“The Association of Muslim Lawyers went even further, saying that it wanted formal recognition of a Muslim man’s right under Sharia law to have up to four wives. Ahmad Thomson, a member of the AML, said: ‘Under the Human Rights Acts they actually have a right to live and practice as Muslims and part of …
Is the Moon Really Necessary?
“Therefore to talk of not seeing the need for the Church is like talking of not seeing the need for the moon. The Church, like the moon, is not a human project, but a divine creation” (Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind, p. 119).
You Can’t See What You Won’t See
“British Muslims, however, are increasingly pushing for their culture to highly visible and given parity in the public sphere. Halal meals and separate prayer rooms are now commonplace throughout British institutions” (Melanie Phillips, Londonistan, p. 94).
Surprises
“The Christian mind knows that, in any sorting out of the sheep and the goats, of the virtuous from the sinful, the forces of Heaven would slice through human society at an unexpected angle” (Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind, p. 91).
Defining Our Days
Most of us learned in high school that nature abhors a vacuum. When a vacuum is created, it takes concerted effort to keep it a vacuum because nothing always tends to fill up with something. The principle is unexceptionable, but we can still be surprised from time to time at the ways in which the …
What Would Jesus Damn?
I hope it is possible to say this with all reverence, but Jesus was a tough customer. Contrary to popular opinion, the Lord of the gospels was not the original flower child, and He did not come in order to make us all feel better about ourselves. The image that many have of the Lord’s …
Grace Has No Handles
Grace has no handles and is impossible for sinners to pick up. But grace does have hands and consequently has no difficulty picking us up. As long as we cling to our very natural (and sinful) tendency to have some kind of righteousness that we can call our own, this is impossible for us to …
Ghost Town Denominations
As the ancient preacher pondered the futility of our existence here under the sun, one of his complaints pointed to the problem of inheritance. Each of us will die, and each of us will leave behind us the fruit of our labors. And who knows, the preacher wondered, whether these heirs will be wise or …
Not Whether, But Which
Next time you are shut up in the house — say it is a rainy day with nothing much to do — a pleasant and instructive afternoon could be spent with a world atlas. The cartographical exercise I have in mind would perhaps reveal something about the world which is well worth knowing. While staring …
Timelines and Gaps
A wag once commented that the difference between Americans and Englishmen is that Englishmen think that one hundred miles is a long way, and Americans think one hundred years is a long time. And of course in one sense a hundred years is a long time, or, put more accurately, time enough. Much can happen; …