In 2016, the polling company YouGov asked people in 17 countries this question: ‘All things considered, do you think the world is getting better or worse, or neither getting better nor worse?’ 58% of those answering thought that the world was getting worse and only 11% thought that it was getting better
Has Modern Science killed God?
I’ve been a member of possibly the last ever generation to be brought up as Christian as a matter of course. Those responsible for my education as a boy would find that shocking; in the 1950s it was the perfectly natural way of things. Then, as I got older, I started picking up that some people thought that Science had overtaken God; that Science had made God unnecessary; that Modern Science had even killed God (as Vaclav Havel claimed). This was almost the default position of anyone who left school in the 1960s.
The Church of England and Lockdown by the Revd Humphrey Prideaux,
I am delighted to post the following piece by the Revd Humphrey Prideaux, who became a friend after he became my tutor for the last term of my Foundation Degree in Christian Theology, in 2010. I have learned so much from him. The following piece that he shared with me, reflected so well my own thoughts, that I sought his permission to include it here, as a guest blog, with my thanks.
‘If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.’ Oh really?
It might be one of the legacies of lockdown, but almost every day, I hear in our media worryingly aggressive criticism of others. This has been a growing trend for some years. I’ve found over my lifetime that it’s generally better for one’s mental health, to try to accept that the vast majority of people are not unlike I am
Women’s Lives Matter
On 10th June, I wrote a piece entitled ‘Am I a Racist?’ and in it I asked: ‘Why do we care so much about racism, but don’t seem to care at all about gender violence…?’ In a recent discussion with my daughter Katie, she volunteered to expand on this theme, and what follows is her guest blog, in her own words.
Gratitude for the English countryside during lockdown
This last week in the UK, we passed the milestone of one hundred days spent in ‘lockdown’. I suspect that everyone’s experience has been different and it’s most important not to suggest that everyone has been as lucky as we’ve been, in our stunning corner of the South Downs National Park in Hampshire. But I also feel the need to celebrate the magnificence of nature in this strangest of years, when perhaps even the smallest things can make us feel better about ourselves.
Reflective Preacher 