Prayer as harassment: the curious case of Christian Hacking
When does prayer become harassment? That's the essential question at the heart of the recent arrest of a Christian called Christian Hacking, who was praying in a public space outside…
Disability
Candlemas: from the Presentation of Christ to ‘Radical Inclusion’
Today we mark a Church Feast which is known as either Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation of Christ at the Temple. I doubt if any of us will be feasting – after all, few of us mark other…
Abortion in Northern Ireland: the disabled speak out
On 10th July 2019, the UK Parliament voted in favour of an amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill which would liberalise abortion legalisation in Northern Ireland. The Act,…
How can a court force a Catholic woman to abort her child?
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel Gabriel, on hearing she was pregnant and not fully understanding. "O, if you don't fully understand what it means, better to have…
Online hate: Twitter speaks what the heart is full of
Life is a lot of bitterness and hate: there are oppressors and victims; struggles, dilemmas and protests. There is suffering and pain, anxiety and change. There are cries for vengeance,…
Synod – Reasons to be Cheerful (Pt 2): inclusion is the fruit of evangelism
It is probably because I am of a certain vintage that often, when I am thinking of a title for a blog post, a song lyric pops into my head.…
Abortion, Down’s and disability: CofE discriminates in favour of the beautiful soul
"People with Down’s Syndrome should be welcomed, celebrated and treated with dignity and respect, members of the Church of England’s General Synod will hear next month." So began the email…
Toby Young and our progressive eugenics/equality hypocrisy
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…
Abortion: people are becoming more pro-life – despite the liberal media hegemony
When Jacob Rees-Mogg was interviewed by Piers Morgan and asked for his views on abortion, he was condemned, stigmatised, mocked and reviled for opposing it in all circumstances – even…
Right to Life: where do the Party Leaders currently stand?
Lord Alton has done a useful (and very interesting) bit of digging on how the current party leaders have voted over recent years on a series of Right to Life…
Kevin (Lord) Shinkwin appointed to Equality and Human Rights Commission
Every now and again, a perfectly square political peg finds a sharp-cornered square hole. The officer and the office, the doer and the thing done, fit so exactly that the…
Infertility redefined: World Health Organization declares Sir Cliff Richard “disabled”
The world has gone mad. Or, rather, the World Health Organization has gone mad. Hitherto, the definition of infertility has been based on the inability of the woman to become…
A World Without Down’s Syndrome – let the abortion/eugenics debate begin
They shoot horses, don't they? Much better to put them out of their misery than suffer a broken leg. If it's compassionate to kill horses to end their pain, why…
Why do we celebrate our inspirational Paralympians, but abort the disabled in the womb?
"Finally, there are some famous words you can find stamped on the bottom of a product," said Lord Coe, in his speech at the closing ceremony of the London 2012…
TGI Monday: Is a church without a disabled person a disabled church?
What is disability? Is there such a thing as a disabled church? What are invisible disabilities? What is inclusion? What is access? How complete are the able-bodied? Many disabled…
Second Sunday of Advent: the gift of a child
It is this Second Sunday of Advent, and the trees are going up. It's beginning to feel a bit more like Christmas. Children all over the world are eagerly…
Compassionate Conservatism and Social Justice – bedfellows or bugbears?
Talk to most Labour supporters about 'compassionate conservatism', and they'll scoff at the very notion, as though the evil Tories had stolen the robe of Christ and were masquerading…
Dignity in Dying and the callous indignity of their spin
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…
Assisted Dying: Canon Rosie Harper condemns "extreme and emotive claims" of "a certain section of believers"
The Archbishop of Canterbury couldn't be any clearer: 'MPs must not take risks with the lives of vulnerable people', he writes in the Evening Standard. He is unequivocal, too,…
Assisted dying? Suicide courts, not doctors, will judge the merits of your death
This iniquitous Bill refuses to die. It keeps re-emerging like a Godzilla sequel; forever coming back like the proverbial bad penny – unwanted, unpleasant, unfortunate. We are told that…