Monday June 16 2008
Gay priest resigns after furore over church blessing
Riazat Butt, The Guardian
A gay priest who angered conservative Christians by exchanging rings and vows with his partner in a church ceremony for his civil partnership in London last month has resigned, it emerged last night. The Rev Dr David Lord, a New Zealander who tied the knot with English clergyman Peter Cowell on May 31, “felt it appropriate to lay down his clergy license”, according to a statement released through the Anglican church in New Zealand. His decision will debar him from officiating as a priest.
£100,000 police hunt for ‘terror’ suit to fit over turban
Telegraph
A police project that involved spending £100,000 helping a Sikh officer find a chemical and biological attack suit to fit over his turban and beard has been described as “ridiculous”. The junior officer, who has not been named, encountered problems trying to join West Midlands Police’s counter-terrorist operation support unit because he could not fit protective gear over his religious headwear and beard. Police chiefs decided to let him spend 18 months…
42 days? Try 18 months
Evo Morales, The Guardian
Until the end of the second world war Europe was a continent of emigrants. Millions left for the Americas: some to colonise, others to escape hunger, financial crises, persecution, ethnic cleansing, war or totalitarian governments. European citizens arrived in Latin and North America en masse, without visas or conditions imposed on them by the authorities … Contrast the European “return directive”, to be voted on in the European parliament this week.
Rapture site sends unbelievers their last chance … via email (Bobbie Johnson, Guardian)
RDBook: Empire’s Theology (Nathan Schneider, Religion Dispatches)
Conservatives will ban khat (Sayeeda Warsi, Guardian CiF)
Filed under: books, christianity, drugs, gay, marriage, media, migration, minorities, police, sikhism, usa
