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Home / The Symon Hill Column

The Symon Hill Column

Ekklesia associate director Symon Hill reflects on religion, society and politics

  • 30 Sep 2015
    Freeing sexuality from an either/or model

    Bisexuality is often misunderstood or simply ignored, but it has the potential to help us approach controversies over sexual ethics from a different angle.

  • 30 Apr 2015
    UKIP's 'Christian Manifesto' will be repulsive to many Christian voters

    Nigel Farage has just launched UKIP's 'Christian manifesto' promising to put up a "muscular defence of our Christian heritage". Whether Christians in Britain want to be muscularly defended by Nigel Farage is another matter.

  • 1 Jan 2015
    New Year Revolutions: Elections and political change in 2015

    Can a general election deliver meaningful political change in 2015? If not, how else can we campaign for a better society? Can we use the election to push the political narrative in unexpected directions?

  • 11 Dec 2014
    Paying taxes to Caesar: Where does our loyalty lie?

    I recently preached at Kensington Unitarian Church, where I was pleased to receive a warm welcome and to engage in some good discussions. Here is the text of my sermon. I explored issues of faith, power and loyalty, looking particularly at Jesus' comments when asked if Jews should pay taxes to the Roman Emperor. I suggested this passage should be read not as a surrender to power but as a challenge to it.

  • 5 Nov 2014
    The Royal British Legion and the victims of war

    The Royal British Legion, who run the Poppy Appeal, have in recent years shown a tendency to misuse the message of remembrance to encourage a pro-war, jingoistic agenda. They have now taken things a step further by using an anti-war song in a fundraising film – after taking the anti-war lyrics out.

  • 29 Aug 2014
    Liberals versus radicals at Greenbelt

    Three days after returning from Greenbelt, I've had some time to process my impressions of this year's festival. I've realised that the main division at Greenbelt - a leading Christian festival - is not between liberals and conservatives but between liberals and radicals.

  • 18 Jul 2014
    We need a right to live, not a right to die

    A friend of mine who uses a wheelchair was recently approached by a stranger who crossed over the road to talk to her. Without knowing anything about her, he told her that he supported her right to die with dignity through assisted suicide. She told him that she was more concerned with her right to live than her right to die.

  • 6 Jun 2014
    Labour can't avoid talking about Trident

    Support is growing within Labour for the idea that the party should oppose the renewal of Trident. The decision is due in 2016. Polls consistently show a majority of British voters opposed to Trident. Religious groups, including fairly middle-of-the-road churches, are speaking out against it. Protests at nuclear bases are increasing. Will Ed Miliband have the courage to listen to the majority of the public rather than senior Labour figures who are stuck in the 1980s?

  • 30 May 2014
    Now unemployed people are sent on army training schemes

    Poverty and militarism feed over each other. Unemployment has always been good news for army recruiters in need of people desperate for a livelihood. So it's no surprise that the recruitment of unemployed people has been formalised in a scheme in the English Midlands. Could this be a sign of the way things are heading? The government is already forcing unemployed people to carry out unpaid labour through 'workfare' schemes. Will they soon be forcing them into army training?

  • 30 Apr 2014
    Cameron's "Christian country"

    A society that favours the rich and shuns the poor is far away from biblical visions of equality and justice.

  • 21 Dec 2013
    Oh, come on, all ye faithful

    Christmas, when people who rarely enter a church often pay their annual visit, could be a time to challenge perceptions of Christianity. Unfortunately, says Symon Hill, we seem to respond to their arrival by singing some of the most badly written, incomprehensible and theologically dubious songs ever produced. Perhaps it's time to shred the carol sheet.

  • 9 Dec 2013
    Why I am not cheering the Pilling Report

    In 2011, Symon Hill was on a pilgrimage of repentance for homophobia when he heard that the Church of England had launched another consultation process on sexuality. The process has led to the Piling Report, which speaks of being more welcoming while promoting policies that say the opposite. There are some good aspects to the report, but it is likely to make little difference to the lives of Christians in their own churches and communities, he suggests. It is a reminder that we cannot rely on hierarchical church processes - change will come from below, not from above.

  • 28 Oct 2013
    All baptisms are royal baptisms

    Media coverage of George Windsor's baptism gave the impression that baptism is about conformity. Baptism began in a far more radical way, before its domestication by the powerful. Since then, many people have rediscovered baptism's original subversive force, as a sign of dedication to the kingdom of God – and a rejection of the kingdoms of this world.

  • 3 Oct 2013
    I love Britain. The Daily Mail hates it

    What is Britain? This question doesn't seem to have been asked much in the many arguments around the Daily Mail's vicious attack on Ed Miliband's father. Ralph Miliband, the Mail maintains, "hated Britain".

  • 7 Aug 2013
    When silence is evil: praying and protesting against the arms fair

    One of the world's largest arms fairs will be held in London in September. Christians will join a day of prayer and protest on 8th September, recognising that silence in the face of evil is itself evil. However much or little time we have, and wherever we live, we can do something to speak out, says Ekklesia associate Symon Hill.