Biden Backs Nationwide Ban on Conversion Therapy at LGBT Forum

Biden Backs Nationwide Ban on Conversion Therapy at LGBT Forum



Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said Saturday he supports a nationwide ban on conversion therapy for those who have unwanted same-sex desires, and he also believes Obamacare should cover sex-reassignment surgery.


Biden and other Democratic candidates took part in the LGBTQ Presidential Candidate Forum, which was held in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and sponsored by The Advocate, GLAAD, One Iowa and The Gazette.


“We should outlaw nationally, the conversion therapy – there should be a law against it, period,” the former vice president said. “And I’ve proposed that for a long time.”


Such proposals have sparked concern from the religious community. When Maine’s governor signed a bill this month outlawing conversion therapy, the Christian Civic League of Maine said the law would “equate sound Biblical counseling with torture and abuse under the name of conversion therapy,” according to World.


Biden also said sex-reassignment surgery should be covered under Obamacare. The forum moderator noted that Iowa politicians had moved to deny “Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery.”


“Obamacare … does cover the surgery. It does cover transgender people. … [But] along came Trump and by executive order he struck all of that out of the Affordable Care Act,” Biden said. “I would reinstate it all. Every single American, every LGBTQ person as well…

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‘I’ve lost an angel’ mum’s tribute to churchgoing Brit killed in Jamaica

Stefika Smith, 17, was reportedly found with a single stab wound to the throat in rural May Pen, in the island’s south, two days after she disappeared on May 10.

She was just two weeks away from her 18th birthday when she was killed.

 

Stefika, who grew up in Thornton Heath, south London, had been taken to live in the Caribbean in the summer of 2016 by her parents, Pauline, 54, and Morris, 56, who were both born in Jamaica.

Pauline told the Sunday People: “I’ve lost an angel. There was a lot of knife crime in London and I wanted to take Stefika away from those dangers.

“We wanted to her to have the same idyllic life my husband and I had growing up in Jamaica. But wicked people put an end to that.

“My beautiful sweet daughter left what we saw as a knife threat but became a stabbing victim herself where we took her to be safer. I still cannot take it in.”

Stefika was a pupil at Norbury Manor Business Enterprise College for Girls and sang at the gospel choir of the New Testament Church of God in Brixton before moving to Jamaica for a new life, according to the paper.

Her family, who hoped she might return to the UK to go to university, said they are now fighting to bring Stefika’s killer to justice, but no charges have been brought.

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Miracle Micro-Preemie ‘Fighting Finn’ Is Finally Home

Miracle Micro-Preemie ‘Fighting Finn’ Is Finally Home



Chris and Jessica Hill of Lakeland, Florida have much to celebrate this month as they were finally able to bring home their son, Finn James Hill, after over three months in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando. Finn, who has affectionally been nicknamed “Fighting Finn,” spent 113 days in the NICU in Orlando according to ABC Action News.


Finn’s parents, Chris and Jessica had battled years of infertility, and after adopting two embryos at the end of 2018 brought in the new year with the wonderful news that they were expecting twins. However, at week ten of the pregnancy, Jessica lost one of the babies due to complications arising from a blood clot.


Then on May 21st, Jessica’s water broke unexpectedly. She was rushed by ambulance to the hospital and gave birth to Finn James who weighed only 1lb 2 oz. At only 24 weeks gestation, “Fighting Finn” was considered a micro-preemie and moved to Nemours in Orlando “because they needed a special breathing machine,” stated Chris Hill, Finn’s father in his interview with ABC Action News.


Since that time, it has been an uphill battle for the Hill’s who have had to miss work and incur significant healthcare-related costs to keep their newborn growing strong. Over the summer, family and friends followed Finn’s story by reading updates on a Facebook page set up called “Fighting…

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Christian Aid accuses Boris Johnson of ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’

While welcoming the money being spent on the issue, charity Christian Aid says funds shouldn’t be taken from the aid budget.

 

It wants that money to be spent directly on those in need.

Boris Johnson is announcing plans for the Clean Energy Fund at the United Nations in New York, allowing experts to use up to a billion pounds of the aid budget to invent new technology.

Ahead of his announcement, the PM said: “I have always been deeply optimistic about the potential of technology to make the world a better place. If we get this right, future generations will look back on climate change as a problem that we solved by determined global action and the prowess of technology.”

Responding to today’s funding announcements Dr Alison Doig, head of global policy at Christian Aid, said: “The real test of the scientific investment in tackling the climate emergency will be whether it delivers for people in poverty who – while having contributed least to this crisis – are the first and worst affected by climate change.

“The world’s poorest should not be an afterthought, but aspects of today’s announcement suggest they are not being seen as the priority in tackling climate change. Climate change must be viewed as a triple emergency: of poverty, climate and biodiversity, and so a joined-up approach must be reflected in any UK approaches to tackling it.

“Today’s announcements in New…

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Religious Right Is Driving Liberals from Christianity, Researchers Say

Religious Right Is Driving Liberals from Christianity, Researchers Say



Is the so-called Christian right driving liberals away from religion? 


A new FiveThirtyEight analysis of recent studies suggests it is. 


Researchers Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Daniel Cox say new data confirmed what a paper suggested in 2002: that “distaste for the Christian right’s involvement with politics was prompting some left-leaning Americans to walk away from religion.” That in turn, helped explain why the percentage of Americans who identify as nonreligious was increasing.


“It was a simple but compelling explanation,” Thomson-DeVeaux and Cox wrote. “For one thing, the timing made sense.”


White evangelical Protestants were becoming more involved in politics in the 1990s, promoting legislation on abortion and same-sex marriage, the researchers noted. The 2002 study asserted that the Christian right wasn’t just rousing religious voters – it was pushing “left-leaning people” with weaker religious ties “out of religion.”


“Within the past few years,” Thomson-DeVeaux and Cox wrote, several “prominent political scientists” have agreed with the 2002 study and “concluded that politics is a driving factor behind the rise of the religiously unaffiliated.”


“For one thing, several studies that followed respondents over time showed that it wasn’t that people were generally becoming more secular, and then gravitating toward…

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Donald Trump announces ‘global call to protect religious freedom’

He’ll be speaking at the General Assembly where he’s expected to make a ‘global call to protect religious freedom’.

 

Over 150 foreign leaders, faith leaders, victims of persecution and religious freedom activists will attend for the President’s speech.

Welcoming his address on Premier’s News Hour, Andreas Thonhauser from religious freedom charity ADF International said: “We know from reports from all over the world that many, many people live in countries where religious freedom is ignored or violated so for the US or the UN to turn their focus on religious freedom is an important development and a very positive development.

The US administration has made religious freedom a priority issue in recent months.

Earlier this year the State Department hosted over 100 foreign delegations and 1,000 civil society members during its second Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. President Trump also met with more than 30 victims of persecution in the Oval Office (pictured above).

Thonhauser believes with the US leading the way huge progress can be made on tackling religious freedom.

He said: “We want to see a quick response from governments all over the world to stop religious persecution.

“We don’t want to see a lengthy process where politicians look at the pros and cons and try to understand what could be done but instead a swift reaction when issues arise.

“I think that’s…

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New deal helps Peterborough Cathedral go green

The company’s support will allow the Cathedral to replace its existing halogen light bulbs with around 250 energy-efficient, long lasting LED’s.

It is estimated that this will reduce the Cathedral’s electricity use by 21 per cent.

 

The 901-year-old Cathedral has been promoting the need for urgent action to curb the effects of climate change and hosted an art exhibition this summer with a seven metre model of Earth (called Gaia) to encourage people to think about caring better for the planet.

Very Rev Chris Dalliston, Dean of Peterborough, said: “Having the Gaia artwork displayed in the Cathedral has really focused our minds on what we can do to live more sustainably on our beautiful, God-given planet.

“As an organisation we are looking at ways in which we can improve our environmental impact, but to take the major step of replacing the lightbulbs in the Cathedral would simply be beyond our means, were it not for the generous support of Masteroast.”

 

Masteroast, which is based in Peterborough, said it has a strong commitment to running its business in an environmentally sustainable way.

Its Chairman, Les Mills, added: “As an international company, Masteroast often hosts visitors from overseas and we love to bring them to see the Cathedral.

“It is a magnificent and unforgettable place and we are delighted to be able to help…

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Five Trends of Retiring Baby Boomer Pastors

On January 1, 2011, 100,000 Baby Boomers reached age 65. Every day since then, another 100,000 Boomers turn 65. Many of them retire at that age or shortly thereafter.

That’s a lot of retired Boomers. Among them are a lot of retiring pastors.

So, we recently asked a number of retired or retiring Boomer pastors what they planned to do in their next stage of life. We received five common responses among them:

  1. Boomer pastors are not retiring from vocational ministry. We received that message loud and clear. No Boomer with whom we spoke was planning a life of travel and rocking chairs exclusively. These pastors had definitive ideas, some concrete plans, about what they would do next.
  2. The most common path was to become an interim pastor. Slightly under half of the respondents had this ministry as a clear path. Many of them had interim pastorates waiting on them when they retired. One pastor who retired six years ago has already served in seven interim roles, almost without a break.
  3. Some Boomer pastors will serve on church staff in a different role. Most of them chose not to serve at the church from where they were retiring. But it was not unusual for some of them to return to a church they served in earlier years, this time doing ministry in a part-time or full-time staff role. We are also watching a growing trend among retiring pastors to serve in church revitalization and replanting roles.
  4. It is not unusual for a Boomer pastor to mentor other pastors in retirement. Indeed, most of these pastors…

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Christians helping the poor are ‘the very best’ of Christian faith

He was speaking at the Labour Party’s annual conference church service on Sunday, organised by the group Christians on the Left.

Mr Corbyn described Christians standing against injustice as “the very best” of the Christian faith.

 

He added: “I thank Christians and other faith communities and faith organisations for the work they do in our communities supporting the vulnerable and oppressed, and my message to you is that the values of solidarity, loving our neighbours, unity in our communities and seeking justice at home and abroad are the values that we hold dear in the Labour Party and will continue to do so.”

The service was dedicated to raising awareness and praying for victims of human trafficking and modern day slavery, which is part of International Justice Mission’s annual Freedom Sunday campaign.

Mr Corbyn added: “Isaiah chapter 1 verse 17 reads ‘Seek justice. Defend the oppressed.’ This message is close to my heart as leader of the Labour Party and any Labour government that I lead will have global justice at its heart and we will seek justice for all and defend the oppressed at home and abroad – be they refugees, victims of human trafficking and modern slavery or those living in poverty.”

The Labour leader was presented with a Bible at the service which was attended by delegates, members, MPs, and local churchgoers.

The preacher was Baroness Maeve Sherlock,…

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The latest on the Emmy Awards: How to win the ‘crown of life’

The cast and crew of ‘Game Of Thrones’ accepts the award for outstanding drama series at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019.

Game of Thrones won for Outstanding Drama Series at last night’s Emmys, making it the most-awarded narrative series in the history of the Emmys. Fleabag won for Outstanding Comedy Series. Jodie Comer and Billy Porter received Outstanding Lead Actress and Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Here is what I noted: Except for a few minutes watching a late-night talk show here or there, I did not see a single show that was nominated. Not one. 

Advice I wish I always followed 

Part of the explanation could be that much of popular culture is aimed at people half my age. Another factor is that I have to go to bed early each night to finish this article early the next morning. 

But I suspect the largest reason for the disconnect between the 2019 Emmys and my television-watching habits is that Janet and I choose to watch shows that do not dishonor the Lord and his word. I’m not suggesting that every nominated show fails this standard, but many do. 

Scripture calls us to “be holy in all your conduct” (1 Peter 1:15). In that light, we should heed the warning of the eighteenth-century scientist G. C. Lichtenberg: “Never undertake anything for which you wouldn’t have the courage to ask the blessing of heaven.” 

I wish I could tell you that I always follow his advice. But I do recognize the truth of his assertion. 

“The euthanasia of Christianity” 

The popularity of television shows that contradict the biblical worldview reveals that many people do not realize there is a biblical worldview. 

God’s word speaks to every dimension of every moment of life, not just our Sunday worship or Monday prayers. Abraham Kuyper was right: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” 

When…

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