Put the X back in Xmas

Now that Christmas is over, I don't mind saying how tired I am of hearing Christians banging on about how we spell it. As if getting people to spell it C-h-r-i-s-t instead of X- would be a major victory.

In fact, I'm thinking of starting a campaign to 'Put the cross back in Xmas'. Because if we gave more attention to the ultimate end and purpose of Christ's coming at this time of the year, instead of just its beginning, we might pursue a bit more self-denial and less self-indulgence. And that would surely get us closer to living the kind of life he wants for us...

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Robbing The Poor To Feed The Rich?

Now that cuts in spending seem to be on the agenda of all the main political parties, the big questions still to be answered are: how much? And where will the axe fall? According to a recent poll by Ipsos MORI, published by the BBC ( http://bit.ly/d168R ), the most popular candidate with most people is overseas aid. That’s not really surprising. It’s understandable that during severe financial crisis most people want our government to look after our own affairs first. Charity, as the saying goes, begins at home. But is it really right for the poorest nations of the world to be penalised for a crisis that was brought on by the rich? The developing world already spends $1.3 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants (Source: World Centric, http://bit.ly/b5C7f ). Every day at least $100 million flows from the poor of the world into the pockets of the rich. Existing problems like drought and famine will not go away just because there is a worldwide recession, and the poor are mo...

The Shadow Of The Crusades

Like many others I watched this week's handover ceremony in Basra with some relief. Hopefully it's the beginning of the end of a venture that most people in the UK would rather forget. But relief gave way to frustration as I listened to the closing prayers, and realised with fresh understanding why the Muslim world still cannot forgive or forget the Crusades. It's one thing to have chaplains provide support and comfort to ordinary soldiers, who after all are only doing the job that their political masters have dictated. But against the backdrop of our history, it seems insanely foolish to include a religious element in a televised event associated with such a contentious war as the one in Iraq. The marriage of religion and state has never born palatable fruit. When clerics have political power, the wrong kind of people become clerics, for the wrong reasons. That much is clear from European history, and is still apparent in parts of the Islamic world today. Almost all religi...

A God Who Reaches Out

Years ago I was guest speaker at a conference of a group of churches in a remote part of SW Uganda. One of the delegates I met there had walked for a couple of days to attend, sleeping out in the bush under the stars, and drinking water from whatever muddy pool he came across. I've been back several times since, but I've never forgotten the remarkable dedication of that one individual. It's been widely acknowledged, and I've written here previously, that the universe seems to speak to us of an architect - a creator of everything we see around us. If that's true, it would require similar dedication on their part for us to have any chance of knowing and understanding them. The innumerable religions and concepts of God that we find around the world today, not to mention throughout history, and the many other theories of origins, are testimony to this. Left to ourselves we are incapable of figuring out definitively, to everyone's agreement and satisfaction, who or w...

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