Peace

Welby UN Security Council pre-emptive reconciliation

Welby goes to the UN to speak about ‘pre-emptive reconciliation’ (aka friendship)

August 30, 2018
Archbishop Cranmer
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Yesterday, Justin Welby became the first Archbishop of Canterbury to address the UN Security Council. His subject was mediation and conflict resolution (he sits on the UN Secretary-General's advisory board on mediation), and he spoke with manifest authority from his…

Jimmy Carter acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with his God

August 19, 2018
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He was President of the United States when Charlie flirted with Angels, Starsky tore around with Hutch, and Steve Austin cost $6million ($33million in today's bionics). He's mostly remembered for…

No, Ruth Davidson: the burqa is a world away from a crucifix

August 10, 2018
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Scottish Tory Leader Ruth Davidson is of the view that a Muslim wearing a burqa is no different from a Christian who wears a crucifix. She said: "If you use…

The People’s Vote strategy is to goad Brexiteers with being frit

July 27, 2018
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"The right hon. Gentleman is afraid of an election, is he?" goaded Margaret Thatcher. "Afraid? Frightened? Frit?" she persisted, with perfectly alliterative thrashings of her serrated tongue. "Could not take…

Synod and the Nuclear Ban Treaty: the CofE would rather have sent Britons to Treblinka than annihilate Germany

July 17, 2018
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The Church of England’s General Synod had to talk about something, I guess. It couldn’t talk about the pressing problems of the CofE lest it cause its nascent civil war…

Jonathan Aitken with Thatcher Bishop of London

The Rev’d Jonathan Aitken – being ordained is like ‘a new life’

July 1, 2018
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Former Tory Cabinet minister, convicted perjurer and bankrupt the Rt Hon Jonathan Aitken MP is now the Rev'd Jonathan Aitken, deacon at St Matthews, Westminster, and chaplain to the Prison…

Iftar in the Cathedral is exactly what the Queen (and Jesus) would want

June 11, 2018
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If it had been called 'Tea & Chapatis' no-one would have batted an eyelid. But the meal had an upper-case Islamic name – Iftar – and it involved Arabic food:…

Why can’t Justin Welby distinguish the Council of Europe from the European Union?

June 6, 2018
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Apparently the Archbishop of Canterbury has said the EU is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, he said it's the greatest thing since way before sliced bread: "The EU…

Israel at 70: a blessing to all the nations of the earth

May 14, 2018
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On 14th May 1948, 70 years ago today, David Ben Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel. In celebration of this momentous anniversary, God raised up Netta Barzilai,…

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Giles Fraser goes to Syria, and the Times denounces his ‘moral decay’

April 20, 2018
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Giles Fraser visited Syria last week, and did lots of Giles Frasery things: he shook a few grand hands, chewed big political ears, kissed lots of children, prayed a few…

The Syrian civil war will never be resolved by the UN Security Council or the International Criminal Court

April 17, 2018
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This is a guest post by Carl Jacobs. ____________________ The Syrian civil war has not been kind to the sacred secular institutions of International Liberalism. There are now 400,000 dead…

‘Hatred is not needed to stamp out evil’: Martin Luther King (Jr and Snr) remembered 50 years on

April 4, 2018
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Today is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King, one of the greatest figures of 20th-century America. Inevitably there will be much discussion of his legacy…

Tony Blair and John Major threaten resurgent IRA terrorism if Brexit is fulfilled

March 1, 2018
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"I find it not just disappointing but sickening that people should really be prepared to sacrifice peace in Northern Ireland on the altar of Brexit," said Tony Blair, perhaps mindful…

acquitted sam walton rev daniel woodhouse

Would Muslims have been acquitted for breaking into BAE and trying to disarm Saudi-bound fighter planes?

October 29, 2017
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Methodist minister the Rev'd Daniel Woodhouse and Quaker activist Sam Walton have been acquitted after breaking into a BAE Systems factory in Warton, Lancashire, armed with a hammer inscribed 'They…

Trump’s UN “hate speech” tells the world a few home truths

September 20, 2017
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres doesn't like divisive political discourse: he prefers consensual dialogue about climate change; exhortations to build bridges rather than walls; measured denunciations of Israel rather than the…

If only the Trump Twitter feed had more soft words and gentle answers

August 20, 2017
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There is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak, observes Qoheleth, the voice of the Book of Ecclesiastes (3:7). Proverbs talks about the wise man using words with…

charlottesville white supremacists nazi salute

Charlottesville: white supremacists are fundamentally anti-American and anti-Christian

August 13, 2017
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Charlottesville has gone downhill a bit since The Waltons: the town where John Boy negotiated his first bank loan, Jim-Bob learned about his dead twin brother, and grandma and grandpa…

The abuse and intimidation of members of the CofE’s General Synod

July 12, 2017
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There is a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament today led by Simon Hart MP on the abuse and intimidation of candidates and the public in UK elections. A briefing pack…

Bishop “ashamed” that the UK voted to leave the EU

July 2, 2017
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Bishop David Gillett was the Bishop of Bolton for nine years, and before that he was Principal of Trinity Theological College in Bristol for 11 years. He is now an…

Momentum drops commitment to nonviolence: how can CofE clergy be permitted to join this group?

June 29, 2017
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"Momentum is wholly committed to working for progressive political change through methods which are inclusive, participatory and nonviolent," the Momentum code of ethics used to state. But not any more.…