The Church of England has been accused of discriminating against a lesbian couple by refusing to conduct their wedding.
The All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief released a 35-page report in which it said the questions used to assess conversion asylum claims demonstrated a "lack of understanding and misperceptions of religion."
A Christian union has been banned from holding meetings on college premises, as a result of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy "Prevent".
Piers Morgan will not face sanctions after asking a Christian who opposed same-sex marriage whether he was a "homophobe".
A Christian magistrate Richard Page has been removed from office by the Lord Chancellor after sharing his personal conviction in a media interview that there is not enough evidence to show that placing children in the care of same-sex couples is in their best interest.
A Sheffield University social work postgraduate student, Felix Ngole, was expelled from his course for posting on his Facebook page that homosexual activity is against the teaching of the Bible.
Network Rail, partly funded by taxpayer money, argued it was "overtly Christian" and that it would offend "multi-cultural values".
Plans for Ofsted to regulate out-of-school settings could burden churches, discourage volunteers and cause unnecessary distress to children, a Conservative MP has warned.
The advertisement shows the Lord’s Prayer being recited by a members of the public ranging from bodybuilders to children.
Nissar Hussain, who has helped to promote Christian Concern's Safe Haven initiative to help protect Christians who have converted from Islam, was beaten with a pickaxe handle by two men while on the way to his car in Bradford (United Kingdom).
The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven is part of the Outburst Queer Arts Festival in Belfast, and is advertised with the tagline: “Jesus is a transsexual woman. And it is now she walks the earth.”
Pro-LGBT group Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) has launched a petition demanding that children as young as five learn about homosexual, bisexual and transgender issues, and this week it addressed the Scottish Parliament’s Public Petitions Committee.
Reverend Barry Trayhorn, volunteering as a chaplain at a prison for sex offenders, recited verses from Corinthians which include homosexuality in a long list of sins, along with adultery, theft and drunkenness during a service.
After a leaked report indicated that the strategy would include the following provision, "pastors, rabbis and other religious leaders will be subject to Government training and security checks and will have to enrol in a 'national register of faith leaders'," the Government's final strategy only calls for "training."
A Christian disciplined by an NHS trust for praying with a colleague has won permission to appeal an employment tribunal’s decision against her.
Voicing criticism of homosexuality “might be breaking the law”, a British values monitor claimed.
Burglars broke into a Sunderland church, smashed a window (causing more than £1,000 in damage) and used fire extinguishers to try to break down doors. Although nothing was stolen, someone urinated in the holy water font.
Colin Hart, director of the Christian Institute, has said Ofsted and the Department for Education (DfE) have given “inadequate attention” to the “bullying of Christian pupils”.
A bakery in Northern Ireland was found guilty of "direct discrimination" after its Christian owner declined to provide a decorated cake with the words 'support gay marriage’. The owner said he could not fulfill the order because it conflicts with his Christian beliefs about marriage.
Taunton street preacher Mike Overd has been convicted of a Public Order offence for using a particular bible verse in a public conversation with a man who identifies as homosexual. The judge ruled that another bible verse would have been more appropriate and would have prevented the fine.
Christian nursery educator, Sarah Mbuyi, was dismissed from her job after "gross misconduct" for saying that marriage is an institution between one man and one woman in conversation with a colleague. In an employment tribunal hearing, witnesses testified that Christian views on the topic should not be expressed in the workplace.
A pastor’s wife order for bouquet of spring flowers was blocked when she had tried to use words: "Thank you for your care and practical help for Margaret in her last days... With love from her church family, Christ Church Teddington". She was confronted with an on-screen warning: “Sorry there’s something in your message we can’t write.”
71-years-old Bryan Barkley was dismissed from the British Red Cross after his one-man protest in front of his church holding a placard saying “No same sex marriage” and “No redefinition of marriage”. His views were found incompatible with the principles of impartiality and neutrality of Red Cross.
A Christian registrar was dismissed for indicating she would not be willing to perform same-sex marriages. Finally, she was reinstated after a successful appeal in which it was ruled that her employer had failed to take a “balanced view” of her religious beliefs.
One of biggest hotel chains in Britain, Travelodge, has decided to remove Bibles from the hotel rooms to avoid upsetting non-Christians. Travelodge bases its decision on ‘diversity reasons’ and explains that the country has become increasingly multicultural.
The Catholic church in Newtownabbey has been a target of several hate crimes already. On July 20th, it was an arson attack. The wooden doors of the church were damaged by flammable liquid.
A bakery is facing legal action for refusing to produce a cake decorated with Sesame Street characters saying ‘support gay marriage’ on grounds of their religious beliefs. While gay marriage is not legal in Northern Ireland, the equality commission demands from the directors of the bakery to „remedy your illegal discrimination“.
Police advice people to record a Christian street preacher Mr Michael Overd on a video if he makes offensive remarks as some passers-by in High Street were upset when he expressed his views about homosexuality and sex outside marriage.
Street evangelist, Mike Overd, is being prosecuted for an alleged religious aggravation public order offence. The charges followed a complaint to police in Taunton, that Mike Overd made a comparison between the life of Jesus and the life of Mohammed, allegedly "causing offense."
British doctors and nurses who refuse to dispense the morning-after pill on grounds of conscience will be unable to receive a specialist diploma in sexual health care. Guidance issued by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare states that medical professionals who, for religious reasons, refuse to hand out "emergency" contraception cannot receive the qualification. The diploma is considered to represent the "gold standard" of sexual health care training.
Sarah Mbuyi, 30 year-old nursery worker from north London will bring her case to court as she claims she was fired on the grounds of her religious beliefs because she said that she would have scruples about reading children’s stories involving same-sex couples.
In Derbyshire, England on the 11th of November, 2013, a 52 year-old Muslim man named Mohamed Dar entered New Life Church in Alfreton as the community was holding a remembrance service for English World War I soldiers. He was shouting "turn to Islam" while wearing a scarf tied over his face and a kind of turban on which was written in Arab, “Allah is great.”
Graphic designer Jamie Haxby was interviewed for a job at Prested Hall Hotel near Colchester in the United Kingdom. He says his interviewer, Celie Parker, asked him if he was Christian, to which he answered in the affirmative. On looking through his portfolio and seeing that he had done previous work with churches and Christian groups, she commented that she and other members of staff were atheists and that they could never work with a committed Christian. She is also reported to have apologized for wasting Haxby’s time.
The failure of the government to provide bursaries for those wishing to teach Religious Education (RE) has been described as “rank discrimination” by a leading RE body. Childcare minister Elizabeth Truss MP confirmed this month that no bursaries would be offered for religious education teachers in training this year. This cut in the bursaries has made it increasingly difficult for those studying to teach RE.
73-year-old Bill Edwards was ordered by a police constable to stop preaching outside the Magistrates Court House in Banbury as some people in the building found his preaching “offensive”. He refused to move and was arrested and charged with assault and breach of peace. In the police station Mr Edwards was grabbed by six officers and pinned to the ground.
Secularists in Scotland have called on the government to remove religious representatives from education committees. Under the Local Government Act 1973, local authority education committees are required to appoint three representatives from religious organisations and the Edinburgh Secular Society wants to see a change in the law.
Tony Miano, a street preacher addressing lunchtime shoppers at Dundee High Street, Scotland, was arrested and held in custody to appear before the Dundee Sheriff Court. He was talking about “sexual sin” including “adultery, promiscuity and homosexual practice”. A woman called the police, who on arrival snatched away the camera of a friend who was filming the preaching and arrested the street preacher.
A British homosexual couple feels „forced to take Christians into a court to get them to recognise” them. The Marriage Act contains legal provisions to protect churches which chose not to conduct same-sex weddings from being sued.
The police arrested a street preacher in Wimbledon under suspicion of offences under the Public Order Act. He had been speaking about sexual immorality in general and the importance to abstain from such practices.
A young man in Derbyshire, England, was arrested because he is suspected to have set two churches on fire in Allestree and one in Twyford.
Mr Williamson from Portadown in Northern Ireland, faces court proceedings for refusing to print materials of a gay magazine. He says the website of MyGayZine contained explicit images, and he wasn’t prepared to print that kind of material whether homosexual or heterosexual.
Section 4 of the Abortion Act 1967 provides a conscientious objection to participation in abortion procedures. However, the scope of this conscientious objection clause is routinely being challenged. In 2012, the General Medical Council released its Draft Guidance on Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice, which stated that doctors must “be prepared to set aside their personal beliefs” in relation to a variety of controversial areas, including prescribing contraceptives – including the abortifacient morning-after-pill, referring women for abortions and performing “gender reassignment surgery.”
There have been a number of cases in the past few years that have followed a similar pattern in that no exemption will be made where a Christian has a conscientious objection in the workplace because he or she cannot endorse, condone or approve homosexual conduct.
According to section 5 of the Public Order Act 1986, it is criminal offence to use “insulting words or behaviour” which is “likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.” Originally enacted to combat football hooliganism, this provision has led to the arrest and prosecution of many Christian street preachers in recent years.
The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination on several grounds, including sexual orientation, in the area of the provision of goods and services. While there is a vital exemption to the general prohibition against discrimination for religious organisations when providing goods or services, this can only be relied upon in limited circumstances and is not wide enough to cover many situations.
A classroom ban on a Christian school teacher who condemned the “homosexual lifestyle” in front of year 11 pupils aged 15 and 16, has been upheld by the High Court. Science teacher, Robert Haye’s appeal against the decision to ban him indefinitely was rejected by the judge. After telling his class that the way homosexual people lived was a “sin”, according to the bible, he was sacked and prohibited from teaching at any school.
After defending a Christian colleague at work last year, some of Mrs. Halawi's Muslim colleagues complained to managers with unsubstantiated claims about her conduct. As a result, the management removed her ‘airside pass’ without properly considering her side of the story. This meant she was unable to keep working at the airport. Mrs. Halawi said that she had frequently been bullied by her Muslim colleagues for her Christians faith.
The Christian owner of a printing firm in Northern Ireland faced being hauled to court over his refusal to print a gay magazine. Nick Williamson says printing the material would go against his religious beliefs. But the editor of MyGayZine, Danny Toner, approached a solicitor and referred the matter to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.
(October 2006 - January 2013)In October 2006 an employee, Ms Eweida, was banned from wearing a cross on a necklace by British Airways, UK. Court ruling in January 2008 upheld prohibition for Christians, but not for other religions' symbols. On January 15th, 2013, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Ms Eweida's rights had been violated.
The rights of homosexual couples trumped those of Christians, according to a ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The European Court of Human Rights dismissed the Christian applicant Gary McFarlane and left the balancing out of rights to national appreciation.
Lillian Ladele, a Christian registrar, was disciplined because of her stance on civil partnerships. The European Court of Human Rights dismissed Ladele’s application on January 15th, 2013 and left the balancing out of rights to the national authorities.
The Employment Tribunal found ‘No Discrimination’ despite the ruling that a Christian nurse cannot wear a cross for religious reasons though a Muslim can wear a hijab for religious reasons. On January 15th, 2013, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed that the hospital could make such policies - if justified by health and safety reasons.
A new ruling by a High Court judge says that Christians have no right to decline working on Sunday as it is not a “core component” of their beliefs, considering that „many Christians work on Sundays".
Muslims protested in front of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, on Christmas Eve 2012 while Christians were lining up to enter the Cathedral for services. One person reported to the Observatory: “We have been adversely affected, distressed, and inconvenienced because of the nature, loudness, and closeness of this verbal outpour of hatred and abuse abuse. None of the Christians who were peacefully waiting in line to attend a Christmas celebration provoked the verbal abuse that we were forced to endure. At one point a Muslim male was loudly shouting abuse at us from a distance of about four meters.”
Dutch artist Jeff van Weereld's piece “The Holy Truth“ on display in Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, Scotland in November 2012, depicts the pope aroused, wearing a swastika shaped cross, and with his hands on two young boys. The artist claims to reflect „four facts“ of the Church: “There is high incidence of paedophilia, the pope did spend a good part of his formative years in the Hitlerjugend and the Wehrmacht, the church is friendly to the outside, but not necessarily within the hierarchy and they do tend to cover up things.”
The British Parliamentary Undersecretary of State, Liz Truss, states she was not able to rule out the possibility that teachers refusing to use stories or textbooks favoring same sex- marriage face disciplinary consequences.
Christian believers and other people in Britain are expressing outrage after the country’s leading homosexualist lobby group declared the Cardinal Archbishop of Edinburgh, Keith O’Brien, “Bigot of the Year” for his opposition to “gay marriage”.
The Highlands Council Scotland had the tradition of incorporating a prayer in its agenda before each meeting. However, during the summer the National Secular Society wrote a letter to the Council demanding it remove prayer from its formal agenda or it would face legal action. The Council has now dropped prayer from its formal agenda.
Christian bed and breakfast owners Mike and Susanne Wilkinson lost a lawsuit on their married-couples-only policy and were fined over 3.500 pounds for denying a double room to a homosexual couple. The Wilkinson's Bed&Breakfast is located in their own house where they live with their children. The courts apply a "zero tolerance" policy on grounds of "unlawful discrimination".
Maria Stopes International (MSI), one of the biggest abortion providers worldwide located in the UK, threatened to take legal action against a pregnancy pro-life center (Good Counsel) for distributing and providing some information about the negative effects of abortion on mental health.
The Christian owners of a bed and breakfast in Britain, Mike and Susanne Wilkinson, have received countless hate-filled messages in the wake of refusing to give a homosexual couple a double room.
Prime minister David Cameron thinks that faith schools should not be allowed to teach that homosexuality is a sin, according to a quote featured by the Daily Mail.
If gay marriage is legalized, teachers and others could be forced out of their jobs if they fail to endorse such unions, a top lawyer says. Parents would have no right to insist that their children are withdrawn from school lessons across the curriculum that approve of same-sex marriage. Chaplains who work in the NHS or the Armed Forces could be dismissed if they preach that marriage is between a man and a woman.
A councillor for the Green Party, Christina Summers, a Christian, who disagrees with her party’s support for redefining marriage should be “expelled”, an internal disciplinary panel has said. She has responded by saying the decision is a “typical symptom of prejudice, blatant prejudice”.
A former senior advisor to Nick Clegg says supporters of traditional marriage are “bigots” and Mr Clegg should have said so too in a speech but changed it after public furor.
The Judge of London’s Royal Court of Justice ruled on August 10th that the life support system of an 8-year- old boy may be switched off by team of doctors, ignoring parents’ wish to keep him alive.
The General Medical Council’s Investigation Committee has reprimanded a Christian doctor for sharing his faith with a patient at the end of a private consultation.
The Law Society has revoked the booking of a Christian conférence on marriage to be held by Christian Concern and other organisations because it considered it "contrary to its ‘diversity’ Policy".
A prominent British Christian conservative blogger is under attack from a government agency, at the behest of a homosexualist activist group, for supporting the defence of traditional marriage.
Christian doctor who was sacked for emailing a prayer to his colleagues has lost his clam for unfair dismissal, after an Employment Tribunal ruled that there was “no need” for religious references to be made at work.
Secular campaigners have launched an attack on the Roman Catholic Church for urging its secondary schools to back the current legal definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.
Boris Johnson, the Conservative Party mayor of London, ordered bus advertisements for overcoming same-sex attraction to be stopped. The campaign had been cleared by the Advertising Authority, and was designed to be an answer to a pro-homosexual campaign.
The celebrity singer Will Young has suggested that clergy should be put in jail for speaking out too strongly against same-sex marriage.
A homosexual activist disrupted a Mass held in a parish in Teignmouth, Devon, with a video camera last week as a priest prepared to read a letter from the country’s bishops conference opposing government efforts to legalize same-sex “marriage.”
The UK Government submitted to the European Court of Human Rights that the applicants' wearing of a visible cross or Crucifix was not a manifestation of their religion or belief within the meaning of Article 9, and, in any event, the restriction on the applicants' wearing of a visible cross or Crucifix was not an "interference" with their rights protected by Article 9.
In January 2012, Scotland's largest health board was taken to court by two Catholic nurses from Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, Mary Doogan and Connie Wood, who were denied conscientious objection with regard to abortion procedures. Judgment was handed down on February 29th: the midwives have been told that they must accept the decision of their hospital management and that they must oversee other midwives performing abortions. In January 2013, they took the case to the European Court of Human Rights. The UK supreme court upheld the judgement in December 2014.
A Christian psychotherapist is the subject of a professional conduct inquiry in London for supporting therapy for those with unwanted feelings of same-sex attraction. The dispute arose as, in response to a question, Dr Davidson had said: “yes, I do believe homosexuality is a sin.” Commentators speak of a "worrying trend where the door to practising professional therapy is being closed to people with Christian sexual ethics."
An Christian booklet has been distributed to students in some Catholic schools in Lancashire, UK. Its comments on homosexuality raised the discontent of UK’s largest trades union, who says that the government is allowing “homophobia” to be promoted in religious schools.
Trevor Phillips, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), has ignited public controversy by comparing Christians who do not believe that homosexuals should be allowed to adopt children to “Muslims who demand the introduction of Sharia Courts”.
The UK Government has written to all local councils in England, telling them that new laws restore their power to hold prayers at official meetings after the High Court had ruled that local councils have no lawful power to hold prayers during official business. The court case was initiated by the National Secular Society and a local atheist ex-councillor who sued Bideford Town Council in Devon for conducting prayers, a custom that had been in place since the 17th century.
David Burrowes, Conservative MP for Enfield Southgate, revealed at the launch of Coalition for Marriage (C4M) in London that he has received a death threat and hate mail after speaking out in support of traditional marriage.
Tory MP, David Burrowes, is facing an ‘intolerant’ campaign against him because of his opposition to homosexual marriage. The campaign is led by the treasurer of his local Conservative association, Phillip Dawson, who is homosexual.
The Reverend Malcolm Clarke, minister at Hinckley United Reform Church, said two large "historic inscribed" windows had been completely smashed. The minister said he was shocked and saddened by the attack: "I feel sad and let down," Mr Clarke said.
The Christian owners of a guesthouse who restrict double rooms to married couples have been ordered to pay £3,600 in damages to a homosexual couple in January 2011. Their appeal was lost in February 2012. In November 2013 they were forced to sell their B&B.
Secularists campaign to ban the use of National Health Service money to fund hospital chaplains.
The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu received racist and threatening messages just days after he voiced his support for traditional marriage, sparking a police hate crime investigation.
The students’ union of University College in London has passed a motion to officially make the campus “pro-choice” and to impose a “restriction of freedom of speech”.
A group of nine firemen from Glasgow, including several Roman Catholics, were disciplined by their employers for refusing to march in a ‘gay pride’ rally. Strathclyde Fire Board apologized after legal steps were taken.
A church-going former mayor in Warwickshire who declined to take part in a Halloween event has been found in breach of equality rules for upsetting pagans.
A principal, Malory Nye, and his wife have been sacked from the Al-Maktoum College of Higher Education in Dundee, Scotland, whose stated aim is to promote multiculturalism because they are white Christians, they claim. ‘We were sacked for being white and Christian', claim principal and his wife dismissed from Dubai-backed 'multicultural' college."
An anonymous artist donated a stone bust of a cardinal with his face covered in pixels to a gallery in Liverpool. The sculpture implies that Church officials are criminals. "...it’s easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity - the lies, the corruption, the abuse," says the producer. Reyahn King, the art gallery's director is "thrilled".
“I’m…campaigning against evil Christians (that’s not all Christians, just bad ones) who think that gay people should not lead happy lives and get married to their same-sex partners,” said Nick Lansley, TESCO Head of Research and Development for the Tesco website.
A diversity survey conducted internally by the BBC revealed that only 22.5 of its employees are Christians. In a country where the majority of the population identified themselves as Christians, the fact that the BBC staff do not constitute a fair representation of the public constitute a factor that needs to be corrected, said BBC veteran Roger Bolton.
The National Secular Society uses courts to stop Bideford Town Council from keeping prayers on its agenda.
Produced by „Hit Entertainment“, the TV episode “Keeping up with James” based on Reveren Wilbert Audry´s books was stripped of every reference to Christmas. The Christmas season is called winter holidays, and the Christmas tree is named the holiday tree. On the DVD narrator Michael Angelis tells viewers: “You’ll always see a tree with decorations during the winter holidays.”
Nouhad Halawi claimed she and other Christian colleagues at Heathrow Airport's World Duty Free shop are victims of a hate campaign run by fundamentalist Muslims. According to Halawi, she suffered consistent pressure and threats because of her beliefs, and for wearing a necklace cross.
Former Scottish National Party leader Gordon Wilson has said a “lynch mob” booted him off the board of Dundee Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) because of his support for traditional marriage after Mr Wilson had responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on redefining marriage, saying that he was opposed to the idea.
Adrian Smith (Christian, 54, father of two) of Manchester was demoted by his employer Trafford Council and Trafford Housing Trust after making a comment regarding the controversial plans of the ministers that could allow same-sex couples by law to „marry“ in Church although the Church of England refuses to participate.
The former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe pointed out the UK government's double standards in its threats to cut aid to countries which persecute gay people while turning a blind eye to persecution against Christians.
The Scottish Government failed to mention Christmas in its “Winter Festivals” programme. In an official news release the Government mentions St Andrew’s Day eleven times, Hogmanay five times and Burns Night several times. But Christmas is not mentioned at all.