The other day. I posted an article looking at the moral dilemma created by the fact that over the years, those creating vaccines have relied on cells harvested from aborted embryos in order to cultivate vaccines. A few people began to openly wrestle with the implications to this. They expressed discomfort at the news and… Continue reading The vaccine and abortion (2) How do we make ethical decisions?
Tag: Coronavirus
The vaccine and abortion
I’ve seen a range of reasons given over the past few months for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Some of them are understandable including concerns about whether we know about all potential side effects yet. Some people see it as a freedom issue, although as things stand, the vaccine won’t be compulsory,… Continue reading The vaccine and abortion
Why commitment to a local church matters
In conversation with one of the people who has decided to open up his church during lockdown, he was quick to talk about the positives because he was seeing growth during the past few weeks following the decision. I asked him whether this growth was from hungry unbelievers desperate to find Gospel food, from discontent… Continue reading Why commitment to a local church matters
Can we just choose to disregard unreasonable laws?
One of the discussion points throughout COVID-19 is whether the Government guidance requires Christians to choose between human laws and God’s Law. The question is about whether or not we are being prevented from obeying the call to gather together and if so whether or not the command to love your neighbour trumps that Biblical… Continue reading Can we just choose to disregard unreasonable laws?
When should we consider civil disobedience?
I want to return to the question about Churches breaking lockdown rules and meeting for worship. You will notice that people like me (see also the position of FIEC National Director, John Stevens) has not been that Churches should never go against the law on matters of gathering for worship. That would be an untenable… Continue reading When should we consider civil disobedience?
Opening churches against lockdown rules
There have been further reports of churches defying the current lockdown regulations in England, including one in the Observer. Now, as I understand it, we have three possible options in terms of how we view the current regulations. We can accept that the regulations must be obeyed on the basis that this is the Law… Continue reading Opening churches against lockdown rules
Face mask experiments and asking the wrong question
A little while back I mentioned a study looking at cases of COVID-19 among families with children in the home. I observed that the study was being used by people to push conclusions that it did not and could not make. Something similar has been happening with a Danish study about mask wearing. The study… Continue reading Face mask experiments and asking the wrong question
Swallows and Vaccines
Yesterday was a good news day in the battle against COVID-19. The twin announcements of a mass testing trial in Liverpool and the positive results from vaccine trials were signs op hope. However, in the Prime Minister’s statement last night, we were reminded by him and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer that there is still… Continue reading Swallows and Vaccines
Beware of using experiments to support your argument
I am a firm believing in the helpfulness of both empirical evidence and forecasting models to help us make decisions. However, during COVID19, we seem to have run into problems whenever results are shared and there hasn’t been great care to understand what they are meant to be telling us. So, for example we get… Continue reading Beware of using experiments to support your argument
Bounced
Too often we can feel bounced into announcing and taking action before we are ready to. I’ve seen it in church life where someone suddenly pushes a major decision to a vote well before all of the information is on the table and before people are ready, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually to make a discernment. … Continue reading Bounced
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