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The Jonathan Bartley Column

Comment and opinion from Ekklesia's director, Jonathan Bartley
You can follow Jonathan on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/Jon_Bartley

  • 11 Mar 2010
    Let he who is without spin...

    Spin is not merely changing facts, but changing the context in which we see the facts. In that respect, it can be something quite positive, says Jonathan Bartley.

  • 22 Feb 2010
    Why Cameron is half right about the need for a bullying Inquiry

    The Conservative leader is right that we need an Inquiry. He is wrong that it should be narrowly confined to the alleged goings on at Number 10, says Jonathan Bartley.

  • 25 Jan 2010
    The mother of all democratic anomalies

    Arrangements which allow an undemocratic, external institution to parachute into Parliament their own appointees who can only be from one section of the country, of one gender, and from one particular strand of one religion – are the kind of thing we might condemn as profoundly unjust and corrupt in other parts of the world. They are defended in the UK in the name of Christianity.

  • 14 Dec 2009
    How the Church is investing in climate change

    The Churches need to need to end their dualism over mission and recognise that where their treasure is, there their hearts will be also. And this means an end to their investments in oil, mining and other companies which are driving climate change, says Jonathan Bartley

  • 20 Nov 2009
    Why Humanists aren’t asking the right question

    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.

  • 8 Nov 2009
    Give freedom a chance

    Remembrance commemorations focus only on one, contested, idea of freedom. It needs to change to embrace freedom in all its fullness, says Jonathan Bartley

  • 6 Nov 2009
    Thought for the Day must reform or die

    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.

  • 23 Oct 2009
    Why the churches should listen to what Nick Griffin said on Question Time

    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.

  • 29 Sep 2009
    Brown's TV decision

    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.

  • 7 Sep 2009
    Anger, love and climate change

    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.

  • 15 Jul 2009
    How evangelicals are betraying their heritage

    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

  • 4 Jul 2009
    Ditchkins' demise?

    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

  • 11 Jun 2009
    Banking on the NHS

    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

  • 4 Jun 2009
    Churches and the rejuvenating of democracy

    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.

  • 14 May 2009
    Christian values in schooling means ending discrimination

    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.