Common Good

Mandatory organ donation for Christians: a presumed opt-out for Muslims?

While the media obsess about the P45 prankster, the set falling to pieces or the plague of frogs in Theresa May's throat, you could be forgiven for missing that the Conservatives slipped in the most un-conservative nationalisation since the invention…

Welby is right: the UK economy is “broken”, but England’s church is limping

September 6, 2017
142 Comments

It was an unfortunate coincidence that on the day the British Social Attitudes survey was released which announced that more than half (53%) of the British public now describe themselves…

Catholic School removes statues of Mary and Jesus to be more inclusive

August 28, 2017
891 Comments

In this season of rampant anti-statue-ism, where Cecil Rhodes must fall, Edward Colston must tumble, Robert E Lee must be toppled, Captain Cook must yield, Admiral Horatio Nelson must be…

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…

You cannot “draw the poison from Brexit” without extracting deception from the human heart

June 25, 2017
282 Comments

'Where there is no vision, the people perish', the Archbishop of Canterbury writes in the Mail on Sunday, reminding is that the Authorised Version still resonates down the ages, and…

Bishop slams “right wing headbangers” for Brexit and election “disasters”

June 13, 2017
148 Comments

You cannot know with what life-sapping weariness it must be reported that the Bishop of London (acting), the Rt Rev'd Pete Broadbent, blames "right wing headbangers" for the "disasters" of…

For millennials, Corbyn came as Father Christmas; May as the Wicked Witch of the West

June 12, 2017
286 Comments

"What do the millennials want from policy makers?" asked a group called Common Vision (CoVi) in their 'Manifesto for Millennials'. Millennials are 'young people', who appear to have (uncharacteristically) turned…

Government is a necessary evil, and Christians must vote for the lesser one

June 7, 2017
420 Comments

"Society in every state is a blessing," wrote Thomas Paine in his 1776 pamphlet Common Sense, "but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its…

Sorry, left-wing clergy, but God supports strong and stable government

May 10, 2017
219 Comments

A gaggle of left-wing clergy is a tad upset that the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have used their General Election 'Pastoral Letter' to exhort Christians to consider the need…

The first British monarch to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee – God Save The Queen!

February 6, 2017
260 Comments

65 years ago today, King George VI put his hand into the Hand of God, which was better than light and safer than a known way. And in that very…

Welby dedicates the next year of his ministry to the defence of freedom and Judæo-Christian values

November 29, 2016
259 Comments

You might almost have missed it – especially if your favourite spiritual sport is Welby Wanging, which is open to all people irrespective of age, sex, sexuality, race, creed, religion,…

Ukip would be safe, safer and safest with Suzanne Evans as leader

November 19, 2016
100 Comments

Ukip is about to choose a(nother) new leader. Will it be Suzanne Evans or Paul Nuttall? That's the choice (we can safely discount John Rees-Evans for.. all.. sorts.. of.. reasons..).…

Chobham Academy makes Islamic religious observance mandatory for pupils of all faiths

September 13, 2016
193 Comments

According to Ofsted, Chobham Academy in the London Borough of Newham is an outstanding school. It is important to begin with that observation, because the school's leaders, governors and sponsor…

Catholic bishops: picking their principles of social teaching

May 10, 2016
377 Comments

This is a guest post by Peter Smith: a Roman Catholic barrister practising in London. ______________________ Thus, the Catholic bishops in England and Wales have spoken. The EU Referendum, they…

Brussels attacks: suppressing the facts and muzzling the truth

March 23, 2016
248 Comments

To every thing there is a season.. ..a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.. (Ecclesiastes 3:1,4,7) Horror, disgust…

Vatican says UK is "better in than out" of the EU

January 24, 2016
674 Comments

"The Vatican wants Britain to stay in the European Union, the Pope's foreign secretary has declared." So writes the Telegraph, noting that Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with…

The Woolf Institute is wrong: Christianity is needed in public life now more than ever

December 15, 2015
223 Comments

This is a guest post by Will Jones who holds a PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of Reading and a diploma in Biblical Studies from Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He currently works…

Woolf Institute: Butler-Slush and the demand for more multifaith mish-mash

December 8, 2015
127 Comments

So, the Woolf Institute, whose declared mission is concerned with "combining theology with the social sciences and the humanities", in pursuit of "interfaith" "social solidarity" and "common purpose", convenes…

Corbyn's moral mission for a kinder, more inclusive politics

September 30, 2015
185 Comments

A bit doddery and oafish, Jeremy Corbyn stumbled and stammered through his first Conference speech like a 1950s grey-bearded puritan. He was robed in a bright red tie, though…

Dignity in Dying and the callous indignity of their spin

September 13, 2015
181 Comments

How many of us breathed a big sigh of relief when the voting results for the Assisted Dying (No.2) Bill were announced? Those in the know were expecting a…