“But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not
the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any
person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I
require at the watchman’s hand.” [Ezekiel 33:6]
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” [Ephesians 6:12]
Presbyterians Week Headlines
[1] New Christian
Observer Articles for February 2021
[2] Case of
Christian Actress Sacked for Biblical Beliefs to be Heard at Employment
Tribunal
[3] New Trinity
Review Articles
[4] America
Needs Religious Revival or Accept Collapse into Dustbin of History
[5] Christ the
King Reformed Church in Charlotte, Michigan Identified as White Nationalist
Group by Southern Poverty Law Center
[6] Military Coup Is Terrible News for Myanmar’s 4.4
Million “Forgotten” Christians
[7] Psychotherapist Blocked
from Studying ‘Trans Regret’ at University Takes Case to Europe
---
[1] New Christian
Observer Articles for February 2021
New Christian Observer (CO) articles
for February 2021 include:
-- Anthropopathism and God’s Desire
of Salvation – by Doug Douma and Benjamin Wong – “THESIS: The
doctrine of divine anthropopathism provides a sufficient though not necessary
reason for denying the well-meant offer; the teaching that God desires the
salvation even of the reprobate”;
-- The Spirit
Behind the Spirit of the Age – Exposing Satan’s Lie – by Sjirk
Bajema – “Dear Reader – your life is in great danger! In fact, you must be
utterly convinced of exactly how perilous your position really is! You must
know the terrible power that is against you. You have to see how horrible it
is, and how very cruel! But you can also be in peace, for even now you could
finish this article depending that much more on the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s the
Saviour. You cannot manage – but he will for you! You fail – but he’s your
success! You fall – but he picks you up!”;
-- Learning
Wisdom from God in the School of Hard Knocks – By Joe
Renfro, CO Contributing
Editor – “All of life is an education or should be. We can learn from our
positive, good experiences as well as our negative, bad experiences. Yes,
there is the school of hard knocks, and it often something with which it is
hard to cope. But the sad fact is that often times we fail to learn from either
type—the positive or the negative. However, the focus of this article is
the education that comes from life’s difficulties, trials, and afflictions,
things that in the Christian life temper us to be more able to grow mentally
and spiritually in Christ.”
Plus, links to ReVision devotionals on the Fellowship of Ailbe website
by CO Contributing
Editor T.M. Moore.
+ Christian
Observer, Post Office Box 1371, Lexington, Virginia 24450, christianobserver@christianobserver.org
[2] Case of
Christian Actress Sacked for Biblical Beliefs to be Heard at Employment
Tribunal
On Monday 1 February, the Employment Tribunal London began
hearing the high-profile legal case of sacked Christian actress, Seyi Omooba,
26.
The West End star was removed from a lead role in a musical for a four-year-old
Facebook post that cited the Bible.
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, Miss Omooba is suing Leicester Curve
Theatre and Global Artists Agency, who refused to act for her following the
controversy, for discrimination and breach of contract.
The case will expose the mechanisms of censorship at the heart of the theatre
industry, and how any dissenting views against LGBT ideology, especially
Christian beliefs, are currently incompatible with a theatrical career.
The theatre had attempted to avert Miss Omooba’s lawsuit by offering to pay her
the full wages she would have received for playing in the performance. However,
Miss Omooba rejected that offer, and requested a formal and public ruling that
the theatre has acted unlawfully and discriminated against her because of her
Christian beliefs.
Approximate timetable
Monday 1 February: Introductory session at 10:00; the rest of the day reserved
for reading the documents
Tuesday 2 February: The evidence of Pastor Ade Omooba MBE
Tue-Wed 2-3 February: The evidence of Seyi Omooba
Thursday 4 February: The evidence of Chris Stafford, the chief executive of
Leicester Curve Theatre
Friday 5 February: The evidence of Michael Garret, the director of Global
Artists Agency (and of another Global Artists witness)
Monday 8 February: Closing submissions
Tue-Thu 9-11 February: Tribunal’s deliberations in private
Thursday 11 February: Judgement
Raw talent
On March 14 2019, Miss Seyi Omooba, 25, from East London, had been given a lead
role as Celie in Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome’s co-production of
the award-winning musical The Color Purple, based on Alice Walker’s classic
American novel.
The casting was announced the same day that Miss Omooba went with her father,
Pastor Ade Omooba, an eminent international Christian campaigner and Christian
Concern’s co-founder, to Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE.
Miss Omooba had developed her raw talent from a young age singing gospel in
church and studying performing arts at Anglia Ruskin University.
She had already built up a portfolio of performances, among them parts in
Hadestown at the National Theatre, Little Shop of Horrors, Spring Awakening,
and had played the role of Nettie in the Cadogan Hall production of The Color
Purple.
In a review of her full debut in the West End musical, Ragtime, Miss Omooba was
described as: “jaw-droppingly good, and her ferocious gospel vocals…pin you to
your seat. This is her professional debut, and she’s someone to watch.” In the
production of A Color Purple at Cadogan Hall, Miss Omooba’s depiction of the
character of Nettie was described as capturing the “very heart of her
character.”
Facebook post from 2014
After the cast was announced, however, on March 15, Miss Omooba was tagged on
Twitter by another West End performer, Aaron Lee Lambert, who is not known to
her. With a screenshot of a Facebook post that Miss Omooba had posted
four-and-half-years ago on September 18 2014, Mr Lambert wrote:
“@seyiomooba Do you still stand by this post? Or are you happy to remain a
hypocrite? Seeing as you’ve now been announced to be playing an LGBTQ
character, I think you owe your LGBTQ peers an explanation. Immediately.”
In September 2014, Miss Omooba was a 20-year-old student whose acting career
had not even started. She regularly posts about her faith online without any
issue, and in this post had written on her personal Facebook page, in the
context of the government introducing same-sex marriage legislation, that:
“Some Christians have completely misconceived the issue of Homosexuality,
they have begun to twist the word of God. It is clearly evident in 1 Corinthians
6:9-11 what the Bible says on this matter. I do not believe you can be born
gay, and I do not believe homosexual practice is right, though the law of this
land has made it legal doesn’t mean it is right. I do believe that everyone
sins and falls into temptation but it’s by the asking of forgiveness,
repentance and the grace of God that we overcome and live how God ordained us
to. Which is that a man should leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:24. God loves everyone, just
because He doesn’t agree with your decisions doesn’t mean He doesn’t love you.
Christians we need to step up and love but also tell the truth of God’s word. I
am tired of lukewarm Christianity, be inspired to stand up for what you believe
and the truth #our God is three in one #God (Father) #Jesus Christ (Son) #Holy
Spirit.”
Miss Omooba received the tweet from Mr Lambert while supporting a grieving
friend, and despite being deeply shocked and intimidated, refused to be drawn
into an online discussion on the issue.
Called a n***** for citing the Bible
Calls for Miss Omooba to be removed from the cast followed, however, as well as
online abuse which included her being called a ‘n*****.’
Miss Omooba, who visibly prays before each show and wears a ‘Not Ashamed’ of
the Gospel wrist band, had accepted the lead role over Celie after originally
auditioning for the character of Nettie, and disagrees with the interpretation
that Celie is a lesbian character.
The character of Celie in The Color Purple has intrigued readers and critics
since it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 after its publication the previous
year. Set in the Deep South of the US, it’s main character, Celie, leads a life
of immense struggle at the hands of men, until she briefly finds comfort and
friendship with another woman. It was made into a Hollywood film in 1985 and
starred Whoopi Goldberg, who described the film and the character of Celie as:
“Not really about feminism, or lesbianism, despite the fact that Celie finds
out about love and tenderness from another woman….It has nothing to do with
lesbianism. It has to do with, her eyes are opened, now she understands.”
Steven Spielberg, who directed the film, was pressed in 2011 on whether today
he would make the ‘kiss’ scene in the film more explicit, but he said: “I
wouldn’t, no. That kiss is consistent with the tonality, from beginning to end,
of The Color Purple that I adapted.”
On the 15 March, Miss Omooba received a call from her agency, Global Artists,
telling her that pressure was mounting for her to be removed from the show
because of her views. She was told that only through retracting the comments
and publicly apologising would she be able to continue under their management,
which she refused to do.
Leicester Curve Theatre and the Birmingham Hippodrome then released a statement
on 21 March which led to Miss Omooba’s contract being terminated. The theatres
claimed in their statement that: “The play and production are seeking
to promote freedom and independence and to challenge views, including the view
that homosexuality is a sin.”
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page
+ Christian Legal Centre Limited, Post Office
Box 655, Hayward Heath, West Sussex RH16 9AT, England, 07712 591164, info@christianlegalcentre.com
[3] New Trinity
Review Articles
The latest Trinity
Review, "Thinking Biblically, Part 4: Man as the Image of God," by
John W. Robbins has been updated with the second half of the article. Also
included is a brief book review by Tom Juodaitis of Stephen M. Cunha's latest
book, Exactly Backwards: A Proposed Twofold Corrective to
the Calvary Chapel Distinctives.
+ The Trinity Foundation, Post Office
Box 68, Unicoi, Tennessee 37692, 423-743-0199, Fax:
423-743-2005, tjtrinityfound@aol.com
[4] America
Needs Religious Revival or Accept Collapse into Dustbin of History
State of America: We’re in
atrocious shape. National debt = $27 trillion. 100,000 US
businesses permanently finished by Covid rules. US education
is mediocre. 60% of
Americans are lonely, drowning in internet porn with 40% births out
of wedlock, with almost a
million babies aborted yearly. 38% of Americans use illicit-drugs, causing “$740
billion annually in lost workplace productivity, healthcare expenses, and
crime-related costs.”
Violence soars in major cities, with overall
murders up 24% in 2020; Chicago up 50%
and NY City 40%. America, founded by Christian religious dissenters
sees the country
lapsing into mindless atheism, with 25%
identifying as “no religion”. Since US avoidably closed businesses, sending
workers trillions in Covid payments, do politicians bankrupt America into
socialism? Now government
declares war on Conservatives. We need revival!
Read More:
https://canadafreepress.com/article/america-needs-religious-revival-or-accept-collapse-into-dustbin-of-history
+ Canada Free Press, 49 Elm
Street, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1H1, 416-977-0183,
letters@canadafreepress.com
[5] Christ the
King Reformed Church in Charlotte, Michigan Identified as White Nationalist
Group by Southern Poverty Law Center
Christ the King Reformed Church (CKRC) in Charlotte, Michigan was identified as a white
nationalist group in an annual report released Monday 1 February
2021 by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
CKRC Pastor Bret McAtee declined to comment on the report.
In a blog post from July, McAtee wrote that, when comparing
races, the white race is "without dispute superior.” He went on to
describe early indigenous groups as "cannibals" and African people
brought over during the Atlantic slave trade as "savage."
Read More:
https://www.fox47news.com/neighborhoods/charlotte-eaton-rapids/charlotte-church-identified-as-white-nationalist-group-by-southern-poverty-law-center
[Editor’s Note: The CKRC website lists no denominational affiliation but
describes themselves as an “epistemologically self-conscious confessional
Reformed Church in the tradition of G. van Prinsterer, A. Kuyper, H. Bavinck,
G. Vos and C. Van Til.” The Christian Reformed Church in North America
announced today that CKRC was at one
time in that denomination.]
+ WSYM-TV FOX 47, 600 West Saint Joseph Street Suite 47, Lansing, Michigan 48933, 517-484-7747, Fax: 517-484-5240, Contact Page
+ Southern
Poverty Law Center, 400
Washington Avenue, Montgomery, Alabama 36104, 334-956-8200, Contact Page
[6] Military Coup Is Terrible News for Myanmar’s 4.4
Million “Forgotten” Christians
The military coup in Myanmar is distressing news for
the nation’s 4.4 million Christians, according to a spokesperson for Christian
persecution watchdog Open Doors.
“In the last half-century the military junta has been
systematically persecuting Christians. What happens now, remains to be seen,”
says Jan Vermeer, Open Doors’ Communications Director for Asia.
“Military rule could mean reinforced power for the
dominant religion,” says Open Doors local partner, Brother Lwin*. “The military
government of the past has always been protective of their Buddhist culture and
tradition. This may have serious implications to the Church. We are expecting
restrictions upon the Church to happen once again though we are unsure of the
extent and the form it will take as of yet.”
Buddhist nationalism is strong in Myanmar, driving
much of the ongoing persecution of Christians as well as other religious and
ethnic minorities. Myanmar’s military is strongly driven by this nationalism,
and, along with much of the Buddhist population, considers Christians to be
second class citizens.
It is this religious nationalism that has led to the
persecution which drove millions of Rohingyas, Muslim and Christian, to flee to
neighbouring Bangladesh, where many remain in Cox’s Bazaar refugee camp.
In the current coup, Myanmar’s military has detained
the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with other key politicians
in a series of dawn raids. The senior General in the army Min Aung Hlaing has
declared that they will take charge of the nation for the next year.
TV channels have also been unavailable except for the
military channel and banks have also been closed throughout the nation due to
lack of cell service.
“As the military seizes power and detains the
country’s leaders, all communication lines like phone and internet have been
cut off,” says one of Open Doors’ partners in the region. “We are cut off from
our contacts inside the country, but we are doing our best to monitor the
situation.”
Lwin is worried that the takeover will damage their
means of financial support. “The military also has the track record of
devaluing the local currency. It may happen again. This will set the country’s
economy to plummet. Financial support to the Church coming from outside the
country will be impossible to bring in with banks being closed down.”
Myanmar is the scene of the longest civil war in the
world, which began in 1948. It affects, among others, the predominantly
Christian states of Kachin, Karen and Shan. Believers are vulnerable to
persecution by both insurgent groups and the army.
Converts to Christianity faith also face persecution
from their families and communities for leaving, or ‘betraying’, the system of
belief they grew up in. Communities who aim to stay ‘Buddhist only’ make life
for Christian families impossible by not allowing them to use community
resources such as water.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought added challenges,
with reports of many Christians being deliberately overlooked in the
distribution of government aid.
“We’re at a crucial moment for the future of Myanmar,”
says Julia Bicknell, analyst of Open Doors’ World Watch List. “And it is the
country’s religious and ethnic minorities, including the Christians that have
most to fear from the current crisis. The plight of the Rohingya people has
highlighted the persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, particularly
Muslim population. Christians feel forgotten, we need to make sure that they
aren’t.”
+ Assist USA, Post Office Box 609, Lake Forest, California 92609, 949-380-1558, Contact Page
+ Open Doors USA, Post Office Box 27001, Santa
Ana, California 92799, 949-752-6600, Fax: 949-752-6442, usa@opendoors.org
[7] Psychotherapist Blocked
from Studying ‘Trans Regret’ at University Takes Case to Europe
A psychotherapist, refused
permission by a university to study cases of people who have surgery
to reverse gender reassignment, is taking his case to the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR).
Supported by the Christian Legal Centre, James
Caspian, 61, a counsellor with 10 years of experience specialising in
therapy for transgender people, was told that to research a non
‘politically correct’ topic for a Masters dissertation could attract
criticism and was undesirable.
Since launching legal action against Bath Spa
University in 2017, however, UK courts have refused to hear his
case, leaving him with no alternative but to appeal to Europe.
Submitting his case to the ECHR, his lawyers will
argue that Mr Caspian has exhausted domestic remedies to have his case heard,
that his right of access to court has been violated, his freedom to pursue
legitimate academic research has been breached, and that the basis of the
decision to interfere with his academic freedom discriminated against
him.
Patients were getting younger
Between 2007-2017, Mr Caspian, a registered UK
psychotherapist, had worked with patients who were medically
transitioning, or considering medically transitioning, their gender.
By 2013 he began to see an alarming trend that
patients were getting younger and there was a surge in the numbers of
young women presenting with complex mental health issues.
Furthermore, there were growing concerns about the
number of patients who were regretting their transitions and surgery
and wanted to detransition.
As a new and escalating phenomenon, there was little
if any research on the issue of detransitioning.
Therefore, in 2014, Mr Caspian enrolled on a part
time M.A. in Counselling and Psychotherapy at Bath Spa University,
intent on researching this subject.
On 14 November 2015, Mr. Caspian submitted his
proposed research entitled: ‘An examination of the experiences of
people who have undergone Reverse Gender Re-assignment surgery.’
On 1 December 2015, the School
University Ethics Sub-Committee gave permission for Mr Caspian to
carry out his research proposal, commenting: "This application and
accompanying research proposal has addressed the necessary ethical protocols.
It has taken particular care to acknowledge the potential sensitivity of the
research focus and appears to have the necessary protocols in place should any
participants experience psychological harm from the interview process."
During his preliminary research Mr Caspian discovered growing
numbers of people who were saying that they regretted their
treatment and had or wanted to detransition.
Mr Caspian also discovered on World Professional
Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) internet forums that any
discussions on detransitioning were often being aggressively
censored.
Rejected
Based on his findings, he decided that he would need
to slightly amend his research topic to include case studies of
individuals who had reversed transition without necessarily reversing their
surgery.
He advertised his research topic on the internet
and informed his tutor that trans activists may criticise the project as a
result.
Mr Caspian was subsequently told that he would need to
re-apply to the University Ethics Sub-Committee who would need to reconsider
his slightly amended research proposal. He was also asked
to add a note to his proposal about the potential criticism.
‘Politically incorrect’
On 15 November 2016, Mr Caspian was informed that his
revised research proposal had been rejected. His subsequent appeal was also
rejected with the sub-committee stating:
‘Engaging in a potentially ‘politically incorrect’
piece of research carries a risk to the University. Attacks on social media may
not be confined to the researcher but may involve the University. This needs to
be assessed by the University Ethics Committee.’
Regarding the criticism the university might receive,
the sub-committee stated: ‘The posting of unpleasant material on blogs
or social media may be detrimental to the reputation of the University. This
needs to be assessed and addressed.
‘This was further discussed with the Dean of the
Institute of Education and the ethical approval form has been declined. This is
a complex project and the risks are too great to the University and the
researcher. Working on a less ethically complex piece of research to complete
the Masters would be more appropriate.’
Apart from this superficial concern that the
research was ‘politically incorrect’, no other substantive
difference existed between the proposal that Mr Caspian had earlier had
accepted and the re-submitted proposal which was rejected.
In January 2017, Mr Caspian requested a refund on his
course fees, but this was also refused. The following month he launched legal
action.
By June 2020, however, every avenue of legal
proceedings had been blocked. Mr Caspian was passed from pillar to post via the
High court to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) and back to the
High Court.
All refused to hear the substance of his case due to
overly strict legal procedures, and despite the OIA recognising that the case
had merit, Mr Caspian was told his claim was out of time, leaving him no option
but to turn to Europe.
Mr Caspian’s application to the ECHR states: “The
procedural history of Mr Caspian’s claim fits the very definition of suffering
from excessive formalism and a fundamental lack of flexibility.”
A decision by the European Court as to the
admissibility of the case is likely to occur in the first half
of 2021.
Academic Freedom
Mr Caspian commented: “I have been faced with
no alternative but to take this case to Europe. Too much is at stake for
academic freedom and for hundreds, if not thousands, of young people who
are saying that they are being harmed and often silenced by a
rigid view that has become a kind of transgender ideology and permits
no discussion.
“My preliminary research had revealed a growing
controversial schism in transgender politics and inpatient experiences which
greatly concerned me and confirmed the need for this research.
“Some of the people I spoke to said they were too
traumatised to speak about their experiences, which proved it was even more
important to research the issue, not less.
“I was astonished therefore that a
university could censor a research project on the grounds that what
people ‘might’ post on social media may be detrimental to the
reputation of the university.
“If a university - a place for the exchange of ideas,
discussion, dissent, questioning, research and critical thinking - is unable to
tolerate the risk of criticism, where then are left the most basic tenets of
academic and intellectual freedom of enquiry? The implications for a democratic
society of the suppression of information and discussion are deeply worrying.
“I have felt morally obliged to speak out because
people are telling me that they’ve been harmed, and my profession should do no
harm.
“Many people have said to me since that they have felt
that they could not speak in opposition to transgender ideology, and some
people have even said that they have thought they couldn’t even think it. People
are self-censoring, not only speech, but their thoughts on this issue, and that
is what this case has to challenge and ultimately help change.”
3,000 Per Cent Spike
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian
Legal centre, said: “Over the past decade there has been a 3,000 per
cent spike in young girls and women being referred to Gender Identity Clinics.
This is a phenomenon taking place in every Western nation with many regretting
the life changing decisions they subsequently make. Why? That was the question
James Caspian wanted to research.
“Yet in the current climate, anyone who attempts to
research, explain and answer these questions is denounced and
silenced. This is because the truth and the harm being done to many young
people is devastating.
“The powerful voices of those living with trans regret
must be heard and allowed to be properly researched. Only then can we fully
understand why this is happening and prevent more young people from regretting
undertaking harmful and life-changing treatment.
“This case has had a chilling effect on academic
research into transgenderism. Universities have the unique role as
marketplaces of ideas that foster free thinking. Rather than censoring
speech and inhibiting free thinking, they should actively be
promoting the right of students and scholars to think, hear, develop, research
and express autonomous views of research.
“The fact that UK courts have refused to hear James
Caspian’s case is a telling injustice, but by taking this ground-breaking case
to Europe he will finally have the opportunity to have justice served and to
set a crucial legal precedent.”
+ Christian Concern, 70 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8AX, England, 020 7935 1488, Contact Page
+ Christian Legal Centre Limited, Post Office
Box 655, Hayward Heath, West Sussex RH16 9AT, England, 07712 591164, info@christianlegalcentre.com
