Islam
“Soldiers of France”
A fortnight ago, I was asked if I might translate the open letter signed by retired French generals warning the government of the very real possibility of a civil war in France. It was felt [more…]
Religion
Arts
The Year Turns, part 5
Beltane This important festival has been reinvented umpteen times throughout the ages. I knew it from childhood as May Day. On a couple of occasions while at primary school our class was forced to dance [more…]
Arts
The Year Turns, Part 4
Ēostre My earliest memories of this time of year involve decorating eggs, going to the local park, and rolling them down a hill. Well, more of a small embankment than a hill, but the thought [more…]
20th Century
The ‘Crockford’s Clerical’ Murder
On Sunday 6 December 1987, the Reverend Doctor Canon Gareth Vaughan Bennett returned home after spending a most agreeable weekend with friends in Cambridge. On the way he had given a colleague a lift home, [more…]
Christianity
Korea, Suwon, Part 2
Christianity in Korea—Just Why? The Catholics formed the vanguard of Christianity’s march into East Asia. They first arrived in Korea in the late 1700s, and met with the same hostile reception as they had in [more…]
Hobbies
Korea, Suwon, Part 1
Samsung City Suwon is a city of about a million people, about an hour south of central Seoul by train. I suppose you could call it a scaled-up Korean version of Guildford, on the edge [more…]
Christianity
‘Deliver us from Evil’
The Lord’s Prayer Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And [more…]
Christianity
The Psalms
Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort [more…]
Authoritarianism
Dead babies don’t come cheap
As of some date in 2020, we have finally emerged from beneath our cloying and heavyweight safety blanket to embrace a horrific and unpalatable truth. Whatever freedom we thought we had as individuals has been [more…]