Author Archives: Jon Garvey

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About Jon Garvey

Training in medicine (which was my career), social psychology and theology. Interests in most things, but especially the science-faith interface. The rest of my time, though, is spent writing, playing and recording music.

More insights on the cult(ure)

Posted on 11/09/2024 by Jon Garvey

Here’s an excellent article on The Daily Sceptic, taking a slightly different tack from my recent piece on The Hump on the same phenomena.

Posted in Politics and sociology | Leave a comment

The Syro-Phoenician sister’s lived experience

Posted on 08/09/2024 by Jon Garvey

(The woke answer to Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30) So, I heard this faith-healer was speaking in Tyre, and I went to hear him because of my daughter’s mental health issues. If I’d realised he was Jewish, of course, I’d have been there with my “Death to Zionists” banners rather than thinking about my daughter, who always stays at home for protests because they trigger her. In fact, the only time I took her to one she was arrested for decking a policeman and screaming “Why don’t you arrest my demons instead, Pig?”. That’s where NHS child psychiatry gets you!

Posted in Politics and sociology, Theology | Leave a comment

Understanding the Cult Wars (or trying to)

Posted on 05/09/2024 by Jon Garvey

Toby Young (of the Free Speech Union – join!) reports that he had a moment of revelation recently when he realised that England’s current ruling class is, in fact, a “technocratic theocracy,” acting in effect as a secular State Religion, its own beliefs being unchallengable truths, and its opponents irredeemably evil.

Posted in History, Politics and sociology, Theology | 6 Comments

Helping Starmer build my internet footprint

Posted on 02/09/2024 by Jon Garvey

Yesterday, the fifty-ninth anniversary of my new birth in Christ happened to coincide with my being asked to preach on one of the parables of Jesus. I chose “the labourers in the vineyard” from Matthew 20, and it seemed natural to include some testimony to my six decades of being one.

Posted in Theology | Leave a comment

The Turin anomaly

Posted on 30/08/2024 by Jon Garvey

The Shroud of Turin is in the news again, after some sophisticated scientific study of the aging of the linen cloth not only suggested that it is, indeed, two thousand years old, but proposed the most likely itinerary among those previously suggested, based on climatic factors, and assuming, I suppose, that the shroud is a genuine relic from Jesus’s time.

Posted in History, Science, Theology, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Unpluggable gaps?

Posted on 27/08/2024 by Jon Garvey

Earlier this month I wrote a piece on the accusation that ID resorts to a version of the “God of the Gaps” fallacy (whilst repeating my belief that the fallacy is itself largely a fallacy).

Posted in Creation, Science, Theology of nature | 4 Comments

Christians outsourcing persecution?

Posted on 25/08/2024 by Jon Garvey

To follow up on my last-but-one post, consider this.

Posted in History, Politics and sociology, Theology | Leave a comment

Mental health and the young

Posted on 23/08/2024 by Jon Garvey

Quite regularly some new statistic appears about the increasing levels of mental health problems amongst children and young adults. The latest survey suggests one in five souls aged from eight to twenty-five had a “probable” mental health issue in 2023. It seems the conditions primarily blamed are anxiety, autism spectrum disorders, and depression. That does not indicate a healthy society.

Posted in Medicine, Politics and sociology | 3 Comments

Christians hindering revival?

Posted on 18/08/2024 by Jon Garvey

The time has come for judgment to begin, and God’s own people are the first to be judged. 1 Peter 4:17 The thing that upset many people most during COVID, and in the permacrisis since, was the total failure of a majority of people to comprehend that there was anything fundamentally wrong. That blind attitude has persisted into the most recent manifestation of the crisis (if you don’t count monkeypox and the NATO invasion of Russia at our expense), that is the protests and riots that have many US commentators wondering what has become of English justice, and even caused a friend in the impoverished and violent state of Sri … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Politics and sociology, Theology | 7 Comments

Confessions of a Far-Right thug

Posted on 15/08/2024 by Jon Garvey

paid-up Well, since I can see that the game is up, as the authorities trawl through the internet and efficiently mop up old ladies making angry tweets, I know that real members of the Far-Right like me are on borrowed time in England. It’s clear that prison sentences of a couple of years for one Tweet of an opinion will be several times greater for those who antagonise justice by not pleading guilty. Or that’s what we see from the January 6 occupation in America – even thinking about attending a rally gets them solitary confinement for three years before trial – until they make a plea deal and become … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and sociology | 2 Comments