Published on
22 March 2011
Posted in Human Rights, Liberty, Middle East, Military Ethics
As air-strikes in Libya intensify we here at A Blog for All Seasons have collected together a few of our reactions to the crisis. Should Britain Invade Libya? What Libyan and Other Jasmine Revolutionaries Owe Burma Can Democracy Save Egypt?
Published on
11 March 2011
To the delight of many of his foes, and no doubt to the chagrin of many who voted him, Barack Obama has announced the resumption of Bush-era Military Commissions for trying detainees held at Guantánamo Bay. Long after the deadline passed for the President to deliver on his pledge to close Guantánamo within a year […]
Published on
10 March 2011
Posted in British Politics, Christianity, Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Europe, Islam, Liberty, Public Policy, Religion
Guidelines have now been published for the implementation of France’s much-publicised ban on the wearing of full face-coverings in public places, which will come into force next month. The Guardian reports that – with more than a slight reminder of Communist Vietnam – women caught wearing the burka will be ‘given a citizenship class to […]
Published on
7 February 2011
Posted in Civil Liberties, Europe, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Liberty, Public Policy, World Affairs
Speculation in the press currently reports that the government are poised to allow MPs a free vote on the issue of whether prisoners should be allowed to vote in UK elections, after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the UK’s blanket ban on prisoner voting breaches human rights. Setting aside the specific […]
Published on
28 January 2011
SERIES ON HUMAN FREEDOM: PART THREE The third installment in our series looks at what we mean when we use the word ‘freedom’, and is based on a presentation given by a guest discussant at the first session of the Thomas More Institute’s reading group entitled ‘What’s So Good About Freedom?’. The presentation, and this […]
Published on
24 January 2011
Posted in Abortion, Civil Liberties, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Liberty, United States of America
It was fifty years ago this week that John F. Kennedy delivered his famous inauguration speech. Despite our current love affair with increasingly younger and more photogenic leaders in the West, Kennedy remains the youngest man ever to be elected President of the United States, and probably ranks among the most handsome. He is often […]
Published on
10 November 2010
Posted in Civil Liberties, Culture, Liberty
What connects the Puritans and Professor David Nutt, the former government advisor who recently called for a radical rethink of state policy on drugs? Not all that much, you might think, but read on. Twenty-first century folk love new things. We have the ‘new right’, New Labour, the ‘new atheists’, and ‘the new politics’. Yet […]
Published on
28 April 2010
Posted in Christianity, Civil Liberties, Conscience, Education, Liberty, Philosophy, Religion, Understanding Science
Science Versus Religion? The Insights and Oversights of the ‘New Atheists’ — Brad S. Gregory The assertion of the ‘New Atheists’ that the natural sciences somehow oppose all religious truth claims about the natural world is false. These atheists mistakenly treat all religion as one. In fact, some teachings are far superior to other blatantly […]