A few days ago I tweeted this.
Is it time to stop using term “Christians” so loosely esp. when it is used to imply that all Christians hold same stance e.g. on gay rights? Continue reading
Category Archives: Politics
The one idea that Northern Ireland’s Church and public need to embrace.
Having spent the majority of my life living in Northern Ireland, I have seen the damage that holding on to hurt and pain as communities can cause. I have seen more news reports on bombs and shootings and deaths than there ever should be.
What I learned from my first hate mail.
I wrote a post on my blog a few days ago that got quite a bit of coverage. It was retweeted so many times that I lost count. I went from receiving a few hits a day if I was lucky to literally thousands. Now I’m not used to writing posts that get so much exposure and so two things went through my head when I saw how well it was doing. Continue reading
Why the DUP are the new Pharisees.
The recent banning of the Reduced Shakespeare Play of the Abridged version of the Bible is more than just about censorship. It is more than just about a political party exerting control over the arts and much more to do with fear.
The fear of some Fundamental Evangelical Christians that their rights as Christians are being torn apart. The fear of their version of Christianity being slowly eroded which would leave them in a position of vulnerability. The fear that Christianity will come tumbling down because of a play. Continue reading
Why we need Satire.
Offense, distrust, anger and hatred. These are terms that can be used to sum up many conversations that happen on social media today.
You will find people who you agree with wholeheartedly but equally so you will find people who say something you find offensive or disagree with completely. How we react to these people is very important. How we engage with these people will determine whether the conversation becomes just that or whether it turns into a war of words.
The question I have been asking lately has been one of the place satire has in reacting to views that are wrong and need to be shown to have no place in our world.
Is satire the best approach to make fun of politicians or does it only succeed at angering the people it pokes fun at, therefore rendering any potential useful discussion obsolete? Continue reading
David Ervine: A tribute to when politicians were brave.
I was 23 years old when David Ervine died. I didn’t know a great deal about politics but I knew that I liked him. I am not a loyalist. I’m not a Unionist, Nationalist or Republican. I am not a supporter of any one political party. I am more interested in how a politician can help Northern Ireland move on from our terrible past (and present).
David Ervine was someone who stood against everything that I thought loyalism stood for. Anger, anti Sinn Fein, stuck in the past. He made me see that not all loyalists were violent and ignorant. He made me see that I was wrong.
He stood out from the crowd in NI politics. He was likable and intelligent. The term visionary has never been more aptly applied to a politician in Northern Ireland now and in the past.
I can’t help but wonder where we would be if he was still alive. Continue reading
Fear V Courage
Fear works like this.
Something is presented to us that is unknown. This can be a person, an activity, a place, an idea, a job, a community, a thought.
As long as it is unknown to us it can create fear.
Fear then turns into worry and stress and the perception of a threat to our way of living.
This can lead to anger, attacks, prejudice and avoidance.
This then becomes how we react to anything new and it becomes a condition we live in.
Then we stall.
Courage works like this. Continue reading
Anger and Hope: How NI haass to embrace forgiveness.
What is it about someone saying something we disagree that gets us all riled up? Is it bad to get angry or is it more important how we react to anger? Anger can lead to hate which can lead to violence. When there are individuals or groups of people who stand against everything we believe in, our initial reaction is to get angry.
Coming from Northern Ireland, a country that has been damaged by people who have hurt each other over and over in ways that have caused the deaths of thousands of people, I have seen first hand how anger can take over.
Not all anger is a bad thing though.
An Easter message for Christmas: Flags and our identity
There is a story in the Bible about the moment just before Jesus was taken captive by the Government. Jesus was about to experience unimaginable pain and torture. He was going to be humiliated and He was going to face death. His best friends had recently deserted him at the time when He needed them most. One of whom was responsible for turning Jesus in.
Up steps Peter, the same Peter who denied knowing Jesus three times. He had a chance to redeem himself so he takes out his sword and cuts off the ear of one of Jesus’ captors.
If there was a moment for the son of God to use all the powers He had at His disposal, this was it. This was the moment that they had all been waiting for. Jesus could now accomplish what he promised and there would be no chance for anyone who stood in His way. The violence that they had planned for Jesus would be no match for the revolution He could now unleash.
Except, that’s not exactly how the story went. Continue reading
Would you believe it?
As the Presidential campaign continues this week with the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, it’s becoming clearer to me that neither the Republican Party or the Democrat Party have been all that good at inclusiveness.
Sure the Republicans brought out the Hispanic delegates last week in an attempt to seem more open in much the same way that this week the Democrats began their convention hailing the soldiers that have given up their lives to defend their country.
But in the end what does it mean to be inclusive? Continue reading
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