Posts under ‘Reflections’

There are various reasons why I am disappointed that MPs have approved hybrid embryo research, have rejected the ’saviour sibling’ ban, have rejected the consideration of the need for a father in consideration of IVF treatment and have rejected the bid to lower the upper limit for abortions.
However, the ethical questions aside, as so often [...]

An intriguing article appeared on the BBC yesterday reporting that theologians in Turkey have been commissioned by the government to revise the Hadith – an important text for Muslims interpreting the Koran (and an important source for Sharia law).
This may well be a very positive thing – particularly in relation to the rights and [...]

There has been wide coverage of the Prime Minister’s recommendation of presumed consent for organ donors.
I will side-step the question of whether such ‘consent’ is genuine or not because a different question bothers me.
I am amazed by the number of people who are prepared to stand up for the right for people’s wishes to be [...]

Last week I had the benefit of hearing a presentation by Christian Concern for Our Nation and wanted to bring their good work to the attention of anyone who happens to read this site.
I was very challenged by the way that over the last few decades in the UK we have enabled our faith to [...]

The recent woes of Northern Rock (and to a certain extent the earlier panic in the USA) seem to be related to the state of the ‘Sub-Prime Mortgage’ market. ‘Sub-Prime’ seems to be something of a euphemism for ‘mortgages for people that can’t really afford them’ and as the BBC’s investigation seems to indicate, [...]

There is no denying Harry’s popularity as ‘Book 6′ breaks all sales records.
And amongst certain branches of Christianity the debate seems to rumble on about whether or not Christians should be reading about ‘witchcraft’ and the like (a really good summary article of both positions here).
But having finished reading The Deathly Hallows yesterday, and also [...]

I have just picked up on an interesting article from The Guardian which suggests that the well publicised ‘new atheist’ movement (represented by the Dawkins/Dennett type of school) is essentially motivated by a political agenda – and in particular fear of radical Islam and ‘fundamentalist’ America.
Bunting rightly recognises that in their “vituperative polemic” the new atheists [...]

A news article this morning caught my eye.  The Fire Brigade Union are having an argument about the representation of minority groups on their executive committee.
The debate centres on whether having black, gay and women representatives on the committee gives those ‘interest groups’ greater power than corresponds to their proportion of the total membership.
It represents [...]

As we continue to reflect on the blessings of Easter, it is interesting to note that the debate surrounding the doctrine of Penal Substitution (PS) rumbles on in the UK.
An almost tabloid headline in the Sunday Telegraph (Christ did not die for sin) trumpeted a strongly anti-PS sermon by Jeffrey John, the Dean of St Albans.
This [...]

I’m grateful to my friend AJS for pointing me to this mini-debate from the BBC Today programme between William Lane Craig and Lewis Wolpert. 
It is a classic example of two people who will not accept each other’s presuppositions. 
The scary thought is that a large number of people would fail to recognise that the second person had [...]