Speaking ill of the dead?

10/04/13 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (2) Comments

The death of the former prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, has unleashed extreme passions. Some are very angry at anything they can interpret as a slight against her, even if there is none. There are others who have been very offensive in their tone of attack on her name; some have partied. She was a divisive figure and is no less so in death. 'Ding dong the witch is dead', the song from the Wizard of Oz, is rising rapidly through the download charts and is heading towards number one for Sunday - there is an internet campaign dedicated to achieve this. More ...

Bombs and Peace

04/04/13 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (0) Comments

The debate about nuclear weapons is back on the news agenda. The prime minister has backed the purchase of Trident missiles. The Lib Dem members of the cabinet are less enthusiastic. Meanwhile North Korea is waging a war of words threatening to launch nuclear weapons. These weapons exist and the argument is that if we don't have them we are vulnerable to those who would launch them. The threat of mutual destruction is seen as the best defence. Surely no one would be that crazy to use them. On the other hand having them makes us all more vulnerable - the more there are the greater the danger of them being used. Some people are that deranged. As Rowan Williams, the previous Archbishop of Canterbury, said, there is no moral good involved in the destructive force which these weapons can bring. What exists, though, can't be uninvented. How to square the circle? More ...

Origins of life

17/02/13 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (5) Comments

Support for belief in God came from an unlikely source recently. TVs own resident scientist, Brian Cox, has been presenting a fascinating series on the wonders of life on BBC1. In the first episode he explained the origins of life on earth some 4 billion years ago. Grossly simplified, the 'spark' of life occurred as a result of energy flowing through the raw ingredients of hydrogen, Carbon Dioxide and various minerals (iron, nickel, sulphur) to form organic molecules. This involves a similar process to how a battery works as energy is released as protons flow from a high concentration to a lower one. The conditions for this occur naturally in hydrothermal vents in the ocean floor. For the fuller version, view the programme via the link above while it is available. More ...

Life through the eyes of blessing

14/01/13 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (2) Comments

This is a fun story. The Queen's car wouldn't start. Instead of calling the AA or RAC a bishop who happened to be standing next to her at the time decided to give the car a blessing - for a joke. To the delight of the crowd it sprung to life and purred into action. I have no doubt he would not claim any credit for this and wouldn't argue that this proves prayer works, though, as the nation was hit by snow today, many prayers and a few curses will have been invoked over cars that wouldn't start! More ...

New Year, new hope

01/01/13 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (1) Comments

Today brings us the beginning of the mornings after the night before. In many places the New Year was seen in with fireworks, parties, a toast to friends present and absent. Resolutions may have been set and there is a natural sense of new beginning. My own city didn't organise anything this year because no one was found to sponsor it. This reminded me that in these days of austerity, there is no spare money for parties on the public purse. They need a financial backer and without it the guests may gather, as they did in their hundreds, but there will be nothing on offer for them. More ...

Embellishing the Truth

24/12/12 | Posted by HughB | Permalink | (0) Comments

I imagine that most of us aren’t really that interested in what journalists have called ‘Plebgate’ but it has certainly managed to outlast other news items, which frankly are more deserving of column inches. More ...

Number Crunching

12/12/12 | Posted by HughB | Permalink | (0) Comments

So more information has been released from the 2011 UK Census and it will come as no surprise to most of us that the percentage of people defining themselves as Christians has declined considerably in the last decade – from 72% to 59%. But the BBC’s religious affairs correspondent reports that Church is not discouraged. Some are sceptical about the Census’ finding and, besides, 59% shows that “Christian belief is alive and well”…apparently. More ...

Advent and dinosaurs

05/12/12 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (1) Comments

In a discovery sure to excite every eight year old, scientists at the Natural History Museum have discovered a new dinosaur. Nyasasaurus Parringtoni, named after the region of Africa where it was found (Lake Nyasa, now Lake Malawi) and the palaeontologist who found the fossils (Rex Parrington), is thought to be around 250 million years old. Measuring between two and three metres long, it probably stood on two legs. More ...

Why are the cupboards bare?

23/10/12 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (1) Comments

Over the last couple of years there has been a massive rise in the number of food banks springing up around the country. Churches have been at the forefront of them, indeed have been the instigators and driving force to them. The response is a very impressive one to desperate need. Setting them up though is just the beginning. In 2012 we should not need to hand out food parcels to the destitute in Britain. Why are they needed? More ...

Jimmy Savile

10/10/12 | Posted by Ian Black | Permalink | (4) Comments

The number of women coming forward to say they were abused by the late Jimmy Savile is rising by the day. The police officer in charge of looking at these cases took the unusual step of labelling him a predatory paedophile. A childhood hero for millions has fallen into disgrace. His family now have to come to terms with squaring the person they knew with the person they didn't know. It was complicated further by a friend of his from one of the many charities he was involved with talking of his outstanding bedside manner with the sick and dying. Labelling people like him as monsters fails to grapple with just how complicated abuse is. More ...

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