CHRISTIAN NEWS NETWORK

Trans-Species? Men Who Live Like Dogs Featured in Documentary on ‘Human Pups’
By Heather Clark on May 30, 2016
Pups-compressedMANCHESTER, U.K. — In the midst of national discussion on transgender issues, the trend of men dressing up and behaving like dogs, known as “pup play,” was recently discussed in a new documentary on “The Secret Life of Human Pups.”
The documentary, produced by Britain’s Channel 4, features a variety of English men who live like dogs in their private lives—a movement that often involves living with a handler, dressing in a rubber canine suit, barking to communicate, fetching balls, having your belly rubbed and other dog-like behavior.
“In the U.K., there are estimated to be 10,000 human pups: men who dress in elaborate dog suits and behave like dogs. This remarkable documentary explores their hidden world,” a description of the production outlines.
Director Guy Simmonds says that he wasn’t aware that the concept was so prevalent in the country until researching the matter in greater depth. He decided to film a documentary on the subject after running across online photos of men engaging in pup play.
“On the surface you’d think it was a few people dressing up as dogs behind closed doors. But the more we researched it, the more surprised I was to learn how large the community was in the U.K.,” he told Newsweek. “They’ve got their own social networking sites, events and competitions.”
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/30/trans-species-men-who-live-like-dogs-featured-in-documentary-on-human-pups/


 Hillsong NYC Youth Leader Appears as ‘Naked Cowboy’ Reportedly for Women’s Conference   
May 29, 2016 07:04 pm
  Simila-compressedPhoto Credit: Instagram NEW YORK -- Concerns are being raised after the youth leader at Hillsong NYC appeared as the "naked cowboy" at a recent women's conference. Hillsong's Colour Conference was held on May 6 and 7 in Madison Square Garden with ticket prices set at $209.50 a person in advance and $219.50 at the door. 
“Colour seeks to ‘gather, equip and mobilize’ women of all age, background and culture in the belief that together we can and will make the world a better place,” a description of the event reads. “Our team labor to create an atmosphere that will refresh heart and soul, and inspire transformation. Our desire is that worship, creativity and the presentation of God’s Word (the Bible) will honor the King of heaven and cause faith to rise, enabling the enormous potential within to become reality.”
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/29/hillsong-nyc-youth-leader-appears-as-naked-cowboy-reportedly-for-womens-conference/


Concerns Raised as Hillsong’s Carl Lentz Praises Oprah Winfrey After Appearance on Super Soul Sunday   
May 28, 2016 11:17 am
  Lentz Winfrey-compressedPhoto Credit: Carl Lentz/Facebook NEW YORK -- Hipster Hillsong NYC leader Carl Lentz has drawn concerns over the past week after he posted a photograph on social media announcing his upcoming appearance on Oprah Winfrey's "Super Soul Sunday" television broadcast. "I really enjoyed my time with @oprah filming for her Super Soul 
Sunday show,” he wrote on May 18. “She is truly a special woman and a culture changer. To come from absolute poverty in Mississippi and reach the point where she became the first African American multi-billionaire takes a passion and drive that is exceptional and tireless.”
He continued to praise the talk show host, and said that others should emulate Oprah’s practice of thanking Jesus with each new day.
“What struck me most about her, was her ease and kindness,” Lentz remarked. “She told me her key was ‘waking up each day and thanking Jesus for loving me and thanking Him for all he has done.’ That practice, in that order, is one to be copied.”
The Hillsong leader also stated that he was thankful for the opportunity to talk about spiritual matters on Oprah’s broadcast.
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/28/concerns-raised-as-hillsongs-carl-lentz-praises-oprah-winfrey-after-appearance-on-super-soul-sunday/



Obama Issues Annual Proclamation Calling Upon Americans to ‘Celebrate’ June as ‘LGBT Pride Month’   
Jun 02, 2016 08:41 am
 As the most vocal president in American history in regard to homosexuality and transgenderism, Barack Obama issued on Tuesday his eighth annual proclamation calling upon Americans to "celebrate diversity" in observing June as "LGBT Pride Month." "Since our founding, America has advanced on an unending path toward becoming a more perfect Union," he wrote in his lengthy proclamation, which praised advocates who seek to change the nation’s laws for homosexual causes.
“The fight for dignity and equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people is reflected in the tireless dedication of advocates and allies who strive to forge a more inclusive society,” Obama said. “They have spurred sweeping progress by changing hearts and minds and by demanding equal treatment—under our laws, from our courts, and in our politics.”
Therefore, he said, “This month, we recognize all they have done to bring us to this point, and we recommit to bending the arc of our Nation toward justice.”
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http://christiannews.net/2016/06/02/obama-issues-annual-proclamation-calling-upon-americans-to-celebrate-june-as-lgbt-pride-month/


Oregon Woman Concerned After Man Who Identifies as Woman Admitted at Women’s Shelter  
May 30, 2016 11:00 am
  sad-compressedPhoto Credit: Cherie Otto PORTLAND, Ore. -- In the midst of discussion about transgender restroom issues, an Oregon woman is speaking out to tell her story after a man who identifies as a woman was permitted to share sleeping and restroom space with women at an all-women's shelter. Malka Davis, a formerly homeless woman, recently 
penned an op-ed for the Oregonian, in which she explained why she believes it was wrong for the shelter to allow the man to live at the facility among dozens of females.
The incident occurred in 2014 as Davis was seeking to put her life back together. She recounted that a few weeks into her stay that some of the other women seemed to be in distress, and came to find out that it was because a man who “self-identified” as a woman was in their midst. One woman even left altogether.
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/30/oregon-woman-concerned-after-man-who-identifies-as-woman-admitted-at-womens-shelter/



Scientists Beginning to Doubt Discovery Once Touted as Evidence for Evolution  
May 29, 2016 11:21 am
  BacteriaAn influential scientific discovery that was once celebrated as compelling evidence for evolution may require reinterpretation, according to a growing number of scientists and researchers. In 2008, biologist Richard Lenski of Michigan State University jubilantly announced that he had witnessed a “major evolutionary innovation.”   Lenski, as part of his Long-Term Experimental Evolution (LTEE) project, had been carefully observing the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) reproduce in a lab. Finally, after 20 years and 31,000 E. coli generations, Lenski noticed that one of the bacteria populations had seemingly mutated and acquired the ability to process the chemical citrate when oxygen was present.
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/29/scientists-beginning-to-doubt-discovery-once-touted-as-evidence-for-evolution/



Christian Rocker’ Who Came Out as ‘Gay’ to Perform at Pride Festival  
Jun 02, 2016 07:15 pm
  A self-identifying Christian rock band whose lead singer came out as homosexual this week and was applauded by several other professing Christian musicians, has now announced that it will be performing at a festival this month celebrating "gay pride." Everyday Sunday's Trey Pearson, 35, released a letter to fans on Monday to explain that he had been struggling with feelings for the same gender for the past 20 years and recently decided to no longer stifle the struggle. The band is known for its songs “Find Me Tonight,” “Wake Up! Wake Up!” and “Best Night of Our Lives.”
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http://christiannews.net/2016/06/02/christian-rocker-who-came-out-as-gay-to-perform-at-pride-festival/



Georgia ACLU Leader Quits Over Young Daughters’ Encounter With Men in Women’s Restroom   Jun 03, 2016 10:40 am
   The head of the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has resigned from her position over her disagreement on transgender restroom use following an experience where her own young daughters became frightened in encountering three large men in the women's restroom. Maya Dillard Smith says that her values were different from those of the ACLU, which has backed the Obama administration’s controversial transgender restroom mandate for schools and has expressed opposition against North Carolina’s restroom law.
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http://christiannews.net/2016/06/03/georgia-aclu-leader-quits-over-young-daughters-encounter-with-men-in-womens-restroom/


Atheist Activist Group Wants Illinois Principal Fired for ‘Promoting Christianity’ to Students   May 31, 2016 10:54 am
 A professing atheist activist organization is recommending that a Chicago-area principal be fired for promoting Christianity to students. The Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) recently sent a letter to the attorney for Rich Township Schools after becoming informed that Rich South High  Principal Michael McGrone announced that his goal is to “allow God back in school.”
It pointed to an article in the Chicago Tribune, which outlined that McGrone supports prayer in school and had a Christian woman, known as Mother Henderson, pray with students in the cafeteria over a microphone.
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/31/atheist-activist-group-wants-illinois-principal-fired-for-promoting-christianity-to-students/


911 Audio Reveals Baby Was ‘Breathing,’ ‘Moving’ After Attempted Arizona Abortion   May 30, 2016 12:00 pm
  Photo Credit: Markus KniggePhoto Credit: Markus Knigge PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Newly-released audio footage of a 911 call from an Arizona abortion facility reveals that a child who had been scheduled for an abortion was breathing and moving after exiting the womb. The incident occurred in February at Family Planning Associates in Phoenix, Arizona, operated by abortionist Edward Allred.
The child’s 27-year-old mother had arrived to complete the abortion of her 21-week-old (5 month old) baby, which is “legal” under Arizona law. She had taken an abortifacient two days prior as per the facility’s instructions, which was to have stopped the child’s heartbeat.
However, the baby survived the medicinal stage of the abortion, and the mother went into labor as the surgical procedure began.
Abortionist Eleanor Stanley asserted that she found no heartbeat after the baby was born, but when workers noticed the baby moving on the scale, one exclaimed, “Oh my G**! This fetus is moving!”  They then called 911. It is required under federal law for abortionists to provide medical care to survivor infants and not leave them to die.
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http://christiannews.net/2016/05/30/911-audio-reveals-baby-was-breathing-moving-after-attempted-arizona-abortion/

Billy Graham’s Muslims Are ‘Saved’ Remarks Revived After Son Franklin Opposes ‘Same God’ Professor
By Heather Clark on December 20, 2015109 Comments
  9121  22 Share4  8  9270

Billy_Franklin_Graham-compressedRemarks from Billy Graham asserting that Muslims and those of other religions who “turn to the only light they have” without consciously trusting Christ are saved—despite clear warning in Scripture—have come back to light after his son Franklin Graham, the president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), expressed disagreement with a Wheaton professor who contends that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
As previously reported, associate professor Larycia Hawkins posted to Facebook two photos of herself wearing a hijab earlier this month, and stated in a lengthy explanation that she plans to wear it everywhere she goes during the Advent—including at the professedly Christian college and to church.
“I stand in human solidarity with my Muslim neighbor because we are formed of the same primordial clay, descendants of the same cradle of humankind—a cave in Sterkfontein, South Africa that I had the privilege to descend into to plumb the depths of our common humanity in 2014,” Hawkins wrote.
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She said that not only does she have a common ancestry with Muslims, but that Christians and Muslims worship the same God.
“I stand in religious solidarity with Muslims because they, like me, a Christian, are people of the book,” Hawkins asserted. “And as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.”
In light of controversy over the matter, the professor was suspended by university officials and placed under review. Some Wheaton students protested her suspension, calling for Hawkins to be reinstated.
Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, who graduated from Wheaton in 1943, expressed dismay over Hawkins’ actions and statements in a social media post on Wednesday.
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“Can you believe this Wheaton College professor who says she’s going to wear a hijab for the holidays this year to show solidarity with Islam? Shame on her!” he wrote.
Graham Screenshot“She said that Muslims and Christians worship the same God. Well she is absolutely wrong—she obviously doesn’t know her Bible and she doesn’t know Islam,” Graham continued. “The God of the Bible has a Son named Jesus Christ. The god of Islam doesn’t have a son, and even the thought of that would be sacrilegious to Muslims. The God of the Bible sent His Son to earth to die in our place and save us from our sins.”
Graham’s remarks come in contrast to those made by his father in 1997 while being interviewed on Robert Schuller’s “Hour of Power.” During the segment, Graham stated that Muslims and those of other religions may be saved without hearing of Christ or reading the Scriptures in realizing that they “need something,” although not pinpointing what it is.
“I think that everybody that loves Christ or knows Christ—whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ,” Billy Graham said. “And that’s what God is doing today. He’s calling people out of the world for His name.”
“Whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they’ve been called by God,” Graham continued. “They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their heart that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have.”
“And I think that they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in Heaven,” he declared.
Schuller then sought clarification on Graham’s remarks.
“What I hear you saying that it’s possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they’ve been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you’re saying?” he asked.
“Yes, it is, because I believe that,” Graham replied. “I’ve met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they’ve believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they’ve tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived.”
In 2005, when asked by talk show host Larry King if Muslims and others will go to Heaven even though they don’t believe in Christ, Graham replied, “That’s in God’s hands. I can’t be the judge.”
“How do you feel when you see a lot of these strong Christian leaders go on television and say, ‘You are condemned. You will live in Hell if you do not accept Jesus Christ,’ and they are forceful and judgmental?” King asked.
“Well, they have a right to say that, and they are true to a certain extent, but I don’t — that’s not my calling,” Graham replied. “My calling is to preach the love of God and the forgiveness of God and the fact that He does forgive us. … [Y]ou can get off on all kinds of different side trends, and in my earlier ministry, I did the same, but as I got older, I guess I became more mellow and more forgiving and more loving.”
Efforts to obtain comment from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association as to whether Graham still holds to the belief have been unsuccessful, and Franklin Graham has likewise not addressed concerns over the matter. However, in the past, representatives have reportedly pointed to an article published in Decision Magazine in the 1960s, which outlined Graham’s viewpoint on the issue.
Franklin Graham raised concern in 2012 for removing language from the association’s website referring to Mormonism as a cult

VIDEO 1.13 min
Billy Graham: Muslims, Non-Believers 'Saved' Apart from Hearing About Jesus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qL0tLzzn7PA


Published on 20 Dec 2015
Remarks from Billy Graham asserting that Muslims and those of other religions who "turn to the only light they have" without consciously trusting Christ are saved---despite clear warning in Scripture--have come back to light after his son Franklin Graham, the head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, expressed disagreement with a Wheaton professor this past week who contends that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Read more: http://christiannews.net/2015/12/20/b...

http://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Sorry-Whoopi-Hitler-was-no-Christian?utm_source=Premier%20Christian%20Media&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6559665_Christianity%2011%2F12%2F15&utm_content=Hit&dm_i=16DQ,3WLGX,619BHX,E2TM3,1
Sorry Whoopi, Hitler was no Christian
Dec 2015
Whoopi Goldberg recently argued that Hitler was a Christian. Professor of History Richard Weikart sets the record straight

Whatever one thinks about the controversy over Syrian refugees and ISIS, Whoopi Goldberg’s recent comments on national television trying to convince us that Christian refugees are just as scary as Muslims disseminates an idea that circulates widely on the internet, i.e., that Hitler was a Christian.

She stated, 'There have been a lot of horrifying—there have been a lot of monster Christians.  Hitler was a Christian.' When her interlocutors balked at this, she then defended her position by saying, 'He didn’t like the Catholics, remember? So he thought of himself as a Christian person.' Goldberg apparently doesn’t understand that Catholicism is a branch of Christianity, or that Hitler—despite his opposition to Catholicism—was officially a Catholic.

If Goldberg were the only one confused about Hitler’s relationship to Christianity, we could ignore it. However, she was expressing a view that circulates widely, especially in atheist circles. Leading atheist intellectuals, such as Richard Dawkins, have insisted that Hitler was a sincere Christian. Their evidence? He said so himself in some of his speeches in the 1920s. In one famous quote circulating on dozens of atheist websites, Hitler stated (on April 12, 1922), 'My Christian feeling directs me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter...As a Christian I do not have the duty to allow the wool to be pulled over my eyes, but I have the duty to be a fighter for the truth and for what is right...As a Christian I also have a duty toward my own people (Volk).'

Hitler purposely lied about his religious convictions
Strangely, those trumpeting this quotation as proof that Hitler was indeed a Christian display the attitude: Hitler said it, I believe it, and that settles it. Never does it seem to cross their minds that Hitler might be - gasp  -lying for political advantage. They are as convinced of Hitler’s veracity as the naïve British Prime Minister Chamberlain was when he arrived back from the Munich Conference waving a sheet of paper with Hitler’s signature on it and proclaiming: 'peace for our time.' In short, they gullibly swallow Hitler’s propaganda (and they blithely ignore a plethora of Hitler’s anti-Christian remarks).

Fortunately, my forthcoming book, Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs That Drove the Third Reich (2016) will definitively lay to rest the canard that Hitler was a Christian. By examining in painstaking detail Hitler’s writings, speeches, private conversations, and the testimony of his colleagues, I demonstrate that Hitler’s worldview was far more anti-Christian than Christian. For one thing, there is powerful evidence that Hitler purposely lied about his religious convictions. For instance, when Hitler was in Landsberg Prison, his right-hand man, Rudolf Hess, wrote in a confidential letter that Hitler told him that, as painful as it was for him, 'for reasons of political expediency he [Hitler] had to play the hypocrite toward his church.'

Hitler clearly did not believe in Jesus’s resurrection, claiming that Jesus’s life ended in failure, since he was martyred by the Jews.
Secondly, Hitler often made anti-Christian remarks to his private entourage, and even occasionally slipped in some anti-Christian comments in his public writings and speeches. Hitler not only abhorred the Old Testament of the Christian Bible as Jewish, but he rejected most of the New Testament, especially the epistles of Paul, whom he considered a sneaky Jewish rabbi who smuggled Jewish ideas into Christianity. To be sure, Hitler did esteem Jesus highly, because he thought Jesus was an Aryan antisemitic fighter fathered by a Roman solider (thus not the Son of God born of a virgin). His favorite Bible story, as he told it, was when Jesus wielded a whip to drive those money-grubbing Jews out of the temple. Hitler clearly did not believe in Jesus’s resurrection, claiming that Jesus’s life ended in failure, since he was martyred by the Jews.

Almost from the beginning of his political career to the end, Hitler portrayed Christianity as a tool of the Jews that supplanted the Greco-Roman culture that he loved. He continually complained that Christianity was still imbued with a Jewish spirit. He remonstrated against Christian morality, especially its exaltation of humility and compassion for the sick and weak.

On the other hand, Hitler held in the highest esteem anti-Christian philosophers, such as Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Hitler even donated his own personal funds to the Nietzsche Archive to promote the ideas of this God-is-dead philosopher. Hitler also expressed admiration for the religious views of Frederick the Great, who was a patron of such Enlightenment luminaries as the deist Voltaire and the atheist La Mettrie.

In sum, Hitler remained officially a Catholic throughout his life, and he esteemed Jesus highly. However, he denied that Jesus was God and ridiculed Christian doctrines, rejected the Christian holy book, and hated Christian moral standards. In one diatribe in 1941 he stated, 'Christianity is the most insane thing that a human brain in its delusion has ever brought forth, a mockery of everything divine.'

Richard Weikart is professor of history at California State University, Stanislaus, and author of Hitler’s Religion: The Twisted Beliefs That Drove the Third Reich (forthcoming in 2016).

This article was first published on Townhall.com

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5 places that shouldn’t be closed to Donald Trump
By: Jonty Langley | Dec 2015
Republican Presidential hopeful and Biff Tannen lookalike, Donald Trump, may have gone too far this time.

The billionaire reality-TV-host-turned-political-sketch-writer’s-dream recently caused more anger than usual with his suggestion that the US should ban Muslims from entering its borders.

Now, the natural reaction to this sort of stupid, unenforceable, borderline fascist nonsense is to close our own borders to the threat of a Trump invasion. Some 357,000 or so people have suggested that by signing a petition to the UK Parliament to ban Trump from entering the UK. But we’re Christians. You wouldn’t catch us trying to block, ban or bully things or people we don’t agree with. It’s just not our way.

So, in the spirit of being nice and repaying evil with good, let’s not pull up the drawbridges. Let’s welcome the politician with the Flock of Seagulls hairdo, even as we reject his politics of fear and hate.

Here are some suggestions of places that should open their hearts and their doors to Donald J Trump:

1. Our borders

Donald Trump clearly has some odd ideas about Britain. He recently told a journalist that 'We have places in London and other places that are so radicalised that the police are afraid for their own lives.' An assertion so ludicrous it prompted not-exactly-left-leaning Mayor of London Boris Johnson to debunk the ridiculous idea and say that: 'the only reason I wouldn’t go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting Donald Trump.'

So let’s not ban him. Let’s welcome him. Since he seems incapable of seeing it in his own country, let’s show him in the UK a country where the vast majority of us don’t fear our Muslim neighbours, but laugh with them. Let’s show him the former British soldier who lost a leg fighting in Afghanistan who brilliantly denounces islamophobia. Let’s show him how a Muslim charity got 60 volunteers to distribute supplies and moral support to victims of flooding in Cumbria. Let’s let him in, give him a decent curry and over a pint in a pub full of different ethnicities and national origins, explain to him what his name means in our slang.

2. Our Borders

I know. It shut down as a chain of book stores in 2009, but the principle holds true: be it in Borders or Blackwell’s, or Smiths or Waterstones, Mr Trump could do with reading a few more books. He could start in the history section, reading about where it ends when you try to gain power by playing on people’s prejudices against a race or religion. But, then, judging by what his ex wife says, maybe he won’t be that shocked.

3. Mexico’s borders

Trump has said some lovely things about Mexicans coming over to America. Like that he was sure some of them were not rapists or criminals. That 'some of them, I assume, are good people.'

'Why Mr Trump,' Mexicans and people of Mexican extraction across America must have said, blushing, 'you flatter us.' It’s time for Mexico to repay that kindness. Open your doors, Mexico! Welcome him in! But don’t waste his time with all that touristy stuff or the thriving culture or business districts, the vast majority of hospitable, hard-working, law-abiding, faith-filled, boring people. No, no, no. Look at his hair. Trump is an original. He’s basically a Hipster. Give him something less mainstream. Introduce him to some of your entrepreneurs in the pharmaceutical industry.

4. Hair salons

Seriously, guys. Open. Your. Doors. This man needs you.

5. The Church

Okay, those last two were mean. Sorry. We’re Christians. We should love people, even if they are inciting racial and religious hate at every opportunity, just to get a bump in the polls. Even when they spread lies that induce fear and division, just to gain power. But that doesn’t mean we should support them. And while a disturbing number of American Christians do, many don’t.

Russell Moore is something of a big deal in the not-terribly-liberal Southern Baptist Convention in the United States and has come out very publicly against Evangelicals supporting Trump, as well as arguing against Trump’s foolproof ‘closing the borders to people who admit they’re Muslims’ proposed security measures from a Baptist standpoint. So perhaps Donald Trump could do with some time in the Church. Not the liberal, progressive, namby-pamby Church – he’d hate that. But a hardcore, Bible-believing, no-nonsense, you’re-fired, not so much with the compromising, Baptist church.

We could pray for him. We could tell him about the Middle Eastern guy we worship, who started life as a refugee. We could mention the stuff about loving enemies, welcoming outsiders, driving out fear with love. We could forgive him and accept his foibles, let him know that Jesus accepts him, too.

But let’s not confuse that grace and acceptance with the idea that this man is fit to be the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. That would be a very, very bad thing. 

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About the Authors
 
Jonty Langley
Jonty Langley is a writer, former DJ and recovering Philosophy major. By day he works at a Christian mission agency, by night he argues with people on the internet. 
http://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/5-places-that-shouldn-t-be-closed-to-Donald-Trump?utm_source=Premier%20Christian%20Media&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6559665_Christianity%2011%2F12%2F15&utm_content=5&dm_i=16DQ,3WLGX,619BHX,E2TM3,1

Are we witnessing the end of Christian Britain?
David Robertson responds to a controversial new report about faith in public life.
http://www.premierchristianity.com/Blog/Are-we-witnessing-the-end-of-Christian-Britain?utm_source=Premier%20Christian%20Media&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6559665_Christianity%2011%2F12%2F15&utm_content=End&dm_i=16DQ,3WLGX,619BHX,E2TM3,1

A two-year interfaith commission has come up with a report that is bound to cause a little bit of controversy. 

The 150-page report actually makes for fascinating reading and I will need to take some time to go over it again – to get all the nuances. But the main hits which will be picked up by the media, include the following:

Britain is no longer a Christian country
Faith schools are socially divisive and selection on the basis of faith should be cut back
Anglican bishops in the House of Lords should be cut back and replaced with those of other faiths and other denominations. The report states; The pluralist character of modern society should be reflected in national forums such as the House of Lords, so that they include a wider range of worldviews and religious traditions, and of Christian denominations other than the Church of England, as recommended by the Royal Commission on the Reform of the House of Lords.
The Coronation service should include those of other faiths
Religious radicals should be allowed to speak in University courts
Thought for the Day on the BBC should include non-religious messages
School assemblies should be replaced by ‘time for reflection’
There should be a national ‘consultation’ to draw up a kind of 21st Century Magna Carta to determine what British values are
Where a religious organisation is best placed to deliver a social good, it should not be disadvantaged when applying for funding to do so, so long as its services are not aimed at seeking converts
The C of E are not happy. Nicky Morgan the education secretary is not happy. The National Secular Society are not happy. Lots of people will be unhappy – for different reasons.

Whilst there are actually parts of the report that are helpful and suggestions that make sense, I would offer the following critique.

Inter-faith control

An inter-faith group comes up with a report that recommends more inter-faith control. What a surprise!

Any of us who have served on these kinds of committees and groups know exactly what is to be expected. It is a Disneyesque view of human society and religion which tells us that we are all basically the same, we all get along and its only the few odd bods and ‘bad guys’ who prevent us living in total harmony.

The inter faith model only works in the minds of those who essentially regard all religions as the same, all human beings as basically good and who think that if only they can get to implement their particular version of utopia then it will happen.

Is Britain a Christian country?

It is true that in one sense Britain is no longer a Christian country. The fact that the majority of people do not attend church (did they ever?), the increase in other religions (particularly Islam – which seems a major focus of the report) and the ever-increasing demands of secular humanism are indicators that much of Christian Britain has disappeared.

However there is another sense in which Britain very much remains a Christian country. That is our foundation on which we are built, it is our historical heritage and maybe, before we give up on that that, we need to know what we are selling our heritage for. 

The secularist nirvana and the interfaith paradise are as yet untested pipe dreams
The secularist nirvana and the interfaith paradise are as yet untested pipe dreams, fed to us by those already in positions of power and establishment. For those of us who believe that Christianity is the source and therefore the best guarantee of our Western liberal democracy, it is profoundly dangerous to remove the foundations and walls, without knowing what we are going to replace them with.

Useless religion

The report in effect suggests replacing the Christian foundations of our society with a vague inter faith potage that is dominated by the values and principles of secular humanism. For example the report states that people are 'free to express their beliefs and practise a religion, providing they do not constrict the rights and freedoms of others'. 

This sounds good until you ask the question who determines the rights and freedoms of others? What about someone’s freedom to be racist? Or someone’s freedom to marry whoever they want? Or the freedom to engage in sexual perversity? Or make oneself rich at the expense of others?

The danger is that we end up creating a secular state where the State acts as God, and where the powerful, rich elites determine the ‘rights and freedoms' of others according to their own fashions and fancies. Religion that is reduced to the level of a knitting group or a golf club may be harmless, but it is also fundamentally useless.

A seat at the table

Overall I would suggest that Christians especially need to be very careful before going along with this report. Some of us may be offered a seat at the table, but that’s no use if we don’t get a say in the menu! For example in the section on religious worship in schools the report states 'In this connection we applaud the joint initiative in Scotland between the Humanist Society Scotland and the Church of Scotland to work together for an inclusive ‘time for refection’.' Again it sounds nice, but at best it is waffle and at worst it is Orwellian distortion of the English language. An ‘inclusive’ time for reflection is nothing of the sort. It only includes those who buy into the humanist agenda (including the humanists in the church) and excludes any one who dares to disagree with that agenda. 

The danger is that we end up creating a secular state where the State acts as God
Britain’s liberal democracy and its values of freedom, equality and tolerance are based upon Christianity. This report is indicative of a well-meaning inter-faith movement that is in danger of becoming a Trojan Horse for the new ‘Human Rights’ religion of the metro-elites. It is the poor, the marginalised and the ordinary people of this country who will suffer most if we allow our country to be taken over and destroyed by this untried, untested new faith. I prefer to stick with Jesus and his Word. 

About the Authors

David Robertson
David is the Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland. He's also the minister of St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee and director of Solas the Centre for Public Christianity.

Evangelical Alliance warns of "state regulation" of the Church over extremism proposals
Thu 10 Dec 2015
By Aaron James
The Evangelical Alliance has expressed concerns over what it calls the potential "state regulation" of the UK church through the government's counter-extremism proposals.

It's speaking as a consultation over the government's Counter Extremist Strategy continues, where Christians and others can submit evidence and have their say.

Under the current recommendations Ofsted inspectors would regularly visit children's places of education outside of schools to ensure they aren't being radicalised, if the children attend those places for more than six hours a week.

The EA has said that church activities including youth clubs, Bible studies, Sunday schools and festivals could be included in the out-of-school activities monitored by Ofsted, and that this could become the state monitoring and interfering in what the Church does.

Simon McCrossan, Head of Public Policy at the EA, told Premier: "The proposals are potentially so wide that they would capture the registration, inspection and regulation of large swathes of church life.

"Whether it is intentional or not by the government... this could amount to the indirect state regulation of private religious practice, and that's not a feature we're used to in a free, liberal democracy.

"They [Ofsted] do of course reserve the right to identify unsuitable teachers and undesirable teaching. Well of course that raises the question 'how does one decide what that is?' And there's a real concern that historical, biblical doctrine might be interpreted as incongruous with ideas such as British values.

"The government has to secure and recognise our fundamental freedoms within their strategy to deal with extremism. We don't want to see the withdrawal of great supplementary education that Christians of all denominations do in some of the most vulnerable and challenging contexts."

Premier has contacted the Department of Education for a comment and is waiting for a response.

The government's consultation on its Counter Extremism Strategy ends on 11 January 2016.
http://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Evangelical-Alliance-warns-of-state-regulation-of-the-Church-over-extremism-proposals?utm_source=Premier%20Christian%20Media&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6557960_daily%20news%20email%2011dec&dm_i=16DQ,3WK5K,619BHX,E2OUA,1


Church accuses cinema chain of hypocrisy after Lord's Prayer ban
Church accuses cinema chain of hypocrisy after Lord's Prayer ban
Thu 10 Dec 2015
By Hannah Tooley
The Church of England has accused a number of cinema chains of hypocrisy for showing a short Hindu film despite it banning an advert about the Lord's Prayer on religious grounds. 

Odeon, Cineworld and Vue cinemas are showing the short film, Sanjay's Super Team, which shows Hindu Gods acting as superheroes to protect a young boy.

In November, the same cinema chains refused to show an advert for the Lord's Prayer saying it could be offensive to people of other faiths and no faith at all.

The advert had been due to be shown before the new Star Wars film.

After initially agreeing the advert would be approved by Digital Cinema Media, it was then banned.

The Church said that every "advertisement conveys a message".


Revd Arun Arora, director of communications for the Archbishops' Council said: "I haven't seen the film but as someone who grew up watching Hindi films and brought up on Bollywood I have no problem whatsoever with Sanjay and certainly have no objection to the cinemas showing this film.

"But the fact that they are doing so demonstrates the incoherence of their on the hoof policy making.

"Every film and advertisement conveys a message.

"And this one seems to convey an obviously pro-religion, in this case pro-Hinduism one.

"There is an unfortunate combination of double standards and hypocrisy on display in this decision making process which needs addressing urgently.

"As Rowan Williams wrote recently, 'Advertising our Christian history is not intruding dangerous propaganda into a neutral and benign space. It is competing with existing propaganda, existing philosophies and ideologies.'

"All we ask is the opportunity to be heard. We remain hopeful that the cinemas will demonstrate the necessary strength of leadership, change their minds and show the justpray.uk film."

WATCH VIDEO CLIP
A spokesperson for Odean said that: "It is a film, not an advertisment, so it is not covered by our advertising policies."
http://www.premier.org.uk/News/UK/Church-accuses-cinema-chain-of-hypocrisy-after-Lord-s-Prayer-ban?utm_source=Premier%20Christian%20Media&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6557960_daily%20news%20email%2011dec&dm_i=16DQ,3WK5K,619BHX,E2OUA,1