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March 20, 2008
'Believers are happier than atheists'
People who believe in God are happier than agnostics or atheists, researchers claimed yesterday.
'Believers are happier than atheists'
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Last Updated: 2:38am GMT 18/03/2008
The Telegraph
People who believe in God are happier than agnostics or atheists, researchers claimed yesterday.
A report found that religious people were better able to cope with disappointments such as unemployment or divorce than non-believers.
Moreover, they become even happier the more they pray and go to church, claims the study by Prof Andrew Clark and Dr Orsolya Lelkes.
The research, presented at the Royal Economic Society's annual conference, echoes academic studies that have found religion can improve people's sense of wellbeing.
Using data from Britain and Europe, the study found believers enjoyed higher levels of satisfaction and suffered less psychological damage from unemployment, divorce or the death of a partner.
However, it also found that religious people across Europe tended to be more socially conservative and opposed to Government intervention in areas such as employment.
Believers, for example, were less likely to look for a new job if they were out of work.
Countries with a more religious electorate had lower unemployment benefits.
The study, Deliver Us From Evil: Religion as Insurance, found that less than a sixth of churchgoers in Britain believe it is better to divorce than stay in an unhappy marriage.
The authors of the study said: "Religion tempers the impact of adverse life events."
Posted by latimer at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)
November 06, 2007
Rally to keep spirit of Christmas alive
"Members of both faiths found it offensive when people downplayed the festival in the mistaken belief it could upset minorities" the Christian Muslim Forum said.
Rally to keep spirit of Christmas alive
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
Last Updated: 6:20am GMT 05/11/2007
An influential coalition of Christian and Muslim leaders defended Christmas yesterday after a Labour think-tank suggested that it be downgraded to improve community relations.
Members of both faiths found it offensive when people downplayed the festival in the mistaken belief it could upset minorities, the Christian Muslim Forum said.
The vast majority of Britons want to preserve the country's Christian heritage, says the Rt Rev David Gillett, joint forum president and the Bishop of Bolton.
A controversial report by the Institute of Public Policy Research argues that, while it might be difficult to ban Christmas entirely, it should only be celebrated if other religious groups' festivals are given similar prominence in order to treat all communities equally.
The forum had repeatedly emphasised the need for all religious traditions to be accorded their rightful place, said Bishop Gillett.
Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, a Leicester imam and joint head of the forum's community and public affairs, said: "We would not be happy with the downplaying of any festival. We don't believe that equality is achieved by downgrading anyone."
There might be one or two Muslims who object to Christmas but the vast majority want religion in all its forms to be celebrated, he says.
There is growing concern among faiths that secularists are attempting to push religion to the margins of public life.
Politicians increasingly avoid Christmas cards with a religious theme and town halls often try to airbrush Christianity out of Christmas.
In 1998, Birmingham renamed its celebration Winterval and, in 2001, Luton created a Harry Potter-themed event called Luminos.
Posted by latimer at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2007
Christian converts risk Muslim attack
The issue of apostasy from Islam is beginning to receive mainstream media attention in Britain
UK Times Online
From The Sunday Times September 16, 2007
By Abul Taher
entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/tls_selections/religion/article2461314.ece
Christian converts risk Muslim attack
ONE of Britain’s most senior bishops has warned that a sustained campaign by Muslim extremists to intimidate and attack converts to Christianity risks ending in a murder.
Michael Nazir-Ali, the Bishop of Rochester, says that the persecution of Christian converts from Islam is so widespread that it may be only a matter of time before there is an “honour killing” of a convert by family or relatives.
He spoke out as the Barnabas Fund, a charity that looks after persecuted Christians around the world, estimated that there are more than a thousand attacks each year against former Muslims across Britain.
Nazir-Ali, speaking on the Channel 4 Dispatches programme to be broadcast tomorrow, said: “We have seen honour killings have happened and there is no reason why this kind of thing cannot happen.” Asked if somebody would be killed soon, he said: “I think it is entirely possible.”
He blamed Muslim leaders for not teaching their followers about the importance of freedom of religion in Britain: “It’s not for me to put words into their mouths [Muslim leaders], but I would look to them to uphold basic civil liberties, including the right for people to believe what they wish to believe and even to change their beliefs if they wish to do so.”
The Barnabas Fund has uncovered widespread abuse against new converts, from being verbally abused and spat at to being assaulted by gangs of men on the street and left for dead. In some cases it believes that women converts were abducted to Pakistan.
Nissar Hussein, 41, a hospital nurse from Bradford, converted to Christianity 10 years ago after the death of his younger brother. Shortly after his conversion he also persuaded his wife Kubra, 37, to convert from Islam.
Since then the Husseins and their five children have been subjected to daily abuse and violence by local Muslims in Bradford. Their windows have been smashed, vandals have daubed “Christian dog” on their front gate and their children have been sworn at and spat at on their way home from school. The family have received death threats.
Hussein says in the programme: “They told me categorically had I been in an Islamic country, ie Pakistan, the Middle East, that they would actually be the first to chop off my head.” The Husseins moved out of their home after six years, fearing they would be killed.
Research by the Barnabas Fund indicates that there are an estimated 3,000 Muslim converts to Christianity in Britain. About 2,000 of them are Iranians, while the rest are from the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan.
Patrick Sookhdeo, director of the Barnabas Fund, said: “I think the situation is worsening in the UK because we are moving towards parallel communities - I don’t like to use the workd ghettoisation. Muslims feel abandoning their religion is like a betrayal.” He added that attacks on converts was a type of Islamic extremism against a minority group.
Posted by latimer at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)
March 13, 2007
Magazine publisher accepts Christ, leaves homosexual lifestyle
The publisher of Venus Magazine, a 13 year old periodical for homosexuals of African-American descent, announced on the magazine's website that she has become a Christian and now rejects the lesbian lifestyle she has lived for her "entire adult life."
Magazine publisher accepts Christ, leaves homosexual lifestyle
Jeff Johnson
OneNewsNow.com
March 2, 2007
www.onenewsnow.com/2007/03/magazine_publisher_accepts_chr.php
The publisher of Venus Magazine, a 13 year old periodical for homosexuals of African-American descent, announced on the magazine's website that she has become a Christian and now rejects the lesbian lifestyle she has lived for her "entire adult life."
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"Over the past 29 years of my life I have been an aggressive, creative and strategic supporter of gay and lesbian issues," Charlene E. Cothran, VENUS Magazine publisher wrote in the article. "I’ve organized and participated in countless marches and various lobbying efforts in the fight for equal treatment of gay men and lesbians.
Cothran goes on in the online edition's current "cover story" to describe her financial contributions to homosexual lobbying organizations, but says her life has now changed.
"As the publisher of a 13 year old periodical which targets Black gays and lesbians, I have had the opportunity to publicly address thousands, influencing closeted people to ‘come out’ and stand up for them selves, which is particularly difficult in the African-American community," Cothran writes. "But now, I must come out of the closet again.
"I have recently experienced the power of change that came over me once I completely surrendered to the teachings of Jesus Christ," she continues. "As a believer of the word of God, I fully accept and have always known that same-sex relationships are not what God intended for us."
Cothran details a discussion with a local pastor that galvanized the doubts she had been having while trying to reconcile her homosexual behavior with the biblical prohibition on sex outside of a one-man, one-woman marriage.
"The spirit of God spoke directly into my soul and said you will choose this day who you will serve and if you make the wrong choice, I will allow you to drift so far away from me that you will never hear my voice again," Cothran recalls. "I gave God my heart and soul in the parking lot of the mall, right there in my car. A river of tears flowed as Jesus washed me and forgave me and redeemed me for His work."
The author and activist says her work with the homosexual community will continue, but its focus will drastically change.
"I intend be just as ‘out’ about my transformation as I was about my lesbian life. I have given every gift I have back to God, including VENUS Magazine" Cothran added. "The target audience will remain the same but the mission has been renewed. Our new mission is to encourage, educate and assist those in the [homosexual] life who want change but can’t find a way out."
All Original Content Copyright 2006-2007 American Family News Network - All Rights Reserved
Posted by latimer at 09:55 AM | Comments (0)
October 31, 2006
Onward Christian Voters is party's new theme tune
NZ Labour party is seeking to embrace its Christian membership ...
"I think what you will see is more attention being paid by Labour to matters of religious principle and respect for all faith."
www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=500818&objectid=10408213
Posted by latimer at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)