belief that liberates?

There is no doubt that our beliefs are important.
We base all of our decisions on beliefs. Our beliefs influence what we buy, where we live, who we marry, and so on. Obviously, we want our beliefs to correspond to reality and give us a cohesive world view, and the same goes for our religious beliefs. [...]

Key sticks to his guns

A while back I posted a blog about the repeal of Section 59 – the law change in New Zealand that removed the legal defence of ‘reasonable force’ in child abuse cases. Preliminary results are now back from a controversial Citizen-Initiated Referendum that asked the question:
Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal [...]

Why Brits hate modern architecture

25 years ago, during a speech to the RIBA, Prince Charles shocked his audience by launching an attack on modern architecture,  calling a proposed modern extension to the National Gallery  ”a carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend.” The scheme was dropped, and since then Charles has maintained a role as a notorious [...]

The butterfly effect

If a butterfly’s wings are significant enough that they could potentially trigger a tornado, how significant are our small actions?

Is aid killing Africa?

The Guardian recently featured an article about Dambisa Moyo and her new book called “Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa.” The book is due for release later this month, and my guess is that it will ruffle a few feathers. An introduction to the book [...]

Atheist buses

At the end of last year here in London there was a small controversy surrounding what has been called the ‘Atheist Bus Campaign.’ On a number of buses throughout the UK an advertisement reads ‘There’s probably no God, now stop worrying and enjoy yourself.”  The campaign made the news after prominent atheist Richard Dawkins offered [...]

The aftermath of terror

It is now over a week since Israel announced a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli offensive resulted in the death of over 1200 Palestinians, over 400 of whom were children. More than 50,000 Palestinians have been left homeless. In contrast, on the Israeli side 13 died, 3 of whom were civilians.  Such a [...]

Telling your left from right

The outcome of the New Zealand election probably raised few eyebrows; a change of Government in New Zealand has been expected for some time, and in the end the margin was comfortable. The outcome was assisted by the ousting of the New Zealand First Party from Parliament, and also by a swing to the left [...]

Who to vote for in 2008

There is an endless number of people lining up to tell us who to vote for this year, and that is the last thing I want to do here. But how do we decide who to vote for? I find this a fascinating question. Inevitably there are underlying ideologies that drive our decision making process, [...]

Beer and hymns

There must be near on a thousand in the beer tent, plastic cups with local ale in the air, voices joined in boisterous singing. This rowdy crowd, however, are mostly Christians, and the songs are not your typical drinking songs… but hymns. This remarkable sight is occurring at the “Jesus Arms,” and is one of [...]