Oxford University Lecturer 'Discriminated Against' After Converting to Christianity
THE TELEGRAPH: A lecturer at Oxford University’s centre for Jewish studies claims colleagues discriminated against her after she converted to Christianity.

Dr Tali Argov says she was overlooked for promotion, stripped of her privileges and cold-shouldered at social gatherings.

She says staff wanted to vet her lectures to make sure that, as a Christian, she would not criticise Israel.

Eventually she claims she was made redundant from her post at the prestigious Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies, despite offering to take on new roles.

“It is my belief that, following firstly the conversion of my husband and then the conversion of myself, the treatment which I received as an employee of the Respondents was very different and a number of incidents occurred which led me to believe that I was being discriminated against,” Dr Argov told Reading Employment Tribunal hearing this week.

Dr Argov told the hearing, where she is claiming unfair dismissal and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief, that she and her husband, Eran, were raised in the Jewish faith and lived in Israel until he was offered a place at Brasenose College, Oxford, to write a doctoral thesis.

They moved to England in 1996 and in 2000 Dr Argov, then studying for a PhD at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was offered the full-time post of Lector of Modern Hebrew at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew & Jewish Studies. The centre is independent but its students are part of the traditional Oxford college system.

Dr Argov said she was welcomed and appreciated but the “honeymoon” ended after her husband was baptised into the Church of England in 2005, after which time “all those kind, heart-warming gestures disappeared overnight” and she was “considered guilty by association”.

Dr Argov also converted from Judaism to Anglicanism in January 2008, having become “actively engaged” with St Mary Magdalene church in the centre of Oxford, but did not dare tell her parents until after the event. >>> Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, July 29, 2010

Pope Calls for Cooperation between Christians and Muslims
Pope Benedict XVI waves to the crowds upon his arrival to say Mass at the Lady of Peace Church in Amman, Jordan. Benedict underlined his "deep respect" for Islam. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at a mosque in Amman, Jordan, also expresses concern about the discrimination that he says Christians and others face in Islamic nations such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Reporting from Amman, Jordan -- Pope Benedict XVI today called on Christians and Muslims to serve mankind with the "light of God's truth" while warning that extremists in nations such as Iraq were exploiting religious differences for political and violent agendas.

Speaking at the Hussein bin Talal Mosque, the pontiff, whose three-day pilgrimage to Jordan is an attempt to mend relations with the Muslim world, said the "tensions and divisions between the followers of different religious traditions, sadly, cannot be denied. However, is it not also the case that often it is the ideological manipulation of religion, sometimes for political ends, that is the real catalyst for tension and division, and at times even violence in society?"

The speech before Catholic priests, Muslim clerics and Orthodox bishops was brief, but the copper-domed mosque offered a symbolic setting for the 82-year-old pope to damp criticism of his comments in 2006 that characterized Islam as a violent religion. Benedict has said he regretted the outrage he caused and made an effort at reconciliation two months later when he prayed silently with imams in the Blue Mosque in Turkey.

Many Muslim leaders in the Arab world feel the pope's contrition has not been genuine. They also say he has not spoken forcefully enough in behalf of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and has apologized to Jews for the Roman Catholic Church's past mistakes but has not done the same for historical injustices against Muslims.

That debate will probably intensify in the coming week, when Benedict leaves Jordan on Monday for Israel and the West Bank. Before his speech at the Hussein mosque, the pope visited Mt. Nebo, where Moses is believes to have been buried, to reassure Jews that the Vatican wants to "overcome all obstacles to the reconciliation of Christians and Jews in mutual respect and cooperation in the service of that peace to which the word of God calls us.">>> By Jeffrey Fleishman | Saturday, May 9, 2009

NuLabour Found to Be Discriminating in Favour of Islam
THE TELEGRAPH: Christianity is being discriminated against by the Government in favour of Islam and other minority faiths, according to a landmark Church of England report.

The damning critique of Labour, which is endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, says ministers are only paying "lip service" to the Anglican Church while "focusing intently" on other religions.

It claims Gordon Brown's Government is failing society and lacks a moral vision for the country.

And in an end to decades of tension between the Church and the Conservatives, the comprehensive study praises the Tories for their "strident" approach to combating poverty.

Instead it says it is Labour which is failing to acknowledge the breakdown in society and excluding vital religious voices.

The report urges the Government to appoint a minister for religion, who would serve as the Prime Minister's faith envoy and utilise the untapped reserves of volunteers in churches and charities.

It states: "We encountered on the part of the Government a significant lack of understanding, or interest in, the Church of England's current or potential contribution in the public sphere.

"Indeed we were told that Government had consciously decided to focus...almost exclusively on minority religions."

The highly critical report, titled Moral, But No Compass - a twist on Mr Brown's claim to have a "moral compass" - carries significant weight as it has been endorsed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York and expresses the views of three-quarters of the Church's bishops.

It echoes claims made by the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, last week that the decline of Christian values is destroying Britishness and has created a "moral vacuum" which radical Islam is filling. Christianity 'Discriminated Against by Gordon Brown's Government' >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent | June 7, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Archbishop of York Blames Labour Government for Selfish Society >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | June 5, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Bishop of Rochester [Accused of] 'Doing the BNP's Work' >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | May 29, 2008

TIMESONLINE:
Church Attacks Labour for Betraying Christians: Strongest criticism of government in decades >>> By Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent | June 7, 2008

THE TELEGRAPH:
Malaysian President Abdullah Badawi Calls for British Muslims to Live Under Sharia Law >>> By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent, In Kuala Lumpur | June 9, 2008

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