Category: Opinion

Winding back the hyperbole

Between the 4th and 6th Century AD a controversy boke out particularly among the churches in North Africa concerning a group called the Donatists. They believed that priests in the church had to be perfect in order to serve effectively. The root cause of this was to do with persecution.  Some Christians had found ways… Continue reading Winding back the hyperbole

Christmas is not cancelled

Many people are frustrated and upset at the sudden U-Turn on Christmas arrangements. Those measures had offered some small reprieve but arrangements for festivities were still going to be minimal and restricted. Now, however, the hashtag #ChristmasIsCancelled is gaining currency. So, it is important to say that Christmas is not cancelled. Now, by this I… Continue reading Christmas is not cancelled

Pantomime Farce

Yesterday I wrote defending the Christmas easing of lockdown.  I demonstrated awful timing.  By the end of the day, the 5 day period for seeing family was reduced down to Christmas Day itself and only for those who could travel locally Meanwhile, in the south of England a new tier 4 was introduced banning family… Continue reading Pantomime Farce

In defence of the government’s Christmas COVID measures

The UK government has come in for a lot of criticism for its response to COVID-19. Some of it has been spot on, some of it less so and some of it I would suggest completely unfairly.  The reality is that a Global pandemic hitting on the back of a decade of austerity was always… Continue reading In defence of the government’s Christmas COVID measures

We are literally broken by our hyperbole

Every year, my wife and I have a kind of traditional conversation. I ask her what she is working on and she tells me that she is preparing the “persuasive writing” class for her students where they will learn about a number of rhetorical devises.  I then respond with a grumble about how that is… Continue reading We are literally broken by our hyperbole

The year we were given

2020 was not the year we asked for and not the year we expected.  A lot of people had focused on the big number year and its association with vision as a significant milestone to aim for. We all had 2020 visions.  Others also because of the symmetry of the year had planned big wedding… Continue reading The year we were given

It’s great that the Government are asking questions about faith and religion -but are they asking the right ones?

The Government have appointed Colin Bloom as an independent faith advisor.  As part of his work, a survey has been commissioned to gather perspectives on faith, belief and religion in the UK today.  It asks a whole range of questions including some about whether we think religion has a positive impact on society or not… Continue reading It’s great that the Government are asking questions about faith and religion -but are they asking the right ones?

Politician sacked … for being competent at her job!

So, another politicians has had to resign (i.e. they were told to)  and apologise.  This week, the shadow minister for faith, Janet Daly resigned and apologised.  What was her misdemeanour? Had she been caught in an affair, had she been accused of bullying, had she broken COVID-19 rules even? Not, it was none of those… Continue reading Politician sacked … for being competent at her job!

Racism, social justice, crime, sin and idolatry

This is a follow up article to my most recent article on #BlackLivesMatter and specifically to some comments, questions and interaction.  One notable comment was to the affect that Justice was being done in the George Floyd case because the policeman was standing trial Christians should stick to preaching the Gospel and not spend time… Continue reading Racism, social justice, crime, sin and idolatry