Britain has constructed a culture which makes children breathe the toxin of materialism.  Simply blaming parents is a glib and unreflective way to let the corporate world evade their duty. 

A 2007 report by UNICEF ranked the United Kingdom bottom out of 21 developed nations ......

The legacy of postmodernism is the creeping financial calculation of human and artistic value, a result of playing with the fire of truth. 

The Victoria and Albert Museum’s exhibition: ‘Postmodernism – Style and Subversion 1970-1990’ raises the ........

Phone hacking has distracted us from a far more pervasive digital scrutiny of who we are
which is changing the world beneath our feet. 

In the early years of the internet, a fervid assumption was made that exposure to a world of information would expand our horizons,

The most sensitive film about Christian discipleship in a generation has slipped almost unnoticed
out of our cinemas. 
Its legacy on DVD by contrast shouldl be lasting. 

Up and down the country, churches speak of the importance of incarnational ministry. :............

The so-called classless society still reserves special opprobrium for one group of people. 
Is there a distinctive Christian take on this development? 

‘We’re all middle class now’ is a common refrain in conversation today.  It is never quite articulated what this means,

New thinking suggests our goals are best pursued indirectly in life.  There are echoes of the Gospel in this, but unless we make some distinctions between the two, we may make a mess of our journey. 

We may be living longer today, but there are few signs that it has resulted in greater patience in ......

Digital technology can be used to repress people as well as to help free them. 
This simple truth is overlooked by those who breathlessly herald the power of the internet to change the world. . 

The beauty of history is the way it confounds predictions.  No-one anticipated the peaceful .....

Loneliness is the stigma which dare not say its name in a connected society.  We should open our eyes to the clues others offer up if we are to carry one another through life. 

The plaintive words of Beatles’ hit Eleanor Rigby pose a question which is sunken in collective memory after four :............

One designer’s outburst against the woman sitting opposite him spoke of more than one kind of fascism. 

The noxious tirade of fashion designer John Galliano in a Parisian club in early 2011 came as little surprise to the Jewish community of the Marais district of the capital,

Humanitarian aid is distributed in murky places run by the powerful. 
Should we accept any moral compromises made as necessary to save lives? 

In the First Epistle of John it says:

If anyone has material possessions and ............

The new media has more revelatory power than we know how to handle and is developing faster
than the culture we need to protect us. 

One of the curiosities of the new media is the absence of agreed custom and convention over how we use it.  Etiquette is developed over ......

Across the world, societies are trading basic freedoms for the right to make money.  What is this doing to them and what does it mean for the Church? 

The presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to an empty chair in December 2010 in Oslo was a moving gesture of support for the man who was not ............

Two inventive films about the 1982 war in Lebanon remind us how high the stakes remain today

As people pray for fruitful developments in the new round of talks between Israel and the Palestinians it is naïve to assume that securing a viable nation-state for the Palestinians ............

Antisemitism is stirring again.  Understanding what it is – and what it isn’t – is essential for our common humanity

It has been suggested that we should reduce the number of MPs who represent us in Parliament. 
Denis MacShane provides a good reason why we . .....

U2 still rock with a purpose, but charges of hypocrisy call for a response. 

Deep in the winter of 1980/1 I had a spiritual awakening which altered the course of my life.  I had believed in God, but it was at this time I became convinced of my need to follow Jesus seriously. For most teenagers ......

Help!  Am I about to make the wrong choice in novels for a holiday I have invested so much in? 

I know people who plan their summer holiday reading with the nervous energy and attention to detail of a national football manager picking his team for a World Cup. How am I to know if the book ......

Authenticity is rightly prized in an over-spun era yet few are willing to risk it. 
Chris Mullin has done us all a favour in being an exception. 

Is it the end of the line for New Labour?  One man who has enjoyed almost unprecedented access to the inner echelons of power since 1997 ....

There is one phrase a Christian should have in their mind as they enter the voting booth.

The statistics don’t look good on the face of it.  In 1997, 71% of the electorate voted in the General Election, but only 61% in 2005.  It is estimated that only 37% of 18-24 year olds voted then. 

Who decides what is orthodox in the public realm today?  No-one is quite sure but there is plenty of guilt in the air and little absolution. 

Is the western world guilty of revelling in neurotic guilt? 

As Christianity has diminished as a  ............

The Simpsons is twenty years old and whether you like it or not there is no denying the enormity of its cultural influence. 

The longevity of the cartoon show is a function of some of the sharpest writing on TV.  Its appeal is cleverly pitched: young children adore the brightly coloured figures and how so ..........

We ask too many questions in life.  Sometimes the smart thing is to stand back in silent awe and admiration. 

How good is your head for heights?

I know plenty of people who cannot sit in the upper tiers of a sports stadium oror cannot drive in the ....

A new satire spoofs a bankrupt political culture.  Can we learn anything from the laughter it provokes? 

Alastair Campbell famously said ‘we don’t do God’, when a journalist wanted to press Tony Blair on an issue of faith.  Armando Iannucci’s vicious, toxically profane

We ignore the recent past at our peril because it is unfinished business. 

What did we learn from the twentieth century?

We have become skilled at commemorating dates in round numbers and building museums to recall great and terrible events,

We are good at positioning ourselves on the right side of a dividing line that enables us to criticise others, despite the command not to judge them. 

2009 was a bad year for honesty.  A number of high profile cases of cheating in politics, business and sport made an enduring ..

What is happening to Congo’s thousands of child soldiers?  The story of Ishmael Beah gives us a clue. 

Ever since Joseph Conrad wrote his marvellous novel, it has been difficult to talk about the Congo without descending into cliché over how dark its heart is.

The history of subversive joke telling in the Soviet Union has lessons for straight-faced Christians.

Can humour bring down regimes?
This is the question which many scholars have tried to answer when looking at the history of Soviet communism, whose imperial ambitions ....

The world is never quite how we imagine it to be, as these illuminating truths show. 

If you’re looking for an amusing and compelling stocking filler this Christmas, Prospect Magazine’s ‘You are in fact one-third daffodil’ (Prospect publishing 2009) may just do the trick. . ...

It’s time to pack a novel or two for the big get-away, but which ones?  This is a familiar dilemma. 

If only all holidays proved as idyllic as the scene depicted on this page!  The reality for you may be somewhat different: perhaps a truncated five night camping stay in rain-sodden Rutland, under ...

Does Web 2.0 herald a new era in human development or in human ignorance? 

We are on the cusp of the world’s third great economic revolution.  The agrarian and industrial revolutions are being followed by today’s information revolution, pioneered by the internet.