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Thumbing our noses at God
Cases in the news this week (06/03/08)
Headlines
Urgent appeal to save embryos
Eunice and Owen Johns – Council reinstate application
Stephen Green – blasphemy case denied appeal
Christian lady challenges statue
Urgent appeal to save embryos
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Urgent appeal to save embryos
The Christian Legal Centre is supporting a lady who has been told by her local hospital that her frozen embryos will be imminently destroyed – perhaps even within a week. There is a dispute over the destination of the embryos and the Christian Legal Centre is seeking an injunction to preserve the life of the embryos. We need to raise £15,000 for the injunction. If you feel able to donate please click on the link below and mark any donations ‘Embryo Preservation Fund’.
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Eunice and Owen Johns – Council reinstate application
Committed Christian couple Eunice and Owen Johns have had their foster care application successfully reinstated by Derby City Council. The couple, who have fostered in the past and have raised four children, were initially told that their views on homosexuality were out of line with diversity standards, and had their application withdrawn . Throughout interviews with social services and meetings with the fostering panel, the Johns maintained their biblical approach to sexual ethics and said that they would love any child regardless of their sexual orientation. The Mayor of Derby is supporting the Johns, and, following intervention by the Christian Legal Centre and extensive media coverage, social services have agreed to reinstate the couples’ application. Please pray the couple will be approved to foster.
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Stephen Green – blasphemy case denied appeal
Last week the House of Lords refused permission to appeal in the case of Green v City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court. The Lords decided that the issue did not engage an arguable point of law which was in the general public interest. One legal commentator described the decision as ‘without legal merit’ while Mr Green’s solicitor in the case, Michael Phillips, a Christian Legal Centre consultant, added that the ruling was a ‘great shame’ and that it was ‘bad law’. The decision comes at a crucial time as blasphemy law has been the subject of Parliamentary debate this week. Sadly, the law was repealed in the House of Lords last night and so the offences no longer exist.
Mr Green sought a private prosecution against the producer of ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’ and the BBC under blasphemy laws. Mr Green argued that the depiction of God as a frail old man and Christ as an abusive and foul mouthed homosexual amounted to blasphemy and that the production and broadcasting of the play was therefore a criminal offence. The case failed at the Magistrates Court and at the High Court where the reasons given for dismissal included the lack of any evidence that the production had endangered society as a whole by endangering the peace or depraving public morality.
Letter from Michael Phillips in The Times
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Christian lady challenges statue
Emily Mapfuwa, a Christian from Brentwood, is challenging Northumbria police over their failure to investigate a statue of Jesus with an erection which was part of an exhibition displayed at the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in January. Although the Baltic Centre admitted that they had several complaints about the work, they maintained that the exhibition was clearly marked as being potentially offensive and that visitors were given proper warnings about the images and sculptures on display. Emily has sent several letters to the police asking them to investigate whether an offence has been committed, asserting that the statue of Jesus is offensive under public order legislation. Emily awaits a response from the police who have a duty to investigate.
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Andrea Minichiello Williams
Director
Christian Legal Centre
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Andrea Minichiello Williams, 13/03/2008
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