Everyone has been talking about institutional racism recently – even the Church of England. A recent government report caused controversy by finding no evidence of widespread institutional racism in the UK. In this video I take a deeper look at the Church of England to see where problems might like.
I should point out there’s a huge amount more that I could (and maybe should) have said. For example, a few years ago, orthodox Anglican provinces came together to form GAFCON because they were unhappy with the direction of the Church of England (and many Western Anglican churches) on sexuality, as well as other ethical issues.
These days, Western liberal Anglican churches are in the minority compared to the majority of Anglican churches around the world who tend to be more firmly orthodox.
One of the most puzzling things of the last 12 months is this: why is it that some people, especially the government, are so obsessed with masks? Why do people treat them as if they’re the only thing standing between us and disaster?
Discussion about the rights and wrongs of lockdown usually focusses on whether they are effective, or how serious covid is, etc. Here I want to go back to the beginning and ask whether lockdowns are morally right. I give two reasons why I believe lockdowns are immoral and should never have been attempted.
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve heard a few times people making the comparison between vaccine passports and the Mark of the Beast. Is it appropriate to draw that comparison? In this video I look at the mark of the beast from the book of Revelation and how it relates to what’s happening with covid.
I quoted from Ian Paul’s commentary on Revelation, which is very helpful if you want to study Revelation (which is not the easiest of books to understand!).
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but…” I’ve heard this more than once over the last few months. It’s really hard to explain what is going on without it. The Bible has a lot to say which can help us explain about the dark forces going on behind the scenes.
In March 2020 the UK ditched its pandemic preparedness strategy and switched to lockdowns. Why? I suggest that, although there are many reasons, the roots go to a problem which has been around for a long time.
If you’d like to read the 2011 Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy, you can see it here.
Dominion by Tom Holland is available on lots of places e.g. Waterstones.
A few quotes from the 2011 Pandemic Preparedness Strategy
Just for fun, here are a few quotes from the plan which we were operating under up until February 2020.
Face masks:
Although there is a perception that the wearing of facemasks by the public in the community and household setting may be beneficial, there is in fact very little evidence of widespread benefit from their use in this setting. Facemasks must be worn correctly, changed frequently, removed properly, disposed of safely and used in combination with good respiratory, hand, and home hygiene behaviour in order for them to achieve the intended benefit. Research also shows that compliance with these recommended behaviours when wearing facemasks for prolonged periods reduces over time.
Border restrictions:
There are no plans to attempt to close borders in the event of an influenza pandemic.
Closing events:
For these reasons, the working presumption will be that Government will not impose any such restrictions. The emphasis will instead be on encouraging all those who have symptoms to follow the advice to stay at home and avoid spreading their illness. However, local organisers may decide to cancel or postpone events in a pandemic fearing economic loss through poor attendances, and the public themselves may decide not to mix in crowds, or use public transport if other options are available.
School closures:
The impact of closure of schools and similar settings on all sectors would have substantial economic and social consequences, and have a disproportionately large effect on health and social care because of the demographic profile of those employed in these sectors. Such a step would therefore only be taken in an influenza pandemic with a very high impact and so, although school closures cannot be ruled out, it should not be the primary focus of schools’ planning.
Communication:
All communication should be high quality and cost effective, using the most efficient and reliable ways of delivering information in a range of scenarios to a variety of audiences so to maximise understanding and encourage appropriate behaviour without causing panic or appearing disproportionate.
To be fair, this is all based on an influenza pandemic, which is not the same as a coronavirus pandemic. But I think there would be a lot of common ground there, and I see no reason why this strategy would not have worked for covid-19. But I think the key points are the ethical considerations rather than the blunt fact of what works and what doesn’t.
One of the most striking things about the last 12 months is the way that churches have gone above and beyond what they have been required to do in lockdown restrictions. Why is it that churches have been so keen to proclaim the message of “hands, face, space”?
You could write a book about that (and one day someone probably will). But in this video I just focus on two reasons why I think the church has been so taken with lockdown.
Have you noticed that the way the government and media often talk about climate change and lockdowns is almost religious? Here I look at the similarities between Christianity, lockdowns, and climate change.
As I discussed in my previous post, this is a new foray into vlogging… if you’re into YouTube, pop on over and subscribe to my channel to get videos there.
I’ve been blogging here for a long time – nearly 20 years, in fact! Over the last few years, as the world has changed, I’ve started to post up more about working out what’s going on in the world. Especially from a Christian perspective (as you’d expect). 2020 has been a crazy kind of a year – it feels to me as if the world has quite literally gone mad.
As I’ve got a bit more into “vlogging”, I’ve decided to do that more and I made a short video introducing my thoughts. (I’m still new to the whole thing so I apologise if it’s a bit shaky!)
All the videos will be posted here as well – but if you’re into YouTube why don’t you pop on over there and subscribe?
I won’t be moving entirely to video though, I will continue writing and blogging in the more traditional style. It’s very early days so let’s see how it goes!
Over the last 12 months during the pandemic, government guidance has prevented many churches from singing. Why has God allowed this to happen? In this short video we look at Psalm 95 to help us understand.
Key points
In the video I take a very brief look at Psalm 95.
Verses 1-2 tell us to sing – three times! There are two reasons to sing.
Firstly, in verses 3-5, we are to sing because God is a great God – he made everything.
Secondly, in verses 6-7, we are to sing because God cares for us.
The Psalm finishes with a warning in verses 8-11, not to be like the people of Israel at Meribah. This is referring to Exodus 17:1-7, where the people of Israel tested God. They grumbled against Moses and did not trust that God would provide water for them in the desert.
I wonder whether the reason God has taken our songs away is because we have been acting a bit like the people of Israel at Meribah and Massah: songs are an expression of trust in God and praising him for his deliverance and care. What does it say about God if we think it’s not safe to sing to him?
Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to do something like Matt Redman’s song, “Heart of Worship”. Maybe God wants us to learn what it means to trust him and praise him more deeply.
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