Life & Ministry

What is going on in the Anglican Communion?

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There has been a small torrent of comment in the religious press following Justin Welby’s announcement about a meeting to consider the future of the Anglican Communion. As usual, there is a full listing of the different points of view on the Thinking Anglicans website, and some pointed discussion of what is ‘really’ going on … Continue Reading

The Ethical Case for Voting Reform

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One of the many reactions to the result of the General Election earlier this year was a renewed call for electoral reform. The reason for this can be shown by a simple analysis of the number of votes needed for each seat in Parliament for the different parties: Votes Seats Votes per seat Con 11,162,553 … Continue Reading

When can the state kill? Questions and issues in the case of Reyaad Khan

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Andrew Goddard writes: The Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons last Monday that our armed forces used a remotely controlled aircraft (or drone) to kill Reyaad Khan in “a targeted strike to deal with a clear, credible and specific terrorist threat to our country at home”. This action was authorised by the Defence Secretary … Continue Reading

Why Jeremy Corbyn is just what we need

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Commentators are still adjusting to the shock of Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader of the Labour party in a greater landslide than the one that brought Tony Blair to the same position in 1994. As Nick Palmer points out, opinion on Corbyn splits into three camps: People who agree with him People who quite like the … Continue Reading

False steps in the assisted dying debate

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I am reposting this guest article from Andrew Goddard written last year, since it gives such a clear and full response to the move today to change the law on assisted dying. As we approach the House of Lords’ debate on Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill, it is clear that there is a concerted attempt to undermine … Continue Reading

Virtue signalling and moral decisions

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In the discussion about how to respond to the refugee crisis, I have come across a new phrase: virtue signalling. Apparently coined by Libby Purves, it involves saying something that has moral appeal but without being founded on any kind of clear thinking. Up till now, when I have read Giles Fraser’s public pronouncements, the … Continue Reading

Thinking about migration

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Having talked in my last post about our immediate response to the situation of refugees from Syria in Europe, some other issues have challenged me to engage mind as well as heart. There have been several things about the reporting and comment over the last few days that puzzled me. First was the tragic story of … Continue Reading

Responding to refugees

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Compassion. Surely that is the only legitimate response to seeing a three-year-old boy, drowned and washed up on a Turkish beach, fleeing with his family from the way in Syria. It was especially poignant yesterday, since it mingled on my Facebook feed with photographs of other boys, dressing in a red top, ready for the … Continue Reading

Having the lectionary to hand

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The lectionary is not a perfect way to read the Bible. Passages are sometimes edited in an odd way; the choice of coverage is at times frustrating; the way the gospels are presented is not always convincing. But it is a good deal better than not reading the Bible at all, and if you are … Continue Reading