Category: Opinion

The danger of identity politics to love and truth

It is rare to get unity amongst bishops. So what prompted an outbreak of unity this week? Was it a join statement of the good news of the Gospel, maybe they stepped up to do their own version of The Blessing video (now that would be something worth going viral)? Maybe they had met urgently… Continue reading The danger of identity politics to love and truth

So what were we doing all that for?

I intended not to dive back into the Dominic Cummings story again but it is the story that keeps giving. I don’t want to focus on his guilt or innocence however.  Rather I want to talk about the reaction or the expected  reaction. The suggestion has been that if Cummings is not sanctioned in some… Continue reading So what were we doing all that for?

“Do not judge…”

“Who are we to judge?” It’s one of those argument ending killer phrases isn’t it?  Usually the phrase is then followed up by two other phrases. “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.”[1] “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!”[2] The deployment of these phrases are designed to… Continue reading “Do not judge…”

The Shaming of the Shrew

This is the third in a little series of articles reflecting on the controversy surrounding Dominic Cumming’s trip to Durham. I guess it also relates to the issues that came up with Professor Neil Ferguson and Catherine Calderwood, the former Scottish Chief Medical Officer I am more concerned with the lessons we learn for our… Continue reading The Shaming of the Shrew

Cummings and Goings

As promised, here is part two of my thoughts on the Dominic Cummings case. I want to focus here on the question of how we interact with rules.  The key question for DC’s future is whether or not he did break any rules. If he broke lockdown rules, then this is serious because he has… Continue reading Cummings and Goings

Should we sympathise with Dominic Cummings?

On Saturday May 23rd news broke that Dominic Cummings (Boris Johnson’s chief of staff) had allegedly broke the lockdown rules to visit his parents in Durham.   Over the day, the story changed several times. The explanation was given that he went because he and his wife were beginning o show symptoms of COVID-19 and that… Continue reading Should we sympathise with Dominic Cummings?

Coronavirus and the battle of three fridges

Here is the latest Government ad campaign in the battle of Coronavirus. You get the message don’t you. We are meant to keep our distance when out and about. We should be around about two metres apart from each other, that’s obviously not meant to be a precise measurement. It’s a rough distance.  There are… Continue reading Coronavirus and the battle of three fridges

Becoming like our idols “When we make free speech an idol”

This morning the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party tweeted a claim that SAGE had produced new models showing that it would be safer for schools to return a fortnight later than suggested. As it turned out, the tweet was false. SAGE had not said this at all. I hope that the miscommunication was an… Continue reading Becoming like our idols “When we make free speech an idol”

The crucial difference between “at the earliest” and “at the latest”

“Don’t build up expectations, don’t get hopes up” “You will do better to air on the side of caution and pessimism” “Be realistic” These are the key messages that have been coming through from national church leaders involved in consultation with the Government over the past few weeks. It can be very frustrating if you… Continue reading The crucial difference between “at the earliest” and “at the latest”