04a Faith

Jamila Jacob of Lahore, Pakistan was arrested and charged with blasphemy according to the Lahore Police. They allege she told a Muslim shop owner “Jesus Christ is better than your prophet.” The report alleges she made other “blasphemous” statements as well. Asif Ali reported her to the police knowing it could get her killed.

The Christian community of Lahore is on edge, accusing Muslims of using blasphemy laws to get them arrested whenever they have any disagreements with them. In this case, they claim the altercation with the shop owner was minor and nothing blasphemous was said.

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Excerpt from anglican.ink

The Lahore police have arrested Jamila Jacob, a Christian woman, on charges of committing blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The arrest followed an FIR filed at the North Cantonment police station, Lahore by Asif Ali, a local shopkeeper.

According to the FIR, Asif Ali reported that at approximately 6:30 AM on June 4, Jamila visited his shop to purchase Sunsilk shampoo. Dissatisfied with the product, she requested another brand. During this exchange, Ali alleges that Jamila noticed an Islamic religious inscription in the shop and began making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Ali claims that Jamila said, “Jesus Christ is better than your prophet,” and continued to make blasphemous comments. The FIR states that Wajid Ali, Usman Ali, and other shopkeepers witnessed the incident.

Based on the complaint, Jamila was arrested from her home, and an FIR was swiftly registered under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code. This section deals with blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad and carries severe penalties, including the death penalty. Jamila, who is reported to be mentally challenged, was taken into custody amidst rising tensions in the area.

Cliff College, a Methodist learning institution in Derbyshire, UK, has fired 39-year-old Dr. Aaron Edwards after he proclaimed on social media that homosexuality is a sin. Apparently, three female students claimed they were fundamentally “shaken” by the tweet.

Edwards said of the firing, “My views on homosexuality have not been unknown, they have been discussed openly. In seven years of teaching at Cliff, I have never had a student who took one of my units raise concerns about feeling unsafe in the classroom, and no student has ever left feedback showing concerns about the expression of my views on homosexuality. The College had more than enough opportunity to be familiar with my views and with my academic research for there to be less apparent shock and public disappointment from them in responding as they did on Twitter without any prior consultation with me.”

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Excerpt from www.telegraph.co.uk

A Christian lecturer was sacked from Bible college after his tweet on homosexuality triggered complaints from lesbian students, a tribunal has heard.

Dr Aaron Edwards lost his job at Cliff College, a Methodist learning institution in Derbyshire, following a social media post in February last year which read: “Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this because they’re busy apologising for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true.”

The 39-year-old evangelical Christian and father-of-six was dismissed the following month after he was accused of homophobia and allegedly bringing the college “into disrepute”. College bosses suspended him and fired him after an investigation.

However, on the second day of his tribunal, sitting in Sheffield, South Yorkshire on Wednesday, he told the court that the tweet was consistent with views he had expressed in blogs, podcasts and sermons he gave as a preacher. He added that the college, where he had worked for seven years, was aware of these views, too.

The 11th U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled that employers’ health care programs must cover transgender mutilation surgery, regardless of religious conviction.

The leftist court, led by Clinton-appointed Judge Charles R. Wilson, used the Title VII law against discrimination because of race, religion, and sex, while forcing employers to be discriminated against (face possible criminal and civil charges) for their religious beliefs. The ruling is expected to be appealed. The judges in this case have not been removed despite making a blatantly unconstitutional ruling.

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Excerpt from www.dailysignal.com

A federal court is declaring that employers must cover gender transition surgeries for their employees in their health insurance plans.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled last week that a refusal by an employer to cover gender transition surgeries in an employee’s health insurance violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.”

In the court’s majority opinion, Clinton-appointed Judge Charles R. Wilson wrote, “Generally, discrimination in the Title VII context occurs when an employer intentionally treats an employee worse than other similarly situated employees.” Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, he then explained that “an employer who discriminates based on transgender status is intentionally treating that employee differently ‘because of their sex.’”

The case began when Anna Lange, a biological male who identifies as a woman, sought a gender transition surgery in 2018. Lange had at the time been employed by the Houston County Sheriff’s Office in Georgia for more than 10 years. Houston County’s health insurance plan, which also covers employees of the Sheriff’s Office, excludes coverage of “[d]rugs for sex change surgery” and “[s]ervices and supplies for a sex change and/or the reversal of a sex change … .” Lange filed an appeal with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, the organization which administers Houston County’s health insurance plan, but was denied.