Editor: Mark Owen. Published weekly* by Felicity Press Australia. Issue 71 - 05 July 2009
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 Anglican Church confronts child sex abuse . . . www.piperpost.net - 05.07.09. The
Anglican Church in Australia has issued a report studying child sexual
abuse within the church. Two professors from the University of Sydney,
Patrick Parkinson and Kim Oates, who had been commissioned by the
Church, examined 191 completed reports of child sexual abuse in the
period between 1990 and 2008. A total of 135 abusers were involved. The 191 cases analyzed came from 17 dioceses, excluding Anglican schools and children's homes. Three-quarters of the victims were male, with most of them aged between 10 and 15. The report noted that the majority of victims took two decades before they reported the abuse. As a result of the study it was recommended that clergy and youth workers should never be alone with adolescents where abuse could occur, such as a home, church or car. They also recommended a triple check on people who work with adolescents - a criminal records check, use of referees, and reference to the church's own national register. They also suggested that there were enough similarities for the Anglican and Catholic churches to consider working together on child protection strategies. Victims' rights advocates have welcomed the report.  Britain combating forced marriages . . . www.piperpost.net - 05.07.09. The UK Government's Forced Marriage Unit reports a 16 percent increase in calls for help this year - a total of 770 calls. The unit, run jointly by the Home Office and Foreign Office, received 1,600 reports last year - and intervened in 420 actual cases. The courts have also made 36 forced marriage prevention orders, a recently created power designed to prevent people being taken abroad against their will.  UK Government poster New guidelines are being published urging schools to identify signs of forced marriages ahead of the holidays. There is growing evidence that families use the school summer holidays to force daughters and some sons to marry abroad.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, Minister for Young People, said: 'All children have the right to grow up safe from harm. As the end of the school year nears it's vital that we get the message out that forced marriage is totally unacceptable and where children are subjected to this practice, the impact on their education and their future is devastating.' Some efforts have involved deploying specialist teams in south Asia to rescue young British women who had been coerced by their families into marriages of which they wanted no part. Burmese regime affected by superstition . . . www.piperpost.net - 05.07.09. The illegal military regime controlling Myanmar (Burma) is not all-powerful. Superstition plays a large role in the deliberations of the generals, with astrology and reading of 'signs' playing their part in decision-making. Three weeks after the wife of the junta's top general took part in its re-dedication the 2,300-year-old golden-domed Danok pagoda collapsed in a heap of dust. A result of age and natural forces? Not likely - at least in the minds of the superstitious Burmese. There was official silence from the heavily-censored press. After all, word of mouth among the populace is that the gods don't like the general's wife. And there have been other 'omens' of late. Perhaps the generals will be worrying about the trial of Aung San Suu Kyi on trumped-up charges. Oklahoma godbotherers blame secularists and gays for economic woes . . . www.piperpost.net - 05.07.09. The Oklahoma State Legislature has passed a resolution which blames securlarism, gays and what is described as 'debauchery' for the economic woes of the United States. No mention is evidently made of any part played by the previous Republican Administration. The resolution asserts that 'Religion and Morality alone . . . can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand.' The proclamation further states: WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior [a reference to President Obama's support for gay men and lesbians]. News in Brief . . . www.piperpost.net - 05.07.09. BARBARIC PUNISHMENT IN SOMALIA. Four thieves were publicly mutilated by Islamists in Mogadishu, Somalia, recently. The men, found guilty of stealing mobile phones and guns, each had his right foot and left hand chopped off. They were condemned under Islamic Sharia law which has been imposed in the area in recent times, resulting in numerous amputations, floggings and stonings. SOUTH AFRICA STUDYING PROSTITUTION LAWS. A public debate has erupted in South Africa on prostitution, currently an illegal activity in the country. The staging of soccer's 2010 World Cup has raised the issue in the public arena. Many are urging a change in the law to legalize the activities of sex workers. One major concern, however, is the prevalence of AIDS in the country, which reportedly has the highest incidence of AIDS in the world. HARVARD MOVE ON SEXUALITY STUDIES. Harvard University has has established a professorship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies. The chair is being named after F..O. Matthiessen, a prominent Harvard literary professor who was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford in the 1920s. While making a trans-Atlantic crossing in the he met the American painter Russell Cheney and a relationship developed that would last for 23 years. They lived together in Maine and Boston. Cheney died in 1945, leaving Matthiessen distraught. With pressure also mounting on him over his socialist convictions from Joseph McCarthy's House committee on unAmerican activities, he jumped to his death from the 12th storey of a Boston hotel in April 1950, aged 48. SABBATH RIOTS IN JERUSALEM. When the Mayor of Jerusalem decided to open a carpark on the Sabbath on a recent weekend Orthodox Jews rioted. Angry mobs shouted at anyone who ventured into the area. Stones were thrown and police who tried to intervene were assaulted. Six police officers and one reporter were injured during the melee. DEATH OF ROGER PRYKE. The death has occurred of a former Catholic priest, Roger Pryke, an important figure in Australian academic and religious life. Mr Pryke was for a long time Chaplain to Catholic students at Sydney University, where he exercised a powerful interest. His liberal views eventually brought him into conflict with church teaching, especially following the proclamation of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae, that banned contraception. In 1972 he resigned from the priesthood. He later married. |
Also . . . An Alternative Encyclopedia of Religious Beliefs Letters A - C Letters D - M Letters N - Z  From
Recent Issues Sundry Articles & Features Papers on Religion More Pages from History Archives Old articles & news reports  LIFE IN A HORROR CHURCH In
March 2001 authorities took 41 children into protective custody. The
children belonged to families associated with the House of Prayer, a
church headed by the Reverend Arthur Allen.
Authorities alleged that children and teenagers had been physically abused with reports of youngsters being held down and belted at the command of Pastor Allen. In 1993 Allen admitted in court to having ordered members of his congregation to whip a 16-year-old girl with belts, a beating so severe it resulted in bleeding. Allen said the girl has been 'beaten into submission.' At a preliminary hearing of the new charges, a police investigator testified that Allen directed regular beatings of children. The youngsters were tied up and suspended by their arms and hands, and 'beaten with switches, sticks or belts.' Photographs produced at the hearing showed welts on some of the victims, including one in the shape of a belt buckle. Reports also came from several other children, aged as young as 7 years. One parent told the judge that the whippings had become so common that he had lost count of how many he had seen at Allen's church. In separate complaints against the preacher it has been asserted he fostered child marriages. 
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