A Thinking Man

I thought I knew the answers.  Well, perhaps I knew that I didn’t really know, because I had never really thought about it (and certainly hadn’t read about it).  But when I was a believer, aiming to base my life and theology on what I believed to be the holy book that had somehow (don’t [...]

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If it is not women’s legs and bottoms (see Appropriateness), it is their breasts.  Apparently some men, especially some religious men, just can’t leave them alone.  It is bad enough that some women in the Sudan are being whipped for wearing trousers, now some in Somalia are being whipped for wearing bras.
According to press reports:

A HARDLINE Islamist [...]

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For a long time I have felt very uneasy with the notion of Faith Schools.  Having worked in Secondary Modern Schools, and latterly in Comprehensives, and Further Education Colleges, I have a profound dislike of anything that divides young people unnecessarily or that make access to progress a privilege.
My two main objections to them are [...]

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The relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux, a 19th-century Roman Catholic nun, have arrived in Britain for a month-long tour of England and Wales.  A casket containing some of her bodily remains, which were preserved after her death from tuberculosis at 24 in 1897, has arrived in Kent.
For four weeks from 16 September, Thérèse’s hearse [...]

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Despite what the (American) religious right may teach, just saying “No” to yourself doesn’t always work.
Many of us already knew that, but it’s now official. The truth is out at last – abstinence-only programmes make the situation worse. To the surprise of few, it has recently emerged that George W. Bush’s “abstinence only” [...]

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The Church of England’s liturgical committee (what a way to kill the opening of a blog!) has recently devised a new service which will enable clergy to offer couples who wish to get married in church the chance to get their children baptised at the same time - all for the modest fee of £272.
This [...]

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No, it wasn’t a lightning bolt (though that would have been much more effective). It was a metal bolt that sheared off and caused a minor problem that needed to be repaired. And because it needed to be repaired, the ferry, the Isle of Arran, was drafted in to replace the Isle of [...]

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I know. It’s easy for me. I’m a man. I don’t have to wear the things. My gender is the one that has largely tried to dictate over the centuries how women should dress. I write what I am about to write with appropriate trepidation and guilt.

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I suppose it makes a change from a sex scandal, though you could argue that, in the scale of things, it could actually be worse.
According to The Times:
A 60-year-old vicar was charged yesterday with involvement in an alleged criminal conspiracy to organise “sham marriages” for illegal immigrants.
The Rev Alex Brown was one of four people [...]

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There seem to be more and more cases where religious people are claiming that their faith prevents them from doing their job.  If they are then asked to continue doing the job that they were employed to do, some are claiming that they are facing religious discrimination.
In recent months I have been aware of:

an employee [...]

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