Evil, absolute evil and abortion

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I thought it might be helpful to revisit the discussion about “absolute evil” and abortion to think through more carefully about how we think about things.  As a refresher, the debate was as to whether the recent amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill removing reference to a other aborting her own child should be… Continue reading Evil, absolute evil and abortion

Are our views of right and wrong influenced by personality?

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My friend Steve Kneale writes here about how it’s relationships not arguments that win people over.  I think he has a good point here.  It’s not apologetic debating that will lead people to Christ. We may win the argument but not the person. In fact, what you tend to find is that if you prove… Continue reading Are our views of right and wrong influenced by personality?

Israel, red lines and the arms trade: How do we know if a red line is crossed?

I recently wrote about a letter from lawyers concerning the ICJ’s interim ruling on whether Israel were in breach of the Genocide Convention.  In the discussion around that article, someone asked me: “what ‘red line’ Israel would need to cross before we should stop arming them?” My response was to note first that before we… Continue reading Israel, red lines and the arms trade: How do we know if a red line is crossed?

Grieving the evil of war

I recently wrote that “war is an evil”. I wrote this to respond to and distinguish from Scott McKnight’s argument that war is itself a crime, it isn’t just about the committing of war crimes.  What this enables us to do is to recognise that sadly, in a fallen world, war is sometimes necessary and… Continue reading Grieving the evil of war

Wales v England: World Cup boycotts and the mote in our own eye

We’ve talked a bit in recent articles about the choice to boycott the World Cup by some people to protest the human rights records of Qatar.  Cue jokes about the entire Argentinian team opting to join the boycott for the Saudi Arabia game. In my last article, I argued that if we are going to… Continue reading Wales v England: World Cup boycotts and the mote in our own eye

Pints, cake and retrospective justice

#Partygate is the scandal that keeps on giving.  In a bid to distract from their own troubles, the Tories have tried to put the focus on an incident during the local elections last year where Keir Starmer was videoed drinking beer in Durham.  Their claim is that the leader of the opposition was also in… Continue reading Pints, cake and retrospective justice

Nuclear War and unaskable questions

One of the big questions concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been whether or not NATO/Western allies should respond by committing to help defend Ukraine beyond supplying weapons and imposing sanctions.  Some have suggested that at a minimum, NATO could commit to enforcing a no-fly zone against Russia.  Now, one of the primary reasons… Continue reading Nuclear War and unaskable questions

Who are our COVID decisions for?

I have had a little bit of pushback on my latest COVID advice, specifically the recommendation that people are encouraged to continue to wear face masks for a little longer even after the legal requirement has been dropped for England. So I thought it was worth sharing a little bit more of my thinking here.… Continue reading Who are our COVID decisions for?

Is Original Sin a terrible concept?

Katherine Birbalsingh, has got herself into hot water this week. Bibalsingh is a free school headteacher associated with an education philosophy that focuses on knowledge rich pedagogy and strict behaviour policies. She has also been appointed the chair of a social mobility commission recently.  Her comments that have caused an outcry have been about the… Continue reading Is Original Sin a terrible concept?

If marriage is a public matter then so too is adultery

Yesterday I wrote about the breaking news concerning the then Health Secretary, Matt Hancock and an alleged affair.  Hancock has now resigned from the government but as I wrote in the article, the focus was primarily no breach of COVID rules. People have tried to play down the moral side of things by insisting that… Continue reading If marriage is a public matter then so too is adultery