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Anglican spokesman supports
euthanasia
London, January 27th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The Church of England
could be reconsidering its traditional position against euthanasia,
if comments by Canon Robin Gill are anything to go by. One of
the Archbishop of Canterbury’s leading advisors, Gill said he
thought there were “arguments” in favour of helping the terminally-ill
die if they so wished.
One such case, says Gill – author of a book on euthanasia -,
was that of Diane Pretty, victim of motor neurone disease which
left her paralysed. She went to court shortly before dying,
both in London and to the International Court of Human Rights,
seeking permission for her husband to help her commit suicide.
Given that this was a high-profile case in the UK, there is
more than a hint of politics in Gill’s statement. All the more
so, given that the Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed him
to be the person to explain the Church’s position on euthanasia
to a Parliamentary Commission studying the subject.
Unbelievably, Gill says: “I do not know what the Archbishop
thinks on this issue” (hasn’t he asked him, or is it another
case of nobody understanding what the Archbishop means when
he does say something?), “but I believe people should not be
charged for helping someone to die in this country or when they
go abroad to help a relative die in countries where the laws
are different.” In other words, never mind the teaching of the
Bible nor even the laws of the land, so long as we can do what
suits us. In the light of recent Anglican shifts on other ethical
issues, it looks like a case of ‘here we go again’. Hardly surprising
then that Gill’s words have been received with delight by the
pro-euthanasia lobby.
Source: El Periódico. Editing: ACPress.net
Film criticises ‘organised
religion’
Madrid, January 27th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
‘Just a kiss’, a film
directed by British film-maker Ken Loach and recently entered
into the Berlin Festival, criticises the “appalling power of
organised religion”, specifically – in this film – Islam and
Catholicism.
“After the September 2001 attacks, Muslims who live in Britain
felt threatened and vulnerable. Paul Laverty, the scriptwriter,
wanted to tell the story from the viewpoint of second-generation
Muslims, born in Britain, with one foot here and one in their
(other) culture. And all wrapped up in a love story.” Thus says
Loach. The love story involves Casim, played by Atta Yaqub,
a young Scot from a Muslim background, who is well settled in
his country but also tied to a family from Pakistan. He falls
in love with Roisin, played by Eva Birtwhistle, an English girl
who teaches at a Catholic school. When they start going out,
they realise their relationship is a problem for others, especially
Casim’s family.
Loach however does not merely criticise Muslim intolerance,
but also that found in the Catholic Church. “It is about the
power of organised religion, which are awful when they speak
of the need to impose their faith. One must question and reject
this power when it is imposed in schools.” Curiously, says Loach,
the Catholic Church has not made any particular comment upon
the film. Probably best to keep one’s head down and not give
the film any more publicity. Remember ‘The Passion’. Evangelicals
need not fear; there’s little chance we shall ever be classified
as ‘organised religion’!
Source: EFE. Editing: ACPress.net
Belief in God plummeting
in Britain
London, January 27th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
A recent poll indicates
a striking decrease in the number of people in Britain who believe
in God. In 1968, a Gallup poll found that 77% of people said
they believed in God, but that number has fallen to just 44%
today, according to the Telegraph.
Britons also believe their nation is becoming a more secular
country, though many wish it wasn't so: 81% acknowledged the
increase in secularism while 68% regret the fact. The Telegraph's
YouGov poll on God and the secular society assessed the national
mood as one of "benign indifference," saying most
people seem to regard religion as a consumer good to be selected
by those who happen to have a taste for it. 46% said they were
agnostics, 35% claimed the atheist title and 18% said they didn't
know. Among the 44% of believers, 87% described themselves as
believing in one God, 3% as believing in more than one god,
and 10% as believing in some other kind of supreme being. Today,
just 38% of Britons believe in heaven and 23% believe in hell,
the Telegraph found. But while Britain is growing more secular,
most residents want the Queen to continue as Head of the Church
of England and Defender of the Faith.
Source: Baptist Press. Editing: ACPress.net
German mainstream church
crisis bites in
Berlin, January 27th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
The deep crisis faced
by mainstream Protestant churches and the Catholic Church in
Germany has been highlighted by the drastic cost-cutting measures
required for them to make ends meet.
A report shows that the 27 Catholic bishoprics must reduce expenditure
by an average 17%, although each diocese will have to decide
how many jobs must go in their areas. “It will not be possible
to reach our savings target without getting rid of staff”, admits
the Cardinal of Cologne, Joachim Meisner, despite the fact that
his archbishopric is, on paper, the wealthiest in the world.
His administrators will have to work miracles if they are to
save 90 million euros a year until 2007, as the church taxes
they receive are due to fall by 40% over the next 25 years.
Currently, they receive 408 million euros a year.
The situation in the Evangelical German Church (EKD) is equally
bleak. In Hamburg, twelve church buildings have been put up
for sale, while in Hannover, the largest regional church in
Germany with 3.1million members, it has been announced that
8% of the workforce has to go, as well as other savings measures.
The 30,000 staff employed by the EKD in the Hannover region
have already lost their holiday bonus and were paid less this
Christmas than at the same time in 2003. In Westphalia, it is
estimated that the number of EKD pastors will fall, over the
next 30 years, from the current 2,000 to barely 700.
Source: EFE. Editing: ACPress.net
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Pastor
shot dead in Guyana
Guyana, January 26th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
Rubén José Peñalver,
26, died after being shot four times outside a relative’s house
in Guyana. He belonged to the ‘Way to Canaan Church’ in San
Félix, and had been its pastor for just over a year.
The murder occurred when the pastor arrived at his sister-in-law’s
home with his wife, having gone there to collect his daughters.
Despite the entreaties of his sister-in-law, Peñalver decided
to wait outside the house while his wife went inside to get
their daughters. At that moment, two men approached him and
shot him four times. He was taken to Raúl Leoni de Guaiparo
Hospital but died soon afterwards.
The victim’s family do not know of any motive for the murder
of a pastor who was well-loved and respected in the community.
Some neighbours put it down to a case of mistaken identity,
as there seemed to be no explanation for the murder of someone
who spent their time helping others and running a church.
Source: El Correo Caroní. Editing: ACPress.net
Evangelical
church in Chile not a positive influence for students
Santiago, January 26th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
Chilean students consider
that doctors, women and economists are groups which have “a
positive influence on Chilean society”, whilst the media (except
radio), businessmen and politicians do not. Yet the most worrying
aspect is that the Evangelical Church is not included among
the groups considered positive.
In a survey conducted in Chile, students were asked which institutions
they considered most worthy of trust. Universities topped the
list at 62%, followed by the radio at 33.5%. Among institutions
which generate “little or no trust” was the Evangelical Church,
only fractionally more popular with students than political
parties and seen as less trustworthy than the law courts. Even
the Catholic Church did better, seen by 51.5% as worthy of little
or no trust, whereas 68.5% of respondents said the same of the
Evangelical Church.
Source: La Tercera. Editing: ACPress.net
Catholic leadership accused
of proposing plane crashes in Argentina disappearances trial
Buenos Aires, January 26th, 2005 (ACPress.net).
In damning court evidence,
the Catholic Church has been implicated in the notorious ‘disappearances’
which were such a tragic but regular feature of the military
dictatorship.
Adolfo Scilingo, giving evidence, claimed that Catholic leaders
proposed a ‘solution’ to the military leaders whereby dissidents
were got rid of yet ‘enjoyed’ “a Christian death”. This amounted
to putting them on planes which never reached their destination.
Scilingo said the Catholic Church considered these ‘flights
of death’ to be a worthy one for dissidents.
The dictatorship came up with the idea of a great operation
to make thousands of opponents of their regime disappear. Scilingo,
an ex-soldier charged with crimes relating to the disappearances,
did not want to respond to some of the questions, but passages
of his testimony – given in Spain in 1997 as a supposedly repentant
member of the military Junta – were read out in court. Scilingo
had hoped to become a protected witness, not find himself in
the dock.
Scilingo said a problem arose when the number of those being
detained in secret prisons, and the Navy had not come up with
a plan to get rid of them. This is when, according to Scilingo,
the Catholic leadership proposed putting them on planes which
would then crash. This could be considered within the parameters
of ‘a Christian death’, whatever that might mean to them.
Source: La Rioja. Editing: ACPress.net
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Give
your pet a worthy (and costly) send-off
Cleveland, USA. January 27th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
Funeral companies offering
their services to people’s pets report increasing business while
books about the eternal life of animals have become best-sellers.
Graves, obituaries and prayers for deceased doggies are all
part of the burgeoning business which relieves the living of
some of their hard-earned cash which, of course, they cannot
take with them.
In the USA, companies offer sumptuous burial rites for pets,
including gravestones and a plot in a proper cemetery. Indeed,
the ‘dead pet’ business now has a turnover of around 20 million
euros a year. Yet there is also money to be made out of gullible
pet owners before they die (the pets or the owners?). Animal
products abound, including gyms, hairdressing salons, nurseries,
holiday homes, saunas and boutiques. Oh dear. Yet, one must
admit that if your beloved mongrel, sorry canine companion,
has enjoyed such luxury in life, how can one possibly deny it
(him?, her?) the most lavish funeral?
Owners then turn to places able to offer this, one such being
the Buddhist temple in the American city of Cleveland, where
– for a price – comes the promise that owners will be reunited
with their faithful, furry friends in the next life (come to
think of it, that’s fairly easy to promise and rather harder
to prove, but bless them, if it makes the odd cat-lover happy...).
Then there is San Antonio graveyard, where such delectable creatures
as ‘Dolly’, a dear-departed bitch (female dog, don’t get the
wrong idea), who lies beneath an exquisite tomb replete with
her photo and a sculpture of her. There again, if the bereaved
owner wishes to keep their pet’s memory alive across the world,
why not include its name and epitaph on a cyber-cemetery list,
the latest in technological idolatry. Think of it, Fido honoured
around the globe, 24 hours a day, broad-band, at the most economical
of rates. Sounds like a (Mickey) mouse business to me.
Source: LA RAZÓN. Editing:
ACPress.netSpiritual
and physical help for tidal wave victims
Djakarta, January 27th, 2005
(ACPress.net).
The president of Gospel
for Asia says the devastating earthquake and tidal wave that
hit South Asian countries should make every true believer focus
on evangelism.
Indonesia was hardest hit, reporting nearly 100,000 deaths.
Also suffering tremendous loss of life were Sri Lanka, India,
and Thailand. In addition, several European nations lost citizens
who were holidaying in the region. The United States has confirmed
36 deaths of its citizens, but several thousand Americans have
not yet been located. K.P. Yohannon of ‘Gospel for Asia’, which
plants churches in those areas hardest hit by the disaster,
says the tragedy should cause Christians around the world to
re-evaluate their evangelistic efforts. According to the leader,
Christian workers who are assisting the survivors are reporting
that many are open to the gospel. "There's such a dire
need at this time and I pray that people of God will wake up
and do what we should do at this time," he says. ‘Gospel
for Asia’ has started an emergency fund to provide victims with
food, shelter, clean water, clothing, and critical medicines.
The ministry, which is planning a multi-phase effort aimed at
meeting the physical and spiritual needs of survivors, says
donations for relief efforts can be made through its website.
Source: Agape. Editing: ACPress.net
Christian organisations at forefront of aid effort
Djakarta, January 27th, 2005
(ACPress.net).
Evidences of God's grace
have been reported in the midst of the horrors stemming from
the earthquake and tidal waves that devastated 3,000 miles of
shoreline around the Indian Ocean.
According to reports filtering out of the region through various
news services, God's grace has been evident from the very beginning
of the crisis. Countless Christian organisations are gearing
up to aid southern Asia's tidal wave victims, such as the Southern
Baptist International Mission Board, Purpose Driven Ministries
and Samaritan's Purse. IMB President Jerry Rankin noted, "With
a significant number of Southern Baptist missionaries in most
of the affected countries, we are able to provide immediate
aid and long-term ministry in partnership with local government
officials and other Christian organizations." Mark Carver,
Purpose Drive Ministries' international director, said, "Our
plan for response in each place is being developed by the local
church with the local church believers as the primary workers.
As we connect Purpose Driven congregations in other parts of
the world with the churches on the scene, we are all being the
church; assisting our sister congregations in the region to
become lighthouses of care, comfort and, most importantly, Christ."
Samaritan's Purse, like various other organisations, is also
working to provide clean water, food, shelter and medicine.
Source: Baptist Press. Editing:
ACPress.net
60 Christians arrested and
imprisoned in Eritrea
Rema, Eritrea. January 27th,
2005 (ACPress.net).
Sixty members of the
Rema Charismatic Church in the Eritrean capital, Asmara, have
been arrested in connection with a New Year meeting in the home
of one of the church leaders.
Police arrested the hosts, Habteab Oqbamichel and his wife Letensae,
together with 23 other men and 35 other women. Reports suggest
they are being kept in solitary confinement in the Mai-Serwa
military camp. Independent evangelical churches have been under
constant police surveillance since the American State Department
named Eritrea as a country “of particular concern” in its list
of nations where religious freedom is violated. BBC correspondent
Jonah Fisher, who was thrown out of Eritrea in September, said
the government seemed to be afraid of people whose principal
loyalty is to God, in case at some juncture they do not follow
the instructions of the state patriotically.”
Source: Compass Direct, Iglesia
en Marcha. Editing: ACPress.net
A.C.Press:
The News Agency of the AEE (Spanish Evangelical Alliance)
Digital magazine at the website: www.ACPress.net
Telephone: 91 747 14
89; Fax: 91 747 59 24; E-mail: noticias@ACPress.net. Postal
address: Apartado 59198, 28080 Madrid, Spain. Co-ordinator
of A.C.Press News: Jonathan Dawson, E-mail: jdawson@protestantedigital.com
A.C.Press is part of the Spanish Evangelical
Alliance, whose E-mail is: oficina@AEEsp.net (www.AEEsp.net)
The Alliance is a forum for fellowship, reflection and the development of Christian
thought, produces various publications, and is involved in
the struggle for religious liberty. It is also part of the
European and World Evangelical Alliances.
A.C.Press news items may be reproduced as long
as their source is mentioned (ACPress News) |
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