FMO BACKS CAMPAIGN FOR GLENFIELD HEART CENTRE

This press release has been circulated on behalf of the Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) by my friend and colleague, Suleman Nagdi. Leicester Council of Faiths supports this campaign and we'll be issuing our own statment of support in the next week or so.

Muslim group says Hold on to our Hearts

The Federation of Muslim Organisations (FMO) has joined the campaign to hold on to children's heart services at Glenfield Hospital.

The influential group, which represents just under 200 Muslim organisations, says it strongly supports the campaign to save the East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre at Glenfield Hospital which is in real danger of closure.

Spokesman for the FMO Suleman Nagdi MBE DL said: "The fact that such an outstanding and much needed service is in danger of closure is of serious concern. The heart unit has acquired an international reputation for success, being at the forefront of advancements in heart surgery as well as being home to a specialist ECMO unit.

"The closure of this unit will be a devastating development both locally and nationally.

"We are especially concerned at how this potential closure will affect the citizens of what will be the UK’s first ethnic majority city, with over 150,000 Asians, many amongst whom the prevalence of heart disease is particularly high and how plans for the closure have been made without the consultation of bodies representing this ethnic majority such as the FMO."

The East Midlands Congenital Heart Centre, based at Glenfield Hospital, serves a population of more than 5 million across the East Midlands and cares for patients with congenital heart disease from before they are born and into adulthood.

The surgical centre faces an uncertain future as a national review into the care of children with congenital heart conditions aims to close some of the existing centres.

A public consultation into which set of surgical centres should continue to carry out heart surgery is being carried out until Friday 1 July. The centre at Glenfield is included in just one of the four options being put to the public - option A - this means if any of the other three options are chosen the centre at Glenfield would close.

The centre at Glenfield Hospital is part of the highest rated option to provide a safe and sustainable service for the entire country.

"I urge all members of the community to campaign against the closure of the unit by filling in the NHS survey at www.ipsos-mori.com/safeandsustainable and choosing option A, he adds.

CHRISTIANS & HUMANISTS CRITICISE FALSE "DISCRIMINATION" CLAIMS

This is the second news release inside a week from Ekklesia (a thinktank which examines the role of religion in public life) which should be posted here. The notes at the end of the press release are also from Ekklesia's news release.

Christians & Humanists criticise false "discrimination" claims


Claims that Christians are being 'discriminated against' by human rights and equality legislation in the UK have been strongly criticised by the Christian think-tank Ekklesia and the British Humanist Association (BHA).


The two organisations have spoken out jointly after socially conservative group 'Christian Concern' (formerly Christian Concern For Our Nation) launched a petition claiming that people with 'mainstream Christian' beliefs are being barred by equalities legislation 'from different areas of public life and employment'.


The petition was launched following the latest in a string of failed court cases pursued by the Christian Legal Centre, which has strong links to Christian Concern.


In December 2010, Ekklesia, the BHA, the European Humanist Federation (EHF) and other religious and non-religious groups described Christian Concern's 'Not Ashamed' campaign, which made similar claims, as "misleading and having no evidence to support them".


Simon Barrow, co-director of Ekklesia, said: "The judgement in the recent Johns foster case was very clear. It described claims of anti-religious discrimination as a 'travesty of the reality' and 'wrong as to the factual premises on which they are based.' The judges added that 'No one is seeking to de-legitimise Christianity or any other faith or belief. ... No one is seeking to give Christians, Jews or Muslims or, indeed, peoples of any faith, a second class status. On the contrary, it is fundamental to our law, to our polity and to our way of life, that everyone is equal.'


"It is this equality which some vociferous campaign groups are disputing. They want a privileged status in law for their own particular prejudices, using arguments which many other Christians find misplaced, misguided and offensive. Far from 'defending Christianity', petitions like this bring it into disrepute," added Barrow.


BHA Chief Executive Andrew Copson commented: "This petition is the latest in a series of increasingly desperate attempts to create a victim narrative about 'Christianophobia'. But these claims have no basis in reality. What they describe as discrimination and marginalisation of Christians is in fact the proper upholding of human rights and equalities law and principles - a law which protects religious people from unjustified and illegitimate discrimination in exactly the same way as it protects people on other grounds like race and sexual orientation.

He continued: "It is very important to be vigilant over claims that mask prejudice with false claims about oppression. There is no evidence of discrimination against Christians, only evidence of a persecution complex from those perpetuating the myth of 'Christianophobia'. We must be robust in our response to an ideology that, in reality, would limit religious and other freedoms for most people, while permitting wide discrimination by a small number of narrow-minded persons against others."

Founded in 2001, Ekklesia examines politics, values and beliefs in a changing world, from a Christian perspective. It has been listed by The Independent newspaper among 20 influential UK think-tanks. According to Alexa/Amazon, it has one of the most-visited religion and politics / current affairs websites in Britain. More: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=y7uzgobab&et=1104817613705&s=16026&e=001s_MCAGhNKS-qQECAgTUOA0-9H0g1HrpIpnJALWfUITnWZIpKrxaj6fbnm5foXElyWRWiE8efKLkLKCONbS8IrG_ChCEo6Sp4zn8ezDAd3DppAgraiwKIJMC_pnsivTKnjZO6Zofhqb9IqrU45T3YEg==


The British Humanist Association is the largest national charity representing and supporting the interests of ethically concerned, non-religious people in the UK. More information at:http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=y7uzgobab&et=1104817613705&s=16026&e=001s_MCAGhNKS8O3u9H0maXJJUTbs3GZpcqahfC6UB9gFHhUWxehRDVuTC9YTFdzwmptQJnJAcsAe6jedft2aZY-qI5y0G2AzwI73p4L6ZMI_0qy-yGUT_EXb-Vypv50EiS


See also: Simon Barrow, 'Shameful claims and alternative Christian living' and 'Discriminating Christian confusions'