These articles were first published in our June edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
Children as young as three are being referred to a clinic for transsexual treatment, the BBC revealed in early May.
The Victoria Derbyshire programme highlighted that in the past year, three pre-school children have been referred to the Gender Identity Development Service at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. They were among 167 kids under the age of ten to have been referred over the last 12 months.
The Prime Minister told MPs in early May that he believes there is a ‘very strong case’ for labelling ISIS’s actions as acts of genocide, adding that he hopes they will be ‘portrayed and spoken of as such’.
This comment came weeks after MPs referred the issue to the UN Security Council. David Cameron was responding to Sir Edward Leigh MP who said: ‘The Christian, Yazidi and Shia children in Syria are suffering from genocide by Daesh and we should recognise it as such’.
It was reported in late April that a meeting concerning the Named Person Scheme said that GPs and housing officers should be recruited to snoop on Scottish families.
The minutes also show Children’s Minister Aileen Campbell suggested that more should be done to ‘break down barriers’ with GPs, who are concerned about patient confidentiality. The group that met was disbanded in 2014, but the scheme is due to be rolled out throughout Scotland in August.
The BBC announced in May that it will ensure that those who identify as LGBT will comprise 8% of its workforce by 2020, in a bid to be ‘truly representative’ of the UK population.
The quota is over-representative not ‘truly representative’ as those who identify as LGBT make up only 1.6% of the UK population. The ‘diversity’ strategy has also set quotas for women, the disabled, and those from ethnic minority backgrounds, but no provision has been made for religion and belief.
A rally took place outside Parliament on 8 April, where individuals, families and research organisations gathered to speak up for those with Down’s Syndrome.
The Don’t Screen Us Out demonstration highlighted the discriminatory consequences of new pre-natal testing, which many believe will lead to increased abortions on the basis of a Down's Syndrome diagnosis. Heidi Crowter, online and at the demonstration, said: ‘I have Down’s Syndrome and my life is just as important and just as beautiful as anyone else's. Life is valuable and it doesn’t matter if you have a disability, you can still achieve.’
The politically liberal online news and blog site, The Huffington Post, has recently published two articles encouraging Christians to accept Muhammad as a prophet.
They were published in January and April respectively. The more recent one suggests that in accepting Muhammad Christianity ‘would be transformed for the better and come into balance with Judaism and Islam’. Can you imagine the HuffPo calling on Muslims to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour?
It was reported that the Canon Chancellor of York Minster has organised Zen Buddhist meditation on the cathedral estate.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, of Christian Concern and a member of the Church of England's General Synod, responded: ‘Buddhism contrasts sharply with Christian teaching about God. The two are incompatible. To try to mix them is deceptive and dishonours Jesus Christ. This type of confusion undermines the Church of England’s current initiative to encourage Christian prayer.