JOSHUA Harris, above, the influential ‘purity’ advocate who recently shocked his followers by separating from his wife, kissing Christianity goodbye and apologising for his homophobia, has sent further ripples of horror among evangelicals by participating in Vancouver’s annual Pride Parade at the weekend. The former pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland, shared several Instagram photos of himself engaging in Pride festivities, and “swapping stories” with LGBT activists. He captioned one photo: An American in Canada marching with the… Read more
August 7, 2019
Evangelical who ditched Christianity surfaces at Vancouver Gay Pride
August 7, 2019 By Barry Duke
36 Comments
August 6, 2019
N Ireland bigot applauds BBC decision to pull out of Belfast Pride
August 6, 2019 By Barry Duke
1 Comment
BBC Northern Ireland was due to have a corporate presence at Belfast’s Pride at the weekend, but it withdrew at the last minute in a move that delighted Jim Allister of the Traditional Unionist Voice Party. Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, above, Allister, above, said said he welcomed the BBC’s decision. Having stood back and observed what they had done, I welcome the fact that BBC came to its senses on this and recognised they were totally surrendering their impartiality… Read more
August 6, 2019
There’s something rotten at the heart of Mountain of Fire Ministries
August 6, 2019 By Barry Duke
3 Comments
AT the beginning of 2019, Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International (MFM) – a global family of Pentecostal churches based in the UK – issued a public alert to its followers, saying it was ‘deeply concerned over the growing cases of fake pastors, ministers and other individuals, who are taking advantage of the good reputation of the MFM to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.’ But in 2017, MFM was itself accused of fraud by pastors who jumped the… Read more
August 5, 2019
Jewish group slams BBC over ‘Nazi pug’ documentary
August 5, 2019 By Barry Duke
6 Comments
A BBC Three documentary called The Nazi Pug: Joke or Hate? has been condemned a Jewish group in Glasgow. The programme follows Markus Meechan, known on YouTube as Count Dankula, as he debates his conviction for recording a dog raising its paw to statements including “gas the Jew.” It became available online today (Monday). Meechan, 31, said his video was freedom of speech and called it “edgy humour.” Attorney Matthew Berlow, of Glasgow Friends of Israel, said of the documentary:… Read more
August 5, 2019
Lebanese concert cancelled amid threats of Christian violence
August 5, 2019 By Barry Duke
3 Comments
LEBANESE band Mashrou’ Leila was due to perform at the Byblos International Festival on August 9 but organisers of the event have cancelled their concert amidst fears of ‘bloodshed’ threatened by hard-line Christians. The band angered members of the Maronite Christian Church after its gay lead singer Hamed Sinno, above, shared a “blasphemous” image of the singer Madonna as the Virgin Mary on Facebook in 2015. Sinno is an activist who campaigns for LGBT rights in the Middle East and beyond. The… Read more
August 4, 2019
C of E Education Officer scorned for views on school worship
August 4, 2019 By Barry Duke
17 Comments
Rev Nigel Genders, above, the Church of England’s Chief Education Officer, thinks collective worship offers children a period to pause and reflect on the ‘big questions’ such as ‘Why am I here?’ and ‘How then should I live?’ In a recent letter to the Guardian, he also insisted that school worship wasn’t “indoctrination” and that: There is much evidence of the value of collective worship to children and young people, which is why thousands of community schools also have strong… Read more
August 4, 2019
‘Chained wife’ compelled to pay £50,000 to end Jewish marriage
August 4, 2019 By Barry Duke
10 Comments
FOR more than 15 harrowing years Esther Kahan, a London teacher, has battled to obtain a get – a divorce document in Jewish religious law – but Shmiel Kahan, the man she married and subsequently divorced in civil proceedings, said he would only ‘unchain’ her if she coughed up a large sum of money. Well, according to Jewish News, Kahan finally caved in and paid her former husband £50,000 – a sum lower than he originally demanded. Kahan alleges the… Read more
August 3, 2019
Watch out America, the Amish are taking over. Slowly but surely.
August 3, 2019 By Barry Duke
38 Comments
DUE in part to their opposition to modern birth control and the value they place on fertility, the Amish are one of the fastest growing populations in the world – and new research indicates that in 215 years, their numbers could be greater than the current population of the United States (327.2 million). According to data from Elizabethtown College, over the past 100 years, the Amish population has doubled every 19.63 years on average. The combination of rampant fertility and… Read more
August 3, 2019
Pope gave away ‘precious’ bits of St Peter. Discontent ensues.
August 3, 2019 By Barry Duke
41 Comments
IN June, Pope Francis, on a whim, handed nine bone fragments of Peter the Apostle to the Orthodox Church in Constantinople – without so much as a by your leave. Now awkward questions are being asked – in particular by Fr Raymond J de Souza, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario. In a piece written for the Catholic Herald, de Souza revealed that the relics gifted to Constantinople had originally been placed by Pope Paul VI (now a… Read more
August 2, 2019
Fury expressed after a ‘sexual abuse enabler’ gets a $2.45-m payoff
August 2, 2019 By Barry Duke
5 Comments
FORMER Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon, who was charged in November 2018 with four counts of lying to a peace officer during an investigation into the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal, is to get a $2.45-m retirement package – and Bill Donohue, of the Catholic League is furious that the deal hasn’t garnered national coverage. He labeled Simon a “sexual abuse enabler” and raged: I have been saying for years that the public, especially Catholics, are being played…. Read more
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