’
Two newspapers report recent remarks by Trevor Phillips head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, at a public debate on 8 February.
Telegraph – Christians ‘aren’t above the law’, says equalities chief Trevor Phillips by John Bingham and Tim Ross. Christians who want to be exempt from equality legislation are like Muslims trying to impose sharia on Britain, Trevor Phillips, the human rights watchdog, has declared.
Read more – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9087775/Christians-arent-above-the-law-says-equalities-chief-Trevor-Phillips.html
Mail – Equalities chief tells Christians: You’re no different to Muslims who want sharia law by Daniel Martin. Christians who argue they should be exempt from equalities legislation are no different from Muslims who want to impose sharia law in Britain, a human rights chief has declared. Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, said religious rules should end ‘at the door of the temple’ and give way to the ‘public law’ laid down by Parliament.
Read more – http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2102385/Equalities-chief-Trevor-Phillips-accuses-Christians-trying-impose-form-sharia-law.html
The entire proceedings of this debate are available from the Religion and Society website of the University of Lancaster. See Religious Identity in ‘Superdiverse’ Societies.
Read more – http://www.religionandsociety.org.uk/faith_debates/identity
It takes the killing of a country vicar to show us the real Church of England
Mail Online – Rev George Pitcher writes – The Rev John Suddards, who has been found stabbed to death in his vicarage in Thornbury, an apparently tranquil Cotswolds market town, will have been trained in dealing with desperate callers. I’ve had some of that training in what might be called extreme pastoral ministry and it can be excellent, or it can be cursory and pointless. But whatever the standard of his training for priesthood, nothing at college or a Christian residential centre could have prepared him as a trainee ordinand for life in the front line of parish ministry.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2102053/It-takes-killing-country-vicar-real-Church-England.html#ixzz1md98vBz0
Also – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17059909
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee: Historic speeches
The Telegraph – As she celebrates her Diamond Jubilee year, extracts from some of the key speeches Queen Elizabeth II has made in her lifetime.
Read more – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9084845/Queens-Diamond-Jubilee-Historic-speeches.html
Church Times on The Queen’s Speech at Lambeth
Account and texts of speeches at :
http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/content.asp?id=124537
Defending the Faith
New Statesman – The Queen says the C of E is the defender of pluralism. But Anglican supremacism has always been more political than religious.When the Queen accepted an invitation to hobnob at Lambeth Palace with selected representatives of “the eight faiths” she could have little idea that she would be stepping into a fraught public debate over the status of religion — and especially Christianity — in the public sphere. But yesterday she capped a bizarre few days with her own defence of the importance of religion and the role of the Church of England in defending it.
Read more – http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/nelson-jones/2012/02/church-faith-england-religious
Establishment Means the Queen Does Not Belong Equally to Us All
Huffington Post UK (blog) – The President of the Secular Society writes – In a speech at Lambeth palace, the Queen told the Archbishop of Canterbury how inclusive the Church of England is and how important its establishment is to the nation. She said: “The concept of our established Church is occasionally misunderstood and, …
Read more – http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/terry-sanderson/queen-does-not-belong-equally-to-us_b_1281129.html
Economic crisis hits Anglicans as parishes are left on their own
Irish Times – In a note in his parish newsletter column in Plaistow in West Sussex last month, the Reverend Paul Redpath had some sobering thoughts for his parishioners in West Sussex. The parish, he told them, is losing nearly £1,200 a month, despite the “courageous and often sacrificial” donations from congregations to pay for the church’s work in the area.“The crisis point is here now and individual parishes are being asked to forget about historic subsidies, it’s all down to them now. And this is hard,” he wrote.
Read more – http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2012/0217/1224311917943.html
Bishop calls on Christian MPs to rebel over gay marriage
Telegraph – A Roman Catholic Bishop has urged MPs “of Christian conscience” to rebel against their party leaderships and vote down plans to legalise same-sex marriage.
Read more – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9078004/Bishop-calls-on-Christian-MPs-to-rebel-over-gay-marriage.html
New chief rabbi’s wife must face selectors
Jewish Chronicle – The appointment procedure for the next Chief Rabbi has been questioned by leading employment lawyers after it emerged that the selection committee will meet the wives of candidates. But the United Synagogue has insisted that such discussions will have “no bearing” on its choice of candidate.
Read more – http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/63655/new-chief-rabbis-wife-must-face-selectors
Faith groups participate in peace initiative for London Olympics
ENI – Faith leaders and community groups in London are promoting “One Hundred Days of Peace” — an initiative to develop a “peace legacy” for the London Olympic Games in 2012. Churches, schools and colleges, together with a coalition called London Citizens that includes more than 300 faith and community groups are organizing ecumenical programs of prayer and a range of activities linked to the Olympics to promote peace. These include a campaign called City Safe, which aims to build a network between shops and businesses across London to fight crime. Other activities involve street vigils, talks, discussions and the creation of several peace gardens.
Read more – http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=5471