“There seems to be one fundamental law of a very solemn kind which touches this question of judgement; and when I turn to the ancient prophets and recall the limited area of history they had at their disposal for making their inductions, I am always surprised at the curious aptness with which they seem to have found the formula in this connection — a formula which they put in a special position of priority.
A while back, I had a bit of a problem with someone, not me, opening bank / credit card accounts in my name. That meant I had the opportunity to contact the fraud teams at a number of banks.
… eventually.
I have no idea which way tomorrow's General Election will go. But our parish magazine, The Well, comes out this week or next, and I have a letter in there about the Election. Here it is:
Dear Friends
I was planning to write some more about the epoch-making events 500 years ago known as “The Reformation”. That can wait: We’ve had a General Election, and possibly the outcome is known by the time you read this.
I don't normally moan online about things, but I think there's a cautionary tale here that's worth broadcasting.
You see something you can buy online, and you have no way of knowing whether it's a reliable purchase until you try it. In our case, the amount of money lost was small, but some people make much larger purchases, so I think it's worth making sure people are aware of the risks.
Yesterday, the citizens of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.
In no particular order, here are a few thoughts on where we go from here.
I was appalled at the campaigns run by both the "Remain" and the "Leave" camps. Both were largely ad-hominem attacks on proponents of the opposing viewpoint, saying whatever would be likely to swing a vote rather than encouraging us to engage intelligently with the real issues.
Just bookmarking this page for future reference: Are Christian converts seeking asylum getting a raw deal?
In summary, if someone arrives in Britain, and they are claiming assylum because they are Muslim who has converted to Christianity, how would an immigration official go about testing whether that claim is genuine?
From BBC News
The Independent reported on Thursday, with a piece entitled: “Humanists threaten further legal action over ‘unlawful’ Religious Studies GCSE syllabus”. You can also read about it in the TES.
My friend Neil Robbie, vicar of Holy Trinity West Bromwich, has written an advent lament, called "Broken". He takes a long hard look at modern Britain, that is both informed and compassionate, and asks the question: "What has gone wrong?", but also "What is the way back?" and "How do we fix it?"
I thought his analysis of the issues was spot on, and that his poetry is profoundly moving. So, with Neil's permission, I reproduce it here:
Question: Who said this?
Christianity isn't a list of rules to follow or a strict theological code. It is primarily about a relationship with a God whose character means that he seeks a relationship with you. The Bible is full to the brim of accounts of God seeking a relationship with people who fail, and are then rescued from that failure by the God who loves them despite the fact that they hardly love him back.
The BBC News website headlined an article with this picture of some of the European political leaders today.
What's missing?
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