Feba Zimbabwe

Pressure is growing for same-sex couples to be given full equality in marriage law after 98 per cent of LGBT people polled said civil partnerships don't go far enough.

Pressure is growing for same-sex couples to be given full equality in marriage law after 98 per cent of people questioned in a poll of Pink News readers declared that civil partnerships do not go far enough.

The magazine, which is read primarily by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, followed the poll by asking a number of organisations to express their views on the issue. The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) was one of several to respond by calling for marriage equality.

LGBT groups within all three leading political parties also expressed their support. But Pink News says that Stonewall, Britain's largest LGB charity, declined to respond to the request. Stonewall has been accused by other campaigners of dragging its feet on the issue of marriage.

“I am so glad that you are talking about 'marriage equality' and not 'gay marriage',” said Rev Sharon Ferguson of LGCM, “Marriage is the celebration and legal recognition of the commitment between two people – the gender of those involved should not be an issue”.

She also pointed out the “ludicrous scenario for some trans people”. Currently the law states that if one partner in a married couple changes gender then the marriage is annulled. If the couple choose to remain together, they have to enter a civil partnership in order to achieve legal recognition of their relationship.

The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell added, “The main issue is not whether same-sex marriage is a priority but whether LGBT people should be banned from getting married. We should not be banned.”

In what some may see as a criticism of Stonewall, Tatchell added that, “No LGBT organisation claiming to support equal rights should remain silent and inactive while we are denied the right to marry”.

Scotland has recently seen the launch of the Equal Marriage Campaign, which brings together a number of faith groups, human rights activists and other organisations to promote marriage equality in the country. Amnesty International has backed the campaign.

The UK Parliament voted in April to allow religious elements in civil partnerships in England and Wales. There will be no element of compulsion for churches and other faith groups who do not wish to participate. The government is currently holding consultations about how this law will be implemented.

Quakers, Unitarians, Liberal Jews and the Metropolitan Community Church have all said that they are interested in carrying out same-sex weddings.

The religion and society thinktank Ekklesia is calling for a thorough overhaul of marriage law that would separate the religious and personal elements of marriage from the legal aspects. This would enable people to enter into a ceremony that had personal and, if they wish, religious significance, with legal registration being a separate process for those who want state recognition.

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Amnesty International has urged the Saudi Arabian authorities not to paralyse a man in retribution for similar injuries he allegedly caused during a fight.

Amnesty International has urged the Saudi Arabian authorities not to deliberately paralyse a man in retribution for similar injuries he allegedly caused during a fight.

Reports say a court in Tabuk, in the north-west of the country, had approached a number of hospitals about the possibility of cutting the man’s spinal cord to carry out the punishment of qisas (retribution), as requested by the injured victim.

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Acting Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui said:

“We urge the Saudi Arabian authorities not to carry out such a punishment, which amounts to nothing less than torture.

“While those guilty of a crime should be held accountable, intentionally paralysing a man in this way would constitute torture, and be a breach of its international human rights obligations.”

According to one report, one hospital has said it would be possible to medically administer the injury at the same place on the spinal cord as the damage the man is alleged to have caused his victim using a cleaver during a fight more than two years ago, causing similar paralysis.

The court may decide not to impose the paralysis punishment and could instead sentence the man to imprisonment, financial compensation, or flogging.

The man, whose name has not been made public, has already been sentenced to seven months imprisonment for the offence. Amnesty has received information that he was convicted and sentenced following a trial where he was said to have had no legal assistance.

Under international human rights law, the use of this sentence would constitute a violation of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

It would contravene the UN Convention Against Torture to which Saudi Arabia is a state party and the Principles of Medical Ethics adopted by the UN General Assembly.

Saudi Arabia regularly sentences people to various forms of corporal punishment.

Flogging is mandatory in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a number of offences and can also be used at the discretion of judges as an alternative or in addition to other punishments.

In cases of qisas (retribution) other sentences passed have included eye-gouging, tooth extraction, and death in cases involving murder.

According to the Principles of Medical Ethics adopted by the UN General Assembly, it is a gross contravention of medical ethics, as well as a breach of applicable international instruments, for health personnel, particularly physicians, to engage, actively or passively, in acts which constitute participation in, complicity in, incitement to or attempts to commit torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

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Leading members of the Green Party have travelled to Norwich in support of the party's campaign to become the main party on a local authority for the first time.

Leading members of the Green Party have travelled to Norwich in support of the party's campaign to become the main party on a UK local authority for the first time ever. Jenny Jones, Member of the Greater London Assembly and former Deputy Mayor of London, could be seen on the campaign trail this week.

The so-called “mega-by-election” has been scheduled as a result of a court decision earlier this year.

The elections of 9 September could see Norwich Greens become the biggest party on the city council. In 2008, they became the first ever Green council group to form the official opposition, with more Green councillors than Tories and Liberal Democrats combined.

Norwich Greens are focusing on their support for local small businesses. Jenny Jones met members of the "Buy Local" network, who together are opposing a mini-supermarket development which they say will harm existing smaller shops.

“Greens across the country are playing a leading role in supporting the local economy during the recession,” said a party spokesperson.

Greens point to the example of Lancaster’s indoor market, which was saved through a campaign involving local Green councillors. Their motion to the council won the support of Labour and other councillors to ensure that tenants' leases were renewed.

“The decision meant that local jobs, tourism and food production were saved, and proved popular with local shoppers who enjoyed the choice and healthy goods provided by the market,” said the Greens.

Greens in Camden, north London, carry out an annual survey of local shopping streets to measure how many vacant shops there are, how many have recently closed, and how many are soon to close. They say this helps the party to understand the particular problem areas, and most effectively campaign to protect local businesses.

Greens have also campaigned against the construction of a new Asda store in Shipley, Bradford, supported campaigns for “local business zones” in St Albans and produced a guide on local shopping in York. In Ladywell, south London, Green councillor Sue Luxton organised a competition at a local primary school to design a logo for fairly-traded, organic cotton carriers which bear slogans encouraging residents to shop locally.

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The US government has invited the two major parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a summit in Washington on 2 September 2010.

The US government has invited the two major parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a summit in Washington on 2 September 2010.

The purpose, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is to re-start direct peace negotiations with a view to completing them and finding a lasting solution "within a year".

Commentators have been amazed at the boldness and ambition of the plan, given the failure of a series of comparable initiatives over the past ten years.

The move comes after months of intense international pressure on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to agree to the first face-to-face political talks for more than 18 months.

The two men are expected to attend the launch of the negotiations by President Obama.

The aim is to end 43 years of Israeli occupation and usher in an autonomous Palestinian state alongside the Jewish one.

Hamas is still refusing to engage in direct talks, but it is hoped that the pressure on them will grow if the parameters of a settlement can be agreed.

Ms Clinton acknowledged the many obstacles facing the talks. She said: "There have been difficulties in the past; there will be difficulties ahead. I ask the parties to persevere, to keep moving forward even through difficult times and to continue working to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region."

The Palestinian President had been seeking explicit "parameters" for the talks, including an agreement that a future two-state solution to the conflict should be based on Israel's pre-1967 borders.

The new Quartet statement does not itself refer to the settlements issue directly, says the Independent newspaper in London, but instead reaffirms a "full commitment" to statements made at the Moscow and Trieste meetings earlier this year.

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Britain's Quakers have said that they will work alongside other opponents of Trident nuclear weapons, even if they do not share the Quakers' commitment to peace.

Britain's Quakers have said that they will work alongside other opponents of Trident nuclear weapons, even if they do not share the Quakers' commitment to peace. But they insisted that they would not compromise on their principles.

Their comments follow growing criticism of Trident from commentators who fear that the cost of Trident renewal will reduce other areas of military spending. In contrast, the Quakers' opposition to Trident springs from their historic commitment to pacifism.

The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), a pro-military thinktank, has suggested that Trident should be “scaled back” for financial reasons. Richard Dannatt, who recently retired as head of the army, has urged the government to review Trident spending.

“Whilst as Quakers we will never compromise our integrity to achieve a campaigning end, we welcome any support in campaigning to get rid of Trident and are happy to work with others on this issue,” said Sam Walton on behalf of Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW), when questioned on the issue by The Friend, a weekly independent Quaker magazine.

Nuclear weapons have until now been funded separately to the core Ministry of Defence (MoD) budget, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, has said he now wants the MoD to find the money itself. Defence Secretary Liam Fox is resisting the suggestion.

The government places the cost of Trident renewal at £20bn, but other estimates have put it as high as £94bn.

“Perhaps the reason why no-one wants to pay for Trident is that it’s not of any practical use,” suggested Walton, “The cost of Trident is ludicrous, especially given how little value for money we realise in terms of any sort of security”.

Shifting Trident funding to the MoD would have major effects on military expenditure. Although the MoD budget could be increased by the expected cost of Trident, this would still leave nuclear arms competing with other calls on the same pot of money.

Not all peace campaigners are confident about working alongside anyone who opposes Trident. “On a tactical level, I’m pleased about anything that moves towards lower military spending,” said Albert Beale of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), “But pacifists cannot agree with the logic of arguments that are anti-Trident but pro-military”.

Beale told The Friend that peace activists should keep in mind the “longer-term aim of demilitarisation”.

Trident renewal is opposed by a number of faith groups, including the Baptist, Methodist and United Reformed Churches and the Church of Scotland, as well as several Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops. Polls suggest that a majority of the public is also opposed.

Quakers, known more formally as the Religious Society of Friends, have maintained a stand against war since their beginnings in mid-seventeenth century. In 1661, they declared that the “spirit of Christ which leads us into all Truth will never move us to fight and war against any man with outward weapons”.

The Quaker peace testimony is one of a number of “testimonies”, through which Quakers witness to their experience of God through their behaviour in the world.

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Looking a gift horse in the mouth is generally thought graceless and discourteous. But when the donor is a multi-millionaire ex-Prime Minister who took his country into a war of dubious legality and certain immorality, and the recipient is a charitable project for injured service personnel, the convention may justifiably be set aside.

The universities minister David Willetts has come under attack after telling students to lower their sights and apply to “less competitive” universities next year.

The universities minister is under fire after telling students to lower their sights and apply to “less competitive” universities next year. David Willetts was attacked by the University and College Union (UCU), which represents academic and teaching staff.

“I am astounded that the government’s insulting response to the university crisis is simply to advise some people to temper their ambition,” said the UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt.

The UCU added that around 200,000 students are set to miss out on a university place this year. They pointed out that if some students “aim lower”, then all that would do is lower the chance of a different group of students securing a place - it would not reduce the number of people missing out overall.

“After years of being inspired to aim higher the coalition government is actually telling students to aim lower,” said Hunt.

She added, ““Education has the power to change people’s lives and anybody who purports to be serious about increasing social mobility has to recognise that. Nick Clegg surely cannot be happy with his colleague’s comments.”

The UCU insists that the “real answer” to the economic crisis involves investment in more university places. They believe that businesses, which benefit from recruiting graduates, should pay more tax to help finance this.

“Too many bright teenagers will be left with no educational place this summer,” said Hunt, “We risk consigning a whole generation to the scrapheap of inactivity”.

Meanwhile, Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), said that education cuts at a time of high youth unemployment would help to keep Britain as “one of the world's most unequal societies”.

This week's A Level results were the first since the introduction of the new A* grade and provided further evidence of the gap between private and state education. Fee-paying schools provided only 14 per cent of A Level entries, but achieved 30 per cent of the A* grades.

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Archbishop Elias Chacour, who is both a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, has told a large gathering in Edinburgh that a peaceful future depends on education.

Archbishop Elias Chacour, who is both a Palestinian and a citizen of Israel, has told a large gathering in Edinburgh that a just and peaceful future in Israel and Palestine depends upon education.

The average age in the area he lives, said the Archbishop, is 14 years, and many young people have been deeply scarred and shaped by the history of occupation and eviction. Transformation of lives and understanding is vital, he suggested.

Chacour is the Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and Galilee of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Noted for his efforts to promote reconciliation, he is the author of two books about the experience of Palestinian people living in present-day Israel - including the best-seller Blood Brothers, which broke boundaries in the UK by being published by a major evangelical company.

The archbishop said that his strong commitment to nonviolence in the face of what to many appears to be an intractable conflict was something flowing naturally "first of all from my commitment to Jesus Christ... and also to the dignity of my people."

"I am an inferior citizen", he declared, referring to the second class status of Arabs in Israel, which defines itself as a Jewish state. The land, he said, should be for the nourishment of all.

In the 1980s, Chacour started a small school building. Now the co-educational Mar Elias Educational Institutions enroll 4,500 students, including pupils from Muslim, Christian and Druze backgrounds.

Seeing children as "our present and our future", the archbishop said his schools were Christian in character but open to everyone.

Echoing the theme of a major lecture he is due to give at St Mary's Catholic Cathedral this evening, Archbishop Chacour described "the promised land" as more "a land of promises" - many of them broken by religiously grounded communities whose ethic and practice is supposed to be rooted in the Golden Rule, "do as you would be done by".

At St John's Episcopal (Anglican) Church for a lunchtime talk on 20 August, attended by several hundred people, the archbishop was engaged in a lively and passionate conversation by the Rev Kathy Galloway, head of Christian Aid in Scotland, and former leader of the Iona Community.

The challenge, he said, referring back to Jesus' Beatitudes (blessings on those at the margins of society), is not to remain piously aloof, but "to get our hands dirty in working for justice and peace for both Palestinians and Jews."

This must include building relationships and acts solidarity - for instance to those whose homes are being destroyed - Chacour declared.

More on Elias Chacour from Ekklesia: http://www.books.ekklesia.co.uk/search/node/chacour

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The Home Office idea of withdrawing benefits from claimants with illegal drug or alcohol problems who do not turn up for treatment might seem at first glance reasonable, says Savi Hensman. But despite its popular appeal, in the end the result will be disastrous.

The Home Office is considering withdrawing benefits from claimants with illegal drug or alcohol problems who do not turn up for treatment, the BBC reports. This might seem at first glance reasonable, and will have some popular appeal, but the end result will be disastrous.

The proposal was first floated by the last government, but in May the Social Security Advisory Committee warned that withdrawing benefits from addicts would lead them into crime and prostitution.

After weighing up the evidence, this independent statutory Committee had concluded that it felt strongly that the scheme “is unlikely to be effective, contains a number of significant flaws and is unlikely to produce robust results”, indeed “runs a high risk of causing significant harm”.

Claimants already led chaotic lives which caused them harm, and there was no reason to suppose that punishing them still more would be helpful – indeed the threat could drive them further away from getting help. The idea was dropped.

A lot of people with drug and alcohol problems are mentally ill. According to a 2003 article in the British Journal of Psychiatry focused on community mental health and substance misuse services, 75 per cent of drug service and 85 per cent of alcohol service patients “had a past-year psychiatric disorder... Large proportions are not identified by services and receive no specialist intervention.”

It is not just the claimants who will suffer, but also their families. Some people struggling with substance misuse problems are just about holding things together for the sake of their children, or other family members for whom they are caring.

Cutting off their benefits if they fail to turn up to a treatment session will devastate the lives of their children too, some of whom will end up in care.

In addition, carers who strive to help drug-dependent relatives and friends may find their efforts undermined, and in some cases have to meet their loved ones’ living costs themselves.

It is also likely that the scheme will punish some people who are ill but do not have drug problems. As the Social Security Advisory Committee warned, “The use of reasonable suspicion also brings with it the worrying likelihood that claimants with certain physical and mental health conditions could be ‘suspected’ of having a drug problem that is a barrier to their finding work.” Job advisers would “have a series of factors to consider in order to help with identification.

The list includes incoherent answers to questions and unkempt appearance/hygiene issues, symptoms that could well be associated with a number of non-drug related physical and mental health conditions. Claimants could therefore face mandatory questions about their drug use, when they in fact do not use illegal drugs.

So sick claimants could face extra stress and humiliation, and some might drop out of the process of claiming if they could not cope, leaving them extremely vulnerable.

Ironically, people who are ready for treatment for alcohol or drug problems can find this difficult to get. If scarce places on programmes are taken up by people coerced into signing up when they are not yet able to benefit, this will get worse.

So this proposal not only lacks compassion but will also do more harm than good. While the government will save some money by leaving people suspected of having drug and alcohol problems destitute, the overall cost to social services, the NHS and criminal justice service may far outweigh any savings.

Better treatment for people with substance misuse problems, and increased support for their families and health professionals in GP practices and emergency departments to take timely action when patients might benefit, would seem a wiser use of resources.

If people of faith and others of goodwill make their objections known now, the government may back down from this proposal. Otherwise, much damage may be done to the vulnerable before the scheme proves disastrous and is dropped.

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© Savitri Hensman was born in Sri Lanka. She works in the voluntary sector in community care and equalities in the UK, and she is also a respected writer on Christianity and social justice. Savi is an Ekklesia associate.

The Accord Coalition for inclusive schooling has backed the renewed proposal that Religious Education should become a National Curriculum subject.

The Accord Coalition for inclusive schooling has backed the renewed proposal that Religious Education should become a National Curriculum subject, as raised in a recent television programme.

Religious Education is currently in the anomalous position of being the only compulsory subject in state maintained schools that is not part of the National Curriculum.

The case for reform was raised again in a More 4 television documentary ‘Faith Schools Menace?’, fronted by scientist Richard Dawkins, which questioned the impact of publicly-funded religious foundation schools.

Accord, which brings together both religious and non-religious organisations and individuals, does not take a 'pro' or 'anti' position on faith schools per se, but works for reform to ensure that all schools have open admissions and employment policy, a balanced curriculum, and positive, civically-oriented assemblies.

In the More4 programme, Dr Dawkins met pupils at one faith school who all rejected evolutionary biology because of what they had been taught about their religion.

Critics of the present RE arrangments, many of whom reject the anti-religious stance for which Dr Dawkins has become well known since leaving his post promoting the public understanding of science at Oxford University, nevertheless agree that taxpayer-funded schools should be properly accountable and inspected for what they teach concerning religion and belief, as for other subjects.

Teaching unions, including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, one of Accord's member organisations, are among those who have made this point.

Representatives from Accord raised the issue with Nick Gibb, now education minister, prior to the General Election in May 2010.

The chair of the Accord Coalition, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, commented: "The current arrangements for RE are very worrying. In faith schools the RE taught can be very narrow in its scope, while in other schools the quality of RE can also be of a poor quality, which only helps prevent children from developing their understanding of people with different beliefs."

He continued: "The Government must reassess the current arrangements of RE as part of their curriculum review taking place this autumn. A flexible National Curriculum RE syllabus would have many advantages.

"Firstly, it could help ensure that the RE taught in schools is broad and balanced and of a sufficient quality, helping to ensure that children are better prepared for life in our increasingly diverse society.

"Secondly, the current local arrangements for RE are very bureaucratic and expensive and by bringing them to an end the Government will save local authorities around the county many hundreds of thousands of pounds a year at a time when they are under extreme budgetary pressures."

Most schools follow a locally agreed syllabus, which is produced by their local authority responsible for education. Earlier this year, Ofsted released its report, Transforming religious education, which found that the teaching of RE was inadequate in 1/5 of secondary schools in England and urged the Government to reconsider the subject’s current local arrangements.

Meanwhile, in faith schools the RE syllabus taught is determined by the school itself. The RE in these schools is not inspected by the government and can be overtly instructional and fail to expose pupils to other world views than that of the school.

Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian think-tank Ekklesia, said: "Good teaching about the variety of beliefs that shape our world, religious and non-religious, is vital in our schools, and all pupils should have access to a wide and informative curriculum in this area, not one limited to the horizons of the school's sponsors, whoever they may be."

He added: "Whatever you think of Richard Dawkins - and we are critical of many of his more extreme and superficial views abut religion - the points raised in this week's More4 television documentary on faith schools remain important. All schools funded by the taxpayer should be building bridges not erecting barriers.

"In the area of science teaching, more evidence of the application of anti-evolutionary creationist ideology, which is theologically as well as scientifically untenable, is a matter of serious concern, and something educationists will want to act on."

Two years ago, Ekklesia and the British Humanist Association jointly pressed for clear guidelines on science teaching, in order to stress that the issue was not one where religious and non-religious parents and teachers needed to divide.

In response, the government stressed that creationism and its close relation Intelligent Design, were not appropriate topics for the science classroom, having no scientific foundation.

Now the BHA is calling on the government to re-iterate its commitment to high quality science teaching, and wants it to investigate the charge that a number of faith schools are propagating creationism.

In the More4 film, Dr Dawkins discovered that RE lessons in some such schools present creationism as scientific fact, directly contradicting the evolution components of the national curriculum. In one case, he found that all 60 Year 10 science students at a Muslim secondary school reject the theory of evolution - which is the basis for all the major progress in the biological sciences in the past hundred years.

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson said: "‘This programme highlights why we urgently need a tightening up of the legal requirements. If, as this film seems to suggest, creationism is already being taught as fact in conventional faith schools, then how does the government propose to keep it out of religious ‘free’ schools, which will not have to follow the National Curriculum and are outside local authority control?’

He added: "We are calling on the newly-formed education select committee to conduct a full inquiry into faith schools, looking particularly at their impact on community cohesion, their effect on pupils’ rights, their effect on a balanced curriculum of objective teaching about religious and non-religious beliefs, and the extent to which science teaching may be undermined."

Ekklesia is a founding member of the Accord Coalition. http://accordcoalition.org.uk/

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Former World Council of Churches general secretary Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead.

Former World Council of Churches General Secretary, the Rev Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead in order to prevent the region itself declaring independence - writes Fredrick Nzwili.

"A UDI (unilateral declaration of independence) is the last thing the churches will want to see. It must be avoided at any cost," Kobia, who now serves as the All Africa Conference of Churches special ecumenical envoy for Sudan, told journalists in Nairobi on 17 August 2010.

Kobia spoke as southern Sudanese leaders continued to warn they will declare independence unilaterally on 10 January if the referendum is not held the day before. That date - 9 January - is the one set by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in Nairobi. The accord sealed the end of a 21-year-long civil war in which more than two million people died.

The Kenyan Methodist pastor, who left his WCC post in December, warned that declaring UDI would be dangerous because it would split Africa and the global community.

"It is clear that there is no other way that will be honourable and credible for the people to exercise their right to self determination," said Kobia of the proposed referendum.

"It would be dignified if it is done within a referendum because that gives the people the freedom to use their conscience, and decide the future and destiny of Sudan," he added.

Kobia warned of deliberate attempts to frustrate the process so that it would appear, for technical reasons, that the referendum could not be held. The churches' special envoy explained it had taken three years after the signing of the peace agreement before a referendum commission was formed, and that it is not yet fully functioning.

Kobia was appointed to his current post with the AACC, which is tied closely to the WCC, in consultation with the Sudan Ecumenical Forum.

"I was asked and I accepted to serve as the special envoy to Sudan that started in March this year. The AACC, WCC, and SEF responded to a request by the SCC and Sudanese Churches to accompany them at this critical juncture of the history of Sudan," said Kobia.

He is expected to sustain diplomatic efforts to seek to save the agreement from collapsing by engaging both the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Peace Movement and the Sudan government, which both sponsored the pact, along with other stakeholders.

"It has been seen as urgent to have a special envoy for Sudan because the country is undergoing a special situation, which requires a special ecumenical attention," said AACC General Secretary the Rev Andre Karamaga, who worked with Kobia at the WCC.

Asked about his position on the referendum, Kobia said he is non-partisan. Some who support independence for Southern Sudan have criticised his appointment, and say he opposes independence.

"What I want to see is a political dispensation where the people of southern Sudan will enjoy their freedom, justice and life in dignity, and I think that is what matters the most," said Kobia.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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A photo exhibition on cross-border traders in Southern Africa has put the spotlight on the need for the free movement of goods and peoples.

A photo exhibition on cross-border traders in Southern Africa has put the spotlight on the need for the free movement of goods and peoples in the region - writes Munyaradzi Makoni.

"We wanted to show the role the sector plays in uplifting communities from poverty, and employment creation, yet the traders are affected by many of the structural deficiencies," the Rev. Malcolm Damon, director of the Economic Justice Network, a grouping of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, told ENInews recently.

Damon, a Methodist cleric, said they gave the traders from Malawi, Tanzania, Swaziland and Mozambique cameras to take photos and tell their own story in a unique way.

The photo exhibition, showing trading scenes within the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community, was launched during the 13-15 August 6th Civil Society Forum in Namibia. The traders captured pictures reflecting poor transport networks, street level bureaucracy, the confiscation of goods, xenophobia, high tariffs, corruption, sexual harassment, and delays at border posts.

Focusing especially on marginalised women, the exhibition, held in a Roman Catholic Church hall in Namibia, ran alongside the 30th SADC (Southern African Development Community) heads of states meeting.

"It is significant to hold the exhibition displaying the potential and also the problem-plagued informal cross border trade - when SADC heads of state and secretariat would meet to discuss problems in the region, and Namibia [is] taking the chair of the regional block," said Damon.

"We hope it will lend weight in lobbying and the engagement to remove barriers and promote free movement of people in the region," he added.

Sudecar Novela, leader of a cross-border organisation in Mozambique, told ENInews that corruption is a nightmare for traders at border posts. He noted that his 25-years trading experience had taught him that the problem could be solved by laws promoting small traders.

"The issue of cross-border trade is a very emotional story. It evokes both sad and happy emotions," said Moreblessing Chidaushe of Norwegian Church Aid. Chidaushe believed that injustices that halt economic prosperity at global, regional and even national levels must be confronted.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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A sociology professor has attacked the deputy Prime Minister's claim that parenting is more important than poverty in ruining children’s life chances.

Sociology professor Frank Furedi, from the University of Kent, has attacked the claim of the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, that parenting is more important than poverty in ruining children’s life chances.

Furedi, author of Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, says the Liberal Democrat leader’s remarks show just how commonplace “parent-bashing: has become today.

“Clegg’s attempt to recast the age-old problems associated with poverty as principally a result of parents’ own moral failures resonates with the zeitgeist amongst policymakers and politicians”, writes Furedi on the website Spiked.

For Furedi, “[p]arenting has become an all-purpose causal explanation for virtually every problem afflicting society. Parental determinism minimises the importance of economic, social and cultural factors in everyday life and reduces the complex interaction between social wellbeing and family life to a simple question of moral failure.”

The outspoken academic locates the origins of “parental determinism” in the New Labour era. He writes: “It was Tony Blair’s regime which first promoted the fantasy that the government could fix society’s problems by getting its hands on the nation’s toddlers before their parents had a chance to ruin them. One of New Labour’s key focuses was on ‘early intervention’ - and for Blair, intervention could never be early enough. He believed it was possible to spot tomorrow’s ‘problem people’ even before they were born.”

Since then, Furedi continues, “the myth of parental determinism” has been institutionalised in Whitehall:

“Policymakers in the Lib-Con coalition seem to believe that the quality of parenting can determine just about everything in a child’s future. They even believe that parenting, when done well, can help to overcome society’s structural inequalities... In comparison with parental determinism, the economic determinism of Stalinism or the racial determinism of the old eugenics lobby seem positively subtle. That such voodoo science can shape the thinking of policymakers reflects the exhaustion of the political imagination today,” says Furedi.

Mr Clegg was echoing an earlier and similar statement on education and life chances from Conservative prime minister David Cameron.

Read the whole article here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9442/

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A new US national survey has found that a substantial and growing number of Americans think that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

A new US national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has found that a substantial and growing number of Americans think that that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion knowing he is a Christian has declined.

More than a year and a half into his presidency, a plurality of the public says they do not know what religion Obama follows.

According to the survey, nearly one-in-five Americans (18 per cent) now say Obama is a Muslim—an increase from 11 per cent in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34 per cent) say Obama is a Christian, a sharp decrease from 48 per cent in 2009. Fully 43 per cent say they do not know what Obama's religion is.

The survey was completed in early August 2010, before President Obama's recent comments about the proposed construction of a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center.

The belief that Obama is a Muslim has increased most sharply among Republicans (up 14 points since 2009), especially conservative Republicans (up 16 points). But the number of independents who say Obama is a Muslim has also increased significantly (up eight points). There has been little change in the number of Democrats who say Obama is a Muslim, but fewer Democrats today say he is a Christian (down nine points since 2009).

The new poll, conducted between 21 July and 5 August among 3,003 respondents, also examines the link between Americans' perception of Obama's religion and their opinion of his job performance, and covers views on the President's approach to religion, including the influence of his religious beliefs on policy decisions.

In addition, the survey explores Americans' attitudes toward churches' involvement in politics and the influence of religion on American life and government, and looks at religion's impact on voting preferences for the forthcoming 2010 congressional races.

The report, including a summary and topline questionnaire, is accessible on the Forum's new web feature, Religion & Politics 2010 (http://features.pewforum.org/politics/).

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life conducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science research on significant aspects of religion and public life in the US and around the world.

As part of the Washington-based Pew Research Center, the Pew Forum does not take positions on any of the issues it covers or on policy debates.

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Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and the Elders group want people and governments to give “more quickly and generously” to flood-stricken Pakistan.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and the Elders group of former statespeople want people and governments to give “more quickly and generously” to flood-stricken Pakistan.

The Elders, a network of distinguished independent leaders, have warned that the situation in Pakistan is deteriorating rapidly.

They said said the scale of the flooding affecting nearly 4 million people was “disastrous”. The United Nations has said that the long-term impact of the flooding is likely to impact a further 20-25 million.

Dr Tutu appealed both to governments, communities and individuals to give as generously as they did in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day South Asian tsunami, and also the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010.

“I urge people all around the world to hold the people of Pakistan in their hearts and in the heart of the human family at this time,” the Nobel Peace laureate declared.

He continued: “Let us not for a moment allow ourselves to feel that some are less deserving of our help than others. It is time for us to stand in solidarity with the people of Pakistan. Please give generously and help to share their enormous burden as they struggle to recover.”

The call for more donations comes as the United Nations General Assembly meets today to discuss Pakistan’s humanitarian emergency.

The UN launched a US$460 million emergency appeal at the beginning of last week. So far, however, just half of that amount has been pledged by the international community.

Aid and development agencies, including the global ACT Alliance of church groups, and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) in the UK, are warning that the amount of money that has come in so far will not last more than a few months.

To make a donation to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707

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A women-only Lebanese aid ship named after the Virgin Mary plans to break the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel sometime next week.

A women-only Lebanese aid ship named after the Virgin Mary plans to break the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel sometime next week.

The organisers of the aid ship said on 19 August 2010 that they will sail to Cyprus for the first leg of their journey this weekend.

Organiser Samar al-Hajj told reporters: "The ship Mariam will leave for Cyprus on Sunday at 10pm (local time, 19.00 GMT) from the port of Tripoli."

Ms al-Hajj stressed in advance that those on board will not be carrying weapons or arms of any kind, that their purpose and cargo is strictly humanitarian, and that the venture is entirely nonviolent.

The ship is called The Mariam, after Mary the mother of Jesus. It is a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship originally named the Junia Star.

The aim of the aid ship is to bring badly needed assistance to the people of Gaza, who have been beseiged and blockaded by Israel for four years.

The Miriam will carry 50 Lebanese and international women on board. The passengers are said to include a well-known Cypriot singer.

Back in May 2010 Israel casuded international outrage by attacking a Turkish ship that was part of a flotilla of six ships headed for Gaza.

Nine Turkish activists were shot dead by Israeli commandos. The IDF claimed that they were threatened and released doctored film to back this claim. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the soldiers shot first, and those on board claimed they were acting in self defence when invaded without warning.

Previously good relations between Turkey and Israel have been imperilled by the incident.

Israel investigated what happened and vindicated itself, but has refused calls for an impartial international investigation.

The Cypriot authorities have a ban on ships departing for Gaza, and it is not clear what will happen when The Miriam seeks to call there.

Israel has threatened to invade any ship coming into the waters around Gaza.

The Naji al-Ali, originally named Julia, a Lebanese boat organised by journalists, has also said that it will sail to Gaza via Cyprus.

The boat has not yet received any official clearance from Lebanese authorities.

Also on Ekklesia: Harry Hagopian, 'From Turkey to Gaza: Human rights and fundamental freedoms?' - http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12413

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A senior Church of Scotland minister wants the Scottish government to reject a coal-fired power station at Hunterston on environmental grounds.

One of the most senior Church of Scotland ministers has written to the Scottish Government, urging it to consider carefully the impact plans for a new power station that will, the Kirk claims, undermine the Scottish Government’s plans to reduce Scotland’s carbon footprint.

A planning application to develop a coal-fired power station at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, has been submitted for consideration with a closing date of 20 August 2010 for objections.

The Rev Ian Galloway, Convenor of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, has written on behalf of the Kirk, formally objecting to the development of the proposed coal fired power station at Hunterston, asking Holyrood to reject outright the planning application made by Ayrshire Power.

Mr Galloway is backed by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev John Christie, in objecting to the new power station.

Ayrshire Power Ltd lodged a planning application for an 1852 MW coal and biomass-fuelled power station at Hunterston on 2 June 2010, with the Scottish Government.

The Kirk has concerns about the likely increase in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the power plant. The church believes that any such increase in emissions will make the national targets of Scotland’s Climate Change Act difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

Mr Galloway said: “We are also aware that local congregations have concerns about the implications of the proposed development and its impact on the local environment."

He added: “We share those concerns and support the objections of local communities but in our letter of objection, concentrate on the national implications.”

The Church of Scotland is opposed to the proposed development set out in the planning application on the grounds that:

* Any new coal fired power station without a proven and effective system of carbon capture and storage fitted at the outset, will undermine the Scottish Government’s plans to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

* The technology is not yet sufficiently well developed or proven to deliver carbon capture and storage in plant of this size; and

* The power station would not only be a huge setback for the Scottish Government but would undermine the role [of] all those individuals and communities across Scotland who are taking action to reduce their carbon footprint.

In 2009 the Church and Society Council’s report to the General Assembly noted climate change as being amongst the most important challenges facing humankind.

It stated: “The Church of Scotland is concerned that climate change poses a serious and immediate threat to people everywhere, particularly to the poor of the earth; and that climate change represents a failure in our stewardship of God’s creation. We accept the need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases urgently to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change and to promote a more equitable and sustainable use of energy.”

In tackling the challenge of climate change, the Church of Scotland is active in a number of areas. It assists congregations in helping them to reduce their carbon footprint both in their church buildings and their lives.

The Church of Scotland, the country's largest Presbyterian denomination, is a supporter of Eco-Congregation Scotland, a Scottish charity with over 250 congregations committed to taking action to care for the earth.

The Kirk also plays a key role in the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition comprising 60 organisations representing 2 million people across Scotland.

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The Vatican has published the much-anticipated official schedule for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010.

The Vatican has published the much-anticipated official schedule for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010.

The pontiff, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and head of the Vatican City state, arrives on Thursday 16 September in Scotland.

He begins with an official visit to Queen Elizabeth II at her palace in Edinburgh. That afternoon he travels to Glasgow, where he will celebrate Mass at Bellahouston Park. On Thursday evening the Pope will continue on to London, spending the night there.

On Friday 17 September, the Pope’s day will begin with a meeting for Catholic educators at St Mary’s University College. Later in the morning he will participate in an interfaith assembly. In the afternoon he will visit theAnglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and then lead an ecumenical assembly at Westminster Abbey.

On Saturday the Pope meets with the Prime Minister, David Cameron and with the opposition leader, Harriet Harman. Then he will preside at Mass in the cathedral at Westminster. That afternoon he will visit a nursing home. In the evening he will lead a prayer vigil in Hyde Park, leading up to Sunday’s beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Pope Benedict will preside at the beatification ceremonies on Sunday 19 September, at Cofton Park in Birmingham. Following that ceremony he will visit the Oratory that Cardinal Newman made famous. His last official activity will be a meeting with the Catholic bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland. The pontiff will return to Rome on Sunday night.

Commenting on the schedule for the papal visit, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the highlight from a Catholic perspective will be the beatification of Cardinal Newman.

Cardinal Newman is a figure of enormous importance to today’s culture, Lombardi claimed, because he is “the perfect figure to present the dignity of Christian witness as capable of addressing the problems and the biggest questions of modern man, to modern society.”

In addition, the Vatican spokesperson called attention to the Pope’s meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, saying: "We also know that this is a delicate moment for Anglicanism, because of internal debates. It is also a delicate time in relations with the Catholic Church, because these debates also reflect on the relationship between Anglicans and Catholics."

Preparations for the Pope's visit have been dogged by criticism of its cost to the public purse, estimated at up to £20 million, sluggish ticket sales, controversies over sexual abuse, and a funding gap for the pastoral dimension of the visit.

Protesters for women's and gay rights are also intending to make their voices heard as the visit proceeds.

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American Muslim leaders who visited two notorious Nazi concentration camps have roundly condemned Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.

A group of American Muslim leaders who recently returned from visiting the notorious Nazi concentration camps at Dauchau and Auschwitz have roundly condemned Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.

Their public statement came after a trip organised earlier this month (August 2010).

The visit was was led by Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in New Jersey, and was co-sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Germany.

In their statement, the Muslim leaders say that denying or justifying the Holocaust violates traditional Islamic ethics.

They declared: "We condemn anti-Semitism in any form. No creation of Almighty God should face discrimination based on his or her faith or religious conviction."

The leaders also pledged to continue the struggle against prejudice and hate speech affecting Jews, Muslims, Christians and all people facing attacks on the basis of their religion, race or ethnicity.

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The United Nations is marking the second-ever World Humanitarian Day by paying tribute to the life-saving work of aid workers around the globe.

The United Nations is marking the second-ever World Humanitarian Day today (Thursday 19 August 2010) by paying tribute to the life-saving work carried out by aid workers around the globe, often in perilous places, to help those whose lives have been torn asunder by conflict, natural disasters and other crises.

Events will be held at UN offices and peacekeeping missions worldwide, with many focusing on those personnel at the front lines who have been killed in the cause of assisting people in need.

In 2009, 102 humanitarian workers lost their lives, compared with 30 deaths among aid workers in 1999. In addition, nearly 280 aid workers were victims of security incidents, more the quadruple the number one decade ago.

The General Assembly proclaimed 19 August as World Humanitarian Day two years ago to commemorate the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, which claimed the lives of 22 UN staff members, including the world body’s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounded more than 150 people.

Mr Ban is laying a wreath at UN Headquarters in New York in remembrance of the personnel killed seven years ago.

For many years, humanitarian workers have relied on the idea that they must be protected by all parties to allow them to carry out their work wherever needed.

However, the false perception that aid is delivered only by Western groups or represents one ideological or religious world view has led to relief workers increasingly being targeted, ultimately hurting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Earlier this month, Mr Ban welcomed the United Kingdom’s recent ratification of a protocol expanding an international treaty aimed at protecting UN staff members and other humanitarian workers, thus enabling the pact to enter into force this week.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel provides legal protection to staff delivering emergency humanitarian assistance and to those providing political and development assistance in peacebuilding situations.

It extends the legal protection offered by the 1994 convention on the same subject, which only applies to personnel engaged in peacekeeping operations.

Mr Ban, in a statement, called the Convention “the cornerstone” of the legal regime affording protection to UN and associated personnel operating in hostile and volatile environments.

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