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The Word on the Week
June 9, 2008

Hijab rears its head

Just when integration of schoolchildren was beginning to break through the familiar Church divisions to produce homogenous school communities the Muslin female headgear reappears. Some naively say its simply an article of clothing and should be ignored. Others see it an the emblem of a more strident brand of Islam that is to be feared. […]

June 3, 2008

Politics of hunger

Of all the hellish devices that can be inflicted upon a population the subjection by starvation must surely be the worst. The sight of well fed leaders strutting on the world stage with their posse of attendants while their policies cause starvation and death at home can only be described as obscene. This word was […]

May 26, 2008

Disappearing Democracy

It seemed such a good idea after two world wars fought mainly on European soil that the States of Europe should get together. But peace comes at a price and anyone working out the maths could see the day coming when, with a population of less that 1% of the whole, this Republic’s voice would […]

May 19, 2008

Israel at 60

Or should it be Israel at 4,000? Last week’s celebration of the founding of the State of Israel reminds us of the promise God made to Abraham to leave his father’s country and go to a land I will show you; Genesis Chapter 12. This “promised land” presented Abraham with some problems from the start […]

May 12, 2008

Madness in Myanmar

It must be the most callous disregard for its citizens witnessed this century for the military government of Burma to give a higher priority to their referendum than to the supply of aid to its people suffering from Cyclone Nargis. Not since Nero fiddled while Rome burned has there been such a studied indifference to […]

May 5, 2008

Flowers and Thorns

In Ireland we are sometimes blessed with a Spring morning which is idyllic! The scents and sounds are stimulating and there is a real sense of it being good to be alive. The grass, after a cold April, now bursts into that vivid luscious green that has the cattle lying down to ruminate after only […]

April 28, 2008

Familyside

We are all too familiar with the horrors of suicide but now another phenomenon has hit the Irish scene where a family dies together. The tragedy is compounded by the thought that they may not have been of one mind and the setting fire to the house, as occurred this weekend, may not successfully conceal […]

April 7, 2008

A tale of two heads

It must have been perplexing for President Mugabe to read of the Taoiseach’s resignation so soon after he had won another five years in office. In Zimbabwe the man in charge makes the rules and if they are found to limit his power he can change them. In Ireland the Leader pays lip service to […]

March 31, 2008

Martin Luther

This week sees the 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King. The small town Baptist Pastor who found himself projected into the Civil Rights Movement and, recognising the grave injustices, set out to “redeem the soul of America”. His recognition that love, translated into non-violence, would win the day was inspirational and his […]

March 25, 2008

He Has Risen

After years of trying to produce a secular state in Stalinist Russia there was a large political gathering one Easter. At a defining moment in the proceedings someone shouted the words, “He is Risen”. Out of the mouths of the thousands present came the Christian response, “He is Risen Indeed”! The life of God in […]

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