When Torture is Right and Moral

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/25/russian-officials-lauding-torture-was-unthinkable-now-it-is-proud-to-do-so

This article appeared in The Guardian in response to the Russian treatment of ISIS-K terrorists who attacked a Moscow concert hall in March of 2024, an act of murder that led to over 100 deaths.

Demographic Changes in Northern Ireland

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-62980394

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-unionist-nightmare-in-ulster.html

This represents a rather noteworthy change in the demographics of Northern Ireland – and at a particularly interesting time. Sinn Fein now holds power which in some respects is the outward expression of this now verified demographic reality.

The Unionist Nightmare in Ulster

https://www.politico.eu/article/boris-johnson-to-travel-to-belfast-amid-brexit-protocol-crisis/

It's the nightmare scenario the Ulster Unionists long feared. With the recent Sinn Fein victory in the Northern Ireland elections, the unionists face the real prospect of a vote for Irish Reunification. Long feared but a distant prospect, the campaign has picked up momentum in light of the 2016 Brexit vote and now seems within the realm of possibility.

Catholic Ireland and the Christianity That Would Replace It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oF4OG4f4xU

I found this Evangelical coverage to be far more disturbing than the actual decline of Catholicism within Ireland – a reality no New Testament Christian would lament.

Sobering News from Ulster

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/4/8/northern-ireland-unrest-four-key-questions-answered

Everyone who has followed the news surrounding Northern Ireland and Brexit has dreaded this moment. Hopefully, things will calm down but there's another element to the story the Al Jazeera article fails to pursue.

The Compromised Pence

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is an unabashed sodomite and brought his cohort with him on his recent visit to the White House. The event made the news because Varadkar upbraided US society for not being pro-sodomite enough its outlook. Most people interpreted the comments as being directed particularly at Vice President Mike Pence who was present and in fact hosting the event.

John Owen and Oliver Cromwell's Irish Campaign of 1649

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/how-cromwell-s-irish-terror-made-a-bloodthirsty-preacher-teach-tolerance-1.3317531

This article encouraged me. Having embraced Calvinism in the mid-1990's I followed paths that led me to the Puritans and as someone inclined toward Congregationalism I had a special affinity for figures like the theologian John Owen.

Paisley and the May Government

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44932312

This story is probably most interesting to me because it involves Ian Paisley Jr., son of the more famous Paisley who died in 2014. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) founded by Paisley Sr. in 1971 is currently in a coalition with Theresa May's Tories and while I've always followed British politics to some extent, I have as of late been paying a little closer attention.

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-dup-and-ulsters-christian-witness.html

Paisley's movement has followers in the United States and there are longtime bonds between Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church and American Fundamentalist circles, particularly the Anti- Billy Graham factions centred on Bob Jones University.

Microsoft, Ireland and the EU

https://iapp.org/news/a/european-commission-weighs-in-on-microsoft-ireland-case/

Europe is socialist. Socialism means the government regulates and controls everything.

That's what I was taught growing up. These messages came not only from the public education system but from within my own Right-wing home.

Of course I later came to question this and understand that it's not that simple. Socialism can mean regulation and control and certainly does when it comes to certain aspects of business and society.

MI5, Ulster Loyalist Paramilitaries and an Assassination Plot

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/29/mi5-asked-loyalist-paramilitary-group-assassinate-irish-prime/

This article raises more questions than it is able to answer. It suggests there were elements within the British Establishment that were less than happy with Thatcher's overtures vis-à-vis the Irish Republic.

The DUP and Ulster's Christian Witness

http://www.lastampa.it/2017/06/12/vaticaninsider/eng/comment/theresa-may-risks-inflaming-irelands-religious-tensions-AF1zL5IwnBhxTiBpmz5B5N/pagina.html

With Theresa May's failed bid to secure a sold Parliamentary majority in the recent Snap election, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland has been the subject of a great deal of media attention. They are her 'ace in the hole', her means to retain power and avoid resignation and further elections in the near future.

Ulster in Light of Brexit

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/10/mcguinness-northern-ireland-cash-for-ash

https://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/northern-ireland-faces-elections-raising-fresh-uncertainty-over-brexit-talks/

This is one of the recent stories that needs to be followed. For Christians this is actually a much 'bigger' story than the host of issues surrounding Brexit.

Apple, Ireland and the EU

Apple has formally appealed its €13billion tax bill which was levied when it was determined that Ireland had given the Silicon Valley giant illegal tax breaks. Apple employs thousands within the Irish Republic and has invested millions of dollars into its economy. And Apple is by no means the only American company to do so. Altogether American firms employ over 100,000 people in Ireland and have invested close to $200 billion.

Ireland wants to retain this investment and in particular wants to keep Apple on their shores. The fact that they're using the Republic as a tax shelter and means of asset protection is well known in Dublin. But they're happy to forego the revenue to keep the jobs and investment.

Weapons Caches and Dark Plots

It has long been suggested the US and its allies have established weapons caches in various locales, especially in Europe that were accessible by those in the know and in an hour of need. Supposedly set up for 'Stay-behind' units, covert cells established to generate resistance in light of a Soviet invasion, these weapons caches were used by various underground groups during the 1970s and 1980s to conduct terror operations across Europe.

Polish Sacralism

http://www.politico.eu/article/polands-church-state-alliance-to-ban-abortion/

This is the kind of relationship American Evangelicals long to implement. The Protestant Sacral model is one in which the Church advises the state, it acts as arbiter for official policy.

The End of Paisley

I was enjoying a pleasantly cool and overcast late summer afternoon. As I was scraping the side of an old house back in the woods, the news came over the radio...

Ian Paisley is dead at 88.

These moments always hit me. It will stay with me forever.