United Kingdom

A British court rejected an appeal Friday from two Christian hotel owners who were sued after turning away a gay couple from their establishment because of their beliefs regarding pre-marital sex.

Peter and Hazelmary Bull from Cornwall, England, were ordered in Jan. 2011 to pay nearly $6,000 in damages to Steven Preddy and Martyn Hall after the gay couple was denied a stay at the Bull's Chymorvah Private Hotel.

The Bulls said they were not discriminating against Preddy and Hall's sexual orientation, but told the court they have a longstanding policy of rejecting all unmarried couples. The hotel owners told the appellate court they believe sex outside of marriage is amoral and that renting a room with one bed to an unmarried couple would be "promoting a sin." more >>

The Church of England has more than doubled its investment in hedge funds over the last two years, but a spokesperson said the church never puts money into the notorious industry without "rigorous ethical criteria."

With a nearly $8.7 billion portfolio amounting to about 10 percent of its capital, the church has become one of the U.K.'s largest investors in hedge funds, Financial Times reported Friday in the run-up to a General Synod meeting scheduled for Monday.

Investing ethically has been a contentious issue at the meetings of the church's governing body. However, a spokesperson told the business newspaper that hedge funds are "carefully selected" after rigorous ethical considerations. more >>

A Christian organization in England has been asked to take down claims stating that God can heal certain illnesses after a complaint from an "unofficial adviser to the media."

The Advertising Standards Authority, a media watchdog in London, accused the Bath-based Healing on the Streets (HOTS) group of giving false hope to the sick, preventing those with specific illnesses including cancer, asthma, and other conditions from seeking medical assistance due to their prayer claims.

But the organization asserted that all they were doing was offering prayer for people, giving them the chance to encounter a Heavenly Father who loved them, the group explained to The Christian Post. more >>

Numerous stories have emerged recently about parents who have chosen to raise their children as "gender neutral." The parents have received widespread criticism with many questioning whether they have a political motive and are just using their children to enforce their own agendas.

Lorraine Candy, editor-in-chief of Elle magazine's U.K. edition, recently commented on the topic warning that using a child to make political statements is harmful to the child.

Beck Laxton and Kieran Cooper kept the gender of their son Sasha a secret to the public for the first five years of his life. "I wanted to avoid all the stereotyping," said the mother Laxton to U.K.-based Cambridge News. "Stereotypes seem fundamentally stupid. Why would you want to slot people into boxes?" more >>

The Archbishop of York, the second highest figure in the Church of England, has spoken out in opposition to gay marriage weeks ahead of a government consultation on the issue, saying it is not the role of the state to redefine marriage.

Dr John Sentamu has told The Daily Telegraph that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, and suggested that the government would be acting like "dictators" if they tried to change it.

"Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman," says Sentamu. "I don't think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can't just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are. more >>

Atheist Richard Dawkins appears to be leading the charge among non-believers in the U.K. who are appalled that a Swiss philosopher and writer residing in London plans to build a "temple for atheists" in the city's financial center.

Alain de Botton said he wants to counter Dawkins' "aggressive" and "destructive" approach to non-belief by building a 151-foot tower to celebrate a "new atheism," according to news reports out of the U.K.

"Normally a temple is to Jesus, Mary or Buddha, but you can build a temple to anything that's positive and good," said De Botton, according to The Guardian. "That could mean a temple to love, friendship, calm or perspective. Because of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens atheism has become known as a destructive force. But there are lots of people who don't believe but aren't aggressive towards religions." more >>