Church News

• Is the Church of England racist? A former race advisor to the Church of England has told how some clergy and staff who complained about racism within the Church received compensation but had to sign non-disclosure agreements. Many disturbing claims of racism within the CofE were made in the BBC Panorama programme ‘Is the Church Racist?’ earlier this week. In a statement, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York said "We have seen, time and time again, people being bullied, overlooked, undermined and excluded from the life of the Church. It breaks our hearts and we are truly sorry". Read more here and here. Others, however, believe the Panorama programme was biased, that the CofE is not institutionally racist, and that the BBC report failed to give due credit to the overwhelming racial unity evident among the vast majority of Christian believers across Britain.
• Tennessee church celebrates over 1,000 baptisms in 4 months. Robby Gallaty, a Baptist pastor from Hendersonville, Tennessee, said he spent lengthy times in prayer and solitude for ten months before hearing God clearly say, "spontaneous baptism". Sure enough, he had the privilege of baptising 99 people the following Sunday, even though that was the week of the lowest attendance in his church in five years (due to Covid restrictions). In the four months since then, his church has baptised more than 1,000 people from 15 different states. Read more here.

Society & Politics

• Britain set to introduce Covid passports. While the UK government has been reluctant to say it will officially introduce Covid passports, it has admitted that proving your Covid status is "likely to become a feature of our lives". Revealingly, a recent civil service job advert in London and Leeds shows they are “developing both digital and non-digital options to enable UK residents to assert their Covid status, including both vaccination history and test results”. Indeed, it now appears ’vaccine certificates’ may be made available from as early as next month, particularly for use by Brits travelling abroad for summer holidays. The certificate could come in either digital or physical form, and is likely to be standardised across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• Church leaders’ resistance to Covid passports. Meanwhile, dozens of MPs continue to resolutely oppose the rollout of vaccine passports, and a petition against their use has gathered almost 350,000 signatures. Additionally, an open letter from Church leaders (mostly evangelical) now has 1,260 signatures. This video interview ably outlines the main arguments against employment of the so-called Covid passports, as does this article.
• Richard Dawkins cancelled by the humanists. The American Humanist Association has withdrawn its ‘Humanist of the Year’ award from Richard Dawkins, a quarter of a century after he received the honour! They criticised the academic and author for “demeaning marginalised groups” using “the guise of scientific discourse”. Dawkins’s specific crime was to have suggested on Twitter that transgender people are not, in a scientific sense, members of the sex with which they identify. The politically correct AHA has since been scoffingly congratulated for “showing that heresy, excommunication and the crime of 'non-believing' are not merely confined to the Christian faith”! Read more here and here.
• Scottish Family Party insist Facebook is censoring them. Scotland’s only pro-life, pro-family party has accused Facebook of tampering in the upcoming Scottish elections. “When a potential voter clicks to like our page, Facebook asks them if they are sure,” stated party chairman Michael Willis. The SFP also claims that Facebook is “artificially limiting” their page reach. So far, the Electoral Commission has declined to take any action. The Scottish Family Party is committed to help parents raise their children at home and free from government-enforced LGBT ideology, and has been a vocal opponent of Scotland’s “age-inappropriate, grotesquely graphic sex education” for years.

World News

• South African Covid variant affects vaccinated people more than unvaccinated. The South Africa variant of the coronavirus might evade the Pfizer vaccine, according to a new study from Tel Aviv University and Israel’s largest healthcare provider. Not only could the variant break through protections offered by the vaccine, but it uniquely affects those who have been vaccinated (around eight times higher) than those who have not. While the results, which have not yet been peer-tested, have come as a surprise, the South Africa variant is generally rare, making up only about 1% of all coronavirus infections. Read more here and here.
• China launches app for reporting those with 'mistaken opinions'. China has launched a new app that will allow citizens to report others who criticise the ruling Chinese Communist Party or question its account of history online. The app aims to crack down on 'historical nihilists' ahead of the Party's 100th anniversary in July. Citizens are asked to 'actively play their part' in reporting 'historical nihilists'. Many have been arrested and punished for speaking out against the party online. Read more here.
• Taking the knee for BLM will be banned at Tokyo Olympics. The International Olympic Committee has decided to clamp down on any political, religious or racial gestures made during the Olympics this summer. Anyone taking the knee or raising a fist in support of Black Lives Matter will be punished. While many groups have denounced the ruling, the majority of the 3,500 athletes consulted said they were against any political protest within the fields of play or the podiums.

Israel & the Middle East

• UN Elects Iran to Commission on Women’s Rights. The UN has elected Iran to a 4-year term on its Commission on the Status of Women, the “principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women.” The vote has sparked outrage among human rights activists. This is like “making an arsonist into the town fire chief,” said the executive director of Geneva-based human rights group, UN Watch. “It’s absurd — and morally reprehensible”. The United Kingdom is thought to been have been among a number of European countries backing the move.