Tag: COVID-19

Resisting Tyranny – Two case studies

In response to my articles on obeying Government and civil disobedience, I saw this comment on twitter. So, I thought it might be worth working through the two case studies.  First of all Daniel.  I want you to notice a few things about Daniel’s account because it is in fact important to our thinking. First… Continue reading Resisting Tyranny – Two case studies

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

Balance is often the enemy of truth

One of the idols we chase is “balance.” It is an established political fact that unless everyone else has headed off to the extremes, elections are normally won from the political centre.  Opinion polls show that most voters consider themselves to be in the centre and judge the parties by where they believe they sit… Continue reading Balance is often the enemy of truth

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

Learning to See

Yesterday I paid a visit to Eye casualty.  I was picking up a sort of wormy line in my vision. I suspected it was a floater and those are generally harmless but given I have a pre-existing eye condition and cornea grafts I thought it wise to get things checked out. The doctor confirmed all… Continue reading Learning to See