Some religious, and specifically Christian, commentators are a bit miffed that the money they have given to the Atheist bus campaign has been rolled over to support another poster drive which raises questions about the religious identity of children in the context of faith schools. It would be interesting to see whether they would support a question about how Jesus might run a school, says Jonathan Bartley.
Remembrance commemorations focus only on one, contested, idea of freedom. It needs to change to embrace freedom in all its fullness, says Jonathan Bartley
Those responsible for Thought of the Day should learn a lesson from history, says former contributor Jonathan Bartley. When an institution does not reform, it loses its authority and credibility.
The best way to honour those who have died as a result of war (as we must do) is to recognise its horror, says Simon Barrow. But we should do this not in order to 'run away', but in order to have the true courage to seek alternatives - to re-member a dis-membered world.
Some religious, and specifically Christian, commentators are a bit miffed that the money they have given to the Atheist bus campaign has been rolled over to support another poster drive which raises questions about the religious identity of children in the context of faith schools. It would be interesting to see whether they would support a question about how Jesus might run a school, says Jonathan Bartley.
The climate-change campaign needs a sense of can-do enthusiasm, says Giles Fraser. It would be really something if faith leaders were able to help replace gloomy defeatism with a broader version of something Christians call hope.
Martin of Tours was a soldier who became a Christian champion of peace, and his Saint's day is 11 November, the same as Armistice Day, says Savi Hensman. Here is someone who can model for us what Remembrance should be about.
This is the first November since the death of the “last Tommy”, Harry Patch. But Patch regarded Remembrance Day as "just show business". We can honour his memory by recognising that it's time to change the way that we remember.
Some religious, and specifically Christian, commentators are a bit miffed that the money they have given to the Atheist bus campaign has been rolled over to support another poster drive which raises questions about the religious identity of children in the context of faith schools. It would be interesting to see whether they would support a question about how Jesus might run a school, says Jonathan Bartley.
Remembrance commemorations focus only on one, contested, idea of freedom. It needs to change to embrace freedom in all its fullness, says Jonathan Bartley
Those responsible for Thought of the Day should learn a lesson from history, says former contributor Jonathan Bartley. When an institution does not reform, it loses its authority and credibility.
Whatever their views about the rights and wrongs of Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time last night, church leaders will now have to think long and hard about some of the arguments they employ.
Will he or won't he? The BBC is suggesting that Gordon Brown may announce today in his conference speech that he will go head-to-head with the leaders of the other two main parties in a series of television debates. Brown should do the right thing says Jonathan Bartley.
Social and environmental change needs anger - but tempered by love, says Jonathan Bartley. Self-righteousness does not aid change, it merely lets ourselves and others off the hook.
The new coalition of evangelical and Anglo-Catholic parishes launched within the Church of England, claiming to uphold the "traditional biblical view" on homosexuality was unlikley to have been considered in times gone by, says Jonathan Bartley
Writing for the Guardian newspaper, Jonathan Bartley recaps the latest bout between religion and secularism. He reviews 'God Is Back: How the Revival of Religion is Changing the World' by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge and 'Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate' by Terry Eagleton
The bailout of the banks has left old assumptions about public finances behind. It's time to decide what our priorities are and look around for the money to fund them, says Jonathan Bartley
Churches could have a vital role to play in rejuvenating democracy, says Jonathan Bartley. But it needs to be through a faith-engagement with politics based on openness and change.
The Church of England has at last set out what is means by a "Christian ethos" in schooling, says Jonathan Bartley. Its espoused values are very positive. So now is the time to end discrimination in schools run by the church but funded by the general taxpayer.
Some Church of England leaders are complaining that others are stealing their opinion space in the media, says Jonathan Bartley. The answer is to act with integrity, rather than to demand attention.
Given all the previous pronouncements about the BNP, why did the Archbishop of York and the Church of England refuse to answer the BNP when it asked what Jesus would do, asks Jonathan Bartley
Some Christians are crying 'persecution' when conflicts over belief arise in public life, says Jonathan Bartley. The way to halt this juggernaut of paranoia is to bring a lot more mediatory light, and far less antagonistic heat to the situations involved.
The whole point of the Children Society’s latest project was to hear what children were saying and to give them a voice, says Jonathan Bartley. But the world of adult decision-making does not really want to know.