• Where is the Church’s Prophetic Voice?

    Where is the Church’s Prophetic Voice?

    “Many of us like to think we would, or even do, speak truth to power, but when we’re actually confronted with it, either in ourselves or our colleagues, we struggle to recognise it for what it is. After twenty-five years of worshipping and, latterly, discerning in the Church of England, I see plenty of power,…

  • Reflections on Remembrance & Nationalism

    Reflections on Remembrance & Nationalism

    Today I went to a Remembrance service at a war memorial followed by one at a church.  At both, the national anthem was sung, and other nationalistic sentiments were expressed in word and song.  It goes without saying that Remembrance is an incredibly important and significant time for many people and for the society we…

  • Navigating Academia as an Undiagnosed Autistic

    Navigating Academia as an Undiagnosed Autistic

    What is it like to go to university with undiagnosed #autism? How does the diagnostic process affect this? #REDinstead

  • Truth, Freedom of Speech, and the Poppy

    Truth, Freedom of Speech, and the Poppy

    This blog is a sort of semi-sequel to this one.  If you have not read it, you may like to. In a recent speech, the actor and comedian Stephen Fry expressed his frustration at the apparent death of the political centre ground. The problem, he feels, is that freedom of speech is under attack from both…

  • The Church Can No Longer Be Politically Neutral

    The Church Can No Longer Be Politically Neutral

    I can still picture the moment I discovered that there are Christians who believe that climate change is a good thing because it will speed Christ’s return!  Much like the famed ‘rapture hatch’, it can be tempting to laugh at such eschatological clumsiness, but for the seriousness of its implications.  A similar story emerges with…

  • Stories from the Way: The Camino Donativo

    Stories from the Way: The Camino Donativo

    Reaction to the BBC’s ‘Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago’ has been somewhat mixed amongst those who have completed the journey themselves.  Indeed even before it began, more than one friend expressed their concern that such a programme could not possibly do justice to the great and ancient mysteries of the Way.  I likewise had concerns, but…

  • “Why Are You Not Communist Like Jesus Was?”: Anarchists on Christianity

    “Why Are You Not Communist Like Jesus Was?”: Anarchists on Christianity

    For some time now I have been thinking about how to open this blog up to allow voices other than my own to be heard.  Recently I ‘reblogged’ a piece from elsewhere for the first time, and soon a series of guest bloggers will be posting on issues close to them.  For this piece though, I…

  • The Problem With Policing

    The Problem With Policing

    Expressing your aversion to the police as an institution immediately elicits some variation of the same question each time: “what if someone’s breaking into my house?” or “what if someone attacks me?”.  People worry about being the victim of, or witness to a crime, and this is completely understandable.  Problems soon come though, when such…

  • 5 Steps to a Communist Christmas

    5 Steps to a Communist Christmas

    With Christmas Day imminent, it can be easy to get caught up in the last minute dash to the shops, or the frustration of planning something everyone will enjoy.  The whole Christmas season can become overshadowed by things that have no right to take up our time and thoughts, so with that in mind, here…

  • Joy in Enough: Economics for People and Planet

    “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”  So goes Henry Ford’s oft parroted quote.  It is particularly popular with Donald Trump, who has tweeted it on at least three separate occasions.  Of course it’s easy for someone like Donald Trump to say, starting out, as…