Tag Archives: Country: Scotland

Christian Institute: The Church of Scotland has voted to allow practising homosexual men and women to become ministers.

AP: Senior members of the Church of Scotland voted Monday to let some congregations choose ministers who are in same-sex relationships – an important compromise that must still pass further hurdles before it can become church law.

Tim O’Gorman at Iona Institute: This week’s ruling in Scotland which found in favour of two midwives who insisted on their right to conscientiously object to taking any part in the abortion process is one that should be welcomed by all who think this freedom is important, whatever their views on abortion itself.

Christian Concern: Two Catholic midwives have won the right to be exempt from involvement in abortion procedures following a ruling by an appeal court in Scotland.
Judges in Edinburgh ruled that Mary Doogan (58) and Concepta Wood (52) could lawfully refuse to supervise and assist staff involved in abortions under the conscience clause in the 1967 Abortion Act.

Christian Institute: report for the Church of Scotland on same-sex relationships has suggested an order of service for a civil partnership blessing. The liturgy contains ideas for scripture readings, including passages about David and Jonathan, and Ruth and Naomi.

The New American: As for Eurasia, its Ministry of Truth’s latest handiwork is the arrest and punishment of an American street preacher who dared speak of sin in that land once known as Scotland. The victim is 47-year-old New Yorker Shawn Holes, who was on a U.K. tour when he was arrested in Glasgow after running afoul of U.K. hate-speech laws.

Christian Institute: An MP has failed in an attempt to make a ban on smacking part of the Scottish Liberal Democrat’s official party policy. Edinburgh West MP Mike Crockart wanted to scrap the defence of “reasonable chastisement” that allows parents to physically discipline their children. Mr Crockart said he had smacked his own son, but now wanted to outlaw the practice.

LifeSiteNews: A small breakaway church group has been banned from using a meeting room at a hotel in Aberdeen over their opposition to same-sex “marriage” and homosexual activity. The Gilcomston church were turned away from the Copthorne Hotel, where they were to hold their first communion service on March 10th , the Christian Institute reports.

Christian Institute: Revd David Robertson warned that the Equality Network labels anyone who disagrees with their position as “homophobic”. Revd Robertson, who leads the SOLAS group, was responding to the £1.6 million that the Equality Network has received from the Scottish Government since 2007.

Christian Institute: Patients as young as 16 in Scotland would be able to tell their GP about their desire for assisted suicide, under controversial proposals from an MSP. Margo MacDonald MSP has been criticised for a revised assisted suicide Bill which would enable people aged 16 and over to have their end-of-life wishes on record.

AP: Scottish leader Alex Salmond has set Sept. 18, 2014, as the date for an independence referendum that could radically alter the shape of the United Kingdom.

Christian Institute: The Scottish Government consultation looking into the details of its Bill to redefine marriage closes today. Respond here. Members of the public have until 5pm today to respond to questions on the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill.

Christian Institute: A church in Aberdeen was blocked from holding a Sunday service in a hotel function room because of the church’s beliefs about sex and marriage.

Daily Mail: A Scottish church has become the first in the UK to share its premises with Muslim worshippers.
St John’s Episcopal Church in Aberdeen now welcomes hundreds of Muslims praying five times a day in their building as the nearby mosque was so small that they were forced to worship outside.

Scotland Herald: His actions were against the law, and should not be encouraged. Having worked as a medical practitioner in the NHS for 40 years I recognise that some patients do indeed suffer severely as they approach death. However, the way forward is not to take life but to do all in our power to mitigate their suffering and to compassionately care for the dying.

LifeSiteNews: One of the highest-ranking police officials in Scotland has warned that if pornography’s effects on the culture are not checked, it will “result in a higher number of victims of serious sexual crime.”

Christian Institute: People concerned that the Scottish Government’s plans to redefine marriage do not adequately protect free speech or civil liberties, have seven days left to respond to a consultation on the issue.

Religion Clause Blog: The conclusion was based on the finding that St. Margaret’s violates the Equality Act 2010 by discriminating against non-Catholics, and against same-sex couples, in placing children for adoption.(OSCR press release.)

APS: Members of Edinburgh Life Society contributed to the defeat of a motion to renew their union’s existing policy to ‘Support a Woman’s Right to Choose and Affiliate to Abortion Rights’. This is a victory that will inspire pro-life student activists nationwide, a wonderful mark of the first-year anniversary for the Alliance of Pro-Life Students.

Christian Institute: An influential group of NHS experts is urging the Scottish Government to allow the morning-after pill to be handed out in schools.

The Christian Institute: An Aberdeen congregation and its minister have become the latest to leave the Church of Scotland over its ordination of homosexual clergy.

Christian Institute: The words “mother” and “father” will be dropped from Scottish matrimonial law under First Minister Alex Salmond’s plans to redefine marriage.

Christian Institute: An official from the Scottish National Party has resigned, citing as one of his reasons Alex Salmond’s plans to redefine marriage. Andrew Walker, who was the secretary of a local SNP branch in the Western Isles, said the Scottish Government had ignored “the views of the majority” on the issue.

Telegraph: The archbishop wrote: “While it is true, certainly within Catholic social teaching, that governments are not required to make all immoral actions illegal, to many it is unhelpful, unnecessary and indeed profoundly unwise for political action to do quite the opposite, namely to attempt through the law, by equating homosexual unions with heterosexual marriage, to render moral what is in itself morally defective.”

Religion Clause Blog: On Dec. 12, the government of Scotland announced a Consultation, i.e. published for public comment, a bill that would substantially amend Scotland’s law on marriage.  The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill would introduce same-sex marriage and the religious registration of civil partnerships.

NY Times: The Supreme Court on Wednesday struggled to decide whether it was capable of doing anything to affect the outcome of a custody dispute before the Sheriff Court in Airdrie, Scotland.

Christian Institute: Head teachers in Sweden have been told they can take pupils to Christmas services in church – but Jesus cannot be mentioned.

Christian Institute: In a major new localised campaign, voters will put MSPs under the spotlight over Scottish Government plans to redefine marriage.

Christian Institute: Highland Council has removed prayer from its formal meeting agenda after secularists threatened legal action.

Christian Institute: A study from researchers in the US revealed 24 per cent of all abortions in Scotland occurred in the under-20 age group. Only Cuba had a higher proportion of teenage abortions, at 29 per cent of the total.

Christian Institute: The morning-after pill is being given to girls as young as thirteen at schools in Scotland, without parental consent.

Reuters: Scotland set up a historic independence referendum on Monday after its leader and Britain’s prime minister finalized arrangements for a vote that could lead to the demise of its three-centuries-old union with England.

Christian Institute: The Church of Scotland has been accused of the “systematic dismantling of the true gospel” over the ordination of homosexual ministers. Revd Paul Gibson, who left over the issue, says the Kirk is pursuing an “erroneous liberal agenda”.

Telegraph: Almost nine out of 10 Scottish households take more from the public purse than they contribute in taxes thanks to a “rotten system” of state patronage, the Tory party conference will hear on Monday.

Christian Concern: More than 7 out of 10 MPs refuse to put their weight behind calls to legalise assisted suicide, a new ComRes poll has revealed.

Christian Institute: A Scottish politician has gathered enough signatures from a handful of MSPs to have a second attempt at legalising assisted suicide.

The Guardian: With Catalan secessionism on the march, as well as debates about Scottish independence and a looming referendum, the question of EU membership for possible new states has become politically charged. By declaring that any state seceding from a member state would not automatically become a European Union member, EU commission president José Manuel Barroso has dealt a serious blow to a key part of the SNP’s plans for a “soft” form of Scottish independence.

Christian Institute: Alex Salmond formally included a Bill to rewrite the definition of marriage as he unveiled the Scottish Government’s new legislative programme this week. However, supporters of traditional marriage have vowed to fight the Bill “with every breath”.

Yahoo News: Scotland will introduce a bill within nine months on holding a referendum on independence, First Minister Alex Salmond said on Tuesday, paving the way for a vote that could result in the eventual breakup of Britain.

Christian Institute: A letter opposing plans to redefine marriage has been read out in all 500 of Scotland’s Roman Catholic parish churches.

Scottish Catholic Media Office: Cardinal O’Brien calls on politicians to ” sustain rather than subvert Marriage” (Includes Text of the Letter)

The Church Report: The letter by Scotland’s Catholic bishops, which was being read in each of the Church’s 500 Scottish parishes, urges followers to fight efforts to “redefine” marriage.

CathNews.com: Scottish campaigners against gay marriage are to protest outside a meeting of senior politicians. The group Scotland For Marriage says it expects more than 100 people to join a demonstration on Thursday when the Scottish cabinet meets in Renfrew, reports the Strathearn Herald.

Telegraph: The leader of the Catholic church in Scotland has refused to communicate directly with the government over gay marriage, church officials said yesterday.

News.stv.tv (includes video): When Scotland’s Parliament returns at the beginning of September the row over same-sex marriage looks set to intensify.

Christian Institute: The Scottish Government’s plans to redefine marriage risk undermining religious freedom, the nation’s top Roman Catholic has warned.

SCOTUS Blog: The Supreme Court on Monday added one new case to its decision docket for the new Term, a test of federal court power to resolve issues under the Hague Convention on abduction of children to a foreign country. The case is Chafin v. Chafin (docket 11-1347). The specific question is whether an appeal in a Hague case becomes moot if the child involved has returned to his or her home country.

Christian Institute: A former Scottish National Party (SNP) councillor has resigned from the party after nearly half a century because of its plans to redefine marriage.

Catholic Culture: “You can’t have a meal without food, and you don’t have marriage without a man and a woman,” said Bishop Gilbert. “This isn’t just social convention. It’s not something any government can change. It’s a fact of life.”

Catholic Culture: Of the 29,135 marriages that took place in 2011, there were 15,092 civil weddings, 5,557 Church of Scotland weddings, 2,486 humanist weddings, 1,729 Catholic weddings, 865 Assembly of God weddings, and 694 Anglican weddings.

LifeSiteNews: One day after his appointment was announced, the new archbishop-elect of Glasgow has already been attacked in the media for his opposition to same-sex “marriage.” On the day the appointment was made public, Archbishop-elect Philip Tartaglia, a long-time and highly vocal opponent of the homosexualist political agenda, told journalists that he believed he could end up in prison for his views.

Christian Institute: The nationalist Scottish Government has ignored its own public consultation, and announced plans to redefine marriage over the heads of the Scottish people.Two thirds of the 80,000 consultation responses were opposed to the move, but the Scottish Government says it will redefine marriage regardless.

Christian Institute: A leaked Scottish Government email suggests that gay marriage will have a devastating impact on religious liberty and free speech unless the UK Equality Act is changed.

Christian Institute: Parents in Scotland should be prosecuted for smacking their children, a coalition of children’s charities has said.

Christian Institute: The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland has turned up the heat on the Scottish Government following its rejection of a gay marriage referendum.

Christian Institute: The Scottish National Party (SNP) will lose the support of Muslims if it pushes ahead with plans to redefine marriage, Muslim leaders have warned.

Christian Institute: Redefining marriage is fraught with legal difficulties and has higher political stakes than previously thought, The Herald newspaper has said. An editorial published today said people who disagree with gay marriage should not suffer discrimination.

LifeSiteNews: A public consultation on a controversial proposal to legalize same-sex “marriage” in Scotland has ended with a disappointment for supporters of traditional marriage after the government announced it has rejected holding a referendum on the issue.

BBC: A leaked e-mail seen by BBC Scotland suggests the Scottish government may not introduce a bill on gay marriage until Westminster changes the law.

BBC: The governor of a US state embroiled in a legal row over gay marriage has urged Scotland’s politicians to give a lead on equality legislation.

Christian Institute: Edinburgh City Council has scrapped the saying of prayers during council meetings and will replace them with a ten-minute “pause for reflection”. Critics warn that the decision is a deliberate “snub to Scotland’s Christian heritage”.

Philip Tartaglia at Public Discourse: One prominent response came from the Equality and Human Rights Commission Chief, Trevor Phillips, who said that religious beliefs end “at the door of the temple.” This was a far cry from the Prime Minister’s praise of the positive and essential role of Christianity in public life. But how can Christianity have a positive role in public life, one wonders, if it begins and ends at the door of the temple? And if religious freedom is limited to the interior of the temple, how different will Britain be from places like Saudi Arabia where there is freedom of worship behind closed doors? . . . So the view expressed by Trevor Phillips that religious faith should not be allowed to enter the public square raises huge questions about the nature of the state. Phillips appears to endorse the notion of a state that fills all civic space and reaches out to control other institutions present within the state. It is a notion of the state with a rather limited understanding of subsidiarity. It is Big Government at its worst. It appears to have no respect for institutions, such as the family and the Church, which pre-exist the state, which straddle the private-public domain, and which have their own internal constitution. This is a state moving toward a kind of soft totalitarianism.

Christian Institute: A Labour MSP has vowed to press ahead with new laws to criminalise paying for sex, but her hopes for fast-tracking the proposals have been dashed.

Christian Institute: About 50,000 of the respondents are understood to be opposed to changing the definition of marriage, winning the consultation battle by more than 2:1.

The Christian Institute: “Dad” has been removed from a taxpayer-funded baby guide after a single complaint that same-sex couples were being excluded. The Scottish NHS guide, called Ready Steady Baby, now features the word “partner” instead of “Dad”.

UKPA on Google News: Legalising same-sex marriage would “legitimise and encourage” the existence of fatherless or motherless children, according to a report.

LifeNews: Today is the last day to respond to Margo Macdonald’s consultation on assisted suicide. The MSP is planning to bring another bill to the Scottish Parliament in an attempt to legalise assisted suicide just over a year after her last similar bill was overwhelmingly defeated by 85 votes to 16.

Christian Concern is asking its supporters to respond to the consultation on Margo Macdonald’s proposed ‘Assisted Suicide (Scotland) Bill’, which would seek to legalise assisted suicide for those with ‘terminal conditions’ in Scotland.

FIFE Today: Two Catholic midwives who lost a legal bid challenging a health board’s decision that they were not entitled to refuse to delegate, supervise or support staff involved in abortion procedures have launched an appeal against the decision.

Christian Institute: A petition opposing the redefinition of marriage has been presented to Scotland’s Deputy First Minister. Representatives from a Roman Catholic group handed the petition, which was signed by 1,000 people, to Nicola Sturgeon at her surgery.

Catholic Culture: The poll of 1,004 Scottish adults, conducted by Opinion Research Business, found that 53% of respondents agreed that homosexuals “should not be allowed to redefine marriage for everyone else.”

Catholic Culture: The Scottish National Party (SNP) will lose support for its goal of independence by backing same-sex marriage, the Catholic bishops of Scotland have predicted.

LifeSiteNews: Judgment was handed down today in the case of two senior midwives from Glasgow who have a conscientious objection to abortion. The midwives have been told that they must accept the decision of their hospital management that they must oversee other midwives performing abortions on the labour ward.

Religion Clause Blog: A Scottish court has rejected the claim by two midwives employed at Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital that because of their conscientious objection they should not be required to delegate to, supervise or support staff on the labor ward who are directly involved with patients undergoing termination of pregnancy.

BBC News: More than 1,000 campaigners for same-sex marriage have taken to the streets of Edinburgh to urge the Scottish government to change the law.

BBC News: Labour’s Johann Lamont, the Tories’ Ruth Davidson, the Lib Dems’ Willie Rennie and Scottish Green Patrick Harvie are united on the issue.