Global: Prayer Week for refugee crisis
10 Sep 2015
This week 24-7 Prayer International are inviting the global church to pray in one-hour slots, wherever they are, for the refugee crisis. The prayer week is running from midday Monday 7 until midday Monday 14 September. Readers of Prayer Alert are invited to join this initiative. Praying into such an enormous situation can feel overwhelming, but we can’t let that silence our prayers. Instead we can trust the promise of Ps 34:17 that God hears and answers prayer. According to Lev.19:34, pray that our reaction to refugees will always be love and not fear and that we will always love the one in front of us; regardless of background or status. Pray according to Ps. 11:28 for God’s rule over the nations in war and crisis, for problems to be solved with major changes in countries of origin - Syria, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Eritrea, Afghanistan. Pray according to Mic.6:8 for the hard-pressed agencies working on the borders of land and sea. For helpful resources click the ‘more’ link.
Vincent Nichols: we will rise and host refugees
10 Sep 2015
On Tuesday Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, called on UK Catholics to respond ‘in prayer and in real practical action’ to the call to house the 20,000 refugees coming to Britain. This follows Pope Francis' call on Sunday to the Catholic Church: ‘May every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary in Europe host a family - starting with my diocese of Rome.’ The Vatican will house two Syrian families. Nichols said the Church will work to ‘ensure the effective reception and long-term resettlement of these desperate people.’ Nichols said that the Church would work with the government and other authorities in its response. Specific details about how the parishes will carry out the hosting programme will be released in the future.
After two British citizens who fought for IS were deliberately killed in an RAF targeted drone strike in Syria a human rights group, Rights Watch (UK), said it will issue judicial review proceedings in the High Court unless the government publishes the legal advice it received from the Attorney General to justify the drone strikes. They believe there is insufficient information to know whether the drone strikes were done lawfully and said, ‘These strikes set a dangerous precedent for UK government activity. The UK government can now kill at will with no oversight.’ Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the government would take similar action again against other terrorists involved in other plots. Some are saying Cameron's drone strike in Syria means that the death penalty has returned to Britain, while Mr Cameron says it was an act of self-defence as the terrorists were known to be planning attacks in the UK.
Reverend Dr George Carey believes that Germany opening its doors to the influx of refugees could turn Europe into a more attractive magnet for economic migrants, mostly young men travelling alone. ‘We don’t even know how many were combatants in the civil war’. He added, ‘If what I say sounds harsh, let me make it clear that I welcome David Cameron’s announcement to allow thousands more to enter Britain through refugee camps in Syria’s neighbouring countries. But the frustration for those of us who are calling for compassion for Syrian victims is that the Christian community is yet again left at the bottom of the heap. Christians are the most vulnerable and repeatedly targeted sufferers of this conflict. Britain should make Syrian Christians a priority. We are a Christian nation with an established Church, so Syrian Christians will find no challenge to integration. The churches are already well-prepared and eager to offer support and accommodation to those escaping the conflict.’
5,500 sex attacks in schools in three years
10 Sep 2015
More than 5,500 alleged sex crimes in UK schools were reported to police from 2012 to 2015. A UK-wide investigation by BBC Radio 5 Live into sex crimes in schools discovered that in Great Britain there were nearly 4,000 alleged physical sexual assaults and more than 600 rapes in schools. In Northern Ireland the category of sex assaults was not released. The investigation also found that in England sixty pupils were permanently excluded for sexual misconduct in 2013/14, while there were no exclusions in Scotland or Wales. Focus on the Family reported recently, ‘The average age of exposure to pornography is eight. Today's child lives in a culture where hard-core pornography abounds. Our children are being seduced daily, and we need to bear this fact in mind whenever we have the occasion to redirect them away from pornography.’ See also http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/sexuality/when-children-use-pornography/when-children-view-pornography
Praying for our education system
10 Sep 2015
A September Department of Education press release said, ‘Millions of pupils returning to the classroom this term are being taught a new forward-thinking, knowledge-rich national curriculum that will give them the knowledge and skills to succeed in modern Britain.’ The new curriculum is designed to raise standards for children aged 5 to 16, especially the poorest, and hopes to provide a broad and balanced education ensuring that all pupils gain core knowledge across a range of key subjects for a better start in life. The curriculum is less prescriptive, allowing teachers to concentrate on what they do best - teach.
Queen Elizabeth II became Queen of England in 1952 and holds the title of Supreme Governor of the Church of England plus a symbolically authoritative position in the Church of Scotland. Her duties are to appoint archbishops, bishops and deans of cathedrals. This seems to make her an Anglican; however, she also holds honorary membership of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The Queen expresses a deep commitment to the principles of Christianity and during her millennium Christmas address said, ‘To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance. For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life. I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ’s words and example.’
The UK will cross a ‘legal and ethical Rubicon’ if the law on assisted suicide in England and Wales is changed, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said. MPs will debate the Assisted Dying Private Members' Bill on Friday 11 September; it proposes to allow doctors to help terminally ill patients to die in some circumstances. Justin Welby said the bill would mean that suicide was ‘actively supported’ instead of being viewed as a tragedy. He and the heads of other Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh groups believe the bill goes beyond merely legitimising suicide to actively supporting it and they have issued a joint letter urging MPs to reject it. The Archbishop said that asking doctors to aid suicide would be a change of monumental proportions both in the law and in the role of doctors. ‘This respect for the lives of others goes to the heart of both our criminal and human rights laws and ought not to be abandoned,’ the archbishop said.