Steve Kneale has written here with a typically robust response to the Archbishop of York’s call for a national day of prayer. In his article Steve rightly highlights the problems with such calls, that there is something peculiar about calling people to pray to a God that you do not believe in and that when… Continue reading When the pagans call us to prayer
Category: Opinion
Censorship, criticism and editing
Well, that’s twice in a row now! On two separate occasions I’ve been accused of trying to get someone censored. The first was when I challenged David Robertson’s Premier Christianity article about Donald Trump’s twitter account being suspended. The second follows my suggestions for a bit of editing to an article by John Benton for… Continue reading Censorship, criticism and editing
The problem with porous boundaries
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 or… Continue reading The problem with porous boundaries
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. First… Continue 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 get… Continue 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 role… Continue 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 biggest… Continue 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 are… Continue 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 women… Continue 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 to… Continue reading The Rule of Law
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