Beyond the Odds: Providence in Britain’s Wars of the 20th Century
"At many times in the two World Wars, Britain was saved from disaster in circumstances that defied probabilities," we read on the cover of 'Beyond the Odds', a new book…
War
We will remember them
Nothing today: no words, except those of Robert Laurence Binyon: With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea. Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause…
Hardship of Life
Meet Munzir al-Nazzal and his five-year-old son Mustafa. They live in Reyhanli, in the Turkish province of Hatay, at the border with Syria. Munzir lost his right leg as he…
Remembrance Sunday: lest we forget
Some wars are fought to subjugate and oppress, others to redeem and liberate. Some arise out of vengeance and resentment, others in pursuit of justice and peace. There are conflicts…
Welby goes to the UN to speak about ‘pre-emptive reconciliation’ (aka friendship)
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…
Synod and the Nuclear Ban Treaty: the CofE would rather have sent Britons to Treblinka than annihilate Germany
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…
Men rip off Muslim girl’s hijab and cut cross into her skin
This is just what Jesus would do, isn't it? "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword so…
The Syrian civil war will never be resolved by the UN Security Council or the International Criminal Court
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…
Why is gassing Syrian children with sarin or chlorine worse than blowing them to smithereens?
The civil war in Syria is just appalling: the chaos and suffering; it's hell on earth. Hundreds of thousand have have been killed over the past seven years, many of…
Tony Blair and John Major threaten resurgent IRA terrorism if Brexit is fulfilled
"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…
Remembrance Sunday: ‘Goodbye, Old Man’
'Goodbye, Old Man', watercolour, by Fortunino Matania (1881-1963), depicts a British soldier saying farewell to his dying horse. It was commissioned in 1916 by the Blue Cross animal welfare charity,…
The Apocalypse of Donald: “Fire and fury like the world has never seen”
"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States," warned President Trump. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," he…
Brexit and Gibraltar: Bishop bashes Government for issuing “bland statements of optimism”
The Bishop of Leeds isn't happy. In a speech to the House of Lords on Brexit and Gibraltar, the Rt Rev'd Nick Baines censures the Government for being optimistic. It…
For unto us a child is born
Christmas has become an annual sabbath; almost the only time of the year now when families come together, friends are remembered, and the ghosts of Christmases past are recalled, some…
You will hear of wars, assassinations and terrorist atrocities… Joy to the world
Christmas carnage in Berlin as Islamic State manage to get someone to plough a 27-ton HGV into a market, killing 12 and injuring 50. Weeping and wailing; mulled wine all…
Remembrance Day: there’s a long, long trail a-winding..
A long trail of prophets and dark prophecies precedes the apocalypse. When you're dead, you don't care. When you're partly living with no eyes, one leg and half a mind,…
World Peace Day – what’s the point of that?
September 21st is the day the United Nations General Assembly decreed shall be set aside as the International day of Peace, or World Peace Day. "Let us all work together…
Mrs Proudie: armoured clergy, the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch and a muddled Pope
Goodness! I am always telling Mr. Slope to take precautions, for one never knows what is lurking around the corner. News of the dreadful event at St.-Etienne de Rouvray…
Pope Francis is in denial: our struggle is religious, and it's against virulent Islamism
"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the…
Centenary of the Battle of the Somme: yesterday's youth died so that today's youth might be free
They didn't really stand a chance. They were sons, husbands, fathers, friends and boys – some as young as 18 – ordered over the top into the direct line of…