News Roundup

UK Parliament introduces first “thought-crime” into UK law

Both Houses of Parliament have approved the introduction of exclusion zones outside of abortion facilities across England and Wales.

The Public Order Bill will criminalise any form of “influence” outside of abortion clinics – even including silent prayer.

An amendment to permit silent prayer and consensual conversations within the zones was proposed by Andrew Lewer MP, but failed to pass the House of Commons after a vote of 116 to 299.

In response, one group called the vote a “watershed moment” for fundamental rights and freedoms.

The vote comes despite the most recent government review (2018) finding that censorship zones would be an unnecessary and “disproportionate” restriction on rights, given that harassment is already criminalised under existing legislation, and instances of harassment outside abortion facilities were found to be “rare”.

It also came a day after charitable volunteer Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested for the second time for praying silently, near an abortion facility in Birmingham, despite the earlier charge being thrown out by magistrates for lack of evidence to substantiate her thought-crime.

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Indian PM urged to end attacks on Christians

A group of top former civil servants in India has urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to end the rising hatred and violence against Christians in the country.

In a letter, signed by 93 former civil servants under the banner of the Constitutional Conduct Group, they urged Modi from the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party to reassure the Christian community of equal and unbiased treatment before the law.

“It is imperative that you, Prime Minister, give them this reassurance,” they insisted in the open letter.

According to the United Christian Forum (UCF), a New Delhi-based inter-denominational Christian organization that keeps a tab on atrocities against Christians in the country, the nation reported 598 incidents of violence against Christians in 21 states in 2022. The number stood at 279 in 2020 and 505 in 2021, UCF said in a report.

The attacks, including social boycotts, vandalism of churches and the arrest of Christian leaders mainly took place in regions ruled by Modi’s, right-wing Hindu party or where they have a strong presence.

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Taoiseach wants radical gender ideology taught in Catholic primary schools

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tánaiste Micheál Martin have called for imposing radical gender theory in the new primary school curriculum, despite a call from Catholic educationalists to leave it out and ‘let children be children’.

The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) wrote to the Children’s Minister arguing that there is a lack of scientific consensus on the issue, that it would create division in schools, and that it might add to “a growing psychological contagion” among children.

Mr Martin described the letter opposing the imposition of gender theory in the new course as “not the way to deal with these issues”. Gender ideology teaches that your ‘gender’ and biological sex have no necessary connection.

Asked if he was in favour of primary schoolchildren being taught about such matters, Mr Varadkar said: “I am. I think the purpose of the education system is to prepare children for life, to teach them about the world. Trans people exist, they’ve always existed, and I think it makes more sense in schools to just inform children about the world around them.”

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Research underlines role of fathers in children’s lives

The importance of a father in a child’s upbringing has again been highlighted by recent research.

A literature review just published in the journal Infant and Child Development looked at nearly four dozen studies on father-child relationships and highlighted the role that dads play in building a child’s skills in regulating emotions.

Fathers who were involved in caregiving and play, and who reacted with warmth and greater sensitivity to a child who expressed emotions, were significantly more likely to have children with better emotional balance from infancy to adolescence. Those skills in children are linked, in turn, with higher levels of social competence, peer relationships, academic achievement and resilience, while poor emotional regulation skills are linked with anxiety, depression and behavioral problems.

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International group launches proposal to ban surrogacy worldwide

A group of lawyers, doctors, psychologists, and others from five continents gathered in Casablanca, Morocco, at the weekend to call for the repeal of all laws allowing or tolerating surrogacy around the world.

The group released a signed document titled “International Declaration for the Universal Abolition of Surrogacy,” which aims to raise global awareness of what the group considers to be a practice that violates human dignity. Along with the statement, a proposal for an international convention was made available to all organizations and governments that wish to ratify it.

“We call on [countries] to condemn surrogacy in all modalities and kinds, whether remunerated or not, and the implementation of measures to fight such practice,” the signatories, who represent more than 70 countries, wrote in their “Casablanca Declaration,” at the same time maintaining to be “aware of the suffering of people who may not conceive” and of the “appeal of reproductive technologies.”

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Catholic primary schools reject calls for transgender lessons

Catholic primary school managers said their pupils should not be taught transgender theory, in a strongly worded letter to Government ministers.

The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) has argued there is a lack of scientific consensus on the issue, that it would create division in schools, and that it might add to “a growing psychological contagion” among children.

The CPSMA says teaching primary children “what it means to be transgender would require to teach something about which there is neither a scientific nor social consensus to highly impressionable young children”.

It would be “counterproductive, generating unnecessary divisions in school communities where none now exist”.

According to the CPSMA, “more seriously, it might add to a growing psychological contagion amongst young and vulnerable children”. There has been a huge increase in recent years in the number of children saying they are transgender.

“We believe a more prudent and sensible policy is to teach children to respect every human being and to allow children to be children,” it added.

“We should not prematurely introduce children to complex and sensitive topics around which there is no scientific or medical consensus.”

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Army ‘discriminated’ against atheist who applied to be chaplain

An atheist whose application to be a chaplain was rejected by the Defence Forces had been discriminated against on religion grounds, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has said.

John Hamill, a former officer with Atheist Ireland, made the complaint.

He questioned whether it was a genuine occupational requirement for the role to be a Christian appointed by a bishop, as per the usual practice. This excluded other faiths as well as non-believers. The evidence was that there were good atheist military chaplains in other militaries. He should have been able to apply for the role of chaplain and the role should be allocated to the best applicant, he said.

WRC adjudication officer Kevin Baneham ruled Mr Hamill had been discriminated against on grounds of religion, and he ordered a review of the process of appointing military chaplains to ensure compliance with the Employment Equality Act.

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Research says fewer sexual partners before marriage reduces chances of divorce

A recent paper examining the correlation of more premarital sex partners with more divorce has found it is not due simply to sample selection, but to some inherent destabilising factor in the sexual relationships themselves.

The paper by Jesse Smith and Nicholas H. Wolfinger in Journal of Family Issues ruled out numerous factors including religiuosity, sexual attitudes, and psychological attributes, as explanations for the phenomenon.

This left them with two broad possible explanations for their results.

“One is that there could be a causal relationship here: having premarital sexual partners, especially a lot of them, does in fact undermine the prospect of a successful marriage. Perhaps as people accumulate partners, they find that breakups get easier, develop an “other fish in the sea” mentality, or move into peer groups with weaker marriage norms, any of which might make divorce seem like more of an option”.

“The other possibility is that selection mechanisms might still be driving these differences, but we need to reconsider what those mechanisms are. Maybe there are genetic factors at work, or unmeasured psychological traits such as hypersexuality that contribute to both promiscuity and divorce”.

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Government demands immediate release of Nicaraguan bishop

Tánaiste Micheál Martin has called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of a Nicaraguan bishop who was sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment after refusing to leave the country for exile insisting he wanted to be with his people.

Mr Martin said he was “gravely concerned” about Bishop Rolando Álvarez (56) and the wider crackdown in the Central American country under authoritarian leader Daniel Ortega.

It comes as the regime announced a new ban on public processions for the ‘way of the cross’, a popular devotion in the mainly-Catholic country.

Mr Martin insisted that the Department of Foreign Affairs is closely monitoring the bishop’s detention “and continues to call for his immediate and unconditional release, as well as that of all other remaining political prisoners”.

“The continued human rights violations, crackdowns on opposition voices, on civil society and on independent media, together with backsliding on democratic norms, are unacceptable,” Mr Martin said in a written answer to a question from Laois-Offaly independent TD Carol Nolan.

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Dropping of ‘gender spectrum’ idea from new RSE curriculum welcomed

A leading voice in Catholic education has welcomed the dropping of references to gender being “experienced along a spectrum” from the new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) curriculum following consultation with the public. SPHE includes Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE).

The idea is part of a radical theory that says a person’s ‘gender’ has no necessary connection with their biological sex.

CEO of the Catholic Education Partnership Alan Hynes told The Irish Catholic that they’re “glad to see that the final draft reflects some of our concerns and observations” regarding the proposals for the new curriculum.

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) agreed to change a “learning outcome” in a draft for the new SPHE curriculum, according to papers seen by The Sunday Times over the weekend.

“Like ourselves, I think parents will be satisfied that the concerns that they communicated to the NCCA through the consultation process have been attended to,” Mr Hynes said, continuing, “this was important as parents are the primary educators of their children and their views on questions of morals and values are of paramount importance within the education system”.

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