Alistair Grimason in the County Mayo village of Cong has lent neighbours and family members access to his outdoor equipment, including torches, and the use of his gas cookers.
The 60 year old – who has been without power himself since Monday morning – told Premier: “It’s what we do in the rural west; we keep an eye on each other. We know each other because it’s a very small community.
“We know where the vulnerable are and we just think it’s an important thing to do together in times that are hard [or] difficult.”
A female motorist in her 70s died on Monday when a tree fell on her vehicle as she was driving close to Aglish near Waterford.
Storm Ophelia, which is expected to buffet areas of Ireland with winds of up to 100 miles per hour, has already caused in excess of 200,000 power cuts.
Schools and colleges were forced to shut in the Republic, while flights and ferry services have also been disrupted. Around 130 flights in Dublin have been cancelled.
Referring to the emergency services, Mr Grimason added: “It’s important that we keep them in our prayers as well for their safety and for their energy levels. They’re going to be under an awful lot of pressure in order to get us back on track whenever this is all past.”
Meanwhile, the Met Office has issued amber level weather warnings for Scotland and Wales, while yellow warnings are in place for much of Wales, northern England, the West Midlands and south-west England.
Click here to listen to Alistair Grimason speaking with Premier’s Alex Williams:
A special night of music and uplifting messages to benefit hurricane relief for the city of Houston took place Sunday night at the Lakewood Church in Houston.
The event titled “WORSHIP RELIEF: Houston, You’re Not Alone” was broadcast nationwide starting at 7 p.m. Central. The free event was also open to the public in the Houston area.
Big-name Christian groups, performers and speakers including Bethel Music, Chris Quilala, Cody Carnes, Hillsong Worship, Joel and Victoria Osteen, Kari Jobe, Passion, Pat Barrett and Tasha Cobbs Leonard participated.
The event was also streamed Live on HoustonWorshipRelief.com, SiriusXM Radio ch. 128, and was also scheduled to be broadcast on TBN. Proceeds raised through this event will benefit Hope City Houston, Lakewood Church and Convoy of Hope to continue to rebuild the city of Houston.
The idea of the event came from the Christian creative community of artists culminating to benefit the city of Houston and the victims of Hurricane Harvey, especially as the city begins to rebuild.
The foundation of “WORSHIP RELIEF: Houston, You’re Not Alone” is a prayer that Houston would come worship, being encouraged in His presence and see revival in the midst of rebuilding the city.
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Apple official websitePromotional picture for iOS 11.
The latest installment of Apple’s mobile operating system, the iOS 11.0.3, is now live. After the first two updates introduced a myriad of problems along with updates, is it worth it for iPhone and iPad users upgrade?
Sad to say, the update follows the footsteps of iOS 11.0.1 and iOS 11.0.2 in that it only manages to fix niche problems while failing to address the bigger hiccups involving performance and battery issues.
However, for iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus users who have been suffering from poor audio and haptic feedback or iPhone 6S users who’ve had to deal with an unresponsive display because it was fixed with non-genuine parts, the update is a godsend. Other than those specific issues, however, users are better off skipping the update entirely.
Needless to say, that also goes for owners of jailbroken iPhones, iPads and iPod touch as the iOS 11.0.3 will break jailbroken phones. Non-jailbroken devices aren’t having a great time either as it’s expected that the familiar complaints about crashes, poor battery life, sluggish performance and connectivity issues will make their way to social media and of course Reddit.
In other news, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo revealed that Apple will make a massive cancellation to its new iPhones in 2018. According to Kuo, Apple has decided to “abandon” the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and will no longer feature it in future models of the iPhone.
Instead, Apple is fully banking on its recently unveiled Face ID feature to replace the functionality. While definitely exciting, the Face ID was not well received by all Apple fans. With this new revelation, it’s very likely that some fans of the Touch ID will jump ship to Android that is if they haven’t already following the release of the iPhone X.
Between the rumored phase-out of the Touch ID and underwhelming iOS 11.0.3, it seems that Apple is still trying to find its way in the current smartphone ecosystem. Hopefully, the company gets back on track and regain its former glory in the post-Steve Jobs era.
Mormon Man Ministering to Las Vegas Victims Says God is ‘with His Children Who are Suffering’
Little about Brian Scroggins’ role overseeing crisis preparedness for dozens of southern Nevada’s churches prepared him for the most deadly mass shooting in U.S. history.
Yet the morning after Stephen Paddock fired at concertgoers from the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, killing 58 and wounding almost 500, Scroggins’ phone rang with a question:
Would he help establish a family crisis response center, and would he be responsible for the spiritual and religious needs of the victims and their families?
For almost two weeks now, Scroggins has spent upward of 12 hours a day walking the Las Vegas Convention Center’s gray halls and cavernous rooms — a stark contrast to the flashing neon rainbow just a few blocks away. He has hugged the anxious, prayed with the distressed, cried with the mourning. He has coordinated donations of food and clothing, kept track of what victims are in which hospitals and organized the services of chaplains and grief counselors.
But if Scroggins couldn’t rely on his disaster training, he could turn to his religious experience. Scroggins, 54, is a lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — or Mormons — which emphasizes preparedness for its 15 million adherents.
“I believe Heavenly Father wanted me to be here,” he said during a rare break in his duties about a week after the shooting. His voice broke and his eyes watered.
“I believe he inspired me so that when I was called, I was prepared. I believe he knew I was going to need this training.”
Scroggins was raised far from Las Vegas, in Birmingham, Ala., one of only three Mormon students at his high school. His grandparents were baptized into the LDS church in the 1920s, but it wasn’t until he went to Brigham Young University-Idaho that he attended an LDS worship service.
Like most LDS young men, he served a two-year mission, assigned to San Bernardino, Calif. — the site of another mass shooting in 2015. He got married and moved to Las Vegas in 1988, and went to work for a hotel, a newspaper, a public utility and a homebuilder. Eventually, he and his wife opened a signage business, and now he works as deputy director of Nevada’s charter school authority.
It was while he was employed by the water utility that he began working on disaster preparedness. He took Federal Emergency Management Agency classes and went on to a master’s degree in emergency management.
Along the way, he became a “welfare specialist” for his local Mormon ward, or church, and then for a number of wards. A welfare specialist is a kind of point man in charge of ensuring other Mormons are ready for hardship — the loss of a job, the onset of a natural disaster — by putting aside money and at least a three-month supply of food and water.
A welfare specialist also helps church members advance their education, their job skills and their spiritual strength, with the goal of self-reliance — helping themselves and helping others, in the language of the church.
“During His mortal ministry, the Savior walked among the poor, the sick, and the distressed, ministering to their needs and blessing them with healing and hope,” the church says in “Providing in the Lord’s Way,” a leader’s guide to welfare. “He taught His disciples to do the same. Reaching out to those in distress is a central characteristic of the disciples of Jesus Christ.”
But the guide says nothing about how to minister to those devastated by violence or terrorism, which both rent the usual festive air of the Las Vegas Strip on Oct. 1.
Still, when the call came the next morning from the city’s office of emergency management, Scroggins said he did not hesitate. He headed to the convention center and found himself swept up.
“People were here already,” he said. “I sat with them and I cried with them and I made sure they had whatever we could do to comfort them.”
Bill Tsagrinos is the bishop of Scroggins’ ward and has known him at least a decade.
“We believe we are put here to serve God by serving other people,” Tsagrinos said. “That is what Brian does, he just gives selflessly to others.”
The work has been rewarding and overwhelming. The sister of one victim was also a member of the LDS church in another state, and Scroggins prayed with her. Then he found himself with another man, whose fiancee was shot and died in his arms.
“I shed many tears on Monday and I am OK with that,” he said. “We are here for compassion and love to share the light of Christ with those who need it.”
He has coordinated chaplains, ministers and grief counselors, including those from a Buddhist relief society, a local evangelical ministry and a rabbi who arrived from Los Angeles in an RV. Volunteers who just show up are put to work, too.
“I didn’t want to deny people the ability to give what they could because that would hinder their own healing,” he said.
No one has asked him for answers he doesn’t have — why did this happen? Why their loved one? Where was God at 10:06 p.m. Oct. 1?
Scroggins has his own answer.
“Where else would he be than with his children who are suffering?” he said. “It says in Scripture that the Lord is the still, small voice. When you hold someone’s hand and you cry with them, that’s where he is.”
Photo: Brian Scroggins, second from left, and volunteers at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where the city has set up a crisis center for victims of the shooting and their families.
In August 2017, World Vision and WFP, were the first humanitarian agencies to begin food distributions in Kasai Centrale region. To date, they have reached over 55,000 people. They plan to scale up the response to meet the needs of over 100,000 by the end of the year.
Premier spoke to Sarah Pickwick, World Vision UK’s Senior Conflict Advisor.
Regarding hunger worldwide she said: “the numbers are incredibly high – 850 million people don’t have enough food to eat. And I think World Food Day really helps to shine a light on all the people who are going to sleep at night, especially children, who don’t have enough nutritious food.”
When asked what causes hunger she replied: “There are many different causes of why people are hungry across the globe” but regarding the Kasai province, it is “because of conflict – the violence erupted about a year ago and over 1.4 million people had to flee from their homes”.
Due to the conflict, people are finding it extremely difficult to find anythign to eat: “they’re foraging for fruit and nuts and seeds…even now that the violence has reduced and people are returning home they’re returning home to burnt homes, destroyed crops, livestock gone. They’ve eaten all they have and they don’t have money to buy more. “The situation is often very acute in areas where there is conflict because they have to flee and they leave everything, they can’t farm their land and take care of their livestock”.
“The situation is particularly dire for those people and needs are incredibly high and there’s a really short window of time often to get that food in.”
Sarah Pickwick spoke to Premier’s Cara Bentley:
Gwyn Williams from Feed the Hungry UK spoke about World Food Day to Premier’s Alex Williams on the News Hour. He started by asking whether the situation had got worse:
(Target, Waterbury, CT 8/2014 by Mike Mozart of TheToyChannel and JeepersMedia on YouTube.)
Join us on the new C-Pop podcast where Taylor and Jessilyn discuss, debate and sometimes deride pop culture with a strong sense of humor and a focus on Christ. Listen at charismapodcastnetwork.com.
The spooky scenes of October are upon us, but some of the scariest places in America might be Target stores, as the retailer continues to refuse to protect women and children by rolling back its dangerous and misguided restroom and fitting policy, which opens the door to voyeurs and predators with evil intentions.
Eighteen months after the American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net) began its highly successful and 1.5 million-signature strong #BoycottTarget initiative, the retailer still hasn’t budged on its stance to allow men in women’s facilities.
“Target can be a very scary place,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “Incident after incident proves that, and yet Target refuses to make a change that would keep women and children safe, even after frightening experiences for shoppers, falling stock prices, declining foot traffic and exiting executives. It’s not too late to sign AFA’s #BoycottTarget pledge and vow not to shop at Target—neither in store nor online.”
Last month, when Target announced it was lowering prices on thousands of items, its stock took a tumble too, according to Fortune. As of Monday, Target stock stood at just under 61, a far cry from the mid-80s of April 2016, when the AFA boycott began.
As frightening incidents at Target stores continue, AFA is asking shoppers to take action in several ways this month:
Sign the #BoycottTarget pledge. Encourage family and friends to sign the pledge, too.
Call Target to politely let its executives know you’ve signed the #BoycottTarget pledge—Guest Relations, (800) 440-0680, option 1, then 1 again.
Share the boycott information on social media and be sure to use #BoycottTarget.
Visit afa.net/target for more tools and information on the #BoycottTarget initiative.
“As AFA has stated many times, our worries do not stem from fear of the transgender community,” Wildmon added, “but rather, from both the real and potential threat that predators and voyeurs, or anyone with evil intentions, would take advantage of the Target bathroom policy to harm women and children—and we have plenty of incidents to show that they have.”
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Are Coptic Christians Celebrating the Martyrdom of Their People Too Much?
As a little boy in Sunday school, Bassem Al-Janoubie was fascinated by the illustrated stories about the martyrs of Egypt’s Coptic Church.
“Even more than cartoon comic books, the dramatic events and details of the ordeal of each saint held my attention,” remembers the now-40-year-old graphic designer. “They were like superheroes – not accepting attempts to change their beliefs or efforts to get them to deny their Christianity despite torture and even death.”
The 2,000-year-old Coptic Church of Egypt has a long tradition of hallowing those who died affirming their faith in the face of violence.
But the group that calls itself the Islamic State has launched waves of attacks on the Coptic community in recent years – claiming at least 70 lives and wounding scores of others – an unrelenting assault that has opened a debate in the community about martyrdom.
The issue has been most recently punctuated by the deadly knifing of a Coptic priest in a poor Cairo neighborhood Thursday (Oct. 12). A suspect was arrested but his motive is still unknown.
Recently, another Coptic priest — the well-known Rev. Boules George from the well-heeled Cairo suburb of Heliopolis — took to the television airwaves to “thank” the Islamic State terrorists who launched the Palm Sunday church bombings that claimed 45 lives, saying they provided “a rocket” that delivered victims straight to heaven.
“Thank you very, very, very much,” George told the viewers of his program on Egypt’s Coptic TV channel just hours after the terror attacks. “You have given us the death of Christ himself, and this is the greatest honor that of any of us can attain.”
Many Copts rejected that assertion. “This death doctrine is terrifying,” said Jacqueline Ezzat, 21. “Jesus died for a cause and a purpose. Those who die in violence are lost to us for no reason. Father Boules’ doctrine is insidious. It’s like he wants us Christians to be zombies.”
The Islamic State intensified its insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula and targeted Copts, Coptic churches, police and military facilities in Egypt after the 2013 ousting of ex-President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Glorifying a particularly bloody December attack on a Cairo church, the militants in February released a video declaring that Christians in Egypt were their new “favorite prey” and pledging to wage a “jihad” similar to that in Iraq and Syria, where tens of thousands of Christians have become refugees after fleeing the militants.
Comprising an estimated 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million people, the Coptic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the Middle East and North Africa.
“We are Egyptian citizens as well as Christians,” said Al-Janoubie. “We need to stop viewing this harassment toward us with pride and saying terrorism gives us a chance to play the same role our ancestors did like in those Sunday school stories about the torture of martyrs.”
Coptic leader Pope Tawadros II, however, has publicly supported the idea that the church derives strength from these deaths of the faithful.
“The blood of our martyrs, the tearful prayers of our monks, and the sweat of all those who serve the church is the source of our spiritual power,” said Tawadros in a Sept. 13 message to the faithful.
Some in the hierarchy of the Coptic Church say martyrdom is widely misunderstood.
“It is true that we love martyrdom, but we also love life,” said Bishop Raphael, the No. 2 man in the Coptic curia. “We do not hate life on earth, because our Lord created us to live in it, not to die.”
This summer, Raphael implemented an Egyptian Interior Ministry directive to suspend church events in difficult-to-secure locations in order to minimize exposure to new attacks. “The fact that we receive death with a spiritual philosophy does not mean that our blood is cheap,” said the bishop.
Still, Raphael is calling for erecting a new church dedicated to the 28 martyrs of a jihadist attack in May that occurred on a desert road between the Egyptian city of Minya and the monastery of Samuel the Confessor — a sixth-century saint tortured at the hands of a rival Byzantine Christian sect.
It’s hard to argue against martyrdom for the 28 people who died in the attack, some community members say. Survivors said their assailants ordered them to fast because it was the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, killed their husbands and brothers, and ordered them to convert to Islam.
“After spraying us with gunfire and taking our jewelry, they ordered the women and children who were still alive to recite a testimony to convert to Islam,” said Hanan Adel, a 28-year-old survivor.
Those horror stories don’t inspire all Copts to embrace martyrdom.
In the Nile Delta city of Mansoura, where youth unemployment remains stuck at slightly more than 30 percent, young Copts want better living standards and civil rights today, not hope in the afterlife, said Wael Gally, a Coptic attorney.
“Coptic suffering as a minority has been compounded by the increasing pressure of economic problems facing all Egyptians,” said Gally, 40. “People are doubting the purpose of losing life to no avail and the promises of eternal life.”
Photo: In this May 26, 2017 file photo, Coptic Christians shout slogans after the funeral service of some of the victims of a bus attack, at Abu Garnous Cathedral in Minya, Egypt.
The Baptist Tabernacle will now be called Stockton Baptist Church.
Senior minister Andrew Waugh from the church told Premier that despite the cross on the building, people routinely asked “what is this place”?
The County Durham church, which started to be built in 1902, moved in August 2001 into a new, purpose built building next to the riverside in Stockton.
Waugh told Premier that this move prompted the need to change the church’s name.
Speaking during News Hour he said: “I’ve been pastoring this church for six years and began to recognise pretty early on that you just keep needing to explain to people what a tabernacle is and spelling it.
“We’ve overheard people giving directions in the street and referring to our building as a mosque and a synagogue. It’s a modern building – it’s not kind of traditionally church-shaped and it doesn’t really identify us a Christian community.”
A compulsory purchase order forced the church to move from the high street in August 2001into its current, purpose built building next to the riverside in Stockton.
Waugh said this move prompted the name-change.
He said: “When we moved away from the high-street – several blocks away, I think we kind of vanished from public view and lost a lot of our public image at that point.”
Members of the church voted in favour of the church changing its name in a formal vote in April, before the Charity Commission was informed.
Waugh commended members and said they gave up a “much loved name for the sake of the people that don’t know Jesus yet”.
Although 114 years have passed since the laying of the original foundation stone, the church’s website states that “the message is still the same”.
It goes on to say: “Our Church wants people to connect with Jesus and come to a real and living faith in Him.
“This is still the home of the church today.”
There was another change needed to help people find the church more easily.
Waugh explained: “We’ve changed our website along with the name. The previous generation of our website didn’t actually include the word ‘church’ anywhere on its front cover.
“So if you used to do a google search, just asking ‘can I find a church in Stockton, you wouldn’t find us.”
Waugh said that while changing the name of the church was a good decision, it doesn’t necessarily mean other churches with tabernacle in its name should do the same.
Listen to Andrew Waugh speaking with Premier’s Alex Williams:
Anti-racism protesters shout during protests in front of Trump Tower. ( REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton)
Please help me to understand something. I’m not a Muslim, but I can speak about Islam. I’m not gay, but I can address LGBT issues. I’m not an atheist, but I can address atheism. Yet when I weigh in constructively on racial issues in America, I’m told I have no right to speak or, worse still, I’m accused of racism. Why is that?
Why do I get comments like this on YouTube after taking issue with Trevor Noah’s TV commentary about the NFL protests? “Disrespect the flag please!!! Dr Brown police disrespect Black Lives Everyday. So please hand in your doctrate [sic].” Seriously?
Lest you misjudge the purpose of this column, I’m not whining and complaining, and I’m not portraying myself as the victim. (Yes, I can feel the hostile comments coming already!) Rather, I’m calling out a dangerous blind spot, challenging my critics to look in the mirror before they throw out charges of racism.
A dear black friend of mine sent me the Noah video, saying it expressed the frustrations of many black Americans who feel that white Americans tell them when it’s OK to protest. So, I watched it ready to learn and be informed, but I was shocked by the gaping holes in Noah’s presentation and decided to do a video response. In that response, I also suggested that there was a better way to draw attention to grievances than protesting during the anthem.
What’s so ugly about doing that? And what in my response to Noah merited a response like this, from a black American? “Dr Brown is a CINO…..christian in name only…” (on Facebook, also in response to the same video). What, sir, were you watching?
Or what provokes comments like this? “Once again white Christians supporting racism just the same way their ancestors did during slavery and how their fathers did during the civil rights era.” Supporting racism? Are you kidding?
And what about this? “I have noticed a pattern of Brown getting frothy and slobbery over almost all issues that pertain to systemic racism against blacks, including the disproportionate incarceration rates and instances of police brutality. Interesting indeed.”
Did this viewer forget that just a few days before posting the Noah video, I had drawn attention to these inequities in our criminal justice system? Has he forgotten my other articles raising similar issues?
It is because I want the concerns of African-Americans to be heard that I have stated that protests during the anthem create more hostility than sympathy. What is racist and unchristian about this?
I’m not claiming to be the voice of black America (obviously), nor am I claiming to be the spokesman for victims of social injustice, whatever their race or ethnicity may be. But I’m an ally and a friend. I’m a fellow American. And, within the faith, I’m a fellow believer. Why must I be silent when it comes to African-American issues?
As someone who appreciates positive revolutionary movements, I often quote the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and I have learned much from the strategies of the Civil Rights movement. I also have dear friends and coworkers in the African-American church with whom I share great solidarity. Why, then, am I not allowed to give constructive input into issues concerning black Americans?
For years I have denounced the black genocide (speaking of the high percentage of abortions in the African-American community, which many trace back to Margaret Sanger’s philosophy of eugenics). When there have been accusations of police brutality or unfair treatment of blacks, I have used my radio show as a platform for discussion, with many African- American callers providing valuable commentary. Why, then, must I withhold my own viewpoint? Why am I not allowed to speak?
A black friend of mine with direct involvement in the NFL anthem controversy has come to me for counsel, wanting my input on the best strategies for players to adapt. Yet when I share my thoughts in public—the same thoughts I have shared with him in private—I’m blasted as anti-black or racist or speaking out of turn. Is not this a form of racism—the criticism of another’s viewpoint based on the color of their skin?Claudette Colvin, who previously refused to give up her seat on a bus.
We know that the Civil Rights movement was calculated and tactical. That’s why Rosa Parks was chosen as the face of the fight against segregation rather than 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, who previously refused to give up her seat on a bus.
That’s why college-aged blacks protesting the segregation of Nashville lunch counters were given instructions on how to dress and behave. All negative stereotypes had to be crushed. Why, then, should these lessons be discarded with today’s protests?
I’m not saying the protests should stop, and I’m not saying that there are no reasons for concern. I’m simply suggesting that there’s a better way to get the message across.
In response, comments like this are posted: “Wow, you come off like a stereotypical right-wing echo chamber.”
Really? Read my recent articles on the protests, watch the Noah video again, and tell me if there’s a shred of truth to this claim.
How about this? “Stick to Christian issues or at least political issues that have a more direct Christian implication. You spend far too much time acting on behalf of the Republican party and not what you’re actually good at.”
What? Concerns about social injustice are not “Christian issues”? And I’m acting on behalf of the party that I frequently criticize and fault for compromise and inaction?
A black pastor wrote, “Videos like this is the reason I don’t listen to or support this show anymore. He is always anti-black in almost all his videos. He more identifies with being a white American than being a believer. (I know he’s Jewish.)”
My dear brother, I challenge you to take the time to watch my relevant videos again, which are posted as an ally and friend, and then ask yourself if there’s not bias in your own heart.
But this pastor is not alone. Consider these comments:
“I’m bigoted against white racists, especially the cowardly ones who hide behind statements like ‘they should find another way to protest.’ I’m OK with that.” (So, I’m a ” cowardly white racist” if I offer constructive advice to make a protest more effective?)
“If you take a collection of all his videos on the matter, he never takes a non-bias approach. Just one that supports a republican or conservative view point.” (In other words, I’m biased if I take issue with extremists in Black Lives Matter and say, “Separate the value of black lives from the extremes of the Black Lives Matter movement.”)
“Don’t talk to me about disrespecting the flag when you support a president who is cool with people protesting while holding the American flag next to the Nazi and Confederate flag chanting Jews will not replace us.” (You actually think that, as a Jew myself, born and raised in New York, not Virginia, that I would tolerate for a split second the president approving of something like this?)
“I bet if players were taking a knee in protest of how bad Jewish people are treated by the Muslim world ‘Dr’. Brown would have a different take. He is becoming a joke.” (Actually, I’d give the same advice: Find a better way to protest, one that creates solidarity rather than anger and hostility.)
And on and on it goes.
So, here’s my challenge to all those accusing me of racism because of my constructive input on the NFL protests: Check to see if you’re judging me through racially tinted glasses. I assure you I’ve done the same thing many times over, and I’ll continue to do so as long as I’m in this world.
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Christian Printer Refuses to Print Pro-Transgender Business Cards
A Christian printer reportedly refused to print business cards promoting the business of a transgender woman who works as a “diversity consultant” and seeks to offer companies advice on diversity, equality, and inclusion for LGBT individuals.
According to ChristianToday.com, Christian printer Nigel Williams received a request to print business cards from transgender woman Joanne Lockwood. Lockwood has reportedly been living as a woman since January.
Williams declined to fulfill Lockwood’s request, explaining: “The new model of diversity is used (or misused) to marginalise (or indeed discriminate against) Christians in their workplaces and other parts of society if they do not subscribe to it. Although I’m quite sure you have no intention of marginalising Christians, it would weigh heavily upon me if through my own work I was to make pressure worse for fellow Christians.”
Lockwood was upset over Williams’ response, and stated, “I was not expecting a lecture. I disbelieved this could happen in 2017. I have been distraught and cried and my wife consoled me. I think a point of principle is at stake. He wanted to make a point to me deliberately for his own motives. I have been the victim of some discrimination.”
The Christian Institute, however, is standing behind Williams. A spokesperson from the Institute stated, “It is a fundamental tenet of free speech and freedom of belief that people should not be forced to help promote causes flatly contrary to their own deeply held views.”
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