The Scottish Government should not redefine marriage
The Scottish Government has launched a public consultation asking whether the law should be changed to allow religious ceremonies for homosexual civil partnerships, and whether the legal definition of marriage should be changed to allow homosexual marriage. Mike Judge argues that the law should stay as it is. All the legal rights of marriage are already available to homosexual couples through civil partnership registrations. Last year only 465 civil partnerships were registered in Scotland. This is not about rights, this is about redefining marriage for the whole of society at the behest of a small minority of activists. If marriage is redefined for homosexual marriage, that new definition will be the one that the state promotes as the standard. It will have huge implications for what is taught in schools and for wider society.
Pray: against this and any further moves to change God’s definition of marriage. (Lev.18:22)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/the.scottish.government.should.not.redefine.marriage/28559.htm
Spain: Radical branch of Socialist Party pushing euthanasia
The organization Professionals for Ethics has warned that pro-euthanasia associations, working together with the radical wing of the Socialist Party, are hoping to ‘achieve their ideological goal of making death legal,’ reports Catholic News Agency. The organization said that pro-euthanasia forces are attempting to influence local governments until euthanasia is approved at the national level. Ramona Estevez, a 90-year-old comatose woman in the city of Huelva, has become the
poster child for supporters of euthanasia. Her son recently won approval from officials in the province of Andalusia to have her feeding tube withdrawn. Dr. Maria Alonso of Professionals for Ethics pointed out that the regional law establishes that every person has the right to reject any procedure in writing that is suggested by health care workers. This can be done even if such rejection would endanger that person’s life, she added.
Pray: against this increased pressure to allow euthanasia to become law. (Job.13:14)
Spain: Radical branch of Socialist Party pushing euthanasia
The organization Professionals for Ethics has warned that pro-euthanasia associations, working together with the radical wing of the Socialist Party, are hoping to ‘achieve their ideological goal of making death legal,’ reports Catholic News Agency. The organization said that pro-euthanasia forces are attempting to influence local governments until euthanasia is approved at the national level. Ramona Estevez, a 90-year-old comatose woman in the city of Huelva, has become the
poster child for supporters of euthanasia. Her son recently won approval from officials in the province of Andalusia to have her feeding tube withdrawn. Dr. Maria Alonso of Professionals for Ethics pointed out that the regional law establishes that every person has the right to reject any procedure in writing that is suggested by health care workers. This can be done even if such rejection would endanger that person’s life, she added.
Pray: against this increased pressure to allow euthanasia to become law. (Job.13:14)
Belgium: Seeks new Government after 450 day milestone
Divided French and Dutch speaking parties gathered in Brussels on Tuesday in a fresh bid to forge a new Belgian government. It is now more than 450 days since Belgium had a fully functioning administration; the country passed that unenviable milestone on Monday. Despite 15 months of deadlock it is hoped the latest round of talks will finally break through the impasse. Reporting from Brussels euronews Gulsum Alan says: ‘Some believe a deal can be reached if the Liberals and Christian Democrats want it badly enough. The alternative could be elections’. Longstanding linguistic and cultural divisions lie at the heart of the political stalemate, however the most acute problem is the future of Brussels. French speaking parties oppose plans to break up the city’s current electoral boundaries, a key demand of their Flemish counterparts. Belgium’s socialist leader Elio Di Rupo is the man currently charged with trying to strike a deal. He has had 10 predecessors since the elections in 2010.
Pray: for the spirit of unity to prevail and differences be healed. (Eph.4:3)
More: http://www.euronews.net/2011/09/06/belgium-seeks-new-government-after-450-milestone/
Belgium: Seeks new Government after 450 day milestone
Divided French and Dutch speaking parties gathered in Brussels on Tuesday in a fresh bid to forge a new Belgian government. It is now more than 450 days since Belgium had a fully functioning administration; the country passed that unenviable milestone on Monday. Despite 15 months of deadlock it is hoped the latest round of talks will finally break through the impasse. Reporting from Brussels euronews Gulsum Alan says: ‘Some believe a deal can be reached if the Liberals and Christian Democrats want it badly enough. The alternative could be elections’. Longstanding linguistic and cultural divisions lie at the heart of the political stalemate, however the most acute problem is the future of Brussels. French speaking parties oppose plans to break up the city’s current electoral boundaries, a key demand of their Flemish counterparts. Belgium’s socialist leader Elio Di Rupo is the man currently charged with trying to strike a deal. He has had 10 predecessors since the elections in 2010.
Pray: for the spirit of unity to prevail and differences be healed. (Eph.4:3)
More: http://www.euronews.net/2011/09/06/belgium-seeks-new-government-after-450-milestone/
Somalia: UN warns of 750,000 deaths
Up to 750,000 people could die as Somalia's drought worsens in the coming months, the UN has warned, declaring a famine in a new area. The UN says tens of thousands of people have died after what is said to be East Africa's worst drought for 60 years. Bay region becomes the sixth area to be officially declared a famine zone - mostly in parts of southern Somalia controlled by the Islamist al-Shabab. Some 12 million people across the region need food aid, the UN says. A sixth region of Somalia has been declared a famine area by the UN, which warns the situation will only worsen in the coming months. In total, 4 million people are in crisis in Somalia, with 750,000 people at risk of death in the coming four months in the absence of adequate response. Half of those who have already died are children.
Pray: for God’s mercy to rest upon the people and famine aid to reach the most needy. (Ps.108:6)
Uzbekistan: Christians face fines and abuse
Uzbekistan's authorities continue to punish peaceful religious believers with fines, physical abuse and court-ordered destruction of religious literature. According to a story by Forum 18 police in eastern Fergana Region police raided the home of a Protestant couple. The police inspector who led the raid said that police found and confiscated ‘banned’ religious literature. Asked what literature found in their home was banned, he identified the Bible and the New Testament. Also courts in the capital of Tashkent and eastern Syrdarya Region have handed down fines of up to one hundred times the minimum monthly wage to ten Protestants to punish them for unregistered activity. In both cases, Forum 18 said, the courts ordered that confiscated Christian literature - including Bibles and New Testaments - be destroyed. Another court in central Samarkand Region fined a member of an officially registered Baptist Church for ‘illegal’ religious teaching.
Pray: for the Church in Uzbekistan the God will be their ever present help in times of trouble. (Ps.9:9)
More: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/christians.face.fines.and.abuse.in.uzbekistan/28566.htm
Nigeria: Jos hit by new wave of attacks
At least 16 people have been killed in the latest violence between rival groups in central Nigeria's Plateau state, officials say. The villages of Babale and Dabwak, mostly inhabited by a Christian community, were attacked on Sunday night, the officials said. Eleven people were killed the previous night in another village, Tatu. More than 1,000 have been killed in religious and ethnic violence in Jos over the past two years. The state lies in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt, between the mainly Muslim north and Christian south. The BBC's Ishaq Khalid in the state capital, Jos, says the violence is widely seen as religious, but there are many other factors that trigger it - including political rivalry. In the Plateau state which surrounds Jos, Hausa-speaking Muslims are seen as supporters of the opposition, while ethnic Beroms, who are mostly Christian, are perceived to favour the governing People's Democratic Party.
Pray: that God would intervene and bring peace to this troubled nation and protection for His people. (Ps.5:11)
Sudan: Gunfire erupts on tense north-south border
Heavy gunfire broke out on Tuesday in the capital of Sudan's Blue Nile border state where government soldiers have been fighting armed opposition groups, a Reuters correspondent said. Tensions have mounted in states along Sudan's poorly-defined border with South Sudan since the south declared independence in July. Thousands fled after fighting erupted last week in Blue Nile state. Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan - both states on Sudan's side of the border - and the disputed Abyei area, saw heavy fighting during decades of civil war between the Khartoum government and South Sudan. Fresh clashes have broken out in all three this year. They are all still home to tens of thousands of people from ethnic groups that
sided with the south during the civil war. Khartoum has accused people from those groups of trying to spread chaos along the border, backed by South Sudan's government - a charge denied by South Sudan.
Pray: for a resolution to this conflict bringing peace and stability to this area. (Pr.29:4)
More: http://www.france24.com/en/20110907-tension-gunfire-sudan-border-kordofan-blue-nile-south-new-state
Tanzania: Christians live in cloud of fear in Zanzibar
On Tanzania’s semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, Christians live in a climate of fear. It’s a place where a young man flees the island to escape death threats from his Muslim family where others opt for jail, by entering a guilty plea, rather than face certain death from a furious mob. Yusuf Abdalla fled to Moshi, mainland Tanzania, after his family threatened to kill him in June. Having converted to Christianity after hearing the gospel on the radio when his family found out that he had left Islam. The beating he then received from family members left him with injuries to his head, hand and torso, as well as a serious mouth wound and substantial loss of blood, said an area pastor who requested anonymity. As soon as he had recovered enough to leave, Abdalla found refuge at the pastor’s church before fleeing to Moshi. Click on the ‘More’ link for more stories.
Pray: that God would lift the fear from His people and give them a spirit of boldness. (Act.4:29)
More: http://www.compassdirect.org/english/country/tanzania/article_117316.html