Irreverend: Faith and Current Affairs

This is the audio of a recent conversation that I, Rev. Jamie, had with Carbon Mike. Carbon Mike is a software engineer, conservative, social critic and the host of the Dangerous Space podcast. He describes himself as a "pilgrim" when it comes to faith, meaning that he's not quite there but he is very sympathetic. He also has a very cool voice. We spoke at length about many subjects including the faith, Covid-19, government opposition to Christianity and conservatism, social media and technology, and lots of other things. This was recorded sometime earlier in November, so please bear that in mind.I hope you enjoy listening to it!As always please send any comments, feedback, questions, critiques etc to irrevendpod@gmail.com and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!Support the show

In this episode, we are joined once again by priest and Spectator journalist Daniel French. We begin by reviewing an apparent disagreement between the Prime Minister and one of his scientific advisors at to whether or not we will carry on forever the various "behaviours" we have learned during 2020 . We move on from that to review an article released by Premier Christianity magazine called The biblical case for not seeing family this Christmas. And we ask the age-old question, "What would Jesus do?"Finally, after Tom beats a hasty departure for his midday meal, Daniel and Jamie discuss the question of Black Lives Matter, the Premier League and the Church's response to this important subject.Thanks once again for all the correspondence we receive. Please email any questions, comments, suggestions, criticisms or excoriations to irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter @IrreverendPod. Please also leave us a rating and review on iTunes or the equivalent on whatever provider you use!Also MentionedGuy Adams - The avowed aims of Black Lives MatterSupport the show

We begin today with Jamie's reflection upon visiting a hospital in London to be with his family as his grandmother passed away. We reflect the importance of communicating the hope of the Gospel at this time and ask whether the Church has failed to do this.We also discuss the state of policing in this country as another shocking video of police brutality is released showing the aggressive manhandling of a distressed citizen at a lockdown protest.Finally, we discuss all the biggest news of the week, including the rebranding of Lockdown as Tiers 2 and 3. We critique the entire political establishment for their abject failure to fulfil their designated responsibilities and we conclude with some speculation about what the advent of the salvific vaccines may entail.Please send all feedback, comments, questions, suggestions or criticisms to our email address at irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter, searching for our handle @IrreverendPod. Also please rate and review us on iTunes!Also Mentioned:Hattie Williams - Prolocutors defend decision to close churchesBBC - Police Storm Church in Milton KeynesGovernment call for evidence on the impact of lockdownSupport the show

We begin our new episode with some correspondence concerning difficulties faced by doctors and nurses working in the NHS in the current circumstances. And we discuss a message from a listener who raises the issue of an altruistic comparison between abortion and lockdowns.Our main theme this week is an analysis of the nations' behaviour with regard to Covid as a religious response to an ultimate enemy. Along the way we consider Rowan Williams' take on church closure and an ostensibly heroic Christian response, and we comment on the most recent release of the two archbishops of the Church of England during the recent General Synod. Can the Church expect a season of blessing and growth on the other side of the Covid crisis, or does it need to address other issues of faithfulness to God in order to obtain such a blessing?Do email in any questions, comments, criticisms, suggestions or anything else to irreverendpod@gmail.com, and follow us on Twitter if you are so inclined @IrreverendPod!Also MentionedWebMD - Coronavirus on Surface: What's the Real Risk?RetractionWhen we recorded this episode we were not sure who the "prolocutors of the two provinces" are and speculated that this might refer to the two archbishops of the Church of England. We have subsequently found out that this term refers to the two senior members of the house of clergy in each province. We apologize for this mistake and we will give more details next week.Support the show

A lucky dip this week as we desperately try and keep up with the mad goings on in the world. In our weekly look at science, we review the suppressed Danish mask study, which shows that wearing masks in the community made no difference to viral transmission - why does this sort of scientific evidence not affect government policy and what is the true significance of being forced to wear a mask in public? We also review the various disturbing announcements and suggestions made by state actors such as the Metropolitan Police and the Labour Party that any "misinformation" about coronavirus vaccines disseminated in public should be criminalized - why do the authorities want to shut down discussion of vaccines rather than having a debate in the public sphere? We also play out a widely commented upon clip of the health secretary Matt Hancock eulogising about the coming coronavirus vaccination programme. We discuss the NHS and the quasi-religious nature that it has taken on in our society.We touch on the story of a baptism in North London which was broken up by the police and Jamie gives a short summary of a series of excellent lectures given by Richard Turnbull for the Christian Institute. These lectures, entitled Christian Leadership in Times of Crisis, provide an overview of biblical and historical approaches various challenges, including times of plague, and contrasts that analysis with present day responses from our Christian leaders to the Coronavirus: Part One - Biblical Teaching on Leadership in Times of Crisis; Part Two - Christian Leadership in Times of Crisis; Part Three - A Failure of Spiritual Leadership.We end with our weekly 'Christmas Watch' section in which we note the government's ardent desire to give us at least a few days of Christmas and the penalty we might need to pay, and we comment on Lorraine Kelly's suggestion that Christmas "is gone" and that it is only a meal and a family get together anyway. Also Mentioned:A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workersScottish Episcopal Church - Updated Guidance on CoronavirusContactPlease send suggestions, comments, criticisms, questions to irreverendpod@gmail.com, follow us on Twitter @irreverendpod and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!Support the show

Back to the home team this week as T.J. and J.A. consider an article written by Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes, in which it is asserted, amongst other things, that lockdown sceptics are looking for an easy way out. We discuss the nature of lockdown scepticism and whether the bishop's claim is justified. Is the lockdown sceptic position really an "easy" position to take? Are lockdown sceptics ignoring all the evidence? Or is the position actually counter-cultural and therefore more difficult to maintain in the face of the majority? Is it reasonable to imply that eminent scientists like Sunetra Gupta and Carl Heneghan are not interested in evidence? More broadly we consider what kind of "offence" Christians are supposed to cause and on which issues we are supposed to take a stand.After that, we respond to the news of an apparent breakthrough in the Pfizer vaccine trial. We talk about the ethical and theological implications of mandating or coercing people into taking vaccines and other medical treatments, and we touch on the fact that aborted fetal tissue is often used in the production and testing of vaccines.Finally, we look at on a headline claiming that the SAGE committee are interested in asking people to relocate Christmas to Summer 2021. We ask whether SAGE really has the power to make such profound ecclesiological pronouncementsMany apologies if you struggle to hear any of this episode. We hope it is almost all fine, but there may be one or two points when one of the speaker's volume drops a bit. We are new podcasters and produce the show ourselves. We are still tweaking our microphone and recording techniques and will endeavour to perfect them going forward!As always, please send feedback, comments, questions, criticisms, suggestions to irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at @irreverendpod. Please rate and review us on iTunes!Links from this episode:Rt Revd Paul Bayes - Uphill Struggles and the Road to PeaceDr Lisa Forsberg et al - Compulsory Vaccination for Covid-19 and human rights lawCatherine Neilan, Telegraph - Give three month freedom pass to people who have recovered from CovidKarina Reiss, Sucharit Bhakdi - Corona, False Alarm? Facts and FiguresLaura O'Callaghan, Express - Now SAGE wants to move Christmas celebrations to SUMMER because of CoronavirusSupport the show

In this momentous week, we had the great privilege of sitting down for a virtual cup of tea with freelance writer,  cultural critic and American Anglophile Esther O'Reilly.Plenty to talk about this week including the new UK shutdown and the Church's response to the Covid restrictions in general with Esther sharing her perspective from the other side of the pond. With the US election still undecided, we talk about Trump, Christianity and why Esther did not vote for either candidate this time around. Following some listener feedback, we ask what to make of Donald Trump's interactions with Christianity. Is it genuine, political expediency or something else?As always please e-mail comments, suggestions, feedback, criticisms to irreverendpod@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at IrreverendPod!If you use iTunes please rate and review us. Esther O'ReillyBlog - Young FogeyTwitter - EstherofReillyTill We (Don't) Have Face(mask)sHow Now Shan't We VoteAlso MentionedTrip Gabriel - A Born Again Donald Trump? Believe it, Evangelical Leader SaysTrump at March for LifeTrump at PrayerTrump on JesusSupport the show

In this very special episode, we sit down with the Venerable Doctor Edward Dowler, Archdeacon of Hastings in the Church of England. We discuss four articles that Edward has written over the lockdown period. We begin with a discussion of the Church's early reaction to the pandemic, including the controversial decision to prevent clergy from praying in their own churches. We talk about face coverings and the significance of not being able to sing in church. Finally we discuss how the measures implemented by the government have diminished our lives in extremely significant ways and look to a future situation in which the Church and society are restored.If you would like to read Edward's articles, links to all of them are available below:Let the clergy pray in their churchesWe lose much when the face is covered upSinging a new songPeople need alternatives to fearAs always please email comments, suggestions, feedback, criticisms to:irreverendpod@gmail.comAnd tweet at us @IrreverendPodSupport the show

In a first for our podcast, we are joined by a very special guest, priest and columnist for The Spectator, the Reverend Daniel French. We discuss Daniel's experiences over the last eight months and talk about the opportunities the Church might have as a result of the change brought about in the world due to Covid. Could this be the end of the age of reason and the beginning of a new age of faith? How can we communicate a message of life in the midst of a culture of pervasive fear?We also discuss a widely circulated article, written by Baptist pastor John Piper, in which Piper argues that a Christian should not vote for either Biden or Trump at the US election.We end by touching on some of the disparate stories that have caught our attention, including Lord Sumption's withering attack on the UK government from a powerful legal perspective and the UK's newest political celebrity, Maureen from Barnsley. ContactAs always, please rate and review us on iTunes if you are able and willing, and follow us on Twitter @IrreverendPod. Please e-mail comments, criticisms, suggestions and stories to irreverendpod@gmail.com!LinksDaniel French, Spectator columnsFollow Daniel on Twitter @holydisrupterJohn Piper, Policies, Persons, and Paths to Ruin: Pondering the Implications of the 2020 ElectionMichael Ots, response to Marc Surg, Why 'The Science' can't be our chief guide through the pandemicIan James Kidd and Matthew Ratcliff, The Critic, Welcome to CovidworldToby Young and Lionel Shriver, Intellectual Conformism and Lockdown ScepticismLord Sumption, Government by Decree - Covid-19 and the Constitution, video and transcriptMaureen from Barnsley, Appearance on Good Morning, BritainRead Jamie's recent blog, Memories of CrowdsSupport the show

We begin this episode with a comprehensive review of a recent audit published by the Daily Mail in which many of the catastrophic effects of the lockdown are laid bare. We then review a recent article written by a Christian surgeon, which is an exhortation for fellow Christians to stop dabbling in 'pseudoscientific claptrap'. We ask if the arguments presented in this article are persuasive. We finish with a short review of some of the salient themes of the important work of political theory, Covid 19: The Great Rest, written by the head of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Shwab.Rough Timings:Up to 27 minutes: Lockdown's Lethal Toll Laid BareAlso mentioned in this section: 4 Newborn Babies Die in Australia due to Coronavirus Travel RestrictionsStudent Dies in Lockdown after 'Suffering Severe Anxiety'27 - 51 minutes: Christians Must Stop Embracing Pseudo-Scientific Claptrap, Mark Surg51 minutes: The Great Reset, Klaus Schwab/Thierry MalleretAlso Mentioned:The Great Barrington DeclarationE-mail: irreverendpod@gmail.comTwitter: @irreverendpodPlease subscribe, rate and review us on iTunes!Support the show