I’ve argued throughout COVID-19 that in a pandemic compliance and non-compliance matters. The nature of non-compliance is important too. It is actually better to have a self-contained 10% of the population failing to comply if the other 90% are complying at 100%. However, if 100% of the population comply with 90% of the measures orContinue reading “The problem with porous boundaries”
Category Archives: Opinion
If you are going to troll Christians at least get some basics right!
Here is Professor Alice Roberts (Professor of Public Engagement with Science at Birmingham University) expressing her views on Christianity. She goes on in her thread to raise the typical humanist complaint about Christiasn engaging in education and public life. Now, leaving aside any major disagreements about theology or philosophy, here are the bigger concerns. FirstContinue reading “If you are going to troll Christians at least get some basics right!”
God’s Man in the Whitehouse?
It’s inauguration day in the States and Joe Biden will officially succeed Donald Trump as US President around about 5pm GMT. I usually like to watch the US election result and the inauguration just as I like to stay up for General Election night here. It’s probably the closest our friends across the pond getContinue reading “God’s Man in the Whitehouse?”
How do you stop a pandemic?
Most of my working life, I’ve been interested in how to keep things moving, flowing and spreading. In my previous workplace as a manufacturing engineer and later operations manager my primary concern was to ensure that product flowed smoothly along the production (or in our case repair) line without interruption or delay. In my roleContinue reading “How do you stop a pandemic?”
The difference between critical comment and conspiracy theory
In my earlier post, I mentioned this quote in Christianity Magazine We’re entering a dangerous time in the history of Western democracies – and that danger is not primarily from a mob of redneck conspiracy theorists. Rather it is a handful of Californian billionaires with an unparalleled power in human history, who pose the biggestContinue reading “The difference between critical comment and conspiracy theory”
Why do Christians seem to get drawn into conspiracy theories?
I’ve seen this question asked by a couple of bloggers recently. My general response is that we should not assume that they are particularly more susceptible to them than anyone else it is just that we are generally more aware of it among Christians. However, the question about what will make those Christians that areContinue reading “Why do Christians seem to get drawn into conspiracy theories?”
Be careful who you give platforms to
Although Donald Trump had already amassed his billions and was famous when it happened, his celebrity status took off when he became the star of The Apprentice. This gave him an incredible media platform. Were we uncomfortable with his brashness, his crudeness and aggression? Yes we were. Did a number of other businessmen and womenContinue reading “Be careful who you give platforms to”
The Rule of Law
What makes a democracy? Is it simply that people get to vote for their political leaders and their policies? Well, not quite. Even dictators are fond of plebiscites (the traditional reason given by older politicians against the use of referenda) and some of the most brutal and corrupt regimes officially have elections. Those tend toContinue reading “The Rule of Law”
Cancelling exams will not level up
One of my big questions about the new lockdown concerned the thinking of the Government in cancelling exams this summer. Last May/June, it was obvious why exams were cancelled, we were in the middle of lockdown and so it was theoretically unsafe to run the exams. I say “theoretically” because there were people who arguedContinue reading “Cancelling exams will not level up”
Lockdown 3 Five questions for the Government that politicians and the media are not asking
In terms of volume, the COVID-19 debate in the UK is dominated by two extremes. These tend to reflect traditional political divides, the libertarian right versus the liberal left, the Brexiteers versus the Remainers. It is as though COVID-19 is another proxy for old battles. On the onside, lockdown obsessives insist that nothing less thanContinue reading “Lockdown 3 Five questions for the Government that politicians and the media are not asking”
