Key Quotes for 2009

A world perspective in bite-size chunks
Showing page 17 of 30

1... 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ...30


Last update: Wednesday 25th March
 
NHS abortions are to be offered in North Staffordshire for the first time in almost two decades. Health trusts are signing a £300,000 contract with a private clinic to offer the service in Newcastle. It means around 1,200 women every year in North Staffordshire will no longer have to travel to Stockport for the procedure. Opponents fear the change will make it more attractive for more women to end pregnancies.
SexThe Sentinel- 3 June 2009
 
New proposals by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) which will allow abortion clinics to advertise on television and radio for the first time have been challenged by the church and pro-life agencies. The move was described as being damaging to women and likely to lead to an increase in pregnancy rates. If the proposals go ahead, Britain will have one of the world’s most liberal broadcasting regimes on sexual health provision.
MediaThe Universe– May 2009
 
The last survivor of the sinking of the Titanic has died aged 97. Milvina Dean was nine weeks old when the liner sank after hitting an iceberg in the early hours of April 15, 1912, on its maiden voyage from Southampton. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 1,517 people in the North Atlantic. Miss Dean passed away on Sunday at the care home in Hampshire where she lived.
The ElderlyThe Sentinel- 1 June 2009
 
The Bishop of Carlisle has criticised the Government’s move to increase the maximum stakes and prizes of some gaming machines. Under regulations approved in the House of Lords, the top stake on one category of machine would be doubled from 50p to £1 and the top prize from £35 to £70. “I am completely at a loss to know why we pass laws that seem to encourage the gaming industry to expand – and I believe that this legislation does that.” Bishop Graham Dow said.
The LawThe Church of England– May 2009
 
A binding code of conduct for MPs will be part of a package of measures to ‘clean up’ politics, Gordon Brown said as he battled to rescue Labour from an expense scandal-fuelled meltdown. The Prime Minister moved to revive his constitutional reform plans after his party was dumped into third place in a General Election based opinion poll.
PoliticsThe Sentinel- 1 June 2009
 
Sex education will be compulsory in all state schools at primary as well as secondary level, but faith schools will be allowed to decide the context in which it is delivered, according to new governmental plans. Recommendations in the new review from the Department For Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) on personal, social and health education (PSHE), are expected to be put into legislation by September 2011.
SexThe Church of England– May 2009
 
Media interest in the work of Charles Darwin has overlooked the truth about his scientific theory and his personal faith, says Alister McGrath, Professor of Theology, Ministry and Education at King’s College London. Delivering the Eric Abbott Memorial Lecture in Westminster Abbey, he said: “It is a myth that Darwin caused a crisis of faith in Victorian England. It is not true that he faced opposition from the Church of England.”
Paying tribute to Darwin’s ‘deep commitment to finding truth through observation’, Professor McGrath asked: “Did Darwin’s findings turn him into an atheistic crusader? No they didn’t.” The implication was that Darwinism is being hijacked by today’s crusaders. “Darwin did not consider his theory on natural selection as the only explanation. He saw it as the best explanation."
Religion/SpiritualityThe War Cry- May 2009
 
Alcohol-related 999 calls for ambulances have increased by 11% in a year as paramedics report picking up children as young as ten who are drunk. Brian Hayes, a paramedic, told the Commons Health Committee that one in five 999 calls to London Ambulance Service between 10pm and 2am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights involved drink. The number of such calls in London rose by 11% on the previous year to 61,000 in 2007-8. However, the committee heard the true figure might have been higher as the impact of alcohol was not recorded when it was co-incidental to the injury.
Young PeopleSalvationist – May 2009
 
The monks at St Hugh’s Charterhouse, Parkminster – the only working Carthusian monastery in England – have broken their 900-year silence. The members of this religious order live a completely enclosed existence and spend their days alone in their cells, gathering only for Mass and vespers each day and to chant by candlelight from midnight to 3am. The Independent quoted the monastery’s prior saying that he wanted to share something of the monks’ otherwise hidden life by making a CD.
Religion/SpiritualityThe War Cry– May 2009
 
Religious persecution is increasing around the world, said the chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), Mervyn Thomas, at the annual general meeting of the human rights group. Speaking at the event in Westminster, he said: “Persecution doesn’t go away and it doesn’t diminish – it increases year on year. It is going on in around 60 countries.”
Religious PersecutionThe War Cry– May 2009
 
The UK’s leading advertising watchdog is cracking down on churches that distribute “irresponsible” leaflets testifying to God’s miraculous healing power. In recent months, four churches have fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) regulations after handing out printed material promoting their healing services. Despite receiving only one complaint in each case, the ASA ruled that the churches breached advertising codes by making “unverifiable” claims that might “mislead” vulnerable people into believing prayer could cure their medical conditions.
ChurchChristianity– June 2009
 
Following the announcement by Cadbury, that its Dairy Milk bars will receive Fairtrade certification this summer, Mars has pledged to move away from using cocoa picked by trafficked children. Mars has committed to ‘certifying its entire cocoa supply by 2020’ and as a first step one of its leading brands Galaxy, will be certified from early 2010, through the Rainforest Alliance as, ‘free from trafficked and exploited labour’. Campaigners report that thousands of children and young people are trafficked onto cocoa plantations in Africa. Attention now turns to Lindt, Hershey and Nestle to see if they have any response to their competitors pledging to end child exploitation in their supply chain.
World IssuesChristianity– June 2009
 
Church leaders are being encouraged to help make 2009 ‘a year to remember’ for children and the Church with the launch of an interdenominational Year of the Child. This will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations’ International Year of the Child. A group of Children’s Advisers from across the Church of England‘s dioceses, alongside representatives from the Methodist Church and other denominations and agencies, identified widespread interest in making a distinctive contribution to this anniversary. In light of this enthusiasm, the network plans to promote 2009 as an opportunity for local churches to review the work they do with and for children, and to do more to recognise and celebrate their contribution in society. The Archbishop of York, Dr. John Sentamu, comments: “In the lead up to the Year of the Child 2009 it is my hope that individual churches and Christian denominations throughout the country will opt in and make available the resources needed to make it a success.
Young PeopleGazette– April 2009
 
A Ugandan Anglican priest who in 1992 became the first African Christian leader to announce that he was HIV positive, was awarded the 26th annual Niwano Peace Prize in Tokyo. The Rev Canon Gideon Byamugisha was honoured by the Niwano Peace Foundation for his work in promoting Aids awareness in Africa. The Primate of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, Archbishop Makoto Uematsu accepted the award on behalf of Canon Byamugisha, who was advised against travel to Japan due to the H1N1 flu alert.
Religion/SpiritualityThe Church of England– May 2009
 
A Muslim will control the BBC’s religious broadcasting, the corporation has announced. Aaqil Ahmed has been appointed to the new joint role of Head of Religion & Ethics and Commissioning Editor for Religion TV. Mr Ahmed is currently Commissioning Editor for Religion and Multicultural at Channel 4. Recent programmes he has commissioned include Christianity: A History, The Qur’an and the Bafta-Award winning Saving Africa’s Witch Children. These programmes have been attacked in some quarters for dumbing down religion, as Mr Ahmed’s dedication to serving the nation’s Christian majority has been questioned. Christian Concern for our Nation conducted a campaign to put pressure on MPs to force the BBC to appoint a Christian.
Religion/SpiritualityThe Church of England– May 2009
 
Showing page 17 of 30

1... 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 ...30