Daily media briefing
Stay informed with our daily media briefing newsletter. Every weekday morning we'll bring you the most relevant news and updates related to secularism directly to your inbox.
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Mon, 4 Mar 2024
Iran elections: Why young Iranians would welcome return of Shah’s son
Record low turnout for Friday's polls suggests the appetite for fundamental change is growing among the disillusioned and angry population
The Times*
Fri, 1 Mar 2024
First Minister urged to review ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose – NSS quoted
The National Secular Society has urged Scotland's First Minister to review the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose, arguing that it is "impeding the Scottish government's attempts to combat misogyny".
Third Sector
New Wine commissions Soul Survivor barrister to review its links with Mike Pilavachi
New Wine has commissioned the barrister who is conducting an independent review of the Revd Mike Pilavachi's behaviour at Soul Survivor, to review how the allegations relate to New Wine, its trustees have announced.
Church Times*
Newham Council budget meeting halted after Jewish Labour councillor is hissed
A full council meeting in Newham, east London, had to be halted on Thursday night after the only Jewish councillor in the borough was loudly hissed by individuals sitting in the public gallery.
Jewish News
Utah Legislature expands ability of clergy members to report child abuse
Utah faith leaders who learn about ongoing child abuse from a perpetrator during a religious confession will be able to alert police without fear of legal ramifications under a bill that received final legislative approval Thursday in the state Senate.
Associated Press
Appeal Court upholds Quebec law that bars teachers, police from wearing religious symbols
The Quebec Court of Appeal has upheld the province's controversial secularism law in a ruling on challenges to the law's constitutionality released Thursday afternoon.
CBC
Iranians expected to shun first election since death of Mahsa Amini
A majority of Iran's angry and disillusioned electorate are predicted to stay away from parliamentary elections on Friday, viewing the process as a masquerade of democracy intended to give legitimacy to a regime that has failed to deliver on living standards, the environment and personal freedom.
The Guardian
Taliban to ban women from working in TV if they do not cover their faces
The Taliban will ban women media workers in Kabul if they fail to adhere to a "modest dress code" which includes face veils, said an independent media body that operates in Afghanistan.
Independent*
Thu, 29 Feb 2024
Secular school where half the pupils are Muslim to be turned into CofE primary
Parents are urging their council to reject the proposed merger of a non-faith school – where half of the students are Muslim – into a Church of England (CofE) primary school in September.
London News Online
‘Will Labour introduce a blasphemy law?’
"If Labour gets into power and incorporates the APPG definition into law "offensive" incidents like these could easily become a criminal matter. That's because the definition is so ambiguous it has the potential to capture a panoply of scenarios — not least legitimate criticism of religious doctrine, extremism, and the mere utterance of historical truths."
Unherd
‘Islamists and Muslims are not the same, and we need to be clear about that’
'Muslims are often the primary victims of Islamism. We need to have open and honest discussions if we want to combat Islamism and Islamophobia.'
Express
More than half of Tory members in poll say Islam a threat to British way of life
More than half of Conservative party members believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life, according to a poll that sheds light on the hostility with which large parts of the party view the country's second biggest religion.
The Guardian
Charedi rabbis denounce move to introduce register of children not in school
Leading rabbis from London's Charedi community have urged members to oppose what they see as a threat to their traditional yeshivah education.
The Jewish Chronicle
Assisted dying law may soon diverge across British Isles, MPs warn
Laws to allow assisted dying may pass in Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man in the next few years, leading to a divergence between different parts of the UK and British Isles, MPs have warned.
The Guardian
US: Georgia bill aims to protect religious liberty. Opponents say it’s a license to discriminate
Georgia lawmakers are revisiting a nearly decade-old fight over whether the state needs to protect religious rights from being trampled by state and local governments in a measure opponents say would provide a legal shield for people and groups to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people in the name of religion.
Associated Press
Canada: Priest accused of abusing Inuit children in Canada will not be dismissed by church
A French clergyman dubbed the "devil priest" who stands accused of sexually abusing Inuit children in Canada's north will not be dismissed from his congregation after senior church officials in Rome declined to act, citing the nonagenarian's declining health.
The Guardian
Ghana passes bill making identifying as LGBTQ+ illegal
Supporting the bill, the Christian Council of Ghana and the Ghana Pentecostal and Charismatic Council said in a joint statement that being LGBTQ+ was "alien to the Ghanaian culture and family value system and, as such, the citizens of this nation cannot accept it".
BBC
Wed, 28 Feb 2024
What is Islamophobia and why does Tory government not accept definition?
An explainer of the dispute over the definition of 'Islamophobia' which cites NSS concerns that it creates a de facto blasphemy code.
The Guardian
Southwark: Dissolving black deacon's parish discriminatory, hearing told
A decision to dissolve the parish of the first black female deacon in the Church of England is "indirectly discriminatory", a court has heard.
BBC
Woman accused of murdering son, 3, in Durham says Bible allowed caning
A woman accused of murdering her three-year-old son beat him with a bamboo cane and said she was allowed to do so because the Bible told her to chastise him.
The Guardian
‘Severe blow’ as £150m pulled from integrated schools construction budget
Campaigners say the hopes of thousands of children and parents will be dashed unless promised funding to build 10 new integrated schools is reinstated.
Belfast Telegraph
Russian beaten by Chechen leader's son is jailed for Koran burning
A Russian man who publicly burnt a copy of the Koran was jailed for three and a half years on Tuesday in the Russian region of Chechnya.
Reuters
US Supreme Court declines to decide legality of excluding jurors based on religion
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to decide the legality of excluding jurors on the basis of religion, turning away a Missouri agency's bid to reverse a lesbian worker's win in a workplace bias lawsuit after three prospective jurors were excluded for citing Christian beliefs that being gay is a sin.
Reuters
Tue, 27 Feb 2024
National Secular Society demands UN intervention in tackling religious threats to human rights in the UK
The National Secular Society has taken a bold step in calling on the United Nations Human Rights Committee to tackle religious threats to human rights within the borders of the United Kingdom.
Court Magazine
Justin Welby embroiled in 'cash for access' storm over £950-a-head Holy Week Retreat
The Archbishop of Canterbury has been drawn into a cash for access row over a 'crass' £950-a-head Holy Week Retreat.
Daily Mail
Jersey's assisted dying proposals brought forward
The process of legalisation of assisted dying in Jersey is to be brought forward. The States Assembly debate on the issue had been pushed back to the end of summer 2024.
BBC
Bishop of Newcastle: Synod delays on safeguarding are ‘disgraceful’
The Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, has termed it "disgraceful" that the General Synod did not agree immediately to adopt a new, independent safeguarding structure. She has linked the issue to wider questions of governance in the C of E, including concerns about the Living in Love and Faith (LLF) process.
Church Times*
Pakistan woman in Arabic script dress saved from mob claiming blasphemy
An angry mob in Pakistan accused a woman who wore a dress adorned with Arabic calligraphy of blasphemy, after mistaking them for Quran verses.
BBC
At least 15 Catholic worshippers were killed in an attack during a service in northern Burkina Faso
At least 15 Catholic worshippers were killed in a Burkina Faso village on Sunday when gunmen attacked a community as they gathered for prayers in the country's conflict-hit northern region, church officials said.
Associated Press
Mon, 26 Feb 2024
General Synod rejects amendments to introduce new safeguarding system
Amendments that would have committed the Church of England to a new, alternative safeguarding system have been rejected in favour a period of consultation.
Church Times*
C of E reviews guidance for clergy on supporting asylum seekers
A review into guidance for clergy on supporting asylum seekers is under way as a matter of urgency, the Church of England's parliament has heard alongside a claim of "buck-passing" between the government and the church.
The Guardian
Tories suspend Lee Anderson over claim that “Islamists” have “got control” of Sadiq Khan
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has been suspended from the party after "refusing to apologise" for comments aimed at Sadiq Khan.
BBC
Justin Welby says factions fighting within Church on same-sex marriage are doing ‘Devil’s work’
The Church of England's infighting factions are doing the "Devil's work" by seeing each other as their enemies, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said amid an ongoing debate over same-sex marriage.
The Telegraph*
BBC ‘censored' truth about Catholics' experience during Troubles former executive reveals
A new show documenting the history of the BBC and its reporting over the years has revealed the broadcaster "censored" the Catholic viewpoint during the Troubles.
The Irish Post
Irish Jesuits’ ‘deep shame’ at inaction over abuse complaints
The Provincial of the Jesuits in Ireland said this week that it was a "source of deep shame" that his order had failed to take action against a priest and teacher who was the subject of 93 complaints of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse.
Church Times*
Pope accepts resignation of Polish cleric accused of ignoring abuse
Pope Francis's representatives in Poland said on Saturday that he had accepted the resignation of an archbishop who was accused in a documentary of turning a blind eye to child abuse.
Reuters
Belarus cracks down on clergy who supported protests of its authoritarian leader
Dozens of clergy — Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant — have been jailed, silenced or forced into exile for protesting the 2020 election that gave Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term.
Associated Press
Abuse survivor must be paid almost £1.24 million by Tasmania diocese
The diocese of Tasmania, in Australia, has been ordered to pay almost $A2.4 million (£1.24 million) in damages to a survivor of sexual abuse.
Church Times*
‘Indian women are being told nationalism will empower them. It’s a trick’
Far-right Hindu nationalists are giving women prominence to mobilise others, but regressive patriarchal systems are embedded in their ideology.
The Guardian
Fri, 23 Feb 2024
Mandatory reporting duty introduced for child sex abuse disclosures
People with childcare responsibilities in regulated sectors could be barred from working with children again if they fail to report a disclosure.
The Standard
Political violence review eyes new police powers
A government-commissioned review into tackling political violence will recommend police should be able to shut down protests outside MPs' offices, council buildings and Parliament.
BBC
Prevent counter-terror scheme failures leave public at risk - ex-adviser
He said he felt more worried about extremism in the UK after Hamas's 7 October attacks on Israel, and that the government - through Prevent - "should pay much more attention to the Hamas support network".
BBC
Anti-Muslim hatred in UK has tripled since Hamas attacks
Reports of abuse directed at Muslims in Britain have more than trebled since the Hamas attacks in Israel, with women bearing the brunt, figures have shown.
The Times*
Court to rule on Shamima Begum appeal against citizenship removal
Judges to decide whether revoking citizenship of teenager who joined Islamic State was unlawful.
The Guardian
The Alabama chief justice who invoked God in deciding the embryo case
In an Alabama Supreme Court decision that has rattled reproductive medicine across the country, a majority of the justices said the law was clear that frozen embryos should be considered children: "Unborn children are 'children.'"
The New York Times*
A Catholic priest accused of misconduct was suspended in Texas. Why did New Orleans let him preach?
Anthony Odiong was removed in 2019 over allegations of inappropriate behavior, but he continued to minister in New Orleans despite the archdiocese knowing about the complaints.
The Guardian
Indian zoo ordered to change lions’ 'blasphemous' names
The lioness was named after Hindu deity Sita while the lion was called Akbar, after the 16th Century Mughal ruler.
BBC
Thu, 22 Feb 2024
CofE is in ‘last chance saloon’ on safeguarding say survivors and advocates
Advocate for survivors of church abuse Andrew Graystone welcomes the report but isn't confident the recommendations will be acted upon.
Premier Christian News
Interfaith charity set to close after government funding pulled
Michael Gove said he was "minded to withdraw" funding for the Inter Faith Network after the appointment a former deputy secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain as a trustee.
BBC
Muslim family have pig's head thrown through window as cops probe possible hate crime
A Muslim family has had a pig's head thrown through their front window as police are now probing a possible hate crime.
Mirror
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