Does your God need to be actively defended by you and your fellow believers? Many Europeans seemed to think so as they embarked on waging wars in the 16th and 17th centuries in the name of the “correct version” of the Christian faith. Although those in charge cried out for power and influence, the religious fervour of the foot soldiers…
Hellfire and brimstone have widely been discarded from the preacher’s toolbox, and rightly so. The image of a short-tempered, easily upset and punishing God of a not-so-distant past has been replaced with one much closer to the Gospels’ merciful Father, taking great care of us, his people. We’ve got used to such a cosy, heart-warming vision, so much so that…
I was a semi-early adopter of digital step trackers, the wristbands that record your steps when they appeared on the market years ago. The technology has advanced a lot since then, and those primitive devices have morphed into feature-packed smartwatches. I’ve gone through several models over the years, not because I’m such a geek, but because none lasted longer than…
Since the Taliban took complete control of Afghanistan in 2021, women’s rights have been wiped out by a quick succession of ever-harsher rules and laws. The latest set of edicts introduced about a month ago requires that “women must completely veil their bodies – including their faces – in thick clothing at all times in public […] and will not…
Once upon a time, in a country where the Corpus Christi procession through town was a really big deal, there was a priest who passionately took great care of every fine detail. On the morning of the big day, he would inspect all four outdoor stations where the procession would walk to, and at each, he would shift the flowers…