Did the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 teach Jesus not to be racist?

Aug 31, 2021 by

Did the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7 teach Jesus not to be racist?

By Ian Paul, Psephizo: The gospel lectionary reading for Trinity 14 in Year B is Mark 7.24-37, which includes the episode of Jesus’ encounter with the Syrophoenician woman that often brings readers up short, containing as it does what appears to be a rather shocking insult. Jesus is seeking to withdraw from public attention, needing some time for rest and recuperation, but (as characteristic of his portayal in Mark’s gospel) he is unable to keep his presence secret. A woman approaches him to...

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Even my bigoted critics deserve free speech

Aug 19, 2021 by

Even my bigoted critics deserve free speech

by Calvin Robinson, spiked: An academic has been sacked over tweets calling me a ‘house negro’. This is nothing to celebrate. Freedom of speech is the foundation of any free society. It is always best to challenge or ridicule bad ideas, rather than leave them to fester. No Platforming and censoring opposing voices only leads them to thrive underground. It is for that reason that I haven’t joined in the demands for academic Aysha Khanom to lose her job. Leeds Beckett University has cut ties...

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Critical Race Theory ignores anti-Semitism

Aug 10, 2021 by

Critical Race Theory ignores anti-Semitism

BY Joel Kotkin and Edward Heyman, UnHerd: National Socialism, Maoism and Marxism-Leninism all have one thing in common: they boil down human experience to one aspect, such as race or class, and diminish the struggles and achievements of much of humanity. In some respects, as an approach to understanding history, CRT has a certain credibility. Ibram X. Kendi’s retelling of American history in Stamped from the Beginning is lucid, well-crafted and internally consistent in its description of...

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“Pick & Mix BLM:- How to choose between racism, queer theory, defunding the police and overthrowing capitalism?”

Jul 17, 2021 by

“Pick & Mix BLM:- How to choose between racism, queer theory, defunding the police and overthrowing capitalism?”

by Gavin Ashenden: As a child we used to play cards. I had four younger sisters and my father had been brought up in a family where playing cards was something the family did together. Whist, Rummy, Bridge, and a variety of other exotic card games punctuated evenings, weekends and holidays. In some games more than others, one of the four suits would become ‘trumps’ and develop a superior power over the same card in other suits. I was reminded of having to remember which suit was trumps when...

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The Runnymede Trust’s deeply flawed race report Cherry-picking

Jul 15, 2021 by

The Runnymede Trust’s deeply flawed race report Cherry-picking

by David Goodhart, The Post: Cherry-picking data paints an inaccurate picture of ethnic minority Britain. The Runnymede Trust has produced a sort of anti-Sewell report account of systemic racism in Britain that is not only highly polemical and one-sided, but also confirms the organisation’s current drift into sectarian irrelevance. Sewell was imperfect in many ways but it gave a much more nuanced and realistic picture of ethnic minority Britain. Sewell highlighted minority success as well as...

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The brain-frying hijack of decency

Jul 14, 2021 by

The brain-frying hijack of decency

by Melanie Phillips: What if the England squad had given the Black Power salute as a protest against racism? Even more chilling than the way in which brains are being fried by evil dogma that appropriates the language of virtue is that so many in public life are falling into line with it. Thus the influential Conservative MP Steve Baker says the Tories should rethink their opposition to “taking the knee” and “get alongside” the England football team that performed this gesture in the Euro...

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