For a small town on Tyneside, Jarrow has always had an outsized impact on our national story. In the seventh and eighth centuries its church and …The town that was murdered
How France conquered Europe
There are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen, as a quote dubiously attributed to Lenin states. Last week was one of those weeks. As it began, I argued that the most significant short term effect of the Aukus agreement would not be in the distant Pacific, but rather here on our home continent,…How …
East Germany’s bitter lessons for Cuba
“Homeland or Death — We Shall Overcome!” Cuba’s state motto still reflects the country’s combative self-image. Over sixty years have passed since Fidel Castro marched his revolutionary forces into Havana — now, it seems, many Cubans are tired of the permanent struggle they are asked to undertake in the name of socialism. It is likely…East …
Welcome to fully automated luxury gnosticism
Is in-person human contact now a luxury good? You might be forgiven for this impression, at least in elite coastal America, after seeing the photos from New York’s $30,000-a-ticket Met Gala last week. In one already-notorious image Carolyn Maloney, a Democratic representative for New York City, sports a gown that trailed multiple banners bearing the…Welcome …
Continue reading "Welcome to fully automated luxury gnosticism"
Missing the Signs: The Religious Motivations of the 9/11 Attackers
America is reeling from President Biden’s chaotic abandonment of American citizens, our Afghan allies, and religious minorities in Afghanistan. Twenty years ago this very week, America was also reeling when two jetliners smashed into the World Trade Center, a third slammed into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania as its valiant passengers overpowered their …
Continue reading "Missing the Signs: The Religious Motivations of the 9/11 Attackers"
After 9/11, the Ministry Remains
Today of course is the twentieth anniversary of the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Centres and the Pentagon. I've done this before but I'm going to post again the slide show/video I made for the Church of God Chaplains Commission about that event and the ministry response the church made, presented at the …
Secular Blasphemy is Out in the Open
On Vox, at least: What policymakers can aim for is not a total end to Covid-19 but a balancing act. On one side of that scale is containing Covid-19 with restrictions and precautions. On the other is resuming normal, pre-pandemic life. Vaccines have changed the balance by giving us the ability to contain Covid-19’s worst …
When Labour believed in Brexit
In October 1980, the colourful trade union leader Clive Jenkins took to the podium at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Blackpool with a simple message: the British public had been deceived in the referendum on European membership held in 1975. Far from the economic uplands promised by those who campaigned to remain, British industry…When …
Life is one big status game
Two decades before he landed in Australia, Captain James Cook was at sea facing a desperate matter of life and death. The problem was scurvy, a deadly illness caused by Vitamin C deficiency and which had been the curse of sailors for centuries. By the time that Capt Cook set sail for the South Pacific…Life …
How did we get here? Religious freedom never took off in Afghanistan
For those appalled by the potential of widespread Christian persecution in Afghanistan, I have bad news: the persecution imposed during the era of Taliban rule beginning in the 1990s never stopped. The Taliban’s ouster in 2001 did little to change societal norms that are anti-Christian and anti-religious minority generally. Let’s take a look back at …
Continue reading "How did we get here? Religious freedom never took off in Afghanistan"
