By adding more weight to the debate, the campaigning atheists won’t stop the worry about God, says Mark Vernon. Unless they can stop talking about it, they’ll only succeed in giving the rumour new life.

In the midst of violent conflict in Colombia, humanitarian zones supported by churches and civic groups are a way of stopping the killing and modelling an alternative.

Taking the ancient religious law of proportionate response ("an eye for an eye") as an injunction for modern revenge and preemptive attack is a recipe for disaster, says Martin Marty.

Christmas is a good time to think again about our attitudes to children and about what happens to children in our societies, says Rowan Williams. Christians who recognise the infinite God in the vulnerability of a newborn baby have particular reason to do so.

Peace is a way of life, says the Rev Dr Geiko Müller-Fahrenholz, and it is the mission of the churches to bring up new generations of Christians to live out God's peace in all aspects of their lives.

As the cholera outbreak and the worsening situation in Zimbabwe keeps the country in the news headlines, Tim Nafziger joins an interview with Arthur Mutambara, the leader of the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

In the 'United Kingdom' it is our political inheritance which is defining how we see God and the place of the church, rather than a vision of the kingdom of God which is shaping our politics, says Tom Hurcombe. The vision of Jesus and monarchical assumptions are fundamentally antagonistic.

The carnage in Mumbai in which gunmen have killed over a hundred people, injured many more and taken hostages, has shocked the world. It has thrown a spotlight on religious extremism of various kinds, writes Savi Hensman.

It is far too easy to dismiss as ‘naïve’ the latest calls to consider an amnesty for unregistered migrants, says Vaughan Jones. It is current policies which are avoiding the facts, lacking humanity and missing the point.

How strange that the Church of England tries to justify Establishment on biblical grounds, says leading biblical scholar Chris Rowland, when the prophetic tradition and Jesus point in such a different direction.

Gulu in northern Uganda looks as peaceful as any small African town, writes Fredrick Nzwili. However, its inhabitants now have to come to terms with the terrible crimes that were committed here during 22 years of civil war.

President-elect Obama is being deluged with well-meaning advice, says Middle East expert Michael Marten. Maybe we expect too much, but taking a realistic look at how he might handle various conflicts in the region remains important.

The Operation Noah lecture given by Abbot Christopher Jamison OSB

For black people, the expectations, responsibilities and possibilities symbolised by Barack Obama is is almost more than the heart can bear, says Alive Walker. The president elect should cherish personal happiness and find new political ways of handling enemies, she suggests.

The geopolitical dynamics and instability in the Middle East makes that region an important element of any US president’s foreign policy, says Timothy Seidel. But the major parties are still trading in stereotypes, not solutions.