Key Quotes - Religion/Spirituality

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Last update: Wednesday 25th March
 
One-third of all British state schools is religious, but only 12 of these 6,750 state-maintained institutions are Muslim. More than 99 per cent are Christian, a statistic noted by Theos which has exonerated faith schools of the charge of being ‘socially divisive’ – to its own satisfaction at least. Meanwhile, all schools are obliged to have a daily act of worship that must be ‘wholly, or mainly of a broadly Christian nature’, even those without a religious character.
Religion/SpiritualityThird Way, November 2013
 
Halloween has been banned in a Polish city because it is seen as ‘anti-Christian’ it was reported on October 30. Children have been told by town hall bosses in Radom that they must not dress up while shops were ordered not to sell decorations. The celebration is ‘pagan and satanic’, said Cllr. Slawomir Adamiec.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now, December 2013
 
Local Labour leaders in Plymouth have removed prayers from the beginning of council meetings, as ‘part of the process of modernisation’. Prayers will be 15 minutes before the meeting officially starts at 2 o’clock. A local Conservative councillor strongly criticised the move, slamming ‘the thoughtless rush for change’.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now, September 2013
 
Christians are less likely to have personal contact with Muslims or Hindus than with people of no faith, according to a new report. Only 21% of religious adherents in northern Europe have significant personal contact with Christians, according to Christianity in its Global Context 1970-2020, a report produced by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. According to the report, Muslims in northern Europe are less likely to have relationships with Christians than with Jews. The study of religious trends found that it was more probable that Christians had personal contact with agnostics and atheists than with people of other faiths. Globally less than 14% of Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists have personal contact with a Christian, in contrast with the 33% of atheists and agnostics who do.
Religion/SpiritualityChristianity, September 2013
 
It might be unpalatable but Christmas is being lost to secularism. Survey results (from ComRes 2007, 2010, 2012 and Children’s Society 2010) show just 12% of adults know the nativity story; and 36% of children do not know whose birthday is being celebrated during the festival. A crucial 51% of people now say that the birth of Jesus is irrelevant to their Christmas, indicating that for the majority Christmas is becoming simply a consumer-fuelled and family-filled happy holiday which is meaningless – albeit enjoyable. A movement made up of some of the nation’s leading Christian groups, including the Church of England, the Evangelical Alliance, and the Children’s Society, is coming together because they recognise something must be done.
Religion/SpiritualityThe Wey, September/October 2013
 
A Muslim free school which discriminated against women and required staff to cover their hair has been ordered to make ‘swift’ changes or risk closure. Al-Madinah Free School in Derby has been warned by the Government that it must take immediate action to address concerns over the way it is being run. In a highly critical letter to the chairman of the governors, Schools Minister Lord Nash said that the school had failed to keep pupils safe, provide a good education and has discriminated against female staff. He said the school had ‘manifestly breached’ its conditions, and can expect to lose its state funding – effectively forcing it to close down – if it does not take action. The school has been told it must provide evidence it has stopped practices that lead to women and girls being treated ‘less favourably’ than men and boys.
Religion/SpiritualityThe Sentinel, October 9 2013
 
Research published from the University of Illinois, part funded by the John Templeton Foundation, examined the relationship between religion and happiness. If religious people are indeed happier than non-religious people, difference in thinking style may explain why. The analysis of almost two million text messages from16,273 Twitter users revealed that Christians express more happiness than atheists in everyday language. The results show a positive correlation between religion and happiness. Furthermore, religious people have stronger social connections that promote positive well-being, whereas atheists engage in a more analytical thinking style that can impinge on personal well-being.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now, August 2013
 
An extensive survey of Muslims, conducted in 39 countries throughout the world and published on April 30, revealed a broad desire for the implementation of shari’a law. Those questioned also expressed a high level of support for the freedom of non-Muslims to practise their faith, which is granted by shari’a to Christians and Jews on condition that they submit to demeaning and discriminatory dhimmi regulations.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now - July 2013
 
No one – except perhaps the occasional, elite revival-watcher – expected there to be a dramatic move of the Holy Spirit somewhere in Wales this year. But Victory Church, Cwmbran has reported numerous healings, having had ‘outpouring meetings’ every night of the week since April. Now there are reports of meetings springing up around the country – in Runcorn, Leeds and Portsmouth – with local churches eager to see God move in a similar way. If God is on the move in the UK, perhaps it’s time we thought about what we mean when we talk about this more elusive dimension of his character: his presence.
Religion/SpiritualityChristianity, August 2012
 
The widow of a church organist bludgeoned to death on his way to Midnight Mass said yesterday that she had no feelings of 'hate and unforgiveness for his killers. In an extraordinary act of compassion, Maureen Greaves refused to condemn Jonathan Bowling and Ashley Foster for their brutal and motiveless attack on her husband Alan, whom she described as her 'soul mate'. Instead, committed Christian Mrs Greaves, 63, insisted she would be praying for the thugs and hoped that 'God's great mercy will inspire them to true repentance'. Her inspirational words came as a jury found Foster guilty of the 68-year-old's man¬slaughter, after his stepbrother Bowling had admitted murder….Mrs Greaves, who works for the Church Army charity, added that her compassion for the killers had done nothing to stop the constant pain she felt. 'I used to be a happy and fulfilled person who lived with my soul mate. Suddenly I am lonely and I have no one to talk to, as we did constantly. 'I put my energy into getting through the tears and the crying each day. I don't want people to think that because I can forgive, this has been an easy journey for me. The switch from being happily married to single has been horrific.'
Religion/SpiritualityDaily Mail 19.07.13
 
“New research shows that 11 million English adults visit Church of England cathedrals every year, and surprising numbers of them are non-Christians and the non-religious. Nearly a fifth of those who call themselves non-religious said they had visited a cathedral in the last year (18%).”
Religion/SpiritualityInspire – February 2013
 
A study, published in mid-December by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, showed that 84% of the world’s seven billion people adhere to some form of religion.
However, while Christians and Muslims make up the two largest groups, those with no religious affiliation, including atheists and agnostics, are now the third largest ‘religious’ group in the world.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now, February 2013
 
In September the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that people who are persecuted in their native countries due to their religion have the right to apply for asylum in Europe. Confirming the ruling of a German court, the ECJ (the highest court within the EU) decided that, if a person’s right to public worship was ‘gravely infringed’, they should be granted asylum. Furthermore, it ruled that being limited to private prayer was not a legitimate alternative to the inherent right of worship.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now, November 2012
 
In mid-September it was reported that 50 confirmed atheists had begun a 40-day prayer experiment to investigate whether God exists. Each will pray for two to three minutes each day, asking God to reveal himself to them. It is based on an academic paper – Praying to Stop Being an Atheist – by Oxford philosopher Tim Mawson. One of the participants dropped out before the experiment began – because she became a Christian.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals Now, November 2012
 
In August, a judge permitted a Jewish girl of ten years old to formally change her faith to Christianity. The ruling came after Judge John Platt rejected claims by her Jewish mother that her daughter had been brainwashed and was too young to change her faith. The school girl’s divorced parents were in deep disagreement over her desire to be baptised at the church her father, himself a convert from Judaism now attends. At the end of the case the Judge ruled that the girl was mature enough to choose her faith and also wrote a personal letter to her, explaining his decision.
Religion/SpiritualityEvangelicals now – September 2012
 
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