No Prayer But Booze And Drugs Are OK

In England, a Christian refuge for the homeless is told to give up trying to ban alcohol and drugs. The logic seems to be that will only force drug and alcohol abuse back into the street. And the point is? I thought a refuge was a place of shelter and protection. What a crazy world!

A Christian refuge for homeless young people has been told it stands to lose crucial county council funding because grace is said before meals.

It has also been told that it must relax the strict ban on any alcohol or drugs.

Trustees of Barnabas House, which runs three refuges in King's Lynn for people between 16 and 30, fear they may have no option but to dump the guiding Christian ethic at the homes because the charity relies on £150,000 of annual county council grant to keep going.

"It is absurd and it discriminates against us," a trustee told The Lynn News. "They want us to run a secular project and it is not a secular project. There is no one we push into Christianity."

The organisation offers places to about 20 homeless people "to get themselves together and find some sort of direction".

Everyone at Barnie's, as it is known, is expected to help with shopping, gardening and housework, supervised by 13 staff.

Funding comes from the Government's Supporting People programme and is distributed by the council, which does not have the happiest record where religion is concerned.

Last month, an uproar forced the education authority to delay guidelines that would have banished mention of the Holy Ghost from classrooms in case children found it "spooky".

Suggesting that Communion bread and wine represented the body and blood of Christ was also due to go because it gave the impression that Christians were cannibals.

Henry Bellingham, who is seeking re-election as Tory MP for North West Norfolk, said the attack on Christianity was appalling: "The people who are considering these ridiculous plans should be made to think again. I do have some sympathy with the county council because it seems their hands are tied by the Government guidelines."

A council spokesman said: "There is absolutely no objection to an organisation having an underlying Christian ethos, provided it meets the quality standards, and promotes equal opportunities and fair access, as required for all organisations receiving public money through Supporting People.

"The trustees and management have been advised that they need consistent and realistic policies on alcohol and drugs. Experience has shown that outright bans simply move the problems on to the streets.

"While meal-time grace is not a major issue, it has been pointed out that this may be inappropriate given the backgrounds of service users."

From the Telegraph.