These articles were first published in our April edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
A campaign was launched in late February to bring about a law to protect religious freedoms in the UK.
The law would hope to ‘affirm the freedom from being required to support a particular worldview or set of beliefs in order to hold a public sector job; stand for election; work in teaching, healthcare and law; study at university; or give parental care to a child. A review of the supporting literature is on page 5.
A blog post in February reported that a scout leader had his membership removed by the Scouting Association after expressing concerns about anti-Christian bias in the scouting magazine.
The magazine appeared to be sidelining Christian events in its calendar, and it encouraged groups to meet for celebrations in venues that were not churches in a bid to be more inclusive. In his letter to the editor, he likened the magazine’s photograph of a veiled female Scout leader to ‘Darth Vadar’.
A petition to reinstate Paul Song as a chaplain at Brixton Prison received over 20,000 signatures in the first few weeks after being launched in February.
He was stopped from visiting the prison after an accusation about his conduct, which he denies, and which has not been investigated correctly. (See March en). MPs and senior church figures have begun asking questions of the prison.
Women’s Aid, which oversees more than 300 women’-only shelters and refuges, are now reviewing their hiring policies to potentially hire men who identify as women, it was reported in March.
These shelters protect women who have often been physically or sexually abused at the hands of men, which means that some of the women wish to be kept in a female-only space.
A clear majority of people on the Isle of Man support the right to life before birth and oppose sex-selective abortion, according to poll results revealed in February.
Research by ComRes, on behalf of Concerned Manx Healthcare Professionals, found that 70% of people believe the law should be defined so that sex-selective abortion is not possible, and 81% of people think all pregnant women should be assessed by a doctor before abortion to ensure that there is no coercion.
Sharia councils will not be given state backing, the government said in February, as it warned against appearing to have a parallel legal system.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd was responding to a report which considered how the councils operate in England and Wales. Rudd said ministers would, however, consider a proposal to ensure civil marriages are conducted alongside Islamic marriages.
An innovative mobile classroom which helps secondary school pupils think about real-life issues through the stories of Jesus, reached a milestone in February when its half millionth visitor stepped on board.
Since 2000, GSUS Live has visited over 800 secondary schools across the UK, helping pupils to explore the themes of fear, forgiveness and rejection through the teachings of Jesus. The interactive learning experience uses Bible story animations, contemporary Christian music and short films on historical and famous figures.
The Ofsted chief was accused of ‘mission creep’ by the government education committee in early March over proposals for out-of-school settings inspections.
Most Ofsted criticism has been directed towards faith schools, but only 25% of ‘illegal’ schools are faith based.