Hypocrisy

Tory leadership contest: when did vice signalling become a virtue?

The Tory leadership contest has taken a strange turn. Perhaps it's a purposeful distraction from their (non-)strategies for realising Brexit, but they seem to have taken to vice signalling (or, for believers, sin signalling) in order to reassure voters that…

CofE brexit prayer together peoples vote

Bemused by Brexit? Come to church for tea and prayer – unless your vicar is a Remainer

March 25, 2019
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At this moment of national crisis and international humiliation (which it is), the Church of England is encouraging people to come to church to be 'Together' for a cup of…

Scrupulous for Christ: saving the Church from the doctrine of the infallibles

November 1, 2018
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Ever since Jesus cried 'Woe' to the scribes and Pharisees, his disciples have been calling out the two-faced hypocrites and judiciously discerning whitewashed tombs – those who look all meek…

Welby Amazon social justice church investment

Shared humanity, solidarity, and social justice are all well and good, but one must protect the CofE’s return on investment

September 23, 2018
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It must be found in the Rite of Ordination somewhere. Bishop: Dost thou, therefore, in the name of Social Justice, renounce the Market and all its works, the vain pomp…

Complicit in evil? Church of England has shares in Amazon and uses zero-hours contracts

September 14, 2018
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Imagine the prophet Amos in 650 BC travelling through the southern kingdom up to Bethel in the Samaritan north to sell his figs. It's a long journey, but that's where…

Human Ken Doll: the cult of the young body, and judging by appearances

August 26, 2018
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"I don't watch big brother, I don't know this fella...," tweeted journalist, TV presenter and poet Stephen Dixon. "But a world that allows someone to do this to themselves instead…

Ely Cathedral UKIP flag Pride flag IPSO Daily Mail

Dean of Ely reports Daily Mail to IPSO for saying Cathedral flew UKIP flag

August 22, 2018
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It beggars belief that anyone could have taken the story seriously. What dean and chapter of any cathedral would even entertain flying the UKIP flag? Oh, they'll host a Labour-supporting…

Anti-Brexit bishops jump on Boris burqa bandwagon

August 14, 2018
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This isn't a post about Brexit; it really isn't. Nor is it a post about banning the burqa. It isn't even a post about Boris, or whether what he said…

nick baines bishop eu speech british hopelessness

Bishop Nick Baines derides Brexit British hopelessness

July 25, 2018
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There's a lot of anxiety about. The torch which once lit our path is being extinguished. Our institutions and communities are beset with moral problems, dilemmas and quandaries. Our politics…

The hypocrisy of outsourcing the death penalty for Islamist extremists

July 23, 2018
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The UK Government has had a longstanding and principled moral objection to the death penalty. Whether you agree with that opposition or not, it has hitherto been applied consistently: under…

New Musical: The Assassination of Diane Abbott

March 13, 2018
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The Artistic Director of Theatr Clwyd, Tamara Harvey, has announced full casting for the world première production of 'The Assassination of Diane Abbott' – a new musical from Chris Bush…

If the Pope can honour a pro-abortion activist, why not bless Durex?

January 15, 2018
670 Comments

It is being widely reported that Pope Francis has bestowed the title of Commander in the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great upon pro-abortion activist Lilianne Ploumen, sometime…

Toby Young and our progressive eugenics/equality hypocrisy

January 10, 2018
217 Comments

The hounding of Toby Young from his appointment to the advisory board of the Office for Students (OfS) has been both unseemly and unjust. The Twitter hordes fulminated about his…

Bishop of Liverpool slams ‘so-called Evangelicals’, and so condemns himself

January 8, 2018
479 Comments

The term 'Evangelical' as applied to Christians has a long and well-chronicled heritage. In 1525, William Tyndale explained in his Doctrinal Treatises (p8): "Evangelion (that which we call the gospel)…

“I need a friendly bishop,” said the child abuse survivor, as the prelate passed by on the other side

October 22, 2017
228 Comments

This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer. _____ Two years ago, Archbishop John Sentamu gave one of those sermons which you know you will…

Hurricane Harvey and the $50m mega-church pastor who wouldn’t shelter flood victims

August 30, 2017
166 Comments

Texan mega-church pastor Joel Osteen is reputedly worth $50million. That's his personal wealth. He leads a church of some 16,000 (ie a 'mega-church') which gathers in the Lakewood Church, Houston,…

Protect the Pope? Francis is “destroying the Catholic nature of the Church”

July 19, 2017
694 Comments

'Protect the Pope' was a blog established in 2010 by the Rev'd Nick Donnelly, a kindly, humble and intelligent deacon in the Roman Catholic Church (and the second-nicest Catholic in…

Sentamu calls on Christians to pay more voluntary tax (which isn’t tax, but a free-willed tithe)

July 11, 2017
148 Comments

The Archbishop of York began his 'state of the nation' speech to Synod with a showdown: "On 20 January 2015, I launched this book, On Rock or Sand? Firm Foundations…

Safeguarding in the Church of England: when is a victim of child-abuse not a victim?

July 5, 2017
128 Comments

This is a guest post by Martin Sewell, a retired Child Protection Lawyer and a member of General Synod. ______ Yesterday I advanced a more sympathetic perspective on why Lord…

Child abuse in the Church of England: hypocrisy, inconsistency and ongoing cover-up

July 3, 2017
331 Comments

Child abuse is a seriously distressing matter. The violation, confusion, fear, self-loathing, guilt, depression... suicidal thoughts. It can take years and decades to come to terms with the misery and…