I’m not convinced we need a public inquiry on COVID

We’re expecting a full public inquiry to follow the COVID-19 pandemic and that is generally seen to be a good thing. Some people want an inquiry because they believe that there are people culpable either through intent or at least wilful neglect and they should be held to account. Others are looking for lessons learnt… Continue reading I’m not convinced we need a public inquiry on COVID

On grief, anger and agendas

It’s funny how things said can suddenly take on a whole new level of poignancy.  On Friday  morning I was involved in two little twitter threads. The first was started by Daniel Blanche sharing the lines of a beautiful worship song: The second linked to a TV discussion that Graham Nicholls of Affinity was involved… Continue reading On grief, anger and agendas

On authors, Israel and boycotts

Author Sally Rooney has announced that she will not allow her most recent novel to be published in Hebrew through an Israeli publishing house. She claims that this is part of the BDS action to campaign against Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. I’ve not read her work but my wife’s immediate response… Continue reading On authors, Israel and boycotts

Is complementarianism harmful and dangerous?

In our #FaithrootsLive sessions we’ve been looking at church leadership and the roles than men and women can/should play in this.  I come from what is usually referred to as a “complementarian” position.  Now, one of the challenges about this conversation is that it is a difficult, if not impossible conversation to have because as… Continue reading Is complementarianism harmful and dangerous?

Who condemns?

Yesterday in his guest article, Ash Cunningham wrote: This week Karen Ingala Smith published research detailing the ‘Femicide’ statistics in the UK, including the 81 women killed by men since the brutal murder of Sarah Everard. As Ingala Smith herself points out, neither the police nor the government have analysed the data, it has taken,… Continue reading Who condemns?

Vaccine conversations -Am I a truth suppressor?

Yesterday I published this article from Ash Cunningham in response to my article about Vaccine hesitancy and vaccine denial which Ash had prior sight of. I don’t want to prolong a debate but I did think it might be helpful to clarify one thing from the conversation and that might in turn help us to… Continue reading Vaccine conversations -Am I a truth suppressor?

Taking the man out of mandatory vaccines

From time to time I publish guest articles on faithroot.com. This article comes from Ash Cunningham, assistant pastor at Grace Church Cheltenham and is in response to my article yesterday on vaccine hesitancy and vaccine denial which Ash had prior sight of. I’m no Ghetto Barbie I hope that the following article wasn’t entirely prompted… Continue reading Taking the man out of mandatory vaccines

vaccine hesitancy and vaccine denial

Back in 2011 we were looking at the possibility of moving to two Sunday morning congregations. I’d personally been convinced by the passionate persuasion of a couple of leaders, however there were still some members that were unsure and some that were outright opposed. At one point I was even accused of personally seeking to… Continue reading vaccine hesitancy and vaccine denial

Will a work guarantee scheme help asylum seekers?

On Friday last week, Steve Kneale wrote about asylum seekers and work. Currently asylum seekers are legally forbidden from taking on paid work during what often turns out to be a lengthy process. During that time they are provided with Home Office accommodation and a very minimal allowance.  Many of us find this grievous.  Here… Continue reading Will a work guarantee scheme help asylum seekers?

What abortion is really about

Imagine if you heard that we were close to eliminating the following conditions: autism, asthma, MS, COVID-19, sight impairment, cystic-fibrosis.  Initially you might think that sounded positive. That is until you saw how it was being achieved. The Daily Telegraph this week has an article talking about the elimination of Downs-Syndrome within a generation. How… Continue reading What abortion is really about