"Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. [1]
"Don’t worry, everything’s fine, carry on as you are" – even a cursory reading of the Biblical prophets reveals this to be the very epitome of false prophecy. Yet this is precisely the counsel Paul Mills’ article, published earlier this year, offers us.
For the last few years, my sister and I have been sewing reusable wrapping. We buy lovely cotton cloth in Christmas prints, hem the material, tie with ribbon, and reuse the fabrics every year. They look beautiful under the tree — and it feels good to celebrate Christmas in a way that doesn’t add to the planet’s waste.
But did you know that Christmas itself is the ultimate reason to care for the earth? Not the commercial one, with glitter and excess, but the real one... “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1v14).
I have a confession to make. I actually like listening to political speeches — at least the good ones.
But in recent years the quality of political speeches has rapidly declined; I can remember speeches by Tony Benn, Alex Salmond, Michael Gove, Margaret Thatcher, Michael Foot, Ronald Regan, George Galloway, Dennis Skinner and Charles Kennedy. But it’s been a long time since I have heard a speech that I would regard as culture-changing — or perhaps emblematic of a culture change. Until just recently. For there is no doubt that JD Vance’s speech to the Munich conference was a game-changer.
In 1828 the so-called “Tariff of Abominations” was enacted by the US Congress. The reference to abominations indicated just how fraught and divisive the legislative process had been.
Additionally, the use of such an Old Testament word was no accident. For much of the 19th Century and even into the early 20th Century it was second nature for American politicians and electorates to consider questions of government policy within a Biblical frame.
Setting the record straight on climate 'alarmism'
"Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. [1]
"Don’t worry, everything’s fine, carry on as you are" – even a cursory reading of the Biblical prophets reveals this to be the very epitome of false prophecy. Yet this is precisely the counsel Paul Mills’ article, published earlier this year, offers us.