You can’t stop a virus from spreading that has already spread

This week the Welsh First Minister announced that people living in Tier 2 and 3 areas in England would be banned from entering Wales. Ostensibly this is to help prevent or reduce a spike of cases in Wales. I suspect that in reality, this is more about the type of political posturing I complained about… Continue reading You can’t stop a virus from spreading that has already spread

Why are people still obsessing about national lock downs and circuit breaks?

Okay, I admit it, I don’t get the point of another national lockdown, even as a short sharp shock via a circuit break.  People will remember that we went into the first lockdown with the hope that it would be exactly that, a short sharp shock over 3 or 4 weeks and over by Easter.… Continue reading Why are people still obsessing about national lock downs and circuit breaks?

Can we protect the vulnerable and open up society again?

One of the things that has been suggested during the pandemic has been that we should aim to protect the vulnerable whilst opening up society to everyone else. I have two concerns with this. The first is that this ends up sounding like we simply want to be free to go about our normal business,… Continue reading Can we protect the vulnerable and open up society again?

Why we might not need the vaccine to be fully rolled out to get back to normal

This article comes with all the usual and hopefully obvious caveats and disclaimers.  I’m not a doctor, epidemiologist or anything medical.  So, these are the musings of an ordinary citizen and arm chair critic. However, sometimes it takes the ordinary citizen, the amateur if you like to raise observations that might get missed. That’s why… Continue reading Why we might not need the vaccine to be fully rolled out to get back to normal

Why attempting to control COVID is not an idolatrous attempt to conquer death

A narrative is emerging from some quarters of the church that measures to deal with the pandemic represent state and societal hubris, a humanistic confidence in our ability to defeat death. If this was the case, then we would be dealing with idolatry. Of course, as Christians we should not be surprised to see evidence… Continue reading Why attempting to control COVID is not an idolatrous attempt to conquer death

Truth must not be a casualty of our engagement in the debate about Coronavirus

I was taught many years ago that when debating someone that I should be able to present my opponents’ argument in a way that they would recognise and be able to own as their own point of view. Indeed, they should be able to say “You’ve put it better than I could myself.” From there,… Continue reading Truth must not be a casualty of our engagement in the debate about Coronavirus

The danger with playing the media game

Earlier this week, we were asked to sign a letter to the Government written by other church leaders.  The letter expressed support for appropriate measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, expressed concern about the way some measures might be affecting the most needy and vulnerable, explained why churches play an essential role in our community… Continue reading The danger with playing the media game

Getting through the next six months – some practicalities

In an earlier article I talked about how we respond to the frustration and disappointment of having at least another six months of lockdown measures. I focused on the big picture from Scripture, our hope in the Gospel and in Christ’s return. Here, I want to talk through some more detailed and practical application for… Continue reading Getting through the next six months – some practicalities

No the church did not roll over during COVID

There’s an insinuation going around in some circles at the moment that because churches closed down buildings and started to meet online during the COVID-19 lockdowns and are currently conforming with face mask and social distancing rules that this makes us wet cowards. The narrative is that COVID regulations are some kind of authoritarian attack… Continue reading No the church did not roll over during COVID

What does it mean to “just focus on protecting the vulnerable”?

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen a point of view gaining momentum in certain quarters which is that we should never have had a full national lockdown and that we should be lifting all restrictions now so that the young and healthy can be free to live their lives without interference.  Instead we should… Continue reading What does it mean to “just focus on protecting the vulnerable”?