Christian Aid calls out UK for ‘shameful’ tax avoidance

The study, developed by Tax Justice Network ranks countries by their involvement in corporate tax avoidance and placed The British Virgin Islands, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands at the top of the list.

Christian Aid claims the tax rules for UK Overseas Territories is negatively impacting the poor, as they encourage big companies to avoid paying taxes.

 

 

Low tax revenues have forced developing countries to make cuts to health care, education and other public services and Christian Aid is calling on the UK government to intervene.

Toby Quantrill, Christian Aid’s Global Lead on Economic Justice told Premier: “[Multinationals] can shift the profits that they make to another jurisdiction, which has a much lower tax rate.

“And this has a huge impact on the ability of those countries to provide for their students in terms of education and health.”

Mr Quantrill says the government needs to tighten tax laws to prevent big businesses from exploiting the poor: “They’re providing the opportunity for companies to rob other countries of tax revenues.” 

 

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Democratic Candidate Pete Buttigieg Calls Late-Term Abortions ‘Hypothetical’

Democratic Candidate Pete Buttigieg Calls Late-Term Abortions ‘Hypothetical’



South Bend Mayor and Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg recently appeared at a town hall meeting on Fox News where he called late-term abortions “hypothetical.” Chris Wallace moderated as audience members asked the 37-year-old mayor about his views on a range of topics.


About eight minutes into the discussion, Wallace brought up the recent litany of abortion bans passed across the country to transition to an audience member who had a question about the issue. The audience member, who was introduced as holding a Ph.D. in engineering, asked Buttigieg, “What policies would you put in place to protect a woman’s, regardless of her zip code, right to have an abortion?”


Buttigieg gave a clear and concise response to the question. He said, “I believe that the right of a woman to make her own decisions about her reproductive health and about her body is a natural right. I believe it is an American freedom. And I believe that should be enjoyed by women in every state.” As the audience applauded, he said ensuring this “right” begins with putting people on the Supreme Court who recognize it as such.


Wallace followed up with a question about late-term abortions. He queried, “Do you believe at any point in pregnancy, whether it’s at six weeks or eight weeks or twenty-four weeks or whatever, that there should be any limit on a woman’s…

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Charity says Christians have a responsibility to take care of the planet

Climate experts claim the target for net zero emissions by 2050 is necessary to avoid dangerous climate change.

Caroline Pomeroy, Director of Climate Stewards, a Christian charity that helps people offset unavoidable carbon emissions by supporting projects in developing countries, told Premier: “It’s probably the most urgent and important question of our time, the implications of climate change.

 

 

“I think we can easily get distracted by short term politics, but climate change impacts the poorest and most vulnerable people on the planet and the creatures that we share it with.

“As Christians, we really truly love our neighbours. That means our global neighbours and I think that we, who are mostly contributing to climate change are called to do what we can.”

The letter’s signatories include emeritus Professor Joanna Haigh from Imperial College London, Myles Allen from Oxford University, Sir Brian Hoskins, who chairs the Grantham Institute on Climate Change, and Professor Dame Julia Slingo.

Prof Haigh said it was a question of seizing the day.

“It’s such an important topic, we’ve all the scientific indicators that show something needs to be done, and it’s in the Conservative Party tradition going back to Margaret Thatcher.”

She said it could be an achievement of Mrs May’s premiership, which would be great for the UK and set an example for the rest of the world.

A…

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Disney to Reconsider Filming in Georgia over Fetal Heartbeat Abortion Law

Disney to Reconsider Filming in Georgia over Fetal Heartbeat Abortion Law



Disney’s Co-Chief Executive shared on Wednesday that the company may consider cutting ties with Georgia if the state’s new heartbeat abortion law goes into effect.


According to Reuters, Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger told the outlet that it would be “very difficult” for the company to continue to film productions in Georgia if the state’s new law banning abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, does indeed become law.


Iger told Reuters, “I rather doubt we will” continue production in Georgia if the law is upheld. The Chief Executive noted that several people currently working on projects in Georgia have voiced that they will refuse to work in the state. Iger said, “I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard. Right now, we are watching it very carefully.” 


Iger added, “I don’t see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there” if the law takes effect.


Netflix has also taken a stance on the abortion issue. As Christian Headlines previously reported, Netflix announced on Tuesday that they would “rethink” its production investments in Georgia if the law goes into effect.


Netflix has also teamed up with ACLU to fight the law in court, the Christian Post reports.


The streaming service noted that they will continue to work in Georgia…

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Cricket World Cup can be a tool for evangelism

They are encouraging churches to run cricket-themed missions this summer and have videos on their website which can be used in schools assemblies or youth groups on how the characteristics of cricket players are similar to those needed in a Christian – such as staying disciplined in the midst of distractions and facing pressure. 

Scripture Union suggests playing street cricket to make friends with neighbours and local families. They’ve also produced two assembly outlines to be used in schools – one for Key Stage 2 and one for Key Stage 3.

 

 

Ben Poch from Scripture Union told Premier: “I think one of the things that I’m really keen to talk about with people when we think about sports ministry is that we can sound think, ‘Okay, well, I’m not really passionate about sports or I don’t have any coaching qualifications, so what can I do?’ but what we are trying to say is that if you have a heart for young people and you love Jesus then you’re qualified to be able to go out and take the good news of Jesus to young people.

“We find that there’s different ways in which we can set up different activities, where we can share our faith and do that in in the context of sport. One of my first opportunities to get involved with sports ministry was working with a number of different volunteers from this local church in a football project. They didn’t play football themselves,…

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US Doctor Shot on Mission Trip Rescued by a Mystery Man on a Motorcycle

US Doctor Shot on Mission Trip Rescued by a Mystery Man on a Motorcycle



An American doctor who was shot while on a mission trip to Haiti is telling the story of the harrowing moments when he thought he was going to die and of the man who served as “an angel” by turning away the gunmen. 58-year-old Doug Burbella traveled to Haiti with a missions group through Living Waters.


In the months before the team arrived, protests and riots broke out across Haiti. Their petroleum deal with Venezuela had come to an end and the price of fuel jumped by 50 percent. Gang violence, tire burning, and roadblocks became commonplace around the country.


Burbella and his team arrived in Port-au-Prince in April with a load of computers for a community center. About four hours outside the city, they came upon a group of men who were stopping traffic. Team member Jackie Brandon described the scene. “The truck was just totally swarmed with men and guns and weapons. And they were pounding on the windows trying to break all the windows to get in. One man’s standing there with his gun and he has two white lines down his cheek and his chin. And it reminded me of voodoo.”


Drew Pasler was driving the second vehicle and Burbella was in it with him. Pasler said “As we were approaching, you know, he said, ‘slow down a little bit,’ so I’m kind of cautiously approaching as I’m watching these people start pouring in from the side of the road swarming the…

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10 Main Reasons People Leave the Church

Podcast Episode #541

SUBSCRIBE:
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Churches lose members and attendees for a variety of reasons. Some good. Many not. Today, we review a recent blog post on the most common reasons people leave the church.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

  • The local church is important. Christians should consistently gather for corporate worship.
  • We can’t write off the fact that many have been hurt by the church.
  • Church members who expect to be ministered to instead of being part of ministry will often feel a lack of connection to the church.
  • Moving to a new town and finding a new church in a large city is often frustrating and can lead to people dropping out of attending.

The 10 reasons we discuss are:

  1. “I got out of the habit.”
  2. “I left after I graduated from high school.”
  3. “I decided I didn’t like the institutional church.”
  4. “I was hurt at the church.”
  5. “I just couldn’t find a church to meet my needs.”
  6. “I had a need and the church didn’t meet it.”
  7. “I never felt connected in the church.”
  8. “I did not give to the church.”
  9. “I left when Pastor John left.”
  10. “We moved and never went back to church.”

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

Rainer on Leadership is a member of the LifeWay Leadership Podcast Network


Episode Sponsors

Today’s episode is sponsored by Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Midwestern offers more than 25 degrees at both undergraduate and masters…

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Oregon lawmakers require schools to teach about the Holocaust: Fourteen-year-old helped make it happen

Alter Wiener

Alter Wiener was imprisoned in five different concentration camps during the Holocaust. Most of his family was killed, including his father. He weighed eighty pounds when he was liberated in 1945. Wiener moved to the US after the war and eventually made his home in Oregon.

High school freshman Claire Sarnowski first met Wiener at one of his talks about the Holocaust when she was a fourth-grader. The two became friends. According to Claire, it was Wiener’s lifelong dream to confront anti-Semitism by implementing mandatory curriculum standards for teaching students about the Holocaust.

She reached out to a state senator, Rob Wagner, who then co-sponsored a bill requiring such instruction. Wiener and Claire testified at a hearing last September.

“Learning about the Holocaust is not just a chapter in recent history, but a derived lesson how to be more tolerant, more loving and that hatred is, eventually, self-destructive,” Wiener told lawmakers. “Remember, be better, rather than bitter.”

Wiener died last December. The Oregon Senate passed Wagner’s legislation last March; the House passed the bill unanimously last week. If Gov. Kate Brown signs it, Oregon will begin providing such instruction in the 2020–2021 school year.

The world will be better because a fourteen-year-old did what she could to make it so.

The solution is solutions

David Brooks recently cited his New York Times colleague David Bornstein, who points out that much of American journalism is based on a “mistaken theory of change.” The theory: “The world will get better when we show where things have gone wrong.” As a result, Brooks notes, much of what journalists do is “expose error, cover problems and identify conflict.”

Here’s the problem: “We leave people feeling disempowered and depressed. People who consume a lot of media of this sort sink into this toxic…

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