Tag: Coronavirus

Are ethnic minorities to blame for COVID-19? (Panel discussion)

Yesterday, I took part in a panel discussion with Jose Galindes, pastor of Nueva Vida Con Cristo, the Spanish speaking church we helped plant a few years back. The starting question was “Are BAME communities to blame for the spread of COVID-19) in the UK? Jose also invited along some local councillors in Sandwell and… Continue reading Are ethnic minorities to blame for COVID-19? (Panel discussion)

Sub Tweeting the Church

There is a tendency at the moment towards something quite unpleasant and potentially dangerous. The other day, I wrote about the problem when people resort to hyperbole attacking this or that Christian for heresy without much evidence and when in fact the debate is usually one within the boundaries of orthodoxy about how to most… Continue reading Sub Tweeting the Church

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

Covid and euthanasia of the elderly

Dystopian Literature often focuses on the concept that elderly people in an ordered authoritarian society will be required to accept that a day will come when they must lay down their lives. [1]For example, in “The Fixed Period” by Trollope, the inhabitants of Britannica near New Zealand legislate that at 67 years old, citizens should… Continue reading Covid and euthanasia of the elderly

Coronavirus and what the data is telling us

This is one of my regular appeals for us to work harder at understanding the Pandemic and to be slower to jump to tribal political responses of either panic or complacency. This week it was announced that the UK now topped the list as the worst hit country for deaths per million.  This led to… Continue reading Coronavirus and what the data is telling us

Joining a new church in lockdown

Circumstances have compelled us to change churches.  I’m very grateful that there are a couple of other churches that have been very loving and caring, looking out for us as we make that transition but not everyone has that luxury.  Ordinary church members are less likely to have church leaders watching out for them specifically… Continue reading Joining a new church in lockdown

Zoom communion revisited

Back when we first went into lockdown, our church decided to use zoom and Facebook to enable us to continue gathering. We recognised that these means were not perfect but we felt that the Scriptural injunction to gather was so important that we should try by every means possible to do so. As a church… Continue reading Zoom communion revisited

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 than… Continue reading Lockdown 3 Five questions for the Government that politicians and the media are not asking

To stop a crisis like the pandemic you need to identify root causes

So here we go again. In any crisis there are three types of people. There are those who don’t think there is a crisis. “What’s all the fuss? ” They ask before accusing those wanting action of sinister motives. Then there are those running around shouting, panicking and trying anything and everything. Sadly, the COVID… Continue reading To stop a crisis like the pandemic you need to identify root causes