All cases

Filtered by: Country: United Kingdom

Equality Bill Feared to Limit Freedom of Religion for Churches in Employment Issues

May 19, 2009, United Kingdom

A new Equality Bill which would have forced Churches to employ practicing homosexuals or transsexuals as youth workers was amended and retained existing employment exceptions for the purposes of religion.

A Medal Established by the Queen Withdrawn as “too Christian”

May 12, 2009, United Kingdom

The “Trinity Cross of the Order of Trinity” has been replaced by an “Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago” - a featuring a sun, stars, water and a map of the islands - as it was considered as offensive for non - Christians inhabitants.

Hospital Bans Paintings of Churches

May 5, 2009, United Kingdom

A London hospital informed local artists who contributed paintings for its decoration were informed that any depiction but that of churches was welcome. The reason given was to be mindful of other religions.

Nurse Fired For Religious Advise In a Role Play Training

May 1, 2009, United Kingdom

Anand Rao, a nurse with over 40-years of experience, has been sacked after he suggested two people playing patients might go to Church and pray during a role play session on a training course.

Parents ‘Face Action’ for Withdrawing their Children from ‘LGBT History Month’ Lessons

March 30, 2009, United Kingdom

A group of Christian and Muslim parents who kept their children away from controversial lessons about homosexuality were reportedly facing legal action by the council involved.

Reverend Assaulted After Discussions with Muslims

March 30, 2009, United Kingdom

A Christian minister was brutally attacked in London by three men who ripped off his cross, stole his Bible and threatened to break his legs. Metropolitan Police treated the case as a ‘faith hate’ assault.

Archbishop’s Homeless Charity Suspends Christian for Answering Questions about His Faith

March 27, 2009, United Kingdom

An employee at a Christian ‘homeless’ charity, whose Patron is the Archbishop of Canterbury, was suspended for answering questions about his faith to a colleague at work.

St Mary’s Church in Heworth Raided

March 14, 2009, United Kingdom

St Mary’s Church in Heworth has been once more targeted by thieves and vandals.

Christian Party Office Vandalized after Publishing Add

February 28, 2009, United Kingdom

The Christian Party office was vandalized days after the party launched a bus advertising campaign with the slogan, “There definitely is a God. So join the Christian party and enjoy your life.” The ad was a response to widespread atheist ads which carried the slogan, “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The Metropolitan Police investigated the vandalism as a ‘religious hate crime’.

Youth Gang Attacks Church Pastor in Rochdale

February 28, 2009, United Kingdom

The pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Rochdale was attacked by a gang of up to 20 youths. Pastor Dennis Rigg and his brother were making preparations in the church building for their father’s funeral when the group attacked the pastor and shouted out abuse relating to their Christian faith.

Oxford Churches Broken Into to ‘Make a Point’ against Church of England

February 24, 2009, United Kingdom

Between 15 and 24 February 2009 two churches in the Oxford area were broken into and highly symbolic religious items were desecrated. Local police officers thought the two incidents were linked and were possibly religiously motivated attacks to make a point against the Church of England. In both incidents safes containing communion bread at the churches were forced open, but nothing was stolen in either case. It is estimated that there was £3,000 worth of damage at St James the Great, in West Hanney, and in St Nicholas Church, in East Challow.

School Receptionist Faces Dismissal over Prayer Request

February 12, 2009, United Kingdom

A five-year-old girl was reprimanded for talking about her faith at school and her mother, Jennie Cain, who worked part-time at her daughter’s school, was investigated for professional misconduct and faced disciplinary action. The school has settled out of court.

Christian Carer Struck Off

February 8, 2009, United Kingdom

A Christian foster carer has been struck off because she allowed a Muslim child in her care to convert to Christianity.

Nurse Suspended for Offering Prayer to a Patient

February 2, 2009, United Kingdom

A nurse was suspended from work without pay for having asked a patient whether she wanted prayer. The nurse has been reinstated after public protests.

London Homelessness Prevention Officer Suspended for Mentioning Faith

January 29, 2009, United Kingdom

A homelessness prevention officer with Wandsworth Council has been suspended from work for nearly two months for encouraging a homeless woman with an incurable medical condition to look to God for help.

(Scotland) Christian Radio Presenter Sacked

January 11, 2009, United Kingdom

Muslim Radio sacks Christian presenter after six years of cooperation.

Home for Retired Missionaries Loses Funding on Gay Issues in Questionaire

January 9, 2009, United Kingdom

Brighton Council requests care home for elderly Christians to ask its residents about their sexual orientation and cuts funding when rejected.

Christian Teacher Suspended For Disagreeing With Gay Issues At Training

January 2, 2009, United Kingdom

Christian teacher suspended pending a disciplinary investigation after disagreeing with and complaining about the way a staff training session promoted homosexuality.

(/Scotland) Kirk Minister Battered on Christmas Day

December 25, 2008, United Kingdom

A Church of Scotland minister was attacked by a gang of youths on Christmas Day. Reverend Gordon MacKenzie was taking a walk when he was jumped on from behind by a trio of youths he had just passed. He was knocked to the ground by blows about the head and body, then kicked and punched as he was lying on the floor. Revd MacKenzie required hospital treatment for a broken nose, a broken tooth and various injuries to the hand, face and body.

Christmas References Banned in Oxford

December 24, 2008, United Kingdom

References to Christmas were banned in Oxford and Christmas festivities renamed "Winter Light celebrations" to be "more inclusive. Protests come from Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Writer and BBC Guest is Not Longer Welcome by the Media Corporation

September 25, 2008, United Kingdom

Rev Graham P Taylor, author of the best-seller Shadowmancer, sometimes called the new C. S. Lewis, said the BBC does not welcome him anymore because he could be seen as promoting Christianity. Taylor, a parish priest who signed a £3.5 million contract to publish Shadowmancer claims that the relationship with the BBC went well "until they realised that there were religious allegories in my stories".

College Removes Christmas and Easter from Calendar

September 16, 2008, United Kingdom

Yorkshire Coast College renamed its school breaks without reference to Christian holidays in an effort to ensure diversity- Christmas and Easter no longer appear on the college’s calendar.

Street Preacher Asked to Stop Activity

September 15, 2008, United Kingdom

The St Edmundsbury Borough Council told open air preacher, Brian Dee, who had been preaching in the marketplace in Bury St Edmunds for over 10 years, that he was not allowed, under a local bye-law aimed at reducing litter, to distribute tracts. A strongly worded letter was sent to the Council warning that Mr Dee had a right to preach and distribute tracts and if the Council continued to interfere with his rights legal action would be taken. The Council backed down conceding that there was no evidence that Mr Dee had caused a litter problem and accepted that he could continue preaching and distributing tracts.

Amnesty International Supports Anti-Catholic Bigotry During Gay Pride Belfast

September 11, 2008, United Kingdom

Amnesty International participated this year in the homosexualist movement's efforts to insult and vilify the Catholic Church during the Belfast gay pride festival in August. Amnesty's Belfast director has admitted that the group was using the Belfast Pride event to caricature the Cardinal Archbishop of Riga, Janis Pujats, who has spoken out strongly against the homosexualist movement's efforts in Latvia.

Trades Union Congress Calls for Christian to Be Sacked from Equality and Human Right Commission

September 10, 2008, United Kingdom

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, has issued a call for the removal of a Christian Equality and Human Rights Commissioner. Joel Edwards is the director of the Evangelical Alliance and a figure loathed by homosexualist activists for his forthright calls for a re-insertion of Christian morals in public life and defence of the rights of Christians who oppose the homosexualist political agenda.

Birmingham Street Preacher Awarded £4,250 in Damages After Being Wrongly Arrested and Handcuffed by Police

September 1, 2008, United Kingdom

In summer 2008 Anthony Rollins, a street preacher in Birmingham, was arrested after expressing the Bible’s teaching on same-sex relationships. On December 8th 2010, he was awarded £4,250 in damages.

Town Hall Members Forced to Fast During Ramadan

August 7, 2008, United Kingdom

The members of Tower Hamlets Council in East London received an email asking them to observe restrictions implemented during Ramadan. Among these measures, Town Hall meetings were reduced and prayers were included in the evening in observance of the "holy month".

BBC Screens Show In Which Radical Christians Behead a Moderate Muslim

July 24, 2008, United Kingdom

„Bonekickers“, a BBC TV production which that claims to be fact –based ("History comes alive," says the promotional campaign) deals with a group of radical Christians whose goal is to clean England of immigrants.

Schoolboys Forced to Pray to Allah

July 22, 2008, United Kingdom

Two pupils from Alsager High School in Cheshire were punished after they refused to pray to Allah. The 7-grade class kids were urged by their religious education teacher Alison Phillips to take part in a Muslim prayer. Prayer mats were given to them, and the pupils were told to kneel down following the Muslim ritual. They were also told to wear Muslim headwear during the lesson.

Police Officer Discriminated Against for Traditional Values

July 9, 2008, United Kingdom

PC Graham Cogman has taken his police force to an Employment Tribunal on grounds of harassment because of his traditional Christian values after a series of complaints and investigations suggesting he is ‘homophobic’ – something he strenuously denies. He says that the ‘over the top’ promotion of homosexual rights within Norfolk Police makes being a Christian policeman, or an officer with traditional family values, extremely difficult, unless a person is prepared to ignore his or her conscience.

Iris Robinson MP investigated by police for using the Bible’s language about homosexuality

June 30, 2008, United Kingdom

Police investigated Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson for expressing her religious beliefs about homosexuality on a BBC radio show. Officers from the ‘serious crime branch’ of the Police Service of Northern Ireland held interviews about the incident.

Vicar Beaten By Youth in ‘Faith Hate’ Attack

May 30, 2008, United Kingdom

A parish priest was beaten up by three youths who hurled religious abuse during the attack. The assault took place in the churchyard of St Matthew’s Church in Bethnal Green, East London. Reverend Kevin Scully was left with two black eyes and a cut nose, and only escaped more serious injury because a member of the public intervened.

BBC Screens Anti-Christian Series

April 24, 2008, United Kingdom

EastEnders, a BBC soap opera based on the life of Lucas Aaron Johnson, a pastor played by Don Giler, portrays Johnson as a twisted Christian preacher with strong religious convictions committing terrible crimes. The executive producer Diederick Santer said about the character: "Lucas is doing the Lord's work".

Anglican Priest Beaten up in 'Faith Hate' Incident

March 17, 2008, United Kingdom

Anglican priest, Canon Michael Ainsworth, beaten up and insulted in 'faith hate' incident in his own churchyard by Asian youths.

Catholic Bishop Before Parliament for Insisting on Crucifixes in Every Classroom and Truly Catholic Sex-Ed

March 14, 2008, United Kingdom

The Catholic Bishop of Lancaster UK today gave a spirited response to accusations by secularist MPs in a Commons Committee who accused him of trying to establish religious "fundamentalism" in his schools. Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue told the Committee that schools in his diocese should see it as their prime duty to teach the Catholic faith and to evangelise and that this constituted neither "proselytism" nor "fundamentalism".

Police Tell Christians: "You can’t Preach here, this is a Muslim Area"

February 28, 2008, United Kingdom

A police community support officer (PCSO) told two church workers in Birmingham, “You can’t preach here, this is a Muslim area”. The incident happened as Arthur Cunningham and Joseph Abraham handed out Christian tracts on Alum Rock Road.

Christian Magistrate Loses Conscientious Objection Appeal

February 26, 2008, United Kingdom

A Christian magistrate lost his second and final appeal in a suit in which he claimed his employer had discriminated against him because of his religious conviction that adoptive children ought not to be placed with homosexuals.

Anglican Bishop Fined £47,345 and Sent to "Re-Education" in Gay Employment Case

February 12, 2008, United Kingdom

The Anglican bishop of Hereford has been ordered by a court to undergo "equal opportunities training" and pay a fine of £47,345.00, the equivalent of about Euro 63,540.00, for refusing to hire an active homosexual for a position of trust with young people. The ruling also stated that Hereford diocese staff "involved in recruitment should receive equal opportunities training". "The respondents discriminated against the claimant on the grounds of sexual orientation," said the ruling from the Cardiff Employment Tribunal.

Council of Devon Revokes Civil Ceremonies License of Christian Earl Due to Refusal to Host Gay Ceremonies

February 7, 2008, United Kingdom

As a result of refusing by the Earl of Devon to allow a homosexual couple to hold a civil partnership ceremony, the local Council revoked the licence for hosting all civil ceremonies in the Castle. The Earl of Devon is a devout Christian, who lives with his family in the event location at stake in Powderham Castle.

Gallery Offends Christians

January 6, 2008, United Kingdom

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead displays statue of Christ with erect penis by gay Chinese-born artist Koh.

Countless Vandal Attacks Against Churches

January 1, 2008, United Kingdom

In 2007 one out of every three Anglican churches suffered a vandal attack at some point during the year. Theft, arson and malicious damage is a problem for churches. Claims cost £1.8 million in total, a significant amount for petty crime. The average cost of these claims was around £900. These statistics don’t even take into account the smaller attacks which churches don’t report to their insurer because the damage is minor. It is therefore likely that many more thousands of churches suffer malicious damage every year.

(Scotland) Word "Lord" Removed from Prayer as Offensive

November 15, 2007, United Kingdom

The word "Lord" was removed from a primary school grace before meals after one parent complained the mention was offensive. Contrary complaints of other parents lead to a subsequent reinstatement of the term.

Report of Think Tank Suggests to Downgrade Christmas

November 1, 2007, United Kingdom

Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations, says a report of the Institute for Public Policy Research, a Labour Think Tank.

Catholic Airport Worker Suspended for Displaying a Picture of Jesus

October 10, 2007, United Kingdom

Manchester, England - A Catholic airport worker was suspended for displaying an image of Jesus on a staff room wall after a Muslim colleague made a complaint against him.

Christian Foster Parents Forced to Retire From Fostering Children

October 10, 2007, United Kingdom

A Christian couple was being forced to retire from fostering needy children on conscientious grounds after the local council imposed rules requiring them to discuss homosexuality with the children.

Police Investigate Leaflet Advertising Church’s Easter Services

June 22, 2007, United Kingdom

Church worker Julian Hurst, was handing out invitations for his church's Easter service. Police seized the literature after complaint by homosexual man that church should not be allowed to advertise.

Catholic Church Forced to Withdraw from Adoption

April 1, 2007, United Kingdom

New gay rights law forces the Catholic Church to pull out of offering adoption services in the UK.

Regulations Barring Religious Schools from Teaching against Homosexuality

March 22, 2007, United Kingdom

Regulations Barring Religious Schools from Teaching Against Homosexuality Approved Sexual Orientation Regulations Pass House of Lords. Concerned Christians prayed outside of the Houses of Parliament.

Girl Banned From Wearing Cross at School

January 10, 2007, United Kingdom

A British schoolgirl has been barred from wearing a crucifix necklace in class, the Daily Mail reported.

Christian Prayers Replaced By Quiet Moment

January 1, 2007, United Kingdom

Totnes Town Council replaced Christian prayers at the start of its meeting with a moment of silence.