Ian Rees's Blog, page 3

Statistically outnumbered

Apparently there are now more people who count themselves as having no religion than those who profess to be Christian in the UK. This change represents a massive jump in professed non-religiousness in just a few years since the 2011 census. It has gone from perhaps a quarter to nearly half the respondents, so Christianity is now statistically outnumbered and some are saying that its days are numbered as well.

Perhaps we should begin there: this is not death of the Christian faith - and those...

Everything is on the record

There has been a bit of storm in diplomatic circles this week over two semi-private conversations that have made their way into public knowledge after being filmed. Both the Queen and the Prime Minister were caught, on unconnected occasions, saying things that caused a stir and left officials red-faced. The Queen was talking to the Met Police commander Lucy D’Orsi and made what were termed “unguarded remarks”, in the course of pre-event small talk, about how rude Chinese officials had apparen...

Give to Caesar

I’m still not sure who I should vote for. I looked at the ballot papers yesterday and wondered if there was anyone whose policies even approximated to what I believe. Some were obviously so far from anything sane that there was no problem dismissing them. Others just looked incompetent. But most of the others were an awkward mix of views and policies that sounded quite reasonable at some points and unacceptable at others. All made sweeping promises that it is hard to believe will be kept, whi...

Hiding from the truth

Now that the verdict has been delivered that the 96 victims of the Hillsborough disaster were unlawfully killed people are asking legitimate questions about why it took so long for the truth to come out. The story fed to the public from that terrible day itself was that the fans were drunken louts and brought this on themselves, but now we know that the truth was covered up. So that is twenty-seven years in which those who died were maligned and wronged, and in which their families had to fig...

I’m worth every penny

The recent revelations about the way the super-rich hide their fortunes and fail to pay tax has highlighted the vast inequalities in wealth that exist even in our country, never mind what it tells us about inequalities around the world. So today in The Guardian there is an article about Sir Martin Sorrell, big chief at WPP, defending his bumper pay package that is likely to hit 70m. He is not, as far as I am aware, under investigation for having concealed his fortune in a Panamanian offshore...

A secure identity in Christ

Justin Welby (photo from The Guardian)It has been refreshing to hear the media talk postively about the Church of England recently, or more particularly about the Archbishop of Canterbury and his reaction to the news about his paternity. It turns out the Gavin Welby was not his father after all, but rather Sir Anthony Montague Browne, who was Sir Winston Churchill’s private secretary and who had worked with Welby’s mother in Downing Street. It seems that the likeness between Sir Anthony and A...

Your wealth has rotted

Embed from Getty Images

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have li...

Where does my help come from?

Image from The Spectator, 28 March 2016
The Easter Sunday massacre of families in Lahore has reminded people once again that Christians are being deliberately targeted around the world. The twenty-first century has so far proved to be among the bloodiest on record (not that the twentieth century has much to boast about on that score), with an estimated 100,000 Christians being killed for their faith every year now (which tallies at 11 every hour). It is true that the bomb in the amusement park...

A timely intervention

When I was a young Christian at university I found it initially hard to get to grips with reading the Bible regularly. I started a reading scheme but failed to keep it up. I stalled and sputtered through the first six months or so, never quite mananging to get going and increasingly feeling bad about it. I was reaching quite significant discouragement about this and mentioned to a fellow member of Christian Union that even a book I was reading about this only made me feel condemned for my fai...

Returning from the dead

With his portrayal in “The Revenant” of an injured man, abandoned for dead by his friends, who survives and returns to seek revenge, Leonardo DiCaprio has won his first Oscar. I’m sure it is a very powerful piece of acting, but I am not sure I want to see it. The trailer gave me a clear idea of what sort of film it is, and I have read a synopsis which summarises the brutal killings and scalpings. It does indicate, however, (no plot spoilers!) that there are some surprising moments of forgiven...