Over the last week or so, for no particular reason, the Politics has taken a bit of a backseat to the ‘God’ element of this blog’s remit. A few days ago I set out my thoughts on the direction I see the church in… Read More ›
gay marriage
Justin Welby’s debut radio phone-in was a breath of fresh air
Justin Welby conducted his very first radio phone-in on LBC this morning and from the outcome one wonders why this has taken so long to come about. Spending an hour answering questions he covered plenty of ground and it was refreshing to… Read More ›
Is Sarah Teather’s departure a sign that faith and party politics cannot mix?
If you have a look at the politicians who have been mentioned the most on this blog, once you get past Cameron, Miliband and Clegg, you’ll find that Sarah Teather is right up there. When I published the transcript of her… Read More ›
Another milestone reached…
Yesterday’s piece on the new Faith in the Community report by Christians in Parliament and the Evangelical Alliance took the number of posts on this blog to 300. I’m giving myself a moment to pause and celebrate having got this… Read More ›
The test for gay marriage is how those who disagree with it are treated
After all the build up to today’s vote in the House of Lords, the result was more one-sided than many were expecting. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill passed easily by 390 votes to 148. And so same-sex marriage draws another… Read More ›
Building bridges: My interview with Justin Lee, founder of the Gay Christian Network (part 2)
This is the second part of the interview I conducted with Justin Lee, the founder and chief executive of the Gay Christian Network in the United States, which has thousands of members and hosts an annual conference. Following on from the… Read More ›
Counting the cost of the same-sex marriage vote
It was hard going following the debate and developments on Twitter and in Parliament yesterday. It was like the final push before election day as everyone gives it their final shot to make their point and influence those who somehow have… Read More ›
The Government’s marriage bill is an exercise in trying to mix oil and water
The Government’s Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill has now been published with the second Reading on Tuesday 5 February, which will be the first opportunity MPs have to debate and vote on the Bill. It’s a hefty piece of reading at 56… Read More ›
What are the political issues that Christians care most about?
We’re now fully into the second half of this coalition’ government’s term in office and they’ve been very keen to tell us how they’ve been getting on through their ‘warts and all’ mid-term self-assessment. It’s impossible to assume that such… Read More ›
2013 – More of the same?
Before I return to the weekly routine of chewing over news stories, it feels appropriate to do the usual thing that happens as December passes into January by casting a reflective eye on the previous year and provide some philosophical ruminations to… Read More ›
Today is the day the Government seizes control of marriage
Today is the big day that the Government reveals its plans for the introduction same-sex marriage. There’s been plenty of talk about this over the last few days since the news that religious institutions will be allowed to conduct same-sex ceremonies,… Read More ›
Christianity and Politics in the US – what was really going on during the presidential election?
I can barely believe that it’s already three weeks since we found out that Barack Obama had won the US presidential election. Following the race from a distance I frequently struggled to get my head round the way that some… Read More ›
The folly of Brighton and Hove Council’s proposal to abolish Mr and Mrs
One thing I’ve learnt about Brighton and Hove Council is that it’s not exactly the same as other councils around the country. It’s the only one to be run by the Green party and it’s the only one I know… Read More ›
This week’s news and links: George Carey and that Nazi comment
In case anyone is concerned after yesterday’s post that I’ve gone all political with my knives out for Labour, I haven’t but sometimes you just can’t ignore party politics. It’s the same with these links today which mainly relate to… Read More ›
Eric Pickles thinks Christians are great, but is the feeling mutual?
Last night I read this Telegraph article written by Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. He has talked before about the value he places on Christianity being a moral bedrock of our society, but in this… Read More ›
David Starkey might be difficult to love but should we ignore him?
On Saturday I made a bit of a hash of things when posting a tweet saying that it would be beneficial if more gay atheists were like David Starkey, the high-profile and outspoken historian. If you’ve seen Starkey in action then… Read More ›
If you want to win friends and influence people, don’t throw stones
I generally enjoy reading articles by secularists and atheists in the media. That might sound like a strange thing for a Christian to say, but if you only ever read things that you agree with, you’re never really going to… Read More ›
David Cameron’s Easter message
Apologies for saying that I would be having a break and then posting the very next day, but I felt that this was definitely in need for sharing. David Cameron hosted a reception for Christian leaders at Downing Street this… Read More ›
This week’s news and links – Goodbye Rowan
Well the announcement of Archbishop Rowan Williams’ resignation on Friday caught most of us by surprise, but it hasn’t taken long for the evaluations of his ten-year tenure in the job to begin. The two I’ve enjoyed reading the most… Read More ›
God and Politics in the UK 