The woman, Lisa Domski, submitted a religious exemption request to the company because the three COVID-19 vaccines approved at the time had been developed or tested using foetal cell lines that originated from abortions, according to court documents.

In her request, Domski wrote that taking the vaccine "would be a terrible sin and distance my relationship with God." BCBSM determined that her position did not meet the criteria for a religious exemption.

Read More

They say the Education and Workforce Committee's report to the House of Parliament last week on the Education and Training Bill: "sanctions bible classes for primary school children in state primary schools, even though the new bill, like previous laws, states that schools must be secular."

The proposed Bill amends the 1964 Education Act's provisions regarding religious instruction.

Section 54 retains the provision that "if a State school's board, after consultation with the principal, determines school buildings may be used for the purposes of religious instruction or observances conducted in a manner approved by the board."

The section states that "any 1 or more classrooms at the school, or the school as a whole, may be closed during the school day for any period or periods not exceeding 60 minutes in aggregate in any week or 20 hours in a school year, for the purposes of religious instruction or observances conducted by voluntary instructors approved by the school's board."

Currently, an opt-out approach applies.

But the new law makes provision for an opt-in provision to ensure that attendance at religious instruction only occurs with parental consent.

Secular Education Network spokesperson, Mark Honeychurch, says that the change does not go far enough.

He says it is a discriminatory and outdated law and it must be changed.

The Secular Education Network is also taking the Attorney General, representing the Ministry of Education, to court in October, arguing that provision of religious instruction in state schools is discriminatory.

Sections 54 to 58 of Bill apply to religious instruction and observances in State primary and intermediate schools only.

Source

• legislation.govt.nz
• scoop.co.nz

"Give it with courtesy and respect and with a clear conscience, so that those who slander you when you are living a good life in Christ may be proved wrong in the accusations that they bring.

"Moreover, if it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong." (1st Peter, 3:15-18).

The New Zealand Government's decision to limit Church services to 10 people while allowing restaurants, bars, (Thursday), schools, Kura, strip-joints bowling clubs and airlines to open is not based on strong reasoning and compelling logic.

It is religious discrimination based on deep, underlying anti-religious pragmaticism.

If five-year-olds at school, revellers in restaurants and viewers in cinemas are deemed responsible enough for their own and other people's safety, why are people attending religious services considered less capable?

There seems to be no real answer to this beyond the Prime Ministers fear of "fellowship".

This is a clear example of paternalistic politics that treats religious people and religious organisations as less capable than children in playgrounds.

Or is it an economic decision based on the notion that religious organisations do not contribute to the tax-base, so they should have fewer rights to gather?

While other businesses have been permitted to open, religious communities that live from the donations of members have not been able to gather and have also seen their incomes fall.

Tracking, tracing and social distancing are essential elements of public safety now.

If they were absolute values they would be adhered to everywhere.

The argument seems to be that religious organisations cannot achieve this minimum level.

Again, this is an example of paternalistic politics being used to deepen the discrimination.

Private religion

In secular liberal democracies like New Zealand, the dominant view is that religious practice and belief should remain personal and private.

The religious voice should not sully the purer political and social debate.

In this scenario, the State tolerates religious practice and belief; it does not embrace it.

Here, religious groups are accepted to the extent that they stay out of the mainstream. This, and child abuse, are the key reasons why our bishops get no airtime, except if there's a scandal.

In New Zealand, religious believers have "learned-silence" and internalised discrimination.

We have learned to hide our belief.

Disempowered, we have learnt not to disturb the neighbours. We have internalised the discrimination to such an extent that we have lost our voice.

The challenge for believers of all faiths is to challenge the presumption that religion is a private activity then our values of life, justice and equity will continue to be ignored.

A religious worldview is a valid worldview

Too often, we are silenced by the argument that religion is the source of all the world's problems. This gross oversimplification is used by people with limited historical knowledge who cannot distinguish between inauthentic religion and authentic religion.

Inauthentic religion is the manipulation of beliefs and people to gain power, prestige and position.

Authentic religion is the source of Caritas that changes the world through acts of mercy and forgiveness.

Lest we forget: men and women with religious worldviews have fed the hungry, clothed the naked, sheltered the oppressed and rescued migrants as the outpouring of their religious faith and we continue to do so, even when the organisation of Government does not.

Authentic religion is at work "when hatred is overcome by love, vengeance gives way to forgiveness, and hatred is quenched by mercy."

Authentic politics respects all people.

It protects all life -without exception, promotes equity and cares for the weakest. Paternalistic politics does none of these.

We cannot open our churches for public worship because of the Government's decision; this is not our decision. We comply because we are responsible citizens.

"I shall ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever, that Spirit of truth whom the world can never receive, since it neither sees, nor knows God's Spirit; but you know the Spirit because the Spirit is with you and in you." Jn 14:16-17.

"The draft laws are an important way to help people of faith and the organizations they establish as communities of faith to manifest their religious belief in the service of others," Archbishop Peter Comensoli said. Read more

The changes came after faith-based organisations, business leaders and LGBTTIQ+ groups were highly critical of the initial draft.

A second draft, Morrison is open to further changes and his government will work with the Labor opposition on amendments ahead of the legislation introduced early in 2020.

Draft 2 was announced on Tuesday by Morrison and Attorney General, Christian Porter.

Powerful religious groups including the Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney and the Anglican Diocese of Sydney and the Australian National Imams Council all said the initial draft worked counter to the intention and would actually diminish the religious freedom of faith groups.

On the previous draft, it was an offence, for example, for a Christian campsite (if it operates "commercially") to advertise for Christian staff to run the campsite.

It is understood the Australian Government received almost 6000 submissions on the first draft of the bill, and Porter met with 100 stakeholder groups.

The Government has 11 changes to the initial draft.

"A Catholic school — we want to be utterly clear — could fill a position with a Catholic simply because their preference is it be filled by a Catholic," Porter said.

He further clarified that religious benevolent institutions such as Vinnies will be included in the definition of "religious bodies".

Porter said the changes would not "change the operation, the objectives or the overarching structure of the bill" but would "improve a range of very important clauses".

Association of Independent Schools NSW chief executive Geoff Newcombe said amendments appeared to address the original concern of faith-based schools over their right to preference the employment of teachers of the same faith.

The new draft bill also includes stronger protections for other ­religious groups and individuals, including faith-based hospitals and aged-care facilities, and provides a clearer definition of vilification as "incitement of hatred or violence".

The bill was welcomed by religious groups, condemned by the Greens and LGBTI groups, and noted by Labor reports The Guardian.

As well as the right for religious institutions to discriminate in favour of staff on the basis of religion, it plans to narrow a controversial proposal to allow medical practitioners to object to treating patients.

The new bill makes it clear "conscientious objection" does not give health workers the right to discriminate against patients based on gender or other characteristics. Explanatory notes accompanying the bill say "an objection must be to a procedure, not a person".

Mr Morrison said Australians held diverse beliefs and this was "a key part of who we are as a country".

"This is a bill for all Australians," he told reporters in Sydney. "

Australia is a country of respect and of tolerance."

Public comment on the bill is open until the end of January

Sources

• The Australian
• The Guardian
• SMH
• CathNews

Attorney General, Christian Porter intended to introduce the bill to the Federal Parliament before Christmas.

But the powerful religious groups say the bill, in its current form, will actually diminish the religious freedom of faith groups.

Among the groups making representation include:

• Catholic Archdiocese of Sydney,
• Anglican Diocese of Sydney,
• Executive Council of Australian Jewry,
• Australian National Imams Council,
• Greek Orthodox Church in Australia,
• Seventh-day Adventist,
• Baptist leaders,
• Presbyterian leaders,
• Australian Christian Lobby, and
• Christian Schools Australia.

The government released a draft bill in August, however, Porter now intends to redraft the bill and introduce early 2020.

One issue at stake is the definition of a religious body.

Under the proposed legislation, religious bodies are given special protections to hire and dismiss staff on the basis of religious belief.

Churches, religious schools and registered charities all qualify as religious bodies, but not groups that engage primarily in "commercial activities" reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

The SMH reports religious leaders remain "deeply concerned" about the lack of protections for religious bodies engaged in commercial activities.

It reports the leaders say there will be "very serious unintended consequences" for the operation of faith-based charities, such as Vinnies' op-shops and Christian campsites.

The religious leaders say the issue is mission-critical for many faith-based organisations which exist to further a religious purpose," the letter says. "On the current drafting, it would be an offence, for example, for a Christian campsite (if it operates "commercially") to advertise for Christian staff to run the campsite."

The Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher is welcoming the postponement.

"The Archbishop of Sydney has said (of the bill's delay) that he is pleased that the government has listened to the concerns of people of faith and welcomes the opportunity for further consultation and looks forward to seeing the second exposure draft very soon," a spokesperson for Fisher said.

Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison said the Australian Government takes seriously the issue of discrimination against Australians for their religious beliefs and will proceed on the basis of good faith.

"We made a commitment to Australians to address this issue at the last election and we are keeping faith with that commitment in a calm and considered process.

While religious groups are keen for stronger religious freedoms in Australia, their view is not shared by other community groups.

The proposed bill has also met with strong criticism from Equality Australia, who say the draft proposed law will open the door to discriminate against LGBTTIQ+ people.

Sources

• The Australian
• SMH

He is asking fellow Christians to "calm down" about their alleged persecution.

His comments come amid a brewing political storm over how the government should act to protect against religious discrimination.

Costello, a senior fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity, says the federal government should not try to legislate to cover "extreme" examples of competing rights. He cited the Israel Folau sacking case as an example of this.

Costello, who is the former chief advocate for World Vision Australia, says he has not seen any evidence of Christian persecution in Australia and Christians needed to "suck it up", just like Jesus.

"I would say to Christians if you want to see persecution, let me take you to places where there is persecution of Christians and other religious groups - let me take you to Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan and I will show you persecution.

"And if they read their Bibles, Jesus said the world will hate you and misunderstand you for following me, but to go on following, loving, serving - so I would say, just suck it up.

"Jesus didn't go around demanding legislation to protect his rights. Jesus didn't advocate for freedom of religion legislation."

Costello says he is "troubled" that the debate about religious discrimination had been reduced to a debate about competing individual rights and the role of the state.

This type of debate points to a "nihilism" in society that overlooked the importance of groups, he says.

Instead, he thinks the legislation needs to find the "middle road" on protecting people of faith, rather than focusing on the "extreme" case of Folau's sacking.

"I would want less of a debate on rights and more of a debate on respect, because it is very difficult in law to cover what I call the extremes," he says.

A spokesman for the Centre for Public Christianity said Reverend Costello had been "trying to take a bit of the heat out of the ­discussion".

But Bruce Meller, from the Presbyterian Church of Australia, says although Costello is right to recognise the experience of Christians overseas, "negative discrimination is defin­itely being experienced here".

Meller says Australian Christians should speak up in the debate about religiou­s freedom laws.

"This is the most important issue we face at the moment, and not just for Christians. The climate has changed dramatically, and it is that change to which Christians are reacting."

Source

• The Australian
• The Guardian
• Image: Pro Bono Australia

They pause again in front of the tiny statue when they return home at day's end. It's been part of the family's routine since they moved into the Tollgate Woods neighborhood in 2003

On Tuesday, the Samonas received a letter from their homeowners association, stating that the Virgin Mary figure and other pieces of statuary in their yard were in violation of neighborhood policies.

The family believes it's discrimination. Read more

Facebook said it has removed more than 5,000 ad-targeting categories to limit the ability of advertisers to exclude users based on ethnicity or religion.

Until now, when an advertiser created an ad for Facebook, a tab "to exclude persons who correspond more or less to the following criteria" allowed for the audience to be filtered based on terms such as "halal," "Islamic vocabulary" or "Shariah."

These terms have now been eliminated.

Advertisers will now have to go through a process of certification to educate them on the "difference between acceptable ad targeting and ad discrimination," Facebook wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

Facebook France communications representative, Ben Puygrenier, says the religious aspect of the advertising targeting criteria was significant.

"Most targeting options allowed advertisers to identify and exclude ethnic and religious groups," he said.

"Hence, by blocking people interested in the Jewish feast of the Passover, an advertiser could prevent Jewish web surfers from seeing certain ads," he explained.

Facebook is popular among advertisers because it gives them access to an audience of 2.2 billion users and allows them to slice and dice that audience with precision, so they can reach the exact people they're looking for.

But offering such precise targeting to its advertising customers left Facebook exposed to various forms of manipulation, necessitating the current review of its policies and practices.

Source

• La Croix
• CNet
• Buzzfeed News
• Image: The Telegraph

Justin Watson opened Starter's Café in Cheviot about seven weeks ago. Read more

New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman said hate speech towards Jews was particularly prevalent on social media.

"A lot of anti-Semitism comes out of ignorance and thinking this is a fashionable thing to do," Goodman said. Continue reading

The second such incident within nine months at a store run by James Pascoe Group has led to its head office issuing a stern warning to staff that discrimination, on any grounds, will not be tolerated.

Mona Alfadli, 25, applied for a job as a retail assistant position at the New Lynn Stewart Dawsons on July 9. She says she was told it was a "waste of time" if she wouldn't remove her hijab.

"I felt embarrassed as it took a lot of courage to walk into the shop and speak to the manager regarding a job, especially since I was afraid of the rejection." Read more

The researchers were interested in the drivers of prejudice and tolerance towards Muslims, says Associate Professor Sibley, a member of the research team.

"New Zealand is an incredibly diverse, socially progressive and tolerant country, however levels of extreme prejudice towards Muslims are twice as high as for other minority groups."

Analysis of the data suggests a correlation between a strong religious faith and a more accepting attitude towards Muslim peoples.

When it comes to religion and prejudice, it seems place trumps beliefs.

"In peaceful countries such as New Zealand, religious faith enhances charity and acceptance." says Dr John Shaver another of the researchers.

The researchers found that while secular people are more tolerant than those who only weakly identify with their religion, non-Muslim New Zealanders who identify as highly religious are the most tolerant of Muslims.

This correlation is about as strong as the correlation between having a postgraduate degree and being more accepting of Muslims

Perceptions incorrect

Shaver says several decades of research suggests religious people are more prejudiced to those outside of their in-group.

Research has also suggested that longstanding Christian-Muslim conflicts are self-perpetuating."

"Neither perspective is quite right," Shaver says.

Who are the researchers?

The research team was made up of Auckland University's Associate Professor Chris Sibley, and from Victoria University; Dr John Shaver, Dr Geoff Troughton and Associate Professor Joseph Bulbulia.

The conclusions are based on analysis of data collected from almost 14,000 New Zealanders.

The research was supported by the Royal Society of New Zealand, and recently published in the international journal PLOS ONE, in a paper titled Religion and the Unmaking of Prejudice toward Muslims: Evidence from a Large National Sample.

Source

• phys.org
• Image: www.theguardian.com

This after the office of the prime minster has been advised that Islamic extremists could cause future instability.

Muslims accounted for 0.03 percent of the population at the 2001 census.

At present there is a small muslim population in Samoa that gathers at a mosque.

In 1986, the Samoan Muslims established the Western Samoa Muslim League.

A blog posted in 2001 said president was Mohammed Daniel Stanley a.k.a. Mohammed Bin Yahya a.k.a. Laulu Dan Stanley.

He was at that time 64 years old and a well known accountant and auditor who operates his own accounting firm.

Stanley had one room of his house at Vaiusu Village, which is located next to Apia, as an Islamic Centre and a mosque.

The Islamic activities involved general teaching of Islam and nightly Qur'anic lessons and the Friday prayers.

The constitution protects the right to practice any religion but doesn't rule out the establishment of an official state religion.

Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said the country's constitution may be changed to recognise Christian principles and teachings, not just in the preamble.

Presently, the Christian references are only in the preamble and are not part of Samoa's law.

Tuila'epa says the proposed amendments will also look into religious practices.

The prime minister revealed the constitutional move at the 50th anniversary celebrations for the National Council of Churches.

He said Samoa is a Christianity-based country and that goes together with Samoan cultures and traditions.

Academics not in agreement

Professor Iati Iati from the University of Otago said the pervasiveness of Christianity in Samoa was one of the reasons for the country's stability, and the faith is fully integrated into the political and cultural structures.

But he said Samoa would be treading down a dangerous path to ban other faiths.

"I think the writers of the Samoa constitution were wise beyond their years and I don't think the government should be meddling with the constitution. I think it's pretty good as it is."

Dr John Shaver from the University of Otago says calls in Samoa to ban Islam stem from a lack of personal experience and ignorance fuelled by media stereotypes.

He said that in places where minority groups were that small, it was easy for ignorance to spread.

"The problem is a lack of information and when your personal experiences don't often lead you to interactions with peaceful muslims then you rely on the media."

"And we know that positive examplars of minority groups in the media are capable of reducing prejudice."

Professor Rex Ahdar from the University of Otago said the Christian churches in Samoa were simply looking to "protect their turf".

"And they harbour genuine fears, and let's face it, they're not totally without some foundation, fears about the growth of Islam which they've seen in other countries around the world including in the west," he said.

"Now you might say well that's just fair competition, shouldn't they have to compete in the religious marketplace like anyone else, but again like good monopolists, sorry to use all this economic analysis, they're protecting their market share."

Samoa Council of Churches calls for total ban on Islam

The Secretary General of the Samoa Council of Churches, Reverend Ma'auga Motu, said he would go a step further and ban the religion of Islam.

He said even though most Samoans are Christian, Islam poses a future threat to the country.

"We are not going too far, no," Reverend Motu said.

"We are still wanting our own people to be prevented from this kind of influence, even though there are so many people who are good people but still there are some dangerous people among them who might come and threaten our peace."

The Pacific Conference of Churches calls for dialogue

The General Secretary of the PCC, the region's grouping of Christian denominations, Reverend Francois Pihaatae, argued that the focus needs to be on dialogue.

"To create first that space where everybody can come in and discuss and dialogue," he said.

"But they have the right to do the decision but before that we have to first look at what our faith, as Christians, is telling us."
Source

• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: www.youtube.com

They were released after being held and interrogated for 90 minutes.

The demonstrators were calling on Indonesian President Joko Widodo to investigate the unresolved December 2014 killings of four student protesters.

Armed police broke up the demonstration and detained several people, including the seminarians.

"They, carrying weapons, got off their truck and seized all [belongings] such as posters that we brought," Yulianus Freddy Pawika, a Franciscan seminarian, told ucanews.com.

For the people at the protest the police actions indicate a larger problem.

"It shows that those fighting for human rights have become targets of violence committed by the police," said Peneas Lokbere, coordinator of the advocacy group Solidarity for the Victims of Human Rights Violations in Papua, which organized the Oct. 8 protest.

Father Neles Tebay, a priest who coordinates the Papuan Peace Network advocacy group, also questioned the police actions.

"Every peaceful protest is faced with a military approach," he said. "How can it be?"

In September, Bishop John Philip Saklil of Timika decried military and police aggression in Papua.

He highlighted five specific acts of violence, including an Aug. 28 case in which two soldiers were accused of firing on a graduation party in a church, killing two people.

Source

• globalpulsemagazine.com
• radionz.co.nz
• Image: globalpulsemagazine.com

She is claiming that the dismissal is a result of discrimination.

When a family member of Ms Marx's died, she alleges the school did not offer her the same condolences it did for Maori and Pacific teachers when their relatives died.

She said she was criticised for not attending a powhiri for a new teacher, and was treated differently on religious grounds because of her values. Continue reading

The incident took place on a Valley Flyer bus travelling between Petone and Naenae last Wednesday morning.

Another challenge is the reluctance of employers to hire them are among the issues that will be up for discussion at a Muslim at Work Summit this coming Wednesday.

Many Muslims were getting a better deal in employment here than in their countries of origin, but some employers were still nervous about hiring them says, Auckland University of Technology [AUT] professor of diversity Edwina Pio who is convening the Summit.

"Many employers, with every good intention, are skittish about employing Muslims, based on media pictures and coverage about Muslims globally, which is often linked with violence, gender inequality and extremist jihad."

"The summit aims to dispel myths, shed light on the Islamic culture and create understanding of the diversity within our Muslim workforce," said Pio.

The Summit is being held at AUT and speakers include Equal Employment Commissioner Jackie Blue, Imam Sheikh Rafat and New Zealand's first ethnic police inspector Rakesh Naidoo.

Source

• Scoop
• Image: TV3News

Employers find it okay to employ Buddhists and Hindus but are wary of hiring Muslims, an AUT study has found.

Indian Christians in the research faced the least barriers, and acknowledged the benefits derived from having westernised names, a Western dress sense and fluency in English.

More than 200 people were interviewed for the research. Some Muslim employees said they faced racial comments or queries linking them to terror attacks and many said they experienced discrimination because of their faith.

"Women with veils and/or burqas are viewed with general curiosity and avoidance ... it is also difficult for men with beards," said the report.

The research for a book entitled Work and Worship by AUT Professor of Diversity Edwina Pio investigated the impact of minority religions in the New Zealand workplace.

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Image: focus-coaching.co.uk

A former art teacher at Tamaki College, Christopher Scott Roy claims he was constructively dismissed because he is an atheist, and the school saw Christianity as "a core responsibility to which he was indifferent".

He resigned from the Auckland college in October 2010, and signed a full and final settlement which included a payment to him of $6500.

However, he claimed the agreement was made under duress, and that he was constructively and unjustifiably dismissed from his job.

The ERA said he evidence showed Mr Roy was forthright defending and complaining about his treatment by Tamaki College, and accessed legal advice and representation.

"The evidence does not indicate threats or loss of autonomy at the material time."
Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Stuff.co.nz