The censorious self-righteousness of Imam Qari Asim MBE
Imam Qari Asim MBE (for services to inter-faith relations and the community in Leeds) was sacked last week by Michael Gove as a Government advisor on Islamophobia. The principal reason…
Tolerance
The Salman Rushdie fatwa is reflected in every banned book and no-platforming
The fatwa issued against Salman Rushdie in 1989 was a death sentence. His crime, according to Ayatollah Khomeini, was to insult Mohammed and mock Islam in his novel The Satanic Verses. And for this alleged blasphemy, the Ayatollah called on…
Tutufication is not the solution to division and oppression
Canon Mark Oakley wrote to the Times over the weekend with a plea for the Church of England to adopt Tutufication: It is an interesting thesis, not least because quite…
Would Worcester College Oxford apologise for hosting the Pope?
Worcester College Oxford is among the fairest of the University. Founded in 1714, some of its buildings date back to 1283, when there was a Benedictine abbey on the site.…
Wanted: Christians who can cause a little more offence
Would Luther have been a blast on Twitter? Historian Tom Holland thinks so. In an edition of 'The Rest is History' podcast, he observes: "What happens is that Luther obviously…
If the SNP’s ‘Hate’ Bill becomes law, Scots’ freedom of religion will end
The SNP's Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill is currently wending its way through the committees and procedures of the Scottish Parliament. It provides for the modernising, consolidating and…
Franklin Graham ban: Rees-Mogg defends freedom of religion
While the General Synod of the Church of England was repenting of its 'white privilege' and committing to 'net zero' carbon omissions by 2030, the Rt Hon Jacob Rees-Mogg MP…
When did traditional morality become ‘fundamentalist’?
It was a question posed by Professor John Milbank on Twitter a few days ago. Or, rather, it wasn't posed as a question, such as the 'when' inquiry into conceptual…
Give me the child for the first seven years and I will give you the transgender-inculcated person
'Give me the child for the first seven years and I will give you the man' is a Jesuit maxim attributed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society…
National Secular Society equates Anglicans with Islamists baying for blood
While the Church of England was preparing to lead the nation in a corporate commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day 1918, the National Secular Society issued a tweet.…
The EU is an anti-European force: it must become a ‘community of spirit’
The Red Cell is new research project set up to "inform, challenge and trigger" in order to deliver and manage Brexit. "It's a small unit, a break out team. its…
Dean of Ely reports Daily Mail to IPSO for saying Cathedral flew UKIP flag
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…
BBC Newsnight provides a pulpit for the myth of secular neutrality
"The best guarantee of religious tolerance is a well-organised secular state... there is a higher authority; it's called the law," proclaimed author Ian McEwan on the BBC's 'Newsnight', in a…
Ofsted chief says they have ‘no anti-faith bias’, but does she have anti-Protestant leanings?
Ofsted Chief Inspector Amanda Spielman gave a speech yesterday evening entitled 'The Ties that Bind', which concerned the need for a little more 'muscular liberalism' in education. She spoke at…
Nigel Biggar on the degeneracy of academic civility
Professor Nigel Biggar has written for the Times: 'Vile abuse is now tolerated in our universities'. He tells us: "The spitting hatred I suffered over my views on empire shows…
Regulating sharia councils (ie sharia courts) with a state quango is not the way forward
A government review into the desirability, purpose and functioning of sharia councils (ie sharia courts) has been 18 months in the making. It was instigated by Theresa May when she…
Jo Johnson’s muddled and aimless thinking about freedom of speech in universities
Universities Minister Jo Johnson delivered a much-trailed (..and here, here, here...) speech about the imperative of academic freedom of speech, which he says must be guaranteed on pain of universities…
The Church of England is a compromised and compromising church – thank God!
As we await the appointment of the next Bishop of London, some are limbering up for the next round of culture wars within the Church of England. In a 'warning'…
Charlottesville: white supremacists are fundamentally anti-American and anti-Christian
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…
Government to establish ‘Commission for Countering Extremism’ – Be afraid. Be very afraid
"A commission for countering extremism will be established to support the government in stamping out extremist ideology in all its forms, both across society and on the internet, so it…