Evil

Does God suffer?

September 21, 2015
Archbishop Cranmer
235 Comments

There's an awful lot of suffering and badness around. Nasty people do nasty things, and wicked people do worse. There are floods, droughts and earthquakes, which are no-one's fault; and murder, wars, terrorism and neglect, which are. Not unreasonably,…

Assisted Dying: Canon Rosie Harper condemns "extreme and emotive claims" of "a certain section of believers"

September 11, 2015
409 Comments

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,…

The apocalypse of Islam and the signs of the times

August 26, 2015
189 Comments

The Temple of Baalshamin predated Mohammed by six centuries. It was a cultural jewel in the Syrian desert, revealing to the world a glimpse of the pre-Islamic religions of…

Bishop demands asylum for "the infidel's military translators"

August 24, 2015
67 Comments

"It seems to me that interpreters are like priests; they are mediators and help connect cultures and communities," said the Rt Rev'd Alastair Redfern, Bishop of Derby, speaking in…

After-birth abortion? Planned Parenthood and the art of infanticide

July 31, 2015
248 Comments

Not only has Planned Parenthood perfected the art of aborting babies in a "less crunchy way" in order that the harvest of body parts may be plentiful, but it…

Planned Parenthood aborts babies in a "less crunchy" way. What's wrong with harvesting baby body parts?

July 27, 2015
355 Comments

"A lot of people want intact hearts these days, because they're looking for specific nodes," explains Dr Deborah Nucatola, Senior Director of Medical Services for Planned Parenthood, the largest…

Cameron can no more "destroy the Caliphate" than he can abolish the New Jerusalem

July 21, 2015
190 Comments

David Cameron's long-awaited speech on Islamic extremism (aka Islamism) was sort of worth waiting for. As he expounded his 'One Nation' vision to defeat the "poison" of extremism, he…

"Thatcher Rest In Hell" – Durham Miners' Gala rejoice over Thatcher effigy in coffin

July 12, 2015
272 Comments

"The Durham Miners' Association has been shocked and saddened at the news last week of the death of three stalwarts of the socialist and labour movement," wrote the Friends…

Greek debt: the immorality of perpetual bailouts and broken promises

June 22, 2015
53 Comments

Here we go again: Greek debt and a nation "on the brink" / "at the edge" / "judgment day" / "endgame" / "apocalypse".. Another round of "crisis" / "emergency"…

Pastor James McConnell charged for "satanic Islam" broadcast

June 20, 2015
113 Comments

Pastor James McConnell delivered a sermon at the Whitewell Metropolitan Tabernacle in Belfast on 18th May 2014, in which he denounced Islam with all the zeal of the prophet…

Justice for Greville Janner and the Bookkeeper of Auschwitz

April 22, 2015
198 Comments

Labour peer Greville Janner (left), aged 86, will apparently not be prosecuted over allegations of historic child abuse because the Crown Prosecution Service says his evidence could not be…

Cameron's good life is not unambiguous, but it is the best of the goods on offer

April 15, 2015
127 Comments

Everyone strives for the good, but no one ever quite possesses it. It is a future project of hope and value. It might even belong to the past, because…

Holy Monday: cleansing, anointing and indignation

March 30, 2015
174 Comments

And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the…

Queen's chaplain agnostic on "good or evil" violence in the Qur'an

March 12, 2015
274 Comments

Apparently, young people are turning to Jihad because school's a drudge and mainstream religion is not sufficiently 'exciting'. That's the general headline summary of a speech given by Justin…

#PastoralLetter (1): The patronising episcopal 'should'

February 20, 2015
88 Comments

There are only two possible outcomes at the next General Election: either David Cameron will be Prime Minister, or Ed Miliband. Nigel Farage will not be Prime Minister; nor…

What are 'fundamental British values'?

January 29, 2015
178 Comments

In a context of fractious social division and increasing religious tension, the Government is on a quest for national identity, and education is the means by which it will…

Mehdi Hasan: "No Reformation in Europe without Muslim theologians"

January 19, 2015
216 Comments

Mehdi Hasan delivered an oratorically brilliant if rather sanctimonious speech at the Oxford Union in May 2013, which now rings in the head like tinnitus in the wake of…

A few rocky facts belie Sentamu's sandy statist socialism

January 16, 2015
142 Comments

The Most Rev'd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York, has edited a neat selection of essays on the current moral state of the nation. Entitled On…

17 French deaths unite civilisation; 2,000 Nigerian deaths – who cares?

January 15, 2015
154 Comments

"Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering," exhorts the writer…