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Former head of a Muslim academy is banned from running schools

February 15, 2019 By Barry Duke

A LONDON Islamic fanatic jailed in 2016 for terrorist offences has been banned from being involved in the running of schools in order to protect children from ‘dangerous influences’. Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, above, ran the unregistered Siddeeq Academy in Tower Hamlets, east London, which closed in 2015 after his arrest. In 2016 he was jailed for five-and-a-half years, alongside Muslim hate preacher Anjem Choudary, for inviting support for Islamic State. Before he was sent down for supporting IS Choudary and… Read more

Meet ‘the first politician in the world to attack an ex-gay man’

February 15, 2019 By Barry Duke

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MALTA’s Equality Minister Helena Dalli, above, is being roasted for launching ‘an unprecedented personal attack’ on Matthew Grech, an ‘ex-gay’ man who’s become a poster boy for a pray-away-the-gay outfit called the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice (IFTCC). Grech, former X Factor Malta contestant, features in a new movie entitled Once Gay. He was criticised by Dalli after he a spouted some nonsense in a 2018 X Factor Malta interview last October about ditching his “gay lifestyle” when… Read more

UK Muslim school severs ties with a sexist, anti-gay organisation

February 14, 2019 By Barry Duke

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The Al-Miftah Institute, based in Slough, Berkshire, has lost a contract to teach children from a local Muslim secondary school after it emerged that pupils were being exposed to misogynistic and homophobic views. The Institute, which provided “IslamHood” Sunday school classes at the school, brought pupils into contact with speakers such as Shaykh Shams Ad-Duha Muhammad, above, who insists that Muslim girls should have children rather than careers. The Institute’s ousting followed complaints by a member of the public and the… Read more

UK body modification trial raises questions about circumcision

February 13, 2019 By Barry Duke

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CIRCUMCISIONS carried out for religious reasons on children who are unable to consent to the procedure ought logically to be outlawed in the UK, given a ruling yesterday (Tuesday) by the UK Court of Appeal. The ruling had nothing whatsoever to do with circumcision. It related to a case involving body modification artist Brendan McCarthy, 50, above, who calls himself “Dr Evil”. The judges said that it was not in the public interest that a person could wound another without… Read more

Students vote for ban of non-stunned meat at Oxford College

February 13, 2019 By Barry Duke

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THE President of the Jewish Society at an Oxford University college has attacked a motion passed by students calling for a ban of halal and kosher meats from its dining hall. The BBC reports that Nicole Jacobus, above, said of the motion that was passed by Somerville College’s Junior Common Room (JCR) : The very fact that this amendment was passed in a JCR meeting without a Jewish student being able to challenge it highlights the lack of diversity and… Read more

Print firm cries ‘foul’ after being fined for turning away a gay client

February 12, 2019 By Barry Duke

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ALL Jonathon Brennan wanted when he went into Beulah Print and Design, a Christian-run outfit in Drogheda, Ireland, were some invitations for his upcoming same-sex union with his partner John Kierans. What he got instead was a bunch of Christian baloney about the owners’ disapproval of homosexuality. Brennan, above, told Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that the co-owner of Beulah told him that they could not print the invitations as he and his business partner were Bible-believing Christians who disapproved of… Read more

Orthodox Jews in London win a landmark case over housing

February 12, 2019 By Barry Duke

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IN a landmark case, a charity providing accommodation exclusively for Charedi Jews in Stamford Hill, London, has won a legal battle against a non-Jewish family who claimed its ‘Jews only’ criteria was discriminatory. Elliot Lister, above, of the law firm Asserson, who represented the Agudas Israel Housing Association, said: This is a landmark case in many respects, but for the Orthodox Jewish Community and AIHA in particular, it is profoundly important. The court found that what AIHA does and how… Read more

Southern Baptist Convention Presidents named in abuse probe

February 11, 2019 By Barry Duke

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SBC President Steve Gaines, above, has been accused – along with three former Presidents – of having mishandled allegations of sexual abuse. According to this report, the names of Gaines, Dr Jerry Vines, and Edwin Young, surfaced in an expose published yesterday (Sunday) by the Houston Chronicle, which found that 380 Southern Baptist pastors and church officials had been accused of a myriad of sexual assault charges including everything from groping to raping 700 victims over a 20-year-period. The newspaper… Read more

Christian food store’s ‘wall’ message angers some, delights others

February 11, 2019 By Barry Duke

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SHOULD a store use its promotional material to send religious or political messages to customers? The question arose following the distribution of leaflet by Mac’s Fresh Market, a family-owned Christian grocery store, to people in Arkansas and Louisiana – angering some and pleasing others. The store’s promotional material typically includes a religious or political message at the top, but this one – which was also posted on its Facebook page – is causing quite a kerfuffle. Some took to… Read more

‘Smells and bells’ in a Michigan church results in priest’s removal

February 10, 2019 By Barry Duke

15 Comments

LAST December Catholic priest Father Edwin C Dwyer boasted that he was attracting more young people to Our Lady of Peace parish in Bay City by reintroducing traditional Catholic sacramentals such as incense and bells. Dyer, 36, said at the time: Believe it or not, tradition works. So-called ‘old ways’ are quite popular among younger Catholics. Smells, bells, classic hymns, chant, prolonged silence, and, hold on for this one, LATIN are all largely embraced by the younger generations of the… Read more