A UK Christian electrician who won a fight with his employer over his right to display a small Palm leaf cross in his van is now saying that the company has reneged on its agreement. 64-year-old Colin Atkinson was asked by his employers, Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) in West Yorkshire, to remove the cross after an anonymous complaint from a WDH tenant. The company threatened Atkinson with disciplinary action when he refused, but backed down when their threats prompted a public outcry and criticism from prominent religious leaders, including the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey.
In the first year after the centre-left’s victory at local elections, local politicians decided to prohibit the traditional Ascencion Day barbeceue – at which „Crostine“ and „Salamelle“ (special Italian sausages) have been indispensable for decades. The reason was that Ascension Day took place during Ramadan. Not to offend the Muslim minority, the local government decided to serve only water melon instead of the traditional barbeceue.
The Swiss club of immigrants Secondos Plus demands that the Swiss Cross be removed from the flag of Switzerland because it "didn't correspond anymore to the multicultural Switzerland of today." As alternative, they suggest to go back to the national flag of 1799 which contains green, red and yellow stripes.
A demonstration against the Catholic Church and the visit of the pope during the major Catholic event of World Youth Day, resulted in the young Christian visitors be booed, spat and shouted at. Several World Youth Day participates were physically attacked, one had to be treated in hospital for being kicked in the stomach. Eight anti-pope demonstrators were jailed.
A hospital in London that recently attempted to force two Christian nurses to commit abortions has backed down after legal threats using the Equality Act to protect the nurses pro-life beliefs.
New guidelines issued by the UK pharmaceutical regulatory board tends towards stripping pharmacists of their right to conscientious objection with regard to refusing the sale of the morning-after pill, an abortive device.
Vandals started a devastating fire in the parish church of Saint-Lucie in Begijnendijk (Flemish Brabant). They entered the church through a window and put fire to the curtains and chairs. The damage is significant and the church was closed for several weeks.
On May 31st, 2011, Catholic Care of the Diocese of Leeds has applied for leave to appeal the latest decision against it in the long-running case sparked by the Charity Commission’s refusal to allow it to prevent gay couples from using its adoption service. The appeal was granted in August 2011.
The office of Johannes Bucher, the European Regional Director of Human Life International’s (HLI), was attacked after a pro-life march in Salzburg, Austria. The office suffered seven broken windows, causing thousands of Euros in damage.
The cemetery of Champniers and its surroundings were vandalized at the end of July 2011. Crosses were tossed, and statues of Marie damaged, flower pots thrown to the ground.
Shortly after his ruthless murder of at least 76 innocent men, women, and children Anders Breivik has been called a “Christian fundamentalist,” “Christian terrorist,” and “Christian extremist.” The media picked up the solitary, premature and unjust comment of a police officer right after the incident.
Unknown perpetrators urinated into a Holy Water vessel of St. Ann Catholic church, in Ascheberg. They also damaged organ pipes, several apostle statues and a censer. The damage amounts to several thousand Euros. The police has not yet convicted the vandals and does not rule out that they are a gang of teenagers.
The media group Premier Christian Radio's advertizment on the marginalization of Christians in the workplace was banned by the Radio Advertising Clearance Centre (RACC) for being “politically motivated”. Even though the ad was modified and redone several times, RACC upheld the ban.
The Church of Saint Jean Baptiste of Bessans (Savoie) was vandalized in the night from July 26th to July 27th. Swastika were painted on the door of the church and "Adolf Hitler" written on the church steps. The vandals apparently tried to break open the door but did not succeed.
The left wing radicals praised themselves for their actions by saying: "Over 50 emancipated people were present to block and disturb and they were not affraid of nervious cops. They prevented stupid prayers and managed to disrupt the pro life manifestion in a way that it had to be ended early. During almost the entire pro life manifestion, they made their feminist viewpoints clear by shouting paroles. They showed that militant resistance against anti-emanzipatory conditions and ass-holes is possible.“
The church of Saint-Jouin-Bruneval in the Seine Maritime department of Normandy has been vandalised during the night from Saturday 15th to Sunday 16th of July. An unknown number of person came through the door of the church tower, descended a ladder and took a choir bench to break down the door of the sacristy which they completely wrenched. They tumbled the candles and the candle-holders and then ripped off a wooden chest near the main altar. Finally, they broke open the offertory-box were to take its contents.
French daily „Liberation“ smashes Christianity by depicting Jesus as a loser, drug user and egocentric. The French Catholic bishops’ conference issued a statement in support of freedom of expression but saying that this requires respect of the one it actually offends. The bishops also mention that Christians always forgive.
SPUC - director blogs of new developments in the field of education: "Parents of primary-school children from across the country are furious that Nick Gibb, the schools minister, has told Parliament that schools can teach children, including in primary school, about sex in science lessons." The problem is that parents cannot withdraw their children from sience - and contents might be unacceptable for many parents.
In Freiburg, the Agency for Public Order restricted access around the entrance area of Pro Familia (an organisation which offers pregnancy conflict counseling including the option of abortion) for counsellors of the faith-based nonprofit association „Centre of Life - Helpers of God’s Precious Infants“ (Lebenszentrum - Helfer für Gottes kostbare Kinder e.V.) The aim of the associaton is to encourage and support expecting mothers in conflict to give birth to their child by offering differents kinds of support.
Unknown perpetrators ravaged in the church of St. John’s in Heidelberg on June 1st. Police confirmed that they sloshed around drinks on the altar and in the area of the organ, put meatballs in the organ pipes and dog dirt on the clavier.