Sipech has written an interesting and thoughtful piece on Uncertainty over on his blog, The Alethiophile. Go and read it, then come back for my thoughts. I largely agree with what he says. It’s important to acknowledge what we can and can’t be certain about, and to be humble about our own interpretations. But I […]
Over the summer, I signed up for early access to Pottermore, the new Harry Potter website, and a few weeks ago I got the email granting me beta access. One of the activities on the site is completing a quiz in order for the Sorting Hat to put you into one of the four houses […]
The Pope’s visit is imminent, and on cue, The Guardian has more than its usual quotient of articles bashing religion and waving the flag for secularism. Polly Toynbee has a particularly entertaining specimen, Sex and death lie at the poisoned heart of religion. Here’s the opening paragraph: A dispute with BBC TV’s religious slot, Sunday […]
Yesterday, I preached the first in a new evening series at Mack on the book of James titled “Wake Up and Smell the Coffee“. James urges us to put our faith into action, and is like a shot of coffee to wake us up in our Christian lives. Below is the text of my sermon. […]
There are two mistakes people make about Muslims: one is thinking that every Muslim wants Islam to rule the world, and one is thinking that no Muslim wants Islam to rule the world. Islam is a missionary religion, and one that doesn’t allow the easy compartmentalising of life into sacred and secular. Even in Western […]
This week’s Sunday Times contained an interesting article by Andrew Sullivan on the shifting religious scene in America, including the rise of atheism. It concludes that: American Christianity, despite so many resources, has ignored its intellectual responsibility. And atheists, if this continues much longer, will continue to pick up that slack. However, while this diagnosis […]
Last weekend, I watched Einstein and Eddington, the BBC2 drama starring Andy Serkis and David Tennant as the two scientists, whose lives become intertwined through Einstein’s new and unproven theory of relativity . I don’t know enough about the two figures to judge how historically accurate it was. I’d be somewhat surprised if the two […]
Continuing my thoughts on faith and politics… Tom Price over on his blog A Better Hope asks some Worldview Level Questions About Secular Democracy: Hazel Blears said, ‘We live in a secular democracy.’ But does she live in an ‘outside, inside’ ? Let me explain. The concept of secular democracy that she has articulated, has […]
As the Human Fertilization and Embryology Bill went through Parliament, Channel 4 aired a documentary about “the rising influence of Christian fundamentalism in the UK”, which I watched with very mixed feelings. The documentary was very selective and frustratingly one-sided. It failed to properly define fundamentalism: the way it portrayed it seemed to be Young […]
Here’s one of my most recent Gair Rhydd articles: The Whole World in His handsCaleb Woodbridge argues that the mixing of politics and faith, when executed correctly, is essential is a real difference is to be made in the world. Religion and politics – two topics never to discuss in polite company. And while to […]
