If you have ever contributed to charities working in developing countries, you’ve probably wondered just how far your money is going. First, there’s the worry that your money may be going to admin costs rather than the people ‘on the … Read more...
Category: Morality
Brian McLaren Book Review: What Else is New about A New Kind of Christianity?
Back in March, I noted the intensity of the debate that had been provoked by Brian McLaren’s latest book, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith.
Now that I’ve had a chance to read the … Read more...
Social Justice Ireland & ‘An Agenda for a New Ireland’
Earlier this week, the NGO Social Justice Ireland (SJI) published ‘An Agenda for a New Ireland,’ a 250-page socio-economic review of what went wrong in Ireland, what hasn’t changed, and what state and citizens might do to improve living on … Read more...
Fox News on Witch Hunt for Christian Pastors?
For many people on this side of the Atlantic, I suspect their impressions of Fox News’ Glenn Beck are mediated through the spoofs of Daily Show comedian Jon Stewart, whose programme is aired on Channel 4.
Beck identifies himself … Read more...
Johnny Cash for Holy Week: An Evening at Fitzroy Presbyterian
‘There’s probably more theology in that film clip than in the book of Romans.’
Rev. Steve Stockman, the minister of Fitzroy Presbyterian Church in Belfast, said words to that effect to those who had gathered there yesterday evening … Read more...
Smearing the Pope? Vatican’s Defence is not Endearing
Yesterday the New York Times made the case that Pope Benedict knew more, and did more to cover-up the actions of paedophile priests, than has previously been supposed. This has prompted another offensive from the Vatican, accusing the media … Read more...
Does it Matter if Cardinal Sean Brady Resigns? The Future of the Irish Catholic Church
Cardinal Sean Brady, and the Irish Catholic Church, have claimed that it is ‘not fair to judge him by the child protection standards of today.’
Amid the cries that Brady should resign, the Irish Catholic Church has issued a statement … Read more...
Cardinal Sean Brady and Sex Abuse: Have we lost our capacity to be shocked?
What will be the next headline when it comes to the Irish Catholic Church? We have now learned that in 1975, a then 36-year-old priest, and now Cardinal Sean Brady, was involved in ‘covering up’ sexual abuse by the infamous … Read more...
Abuse Scandals in the Irish Catholic Church: What do Young Catholics Think?
What do young Irish Catholics think about their church? There was a fleeting insight into this in today’s Education Supplement in the Irish Times. Brief interviews with four teenage students from Coláiste Cillian in Clondalkin, Dublin, covered a range … Read more...
US Health Care Debate – Christian Options?
Saturday’s Irish Times outlines the options facing President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party in their efforts to pass health care reform in the United States. I’m an American, and I have followed the somewhat tedious rounds of debates with … Read more...
Linda Hogan Book Review: Applied Ethics in a World Church
There is more to the Catholic Church than sex abuse scandals.
Although that is a rather obvious point, in contemporary Ireland, it’s a fact that could quite easily get overlooked. Of course Catholics and other concerned citizens are right to … Read more...