An Iranian Christian was denied asylum in Great Britain after a government official in the Home Office used the Bible to argue that Christianity was violent. The man wrote in his request he had converted to Christianity because it is a peaceful faith. However, the Independent reports Britain’s Home Office’s refusal letter cited several biblical Read more
Posts Tagged ‘Violence’
Faith leaders say poverty, violence is behind migrant caravans
Thursday, November 8th, 2018
Faith leaders say the thousands of people in migrant caravans travelling through central America from Honduras are leaving their homes under duress. Many caravan members say they cannot make ends meet in their home countries due to low wages, extortion or unemployment, says Nathanael Bacon, a Catholic deacon who lives in Guatemala. The faith leaders Read more
Escape intimate partner violence
Thursday, September 13th, 2018
Intimate partner violence is driving women to suicide and self-harm say Women’s Refuge. Shocking stories from 1,250 women, told during a month-long online survey, were released on Monday: Almost half of the respondents considered taking their own life at least once Most had self-harmed The majority of the women linked their self-harming to their experiences Read more
Is religion intrinsically violent?
Thursday, March 22nd, 2018
It has become one of the most commonplace and influential ideas about religion: that it is the cause of much, if not most, of the conflict and violence in the world. While this is not a new idea — religious passions have long been deemed suspect for their potential to causes divisions — the notion Read more
Warning: This church is heavily armed
Thursday, November 23rd, 2017In the wake of the Texas church shooting in which 25 people and an unborn child died, a leader of The River at Tampa Bay Church posted a warning on social media. “Welcome to The River at Tampa Bay Church,” signs at the church warn, “right of admission reserved — this is private property. Please Read more
Reconsider hiring college hall out for arms auction says old boy priest
Thursday, October 12th, 2017
A priest who is a former pupil of St Patrick’s College Wellington has asked the college to reconsider hiring out its hall for an arms auction. The auction features high-powered semi-automatic weapons and military memorabilia adorned with Nazi insignia. Monsignor Gerard Burns says while the arms auction – to be held this weekend at the Kilbirnie school’s hall – was Read more
The gospel of nonviolence
Monday, May 8th, 2017
Jesus called his disciples to love their enemies, to be abundantly merciful, to repent and forgive, and to offer no violent resistance to those who do evil. But he also modeled nonviolence by actively confronting injustice and violence, as when he defied the Sabbath laws to heal the disabled, confronted unjust power at the Temple, Read more
Doing violence in God’s name
Thursday, March 30th, 2017
Blaise Pascal once wrote: “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction.” How true! This has been going on since the beginning of time and is showing few signs of disappearing any time soon. We still do violence and evil and justify them in God’s name. Read more
Porn is fine — yeah right!
Thursday, March 16th, 2017
I was in my teens when a sudden rush of sexual publications became available, thanks to a change in censorship law. The Left-wing bookshop where I worked bought boxes of them, mostly lurid black and yellow-covered paperbacks of Robert Burns’ jaunty poems about fornication, The Kama Sutra, and The Perfumed Garden. We possibly made a profit for Read more
Faith based communities have a role to play in reducing crime and violence
Friday, December 9th, 2016
Addressing the causes of crime and violence in the Great Suva area by could be assisted by the greater involvement of faith based communities. This was one of the solutions offered by participants in Fiji’s first ever discussion on crime and violence Members of faith-based organisations and NGOs gathered in Pacific Harbour in Serua On Read more