David Robertson discusses faith, culture and politics from a Christian perspective
Episodes
Friday May 03, 2019
Friday May 03, 2019
1)The Splinternet.
2) The Japanese Emperor
3) Indonesia - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-48083051?ocid=socialflow_twitter
4) Born as a Man - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0004l71
Mary – the weight lifter - https://twitter.com/titaniamcgrath/status/1123442051436228608?s=12
5) Arthur Miller -
6) Greta and Guidance
https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/04/29/we-need-a-grown-up-debate-about-climate-change/
7) ) China - https://twitter.com/pdchina/status/1123062838958780416?s=12
https://www.facebook.com/729895575/posts/10161579877505576?s=771655947&v=i&sfns=mo
8) Leeds – Obesity and Parenting - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-48113843
9) Brexit and Africa - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-jeremy-hunt-uk-wants-to-be-partner-of-choice-across-africa
10) Spain, Barcelona and books - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/18/barcelona-school-removes-200-sexist-childrens-books
12) The Quantas Alliance - https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/qantas-bars-religious-leaders-from-lounge/news-story/1eb55e2826ab580f8d69107367736032
Quote of the Week:
“To be sure, this life is not everything; but it is seldom a medical man has true religious views—there is too much pride of intellect.” _ George Elliott – Middlemarch
Friday Apr 26, 2019
Friday Apr 26, 2019
Reporting Terror - https://www.christiantoday.com/article/sri-lankan-tragedy-prejudice-politicians-and-the-press/132275.htm
Giles Fraser https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/21/sri-lanka-attacks-christians-worldwide-persecution-silence
Lyra McKee
Church Growth/Decline?
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/huge-decline-religious-beliefs-among-16104848
Extinction Rebellion Birthstrike -
Emma Thompson – https://twitter.com/skynews/status/1118908822410682369?s=12
Aberdeen Abortion
https://www.spuc.org.uk/latest-news/31-latest-news/13847-pro-life-student-group-pursues-legal-action
https://www.facebook.com/AbdnLifeEthics/photos/a.175022023296590/397837861015004/?type=1&theater
Trans Intolerance- https://bjgp.org/content/69/681/170
Books Guilty of Whiteness - https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/04/18/nolte-library-journal-comes-out-against-books-guilty-of-whiteness/#
Anti – Islam Posts – Rees Moog - https://twitter.com/jacob_rees_mogg/status/1118916073938718720?s=12
Billy MacNeil – https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/04/we-wont-see-the-like-of-billy-mcneill-again/
Nick Robinson - Steve Brady…. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p076b7mk
Friday Apr 19, 2019
Friday Apr 19, 2019
1) Sudan Coup - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47913338
2) Notre Dame –
https://stephenmcalpine.com/a-french-evangelicals-thoughts-on-notre-dame/
3) Indonesia – https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/16/asia/indonesia-election-2019-polls-open-intl/index.html
4) South Korea and Abortion - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-47890065?ocid=socialflow_twitter&ns_mchannel=social&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbcnews
4) The Intolerance of Rugby –
- Billy Vunipola - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47909515
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/47869324
https://lawandreligionaustralia.blog/2019/04/14/reflections-on-the-israel-folau-affair/
5) The intolerance of comedy -
https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/04/barry-humphries-and-the-transgender-thought-police/
6) The intolerance of science. Scientific American - https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/why-we-should-all-use-they-them-pronouns/
7) The intolerance of education - Are libraries white - https://sleung.wordpress.com/2019/04/15/whiteness-as-collections/
Villanova Univeristy – https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/weimar-villanova-billie-murray/
8) The Intolerance of business -
9) The intolerance of government - Sir Roger Scruton - https://quillette.com/2019/04/15/quillette-podcast-27-sir-roger-scruton-on-being-sacked-by-the-british-government-for-politically-incorrect-remarks-about-george-soros-china-and-muslim-immigration/
10) Chinas new airport - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-47914210/what-does-the-world-s-largest-single-building-airport-terminal-look-like
11) Easter
12) Aretha Franklin – Amazing Grace - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkKOIQwTiKE
“The resurrection is the place to begin if you are looking for a satisfying faith on which to base your life. Do not waste a lot of time investigating every religion under the sun....examine the evidence for Jesus instead. If he is risen you need look no further”.
Friday Apr 12, 2019
Friday Apr 12, 2019
Israel - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-47876539
~Facebook ban Conference on Christian Persecution - https://www.spectator.com.au/2019/04/why-is-facebook-censoring-a-conference-on-christianity-and-religious-freedom/?fbclid=IwAR0Xo2OBo1-mf142l2LzfxqoULU2IPgXIywbimzwLfVsW8GrxtBOAnXORIg
Married at First Sight – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ6f9Ipzv7k
`3) China – Harvesting organs – https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/04/the-world-cant-ignore-the-accusations-that-china-has-forcibly-harvested-organs/
The Bible in China - https://scottishbiblesociety.org/2019/04/100-years-of-the-chinese-union-version-cuv-bible/
4) Greece – 3 person baby - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47889387
6) Change in divorce law – Baroness Fiona Shackleton – BBC Radio 4 The World at 1 - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0003zv4 Right at the beginning -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47860144
7) UK – Brexit extension - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47889404
8) Queens University and Union – https://theweeflea.com/2019/04/10/queens-intolerance/
9) Brainwashing Teachers https://quillette.com/2019/04/05/what-they-dont-teach-you-at-the-university-of-washingtons-ed-school/
Parents in Revolt -https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ce98623c-5898-11e9-a28c-4153b1332dc6
10) Roger Scruton - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47880669
11) Pastors Shoes – Introduce it with this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww
12) Cultural Marxism - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/live-marxs-world-now/
Quote of the week:
Robin Aitken – “Without an understanding of its guiding philosophy we are in dangr of being led blindfold into a way of thinking we have not freely chosen, but have merely absorbed” The Noble Liar
Friday Apr 05, 2019
Friday Apr 05, 2019
1) Ukraine - https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/03/in-ukraines-presidential-elections-life-is-imitating-netflix/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-47763176
2) Theybies and Childism -
3) Moral Maze – Puritanism –- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0003jj5
https://www.thenational.scot/news/17538407.bbc-question-time-defends-lgbt-morality-debate/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0003mp9/question-time-2019-28032019
Coeercice and Controlling behaviour - https://twitter.com/scotgov/status/1112655845525995520?s=12
5) New Zealand
7) Restriction on science –
- https://quillette.com/2019/04/01/activists-must-stop-harassing-scientists/
Pseudo Science - https://www.spectator.co.uk/2019/03/lying-with-science-a-guide-to-myth-debunking/
8) Melvin Bragg – Unbelievable – https://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/Unbelievable-Why-William-Tyndale-s-Bible-changed-the-world-Melvyn-Bragg-and-Ben-Virgo?fbclid=IwAR1gG6Qfm2TMYv5kcR2IEIwV3nsY396Ettlqtur1P6O41RhIfVW9x4CeW7o
9) Difference between Americans and British – the Cure - https://twitter.com/stormhuntley/status/1112344763049615361?s=12
“Road unsafe when this sign is under water” (US sign).
Robin Aitken – The Noble Liar – “ our ruling elite in Britain– the politicians, lawyers, academics and media people – view the current state of affairs as a positive thing;”we have banished superstition”, they say, rejoicing at the thought; but there remains a sceptical minority who look at the society brought into being by this type of thinking and see little to admire. The liberal hegemony has created an unhappy society which doesn’t really know what it believes in. And whether you are a supporter of the current orthodoxy or not, here is one thing you can rely on: it is not permanent. The qualities that make Christianity a force to be reckoned with– the truth that wins human hearts and compels belief – will not change, and will go on winning converts to its banner. In the coming years, who is to say whether the old beliefs will not triumph again over the arid fictions of our current noble lie?”
Friday Mar 29, 2019
Friday Mar 29, 2019
New Zealand Mosque – https://twitter.com/johnpaulpagano/status/1110579872932552706?s=12
What is Islamaphobia - https://www.christianconcern.com/our-issues/islam/what-is-islamophobia
Jordan Peterson
China and the Church
Eu and the Internet - https://capx.co/the-eus-censorious-copyright-directive-will-create-two-internets/
China and AI technology - https://www.facebook.com/188625661189259/posts/2377454685639668/
The Mueller inquiry and Justin Smollet - https://www.christianpost.com/news/russia-investigation-complete-mueller-attends-same-church-trump-attended-last-week.html?uid=38b40306c7&utm_source=The+Christian+Post+List&utm_campaign=99cad22efc-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_03_25_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dce2601630-99cad22efc-2509241
Treatment of the elderly in the Netherlands - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/dutch-legislator-wants-doctors-to-be-able-to-deny-surgeries-to-patients-older-than-70?utm_content=buffere5520&utm_medium=WCDM%2BBuffer&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=WCDM&fbclid=IwAR2XobCBPSLjBHBaVmHo_cd50jXYBf5gbblUt2anURKsWZmAqIFgvp2mM6w
BMA and Assisted dying - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-47641766
Glasgow Uni – Life https://adfinternational.org/news/freedom-of-speech-upheld-at-glasgow-university-following-legal-challenge/
Rape Crisis centre in Canada defunded - https://www.christian.org.uk/news/rape-crisis-centres-funding-axed-over-refusal-to-accommodate-men/?fbclid=IwAR3fYWlHhpCfzRQdu_cn7HgIHI9gNlDWMylZmrczidt6v_zCxGx5xN4lcmc
Chick Fil –A - https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/chick-fil-a-banned-san-antonio-airport-legacy-lgbtq-behavior-report
Scott Walker - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6846697/Scott-Walker-star-Walker-Brothers-dies-aged-76.html?ico=pushly-notifcation-small
Ricky Gervais -
https://theweeflea.com/2017/02/03/ricky-gervais-v-stephen-colbert-the-real-answers-an-open-letter/
“Heaven is a fairy story told for people afraid of the dark”
Stephen Hawking
“Atheism is a fairy story for those afraid of the light” John Lennox
Friday Mar 22, 2019
Friday Mar 22, 2019
- Cyclone in Mozambique – Zimbabwe and Malawi –
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-47637166
- New Zealand Mosque Shootings – Dutch and African killings.
https://theweeflea.com/2019/03/18/christchurch-commentaries/
Nicola Sturgeon - https://twitter.com/radioclydenews/status/1106580389877989376?s=12
Brendan O’Neil - https://twitter.com/spikedonline/status/1107982933338583040?s=12
- Brexit
- Iranian Christian Refused Asylum
- British Journalist Questioned for Misgendering
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATeJlv62nig
- British MP condemns parents who don’t want LGBT indoctrination
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-appoints-first-national-adviser-for-lgbt-health
Also the name Donald....and Lucifer..
Regensburg and Trip Advisor.
Kentucky and Abortion.
7) Out of the Ashes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_YSZyhRv5s
“If you want me to stick my neck out, I think I would say that if the Church were officially to approve homosexual partnerships as a legitimate alternative to hetrosexual marriage, this so far diverges from biblical sexual ethics that I would find it exceedingly difficult to stay. I might want to stay on and fight a few more years, but if they persisted I would have to leave” (John Stott, Balanced Christianity p.61)
Friday Mar 15, 2019
Friday Mar 15, 2019
The EU Debacle - and Cromwell
2) Michael Jackson - https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/michael-jackson-sexual-abuse-media-coverage_n_5c7af551e4b0e1f776521c8e?guccounter=1
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/leaving-neverland-michael-jackson-and-me/on-demand/63905-001
David Steel and Cyril Smith . http://aboutmanchester.co.uk/lord-steele-admits-that-former-rochdale-mp-cyril-smith-confessed-to-him-that-child-abuse-allegations-were-true/
3) Transmania - https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6791187/Now-girl-gymnasts-share-changing-rooms-boys-identify-female.html
4) Sex Education
5) The Herald –
Chinese Church blown up - https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-christianity-religion-crackdown-megachurch-chinaaid-golden-lampstand-church-linfen-communist-a8156031.html
7) Dutch Church – SSM - https://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/gauteng/dutch-reformed-churchs-decision-not-to-recognise-same-sex-unions-overturned-19728977?fbclid=IwAR3U37673SCK8r_bCXzAjNQZtdqwaIjI1uE4Ph_kWQWwaGO1IDQIBteqeOg
8) Brendan O’Neill – Knife Crime -
10) Australian use of technology.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hlBByFWTf4
If we abandon God, and the ethical imperatives that proceed from that, we are in danger of ending up in an amoral morass, where the sort of technocratic debates about whether certain human beings should be regarded as sharing a common humanity, like the Soviet purges of "enemies of the people" or the Nazi’s belief in the expendability of certain races, most particularly Jews, become possible. You then land in an amoral jungle, animated only by some mud- begotten social Darwinianism. This is because there was no longer a guiding moral authority. These regimes could "reason" their way to any conclusion." (Kevin Rudd – page 217). God is Good for You.
Friday Mar 08, 2019
Friday Mar 08, 2019
Knife Crime – https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/videos/1036030733187727/
2) Birmingham Parents –
- https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/03/06/those-birmingham-parents-are-right/
- https://albertmohler.com/2019/03/04/end-parental-rights-chilling-case-canada/
3)Trudeau downfall – https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/02/28/downfall-justin-trudeau/
4) Q and A Australia – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmNSlF7lcaw
5) Transgender athletes – Sharon Davies - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/47438175?ns_mchannel=social&ns_linkname=sport&ns_source=facebook&ns_campaign=bbc_match_of_the_day&fbclid=IwAR0DX_8Ib0RM8YKH5PmSKPgCP-Ocs38ClsdF74MxYLWu1v8EC8VDxZ6HYlA
https://order-order.com/2019/02/28/twitter-bars-suzanne-evans-saying-trans-woman-wasnt-ladylike/
6) China and KFC - https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/05/asia/kfc-china-lei-feng-intl/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twCNN&utm_content=2019-03-06T09%3A44%3A03&utm_term=link
7) Birthstrike - https://twitter.com/victorialive/status/1102626925158252544?s=12
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-46118103
8) Andre Previn - https://twitter.com/andrewlane1962/status/1101182707739041793?s=12
Quote of the Week - “At the beginning of time, according to the great Western tradition, the Word of God transformed chaos into Being through the act of speech. It is axiomatic, within that tradition, that man and woman alike are made in the image of that God. We also transform chaos into Being, through speech. We transform the manifold possibilities of the future into the actualities of past and present. To tell the truth is to bring the most habitable reality into Being. Truth builds edifices that can stand a thousand years. Truth feeds and clothes the poor, and makes nations wealthy and safe. Truth reduces the terrible complexity of a man to the simplicity of his word, so that he can become a partner, rather than an enemy. Truth makes the past truly past, and makes the best of the future’s possibilities. Truth is the ultimate, inexhaustible natural resource. It’s the light in the darkness. See the truth. Tell the truth>’ Jordan Peterson
Friday Mar 01, 2019
Friday Mar 01, 2019
1) United Methodists Defend Biblical Teaching
https://juicyecumenism.com/2019/02/23/african-united-methodists-wont-trade-bible-for-dollars/
2) India and Pakistan
3) Brexit betrayal –
4) Shamima Begum –
5) Hate Speech -
https://twitter.com/spikedonline/status/1100093417420476416?s=12
6) George Pell -
7) Gender issues…
http://archbishopcranmer.com/faith-sexuality-conversion-therapy-research/
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/23/child-transgender-service-governor-quits-chaos
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-45329067
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRc_jqXlSOU
9) Culture -
http://theconservative.online/article/scottish_musical_fascists
“On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions ... Why do people in church seem like cheerful, brainless tourists on a packaged tour of the Absolute? … Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews. For the sleeping god may wake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us to where we can never return.”
—Annie Dillard, Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters (New York: Harper & Row, 1982), pp. 40-41.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvqeSJlgaNk
Peter Took – The Monkees.