The success of Sinn Féin in the Irish general election has raised the question of Irish re-unification. Political spin The post-election use of results in order to reinterpret the campaign is a feature of political spin that needs to be identified and called out for what it is. Let me illustrate it with the SNP …
Addressing media bias
There are many accusations of bias in the broadcast media, and not without some justification. Donald Trump drew attention to it by calling some journalism fake news and when he strong-armed journalists at news conferences. The BBC complained that Boris Johnson would not be interviewed by Andrew Neil prior to the Dec 2019 General Election …
Brexit has arrived! The Lord has done it
"God reigns, let the earth be glad, and isles rejoice each one," including the British Isles.Psalm 97:1 Scottish metrical version. Even the ungodly say "Thank God for that!" – but I mean it. Most of my adult life I have looked forward to the day we would leave the EU, or its predecessor the EEC. …
Unbelief: the default position
Unbelief is the default position for human beings. People believe what they judge to be true. For every truth, there are many untruths set against it. As there is more falsehood than truth, there is more unbelief than belief in the world. Fake news drowns out the truth, and when the truth is discovered it …
Can you trust Christians?
It is common to hear people complain that they cannot trust such and such a person, particularly politicians. This is a blanket statement, showing how little thought they have given to the subject. People say that they cannot trust the Prime Minister and little wonder that people say that they cannot trust Christians when they …
John Bunyan and biblical metaphors
I attended a useful lecture last night on The Forgotten John Bunyan, whose Pilgrim's Progress is a Christian classic. The adjective 'Forgotten' partly referred to Bunyan's language, imagination and use of metaphors, which were controversial in 17th-century British Christianity. Pilgrim's Progress is sometimes described as the first novel, but this is not accurate because Don …
A summary of the New Testament in the Christian Bible
I recently summarised examples of Jesus’ extraordinary conversation in the Gospel of John. I hope it will be helpful to have a brief summary of the New Testament. Background – language and layout The New Testament was written after the Lord Jesus Christ appeared on Earth. In contrast, the Old Testament was written before He …
Continue reading A summary of the New Testament in the Christian Bible
Calling time on chief executives
It is time to accept that many chief executives cannot do their job. Ever since the 2008 credit crisis, when the "too big to fail" mantra emerged, the Scottish Christian Party has claimed that some corporations are "too big to manage". The corporate failures in our high streets, issues with our transport, education and health …
Jesus’ conversational topics
"Jesus answered and said: ..."The Synoptic Gospels How often do we read this comment in the Gospels! Well – 34 times in the King James Version to be exact, and many more times in various combinations – but what I meant was – look how common it is! It is so common that one might …
Continuing partnership confusion
Civil partnerships are changing, slowly catching up with the Scottish Christian Party. The Scottish Christian Party (SCP) correctly predicted that civil partnerships were a stepping stone towards redefining marriage to include homosexual partnerships. The argument for recognising civil partnerships between same-sex couples was that married people had legal and financial advantages denied to homosexual couples. …
