11 reports and links : Growth of Muslim influence; decline of family unit in GB; threats to Religious Education in schools; Gay marriage; third style of marriage in Scotland
Muslim Council has ‘more of a voice’ than Archbishop of Canterbury
Andrew Gilligan, Telegraph – The Muslim Council of Britain has a more prominent role in public debate than the Archbishop of Canterbury, according to a study.
The decline of the Anglican Church as the country’s main religious voice is confirmed by findings from the Henry Jackson Society.
The study, which monitored statements by religious groups and media coverage of religion over the past decade, also found that the Roman Catholic Church had a more prominent role in public debate about religious issues than the Church of England.
Catholics focused heavily on pro-life issues and personal morality. Statements made by the C of E, in contrast, were more likely to be about overseas aid, foreign policy and poverty.
The findings come after figures from the 2011 census showed a 13 percentage-point drop in people identifying themselves as Christian, from 72 to 59 per cent.
About one in four was identified as having no religion, a rise of nine per cent and the second largest group. Yet despite the decline in Christian belief, the number of religious statements — across all faiths – increased as religions became more assertive.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9770800/Muslim-Council-has-more-of-a-voice-than-Archbishop-of-Canterbury.html
Demise of the nuclear family
Daniel Martin, Mailonline – British children are less likely to live with both parents than in any other major Western nation
• Just two thirds of children still live with mother or father at the age of 14
• Only in Latvia, Estonia and Belgium are children are statistics worse
• Critics say figures demonstrate declining importance of marriage in UK
• Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘When families are strong and stable so are children’
Children in Britain are less likely to grow up living with both parents than in almost any other country in the Western world.
Just two thirds are still living in the same household as their natural mother and father by the age of 14.
Only in Latvia, Estonia and Belgium are children more likely to grow up outside the traditional nuclear family, according to research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
While 68.9 per cent of British children aged up to 14 live with both their parents, in the US the figure is 70.7 per cent and in France 79.5 per cent.
The UK proportion is also much lower than Germany on 82 per cent.
Finnish children are most likely still to be living with both parents, at 95.2 per cent.
Critics say the figures demonstrate the declining importance of marriage in the UK compared with our neighbours – and called on ministers to implement tax breaks for married couples.
Marriage rates have more than halved in the past 40 years, while the number of lone-parent households increased by an average of 26,000 a year from the early 1980s to 2010.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2254450/Demise-nuclear-family-British-children-likely-live-parents-major-Western-nation.html
UK high on family breakdown table
BBC – Britain has the fourth highest rate of family breakdown in the Western world with just 68.9% of children living with both parents, research suggests.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20863917
Wife’s grief over ‘evil’ murder
BBC – The wife of a church organist who died after being attacked on his way to a service on Christmas Eve says she has not stopped crying for him.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-20869587
Sunday work ruling
Telegraph – Christans have no right to refuse to work on Sundays.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9770825/Christians-have-no-right-to-refuse-to-work-on-Sundays-rules-judge.html
Chief rabbi fears anti-semitism
BBC – The next chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, says he fears anti-semitism may spread to Britain from the rest of Europe.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20870122
Cuts to RE lessons ‘will fuel bigoted attitudes’, MP warns
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9727597/Cuts-to-RE-lessons-will-fuel-bigoted-attitudes-MP-warns.html
When the church turns into a pub.
Guardian Comment – When old and sacred buildings are put to new uses, the ‘respect’ we show for them can lack in honesty
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/dec/27/church-pub-buildings-respect-honesty
Plans for third form of marriage
BBC – A new type of marriage could be introduced in Scotland to reflect the growing popularity of ceremonies such as humanist weddings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-20869899
Kirk opposes gay marriages
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/community/churches/kirk-opposes-gay-marriage-proposals-1-4629215
RC archbishop of Birmingham warns against gay marriage
Plans to legalise gay marriage would undermine the Christian view of the family, according to a leading Roman Catholic archbishop.
The Archbishop of Birmingham Bernard Longley warned that the Government cannot foresee the ‘full consequences’ of the proposals.
In a letter to churches and chapels in his diocese, the Archbishop warned of the impact gay marriage would have on ‘children involved or for wider society’.
His warnings are the latest attack from a senior member of the Catholic Church on David Cameron’s plans to allow gay couples to marry in churches.
In the letter, due to be read to worshippers yesterday, the Archbishop said: ‘Government policy cannot foresee the full consequences, for the children involved or for wider society, of being brought up by two mothers without a father’s influence or by two fathers without a mother’s influence.
‘We first learn about diversity and acquire a respect for difference through the complementarity of our parents.’
He describes the ‘complementary love of father and mother’ as a ‘precious gift that we should wish for every child’.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/uk/archbishop-warns-over-gay-marriage-16255643.html