Tom Wright on Christian Hope

This is something of an early review on the book “Surprised by Hope” by Tom Wright (Or N.T. Wright to his more scholarly audience), who, for those of you unaware, is the Bishop of Durham in the Anglican Communion, and one of the more prominent New Testament theologians of our day.
I say this is [...]

Between Protesters and Police, Principalities and Powers…

For the last few days, I have been in attendance at the so-called Camp for Climate Action, or “Climate Camp” for short, a now annual mass activist rally which serves to protest major governmental sources of environmental negligence, as well as a spontaneously-formed decentralised community which gathers to celebrate sustainable living. This year, the location [...]

Good Citizenship

Simon Barrow at Ekklesia writes:
“Good citizenship is not about flag-waving, metaphorically or otherwise. It’s about the just practices, shared habits and practical ways of organising our public lives which enable people to belong to one another across boundaries like those created by nation states, not in subjection to them.”
Read the rest of the article here.

Meditations on Community

It’ s quite strange that as for the last couple of weeks I’ve been thinking about the idea of community within a Christian context, the good folks over at Jesus Manifesto have written an article which expresses my thoughts almost word for word. It was enough to make me wonder whether repeating such thoughts here [...]

Christian Nonparticipation in State Politics

I’ve been having a lot of interesting discussions with several friends lately, regarding the relationship between the Church and the State. I’ve often either been criticised or questioned (in a friendly way) about how I happen to view this dynamic, and I suppose this is because I’ve been seen as “idealistic” or else impractical about [...]

A False Sense of Security

Firstly, a bit of a disclaimer. Part of the reason I have been so infrequent with my blogging in recent months is because I am very aware how much of a simpleton I am. The writings on this blog come from someone with no formal religious, political, or sociological training, and while perhaps one day [...]

Common Directions

As an activist, I have often asked myself (and others) of what the end goals are of the activities in which I engage. Now, for many of us involved in what is sometimes referred to as “politics with a small ‘p,’ ” these activities carry with them a range of different methods, applications, and purposes. [...]

Big Brother is watching… and listening… and reading your emails

The Depoliticisation of Christianity

A friend of mine was explaining to me last night about how she feels that Christianity has too often been mixed with agendas to push certain political issues, and that people of this faith need to get back to the “fundamentals.”
I didn’t really ask what she specifically meant by this, but whilst I would [...]

Romans 13 as a Justification for Authoritarian Violence

I often see this passage used by Christians to not only endorse the necessity of human authority, but also to justify such things as capital punishment and warfare.
I have often argued that the traditional interpretation of the chapter cannot possibly make sense given that it follows on directly from Romans 12, which seemingly offers a [...]