One of the frequent complaints during and after the COVID19 pandemic was that the decision to bring in a lockdown, including and particularly the closure of churches was disproportionate and outrageous. The belief is that Governments used the pandemic as a pretext. To bring in draconian rules to restrict our civil liberties. It has been… Continue reading Were COVID measures outrageous and unprecedented?
Category: ethics
Marching rights
At the weekend, I wrote about why I didn’t think that the Palestinian protest marches should go ahead on Armistice Day. Some people have argued that the protestors were right to go ahead with the demonstrations because there is an important right and freedom to assemble and protest. It’s important therefore to be clear about… Continue reading Marching rights
More reflections on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza
Today, several backbench MPs as well as the major opposition parties in the UK Parliament are putting down amendments to the Kings Speech calling for either a significant humanitarian pause in the war or full and a formal ceasefire. These motions have little chance of passing and even if they did would change very little… Continue reading More reflections on calls for a ceasefire in Gaza
Common Grace without special grace?
I want to flesh out my thinking a little bit more on something I touched on in my comments on the M&S advert. There I engaged with the question “what were you expecting from an advert?” Was it crass, self-centred commercialism? Well yes of course. The question is whether we should have expected better. Others… Continue reading Common Grace without special grace?
AI and demons
In his article about AI, Tim Suffield argues that one lens we need to consider when engaging with AI, indeed with anything is the spiritual lens. He points out that something can be more than one thing at the same time, that we shouldn’t therefore over divide between spiritual and physical. I’m with him so… Continue reading AI and demons
Is AI dehumanising?
Tim Suffield thinks so. You can read his reasoning here. Now, the first thing to note is that there is a little bit of the Cretan dilemma with engaging Tim’s post. Remember how Paul quoted the Cretan who said that “all Cretans are liars”. If he was speaking the truth, then all Cretans really were… Continue reading Is AI dehumanising?
Antisemitism Myths
Over the past few weeks there has been a substantial increase in the number of reported incidents of antisemitism in the UK. One of the big challenges with antisemitism is that it tends to get ignored or treated differently to other forms of racism and this is in part, I believe because of the following… Continue reading Antisemitism Myths
What does a ceasefire involve?
We rightly desire a swift end to the horrific conflict in Gaza and so we are praying for peace. The horrific cost to life even in these past few days has led many people to call for a ceasefire. It’s important as we seek peace to understand exactly what a ceasefire would mean. There are… Continue reading What does a ceasefire involve?
Grieving the evil of war
I recently wrote that “war is an evil”. I wrote this to respond to and distinguish from Scott McKnight’s argument that war is itself a crime, it isn’t just about the committing of war crimes. What this enables us to do is to recognise that sadly, in a fallen world, war is sometimes necessary and… Continue reading Grieving the evil of war
Israel, Jews, Zionism and antisemitism
One of the little examples of semantics that tends to come up when talking about antisemitism is the potential difference between being antisemitic and anti-Zionist. It’s probably helpful first of all to talk about terms. Jews: A recognised ethnic people group with minorities around the world. There are 7.8 million Jews in the modern state… Continue reading Israel, Jews, Zionism and antisemitism
Faithroots 