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Fri, 19 Jul 2019
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry: Boarding school run by monastic order ruled by 'hate and fear'
A former resident of Fort Augustus Abbey School, which was run by the Order of Benedictines in the Highlands, has described being beaten by a priest.
BBC
Priest 'systematically' abused boys at Catholic college, court told
A Catholic priest sexually abused two boys "regularly, systematically and horrifically", a jury was told.
BBC
Private Islamic school that had library book on how to help the Taliban is rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted
A private Islamic school that had an extremist library book on how to help the Taliban with "Don't make the Jews and the Christians your friends" on page one has been rated 'inadequate' by Ofsted.
Mail Online
Sajid Javid: Leaders must 'moderate language' to fight extremism
Home secretary Sajid Javid is to tell public figures they must "moderate their language" as part of a greater effort to tackle extremism.
BBC
Edinburgh prison bosses launch crackdown on inmates pretending to be Jewish to get better food
Prison bosses have launched a crackdown on a scam by cons pretending to be Jewish to get better food.
The Scottish Sun
‘The current laws around assisted dying are plainly inhumane and unjust’ – Vince Cable
Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable says parliament should act to empower individuals, ensuring that nobody with a rational desire to end their suffering is forced to suffer.
Politics Home
Court rejects bid to suspend part of Canadian province's religious symbols ban
A court in the Canadian province of Quebec on Thursday rejected a bid to suspend parts of a new provincial law that bans public sector employees from wearing religious symbols to work.
Reuters
‘Tehreek-e-Labbaik: how blasphemy case in Pakistan neutralised hardline religious party’
Abdullah Yusuf says Pakistan's Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labbaik appears to have been neutralised, and the rule of law and equal rights are the only way forward if Pakistan is to become a prosperous and progressive country.
The Conversation
Thu, 18 Jul 2019
‘Child protection laws are clear – except when it comes to male circumcision’ – NSS quoted
Ali May says that for men who are unhappy with the way their penis looks and feels as a result of being cut in infancy, there is no way back. Dr Antony Lempert of the NSS's Secular Medical Forum is quoted.
HuffPost
NSS urges council to reject APPG definition of Islamophobia
The NSS has urged Harrow Council in London to reject a popular definition of Islamophobia because of the risk it could act as a "back door blasphemy law".
Harrow Times
‘Mutual tolerance means we don’t ban lessons’
David Aaronovitch says protests outside schools in Birmingham are part of a faith-led backlash against liberal values that is gaining traction on the left and right.
The Times (£)
Peers back NI same sex marriage and abortion reform
Peers have backed moves to introduce same-sex marriage and abortion reform in Northern Ireland.
BBC
Pro-choice groups raise concerns over possible delays to Northern Ireland abortion law
Pressure groups have warned against lengthy delays to extending abortion rights to Northern Ireland following a landmark legal amendment last week.
The Guardian
Jeremy Corbyn criticised for meeting anti-LGBT education Charedi Jewish activist
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for meeting with a Charedi Jewish activist who opposes LGBT-inclusive education.
Mirror
‘LGBT teaching’ should be done in the home, says Christian campaigner
A Christian campaigner has defended parents protesting at the school gates over LGBT-inclusive lessons. Meanwhile the National Association of Head Teachers says it has been contacted by at least 70 schools across England in relation to parents trying to stop the lessons.
Christian Today
‘“Islamophobia”? It’s anti-Muslim racism’
NSS honorary associate Pragna Patel explains why she opposes an all party parliamentary group's definition of 'Islamophobia'.
Workers' Liberty
Christian family fined in Australia after arguing taxes 'against God's will'
A Christian family who refused to pay income tax because it went "against God's will" have been ordered to pay more than A$2m (£1.1m) to Australia's tax office.
BBC
‘I survived abusive religious conversion therapy’
Joe Hyman describes the attempt to change his sexual orientation and how it has changed him.
Jewish News
Wed, 17 Jul 2019
More prescriptive guidance on LGBT inclusion wouldn’t have prevented protests, says minister
More prescriptive guidance forcing primary heads to teach about LGBT relationships would not have prevented protests outside schools in Birmingham, the schools minister has said. Nick Gibb was speaking as some MPs criticised the government's response to protests.
Schools Week
LGBT inclusion 'not the place' for school autonomy, say leaders of trust at centre of protests
Leaders of the multi-academy trust that runs a Birmingham primary school at the centre of the anti-LGBT backlash have hit out at the Department for Education over its lack of clarity on LGBT-inclusive teaching.
Tes
Call for council in Norfolk to scrap pre-meeting worship
A call has been made for Norfolk County Council to "turn the page" on beginning meetings with Christian prayer.
Eastern Daily Press
Religious order admits ‘framework’ allowed abuse of children in care
A religious order that ran a childcare home in Fife has admitted the institution had a "framework" which allowed abuse to take place.
Evening Express (Aberdeen)
Government proposals 'fall short' on helping home-schooled children
The government has been accused by councils of watering down plans to improve oversight of the growing number of school-aged children who are educated at home in England. Religion is often a significant reason behind parents' decision to home school their children.
The Guardian
‘The backlash against sex education in the UK will ultimately harm children’
Ritu Mahendru says sex education helps to protect girls, particularly from south Asian backgrounds, and their interests need to be considered.
openDemocracy
Anti-abortion protesters contest ban at Court of Appeal
Anti-abortion campaigners have told judges a "buffer zone" outside a London clinic defies their right to protest.
BBC
Boxing ban for bearded fighters overturned to appease some Sikhs in Wales
A ruling that amateur fighters in Wales must be clean shaven will be overturned, Welsh Boxing has announced, amid claims that it discriminated against Sikhs.
BBC
Tue, 16 Jul 2019
Education secretary rules out Charedi Jewish school loophole over teaching LGBT equality
Education secretary Damian Hinds has said Charedi Jewish schools reluctant to teach LGBT equality will be unlikely to be able to put it off until the sixth form.
The JC
Protests against LGBT-inclusive education spread across the UK
Protests by conservative Muslim parents, angrily claiming that school lessons which include information about LGBT relationships 'promote' homosexuality or 'indoctrinate' children, have spread nationwide.
Mail Online
Jewish headteacher: If we taught about sex, pupils would be removed from school
A faith school leader was among those to defend restricting children's knowledge about sex and relationships in a BBC Panorama documentary last night.
Jewish News
Anti-LGBT protest schools 'hung out to dry by ministers’, says prominent lawyer
Head teachers have been left alone to confront people resisting "hard-won equalities" at the school gates, according to human rights lawyer Nazir Afzal.
Birmingham Live
‘LGBT-inclusive education saves lives and is worth defending’
Matt Bagwell says schools have a duty to reflect what is enshrined in law and the government must back them up.
HuffPost
London abortion clinic protest ban legal challenge reaches Court of Appeal
A challenge against a ban on demonstrations outside an abortion clinic in west London has reached the Court of Appeal.
Evening Standard
Hindu body wins contest to sponsor three new schools in Herts
A Hindu faith organisation will run a new secondary school and two new primaries in Hertfordshire.
Bishop's Stortford Independent
Regulator probes Christian charity alleged to have paid Islamic State to free hostages
A Christian charity is the subject of a terrorism funding investigation by the police and is being looked into by the Charity Commission amid allegations that the charity paid money to free hostages held by Islamic State.
Third Sector
‘Donald Trump has made it clear: the only “real Americans” are white and Christian’
Theodore Johnson says the US president is pushing a divisive ethnoreligious nationalism.
The Guardian
Baby’s penis amputated after nurse posing as doctor circumcises him in Egypt
A one-month-old baby had to have his penis amputated after a nurse allegedly pretending to be a doctor circumcised him in Egypt.
Mirror
Mon, 15 Jul 2019
‘Religion is the elephant in the room on relationships and sex education’ – letter from NSS
NSS chief executive Stephen Evans says compulsory education on relationships, sex and health is a positive development - but the government has been reluctant to confront religious interests. (Scroll down)
The Sunday Times (£)
Government accused of being 'too slow' to tackle anti-LGBT protests outside schools
The government was "too slow to respond" to "mob" protests over LGBT teaching outside Birmingham schools, according to the lead counter-extremism commissioner Sara Khan.
BBC
‘Children have a right to know about LGBT families’
The chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission calls on the government to end the ambiguity on teaching of LGBT rights.
Politics Home
Sexual abuse victim dubs archbishops of Canterbury and York 'not fit for office'
Matthew Ineson, a former vicar who was raped by a Bradford priest when he was a teenager, has told an inquiry that senior Church of England clerics ignored his claims.
Examiner Live
Anti-abortion campaigners target Catholic services in NI with petition for Theresa May
A letter criticising a move by MPs to liberalise the abortion laws in Northern Ireland, addressed to Theresa May, was handed out at Catholic church services yesterday.
The Telegraph
‘What does the Muslim Council of Britain have against Muslims who challenge its narrative?’
Qanta Ahmed says the MCB's Centre for Media Monitoring would be better named the Centre for Controlling the Narrative of Islam.
The Spectator
Hundreds protest in Tel Aviv after Israeli education minister praises gay ‘conversion therapy’
LGBT activists in Israel are calling for the resignation of education minister Rafi Peretz after he claimed gay conversion therapy could work.
Newsweek
Nearly two dozen countries condemn China’s mass detention of Muslims at UN
China has been urged to stop its mass detention of Uighur Muslims by 22 members of the United Nations Human Rights Council in the first such joint move on the issue.
The Independent
‘End the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose’ – NSS research cited
Neil Barber welcomes an NSS report calling for the end of 'the advancement of religion' as a charitable purpose. (Scroll down)
The National
US Catholic order releases names of members accused of abuse
A Baltimore-based Catholic religious order that sponsors schools across the US has released a list of dozens of members accused of sexually abusing children.
Mail Online
Fri, 12 Jul 2019
Archbishop of Canterbury banned abuse victim from cathedral grounds after treating his case with “casual indifference”, IICSA hears
The archbishop of Canterbury banned a "vulnerable" abuse victim from cathedral grounds after treating his case with "casual indifference", an independent inquiry has heard.
The Telegraph
Archbishop of Canterbury accepts need for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse
The archbishop of Canterbury has accepted that the government should make the reporting of sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults mandatory.
The Guardian
‘Faith in religion is dwindling, but when will British politics reflect that?’
NSS honorary associate Polly Toynbee says the decline in belief shown by the latest British Attitudes Survey is not reflected in diminished religious influence.
The Guardian
Government figures highlight problem of unregistered schools in London borough of Hackney
New government figures show that there are still seven times more Orthodox Jewish girls studying in registered state-funded or independent schools in Hackney than there are boys. The numbers highlight how little ministers have done to get on top of the problem of unregistered schools.
Jewish News
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