The Criminalization of Christianity in Finland
“In a foreshadowing of America’s future under coercive secularism, a Finnish politician and Finnish bishop will go on criminal trial next week for merely upholding historic Christian teaching on sexual morality.
The trial is a telling measure of the erosion of Christianity in Europe.
Juhana Pohjola, a Lutheran bishop, and Päivi Räsänen, a member of Finland’s Parliament, stand accused of an act increasingly forbidden in the de-Christianized West: quoting the Bible. …
After Räsänen quoted from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans in a tweet, she found herself under police interrogation for 13 hours.”
Three Simple Ways to Flatten your Neighbour
“As our society becomes increasingly post-Christian, it’s no surprise to see the vanishing of a Christian view of humanity—an understanding that allows for complexity, even expects it.
Instead, we give in to the impulse to divide everyone into categories of ‘bad’ or ‘good,’ and then treat them accordingly.
The result? Fewer and fewer people, even in the church (and we ought to know better!), who are able to distinguish what’s good and bad in the same person, or truth and falsehood in particular causes. …”
– Wise observations from Trevin Wax at The Gospel Coalition.
The Church of England’s astonishing appointment
“The words ‘La La Land’ came to mind when I heard of the appointment of the new Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments. This role manages the process for the appointment of bishops, deans and other senior posts in the Church of England, and it is to be filled by Stephen Knott, currently Justin Welby’s deputy chief of staff. …”
– At Christian Today, David Baker is disturbed by a recent appointment in the Church of England.
Sadly, it seems to be business as usual for the Church of England.
Related:
Stephen Knott to be new Archbishops’ Secretary for Appointments – Archbishop of Canterbury’s website.
Reformed Church in America splits as conservative churches form new denomination
“On New Year’s Day, 43 congregations of the Reformed Church in America split from the national denomination, one of the oldest Protestant bodies in the United States, in part over theological differences regarding same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. …”
– Story from Religion News Service.
Link via Albert Mohler’s The Briefing for 13 January 2022 (from 12:10.)
– worth hearing his commentary on the history of the Reformed Church of America, and what might happen to the new grouping. There are many parallels in the Anglican world.
Abortion is leading cause of death worldwide for third year in a row
“For the second year in a row, abortions have been the leading cause of death worldwide, with more than three times as many people losing their lives to abortion than the second leading cause of death. …”
– Appalling statistics, via Christian Post.
Image: Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies speaks at the 15 September 2019 Stand for Life rally in Hyde Park. Anglican Media Sydney.
Anglican Revisionists Keep Pushing their Agenda
“It’s 2022 so about time for an Anglican update. What’s new in the Anglican Church in Australia?
Well, not much. The situation can be characterised as revisionists now effectively ignoring the moratorium we were going to have before General Synod.
Action has been happening in 2 places in particular …”
– David Ould shares the latest moves in Wangaratta and Perth.
Image: The Crest of the Anglican Church of Australia and those of its members dioceses.
Related:
Sydney Diocese Response to actions in the Diocese of Wangaratta – December 10 2020.
Clarifying “transgender hate speech”
“An important appeal decision in November 2021, REP v CLINCH (Appeal)[2021] ACAT 106 (3 November 2021), provides significant clarification on what amounts to “transgender hate speech”, and what does not, under the law of Australian Capital Territory – and provides a helpful and persuasive set of reasons which may be influential in other jurisdictions.
Is it unlawful to say that ‘a trans woman is a man’? Not according to the Appeal Tribunal in the Rep decision …”
– At Law and Religion Australia, Neil Foster looks at a clarifying decision.
‘Same-sex couple have marriage blessed in Albury Anglican church after two-year battle’
“It’s just before nine o’clock on Sunday morning and the bells are ringing out loudly at St Matthew’s church in Albury.
It’s already 25 degrees Celsius and the sun is beating hot and bright onto a small knot of people milling around outside. Among them are two men with matching cream linen jackets and nervous smiles. …
The two men have driven 10 hours from their hometown in the north of New South Wales after their own parish would not recognise their relationship. …
Albury priest Peter MacLeod-Miller, a long-time advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community, tells Sunday’s congregation that ‘we are celebrating a better, kinder world, and also a real change’.
He reads a letter from Bishop Clarence Bester, head of the Wangaratta diocese of which St Matthew’s is a part and which adopted a resolution to offer blessings for same-sex marriages in August 2019.”
– Report from the ABC. Base map: Anglican Church of Australia.
Earlier:
Sydney Diocese Response to actions in the Diocese of Wangaratta – December 10 2020.
“It would be naïve to think that mutually contradictory views on same-sex marriage can co-exist within our national Church. Pronouncing God’s blessing on a same-sex marriage is contrary to the teaching of Christ. It is therefore untenable to have some members of the Church purporting to declare God’s blessing in such circumstances. To pursue this course will not bring healing but will only lead to a collapse in the fellowship that binds us together.”
Preserving preaching Christ – with Michael Stead
From The Pastor’s Heart:
“The whole concept of a tolerant society is being spun around.
Sydney Anglican Bishop Michael Stead says there are moves afoot to block Christians from being able to say that ‘Christ is the only way to heaven.’
It’s also being claimed by Equality Australia that to say ‘marriage is between a man and woman’ is an offensive statement.
Bishop Stead says he wants to protect moderately expressed statements of religious belief. …”
– This is a very big issue. Watch or listen here.
Submission to Parliamentary committee on the Religious Discrimination Bill
From Neil Foster at Law and Religion Australia:
“The submission of Freedom for Faith to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry into the Religious Discrimination Bill is now available for download here. I prepared the submission with input from other board members.
Submissions to this committee can be made at their website here, but only until 5 pm Tuesday 21 December.
There is also a short survey that the Committee have released which it would be good for anyone concerned with religious freedom in Australia to fill in before that same deadline.”
Image: Diocese of Sydney. (Emphasis added.)
Five misleading Untruths about the Federal Religious Discrimination Bill
“Would a Federal Religious Discrimination Bill (RDB) allow a nurse to say to a patient with HIV that AIDS is a punishment from God?
Would the RDB allow a disability worker to say to a disabled girl that her disability is caused by the devil?
Would it allow a doctor to refuse treatment to a gay patient just because he’s gay?
These are some of the claims being made about the Religious Discrimination Bill that’s before Federal Parliament. …”
– At The Gospel Coalition Australia Akos Balogh takes a look at some of the claims which have been made about the Religious Discrimination Bill.
See also:
Your voice needed on Religious Discrimination Bill – SydneyAnglicans.net.
Parliamentary survey open to all until Tuesday December 21.
UK Pastors write letter to the Government explaining they will choose God
“Victoria is not the only jurisdiction in the world to introduce laws prohibiting conversion practices. While Victoria’s The Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act remains the most extreme, both in the breadth of what is banned and in the criminal sanctions that are threatened, other Australian State and several countries have or are in the process of banning elements of Christian practice and belief.
The United Kingdom is introducing legislation to ban so-called conversion practices. More than 2500 pastors have signed a letter to the Government, explaining their position…”
– Murray Campbell in Melbourne draws attention to an important Christian response to proposed bans on “Conversion Therapy” in the UK.
(The website was over bandwidth last we checked, but an archived version is available here.)
Your voice needed on Religious Discrimination Bill
“Supporters of protection for religious freedom are being urged to take part in a survey by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, as the Parliament considers the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021. …”
– Here’s post from SydneyAnglicans.net on an important matter.
The survey referred to closes at 5:00pm on Tuesday 21st December.
The post also includes the questions from the survey.
Private prayers in Victoria a legal ‘grey area’
“I’ve written about The Change or Suppression (Conversion) Practices Prohibition Act numerous times given the extraordinary nature of this Government intrusion into the lives of religious Victorians. In this post, I want to inform people of one further way these laws will encroach on religious and civil freedoms and commonsense.
The laws will come into effect in February 2022. Churches are supportive of some measures contained in these laws, but the Act goes well beyond what is reasonable or right. …
Private prayers are considered a ‘grey area’ by the VEOHRC (Victoria Equal Opportunity Human Rights Commission). If that doesn’t make your eyes pop out of your head and roll down the hallway, what will?”
– Murray Campbell in Melbourne issues further warnings about Victoria’s new “anti-conversion” law.
Anglican Church of Canada trial liturgy for ‘Journeys of Gender Affirmation and Transition’
“The Anglican Church of Canada has developed a trial liturgy for ‘Journeys of Gender Affirmation and Transition’, to be used to bless the ‘gender transition process’. …”
– The Anglican Samizdat draws attention – and provides a copy of the trial liturgy.
What we believe
The message at the heart of Christianity is really quite simple…