Catholic politician Ann Widdecombe criticised for suggesting science may ‘produce answer’ to help people switch sexuality

The Brexit Party MEP said she had once pointed out that there was a time when it was thought gender transition was impossible.

She added: “The fact that we think it is now quite impossible for people to switch sexuality doesn’t mean that science might not be able to produce an answer at some stage.”

 

Ms Widdecombe has been labelled “vile” and accused of running a “sick” anti-LGBT campaign by Labour’s Luke Pollard.

He tweeted: “Utterly ashamed to be represented by this vile woman. Being gay isn’t a disease to be cured. Ann Widdecombe is continuing her sick anti-#LGBT campaign.”

Independent MP Nick Boles said: “If only science could produce an answer to the blight of poisonous bigotry that is Ann Widdecombe.”

Ms Widdecombe was asked about previous comments she had made regarding gay conversion therapy during an interview on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

She said: “I also pointed out that there was a time when we thought it was quite impossible for men to become women and vice versa and the fact that we now think it is quite impossible for people to switch sexuality doesn’t mean that science may not be able to produce an answer at some stage.”

Asked if she was suggesting there was a possibility that science could find a way to change sexuality, Ms Widdecombe replied: “I don’t know, I don’t know any more other than people once knew whether it was impossible for men to…

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Virginia Beach Shooting Victim Gave His Life to Save At Least Eight Others

Virginia Beach Shooting Victim Gave His Life to Save At Least Eight Others



A dozen people were killed after a mass shooting broke out at a public works building in Virginia Beach on Friday and survivors are saying the number could have been much higher if it weren’t for one brave man. 


According to the Wavy, survivors of the Friday afternoon shooting are saying Ryan “Keith” Cox gave his life to save theirs and others.


Christi Dewar – a city employee at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center in Building 2 – recalled that she was sitting in her office when she saw people running past her office yelling “active shooter!” 


After seeing this, she, too, took off running. According to the Virginia-Pilot, Dewar and seven others ran into Cox who reportedly, instructed the group to hide in an office and barricade themselves in. 


“If at all possible, I knew he was going to lead us to safety. We felt safe. He stayed calm. He didn’t have any anxious thought in his voice,” Dewar told the paper.


The shooter – 40-year-old DeWayne Craddock – was already headed for them, so they could no longer get out of the building. 


Dewar recalled the moments leading up to Cox’s death saying, “He said ‘get in Lori’s office now. Barricade the office. Get in there.’” Dewar said she tried to get Cox to join them in the office, but he refused. The survivor recalled Cox calmly saying, ‘I gotta check on everybody else.’ 


The group…

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Cathedral to house mini-golf course

Anglican leaders have planned a number of ‘seeker-friendly’ initiatives across the country, including a fifty-foot tall helter skelter inside Norwich Cathedral and a gin and prosecco festival at Peterborough.

Rochester Cathedral’s Rev Canon Rachel Phillips told Premier it’s a great opportunity to reflect and have fun.

“We hope that when people come in, they will know that they’re welcome and they will have an enjoyable experience,” she said.

“So while people are here, having fun and playing crazy golf, they will take the opportunity to reflect on that wider theme of building bridges that they might find that they would like to pray, light a candle. Maybe talk to somebody.”

 

Rev Phillips said the goal of these initiatives is to connect with the local community.

She added: “This is about welcoming everyone into the cathedral, letting people know that we’re here. We’re open.

“It’s free to come in and everyone is welcome.”

There have been some who have criticised church buildings being used for social occasions.

Rev. Rachel said she hopes that these events will lead to more people hearing about Jesus’s message.

“We hope that we’ll reach more people with the message the good news that Christians have to bring that Jesus came to bring peace,” she said.

“He said, ‘Blessed are the peacemakers that people might find ways to build bridges in their own life.'”

The Church of England…

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Aladdin Star, Naomi Scott, Talks about How Her Christian Faith Grounds Her

Aladdin Star, Naomi Scott, Talks about How Her Christian Faith Grounds Her



British actress and musician, Naomi Scott, who plays Jasmine in Disney’s 2019 remake of Aladdin, credits her faith for getting her through life.


CBN News reports that the star recently sat down with Compassion International UK to share about her work with the nonprofit and how she juggles Hollywood and her faith.


“…I don’t know how I would do life without my faith,” she said. “That peace that you know you’re loved and valued is something that keeps me incredibly grounded, incredibly focused. Quite honestly, I don’t see it as this separate thing, this add on thing. My faith is just a part of who I am and what I do.”


Scott shared that having her identity grounded in her faith helps her to keep her priorities straight.


“No matter what happens, no matter what somebody says about me on Twitter, whatever the future holds, to know that that doesn’t define me is incredible,” she explained. “To know that doesn’t inform my identity in any way shape or form (although it’s easier said than done sometimes). That’s going to be the thing keeping me going. Keeping the main thing, the main thing throughout.”


As a Compassion UK ambassador, Naomi has championed the cause of women worldwide. She recently traveled to Rwanda to help pregnant women and new mothers get a healthy start for their children, and Ethiopia to visit one of her sponsored…

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Christians react to Trump’s state visit to the UK

Donald Trump and the First Lady Melania were welcomed by the Queen on the first day of their three-day visit to the UK amidst the threat of mass protests.

A 20-foot ‘Trump baby’ balloon will be raised in Parliament Square, Westminster, at 9 am on Tuesday, according to organisers The Stop Trump Coalition.

 

Despite the protests about his visit, Sarah Elliott a Christian and chair of Republicans Overseas UK told Premier plenty of good can come out of it.

“Free trading arrangements are being discussed and the foundations for that.

“Also I think it’s very important that both of our countries continue to work together – especially on security and intelligence sharing.”

Mr Trump sparked controversy minutes before he landed at London’s Stansted Airport when he called the London Mayor a “stone cold loser” on Twitter.

It followed Sadiq Khan’s comments that the UK should not “roll out the red carpet” for Mr Trump.

 

Simon Barrow from Christian think tank Ekklesia told Premier’s News Hour Mr Trump’s language was unacceptable.

He explained: “It doesn’t seem…

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Pakistani Pastor, Family Left Homeless after Being Attacked for Third Time This Year

Pakistani Pastor, Family Left Homeless after Being Attacked for Third Time This Year



A Muslim mob attacked and seized a Pakistani pastor’s home last week. Mission Network News reported that over 35 men attacked Pastor Aziz, his wife, and college-aged daughter in their home because of his growing Christian ministry in the area.


“Pastor Aziz, who himself had come out of a Muslim background, has been evangelizing and church planting in the province of Balochistan,” FMI (formerly known as Forgotten Missionaries International) executive international director Bruce Allen said.


During the attack, a police officer was patrolling the area and helped the family escape. The mob was able to keep his home, however, and the family is now homeless.


Aziz has been busy in the region for the past several years, planting three churches and outpost ministries along the Iranian border. But, unfortunately, this attack is not the first. The church planter has suffered two other attacks this year alone. And, more than 15 years ago, his five-year-old son was abducted and never heard from again.


“[Aziz and his wife, Ruhab] know the personal loss and what the cost is of following Jesus Christ in Pakistan. [It] doesn’t make it easier, but when a situation like this occurs, it brings past traumas up to the surface. So we want to pray for their emotional healing,” Allen said. “Aziz has considered that all of his belong[ings] are lost to him, but he…

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Does a new study show all atheists are searching for Christ?

The Understand Unbelief study, which seeks to research the nature and diversity of “unbelief”, found that almost a third of atheists and 45 per cent of agnostics believed in underlying “forces of good and evil”, with many believing some events were “meant to be”, although they did not believe in the existence of God.

Aaron Edwards, lecturer in theology, preaching and mission at Cliff College told Premier every person is hard wired to seek out meaning in life: “You can see when you observe people, they want something to be true. They want there to be a wider holistic meaning.

“But that [meaning] doesn’t have to impact their own lives, so I think that’s the key really.”

 

 

Mr Edwards added that this search for meaning can only be fulfilled through Jesus Christ.

He also said the study shows that people are willing to embrace a faith system and Christians should be encouraged to share the gospel with more confidence.

“We’ve always had the same challenge of preaching the gospel to those who don’t want to believe – the thought that people believe in some abstract supernatural belief is really almost a given,” he said.

“We just need to point people to the ultimate fulfiller of meaning in God and in Jesus Christ and in the good news that we have to proclaim.

The report defined atheists as people who “don’t believe in God” and agnostics as people who “don’t know whether there…

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New York Times Calls Unborn Baby’s Heartbeat ‘Embryonic Pulsing’

New York Times Calls Unborn Baby’s Heartbeat ‘Embryonic Pulsing’



Pro-lifers are accusing the New York Times of ignoring science by labeling an unborn baby’s heartbeat “embryonic pulsing” – language that wasn’t used in earlier stories but appeared in a May 29 report on the issue.


The story referenced a new Louisiana law that bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The bill was sponsored by a Democratic state senator and signed by the state’s Democratic governor.  


“The measure would require an ultrasound test for any woman seeking to terminate a pregnancy, and forbid abortion if the test detects embryonic pulsing,” The Times story read. 


Earlier in the story, The Times said lawmakers had passed a bill that would “ban the procedure after the pulsing of what becomes the fetus’s heart can be detected.”


Stories from May 7 and April 18 did not use the language and instead called it a “fetal heartbeat.” All the stories, though, called the bills “so-called heartbeat bills.” 


Micaiah Bilger of LifeNews.com said the language “dehumanizes unborn babies and ignores decades of scientific evidence.” 


“This new terminology is not based on facts or scientific evidence,” Bulger wrote. “It’s based on an agenda that supports abortion on demand. ‘… It disguises the truth and attempts to manipulate the public into believing something different from what they know to be…

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Religious education given Ofsted boost

Campaigners for better RE say the new school inspection framework will put more pressure on schools to prioritise the subject.

It’s understood two-day long inspections will now put greater emphasis on the broad curriculum while a small number of subjects will also be chosen as a focus for examination. These subjects could include religious education.

Ben Wood from the National Association of Teachers of Religious Education (NATRE) told Premier this is a good change of direction.

 

He said: “Ofsted are really pushing the sense that they want a curriculum to be broad.

“I think there is a sense for people, both in education and the wider public of what’s gone on in schools has been narrowed recently and there’s a number of reasons for that.

“But what Ofsted are doing here is a saying that school curriculum has to be broad.

“And that means that while English, maths and science are important so is RE, and history, and geography, and art, and music, and PE, they’re all important, they all have a role to play.

“It’s very heartening to hear Ofsted saying that within that curriculum, RE has a crucial role to play.”

Guidelines for inspections now require schools to ensure pupils can reflect their own religious beliefs as well as having knowledge and respect for others.

Schools will also have to prove that teachers have expert knowledge of the subjects that they teach.

Ben Wood, who…

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