Dear subscriber, you have received updates of my published work via this website for some time, and I really appreciate your support. I’m going to trial sending these updates via a weekly Substack newsletter instead. How I use wordpress now is up to you – let me know what you want! You can subscribe to my Substack here, and you will hopefully receive my first newsletter direct from that platform, too.
Free speech and two Christian conservatives in the latest issue…
The latest issue of Premier’s Christianity magazine is out. I have three articles published:
Free Indeed? A in-depth exploration of free speech and whether Christians should care about protecting it. As with many features on current affairs and the church in the present time, the question of postmodernism and its effects on society is raised. Researching this took me into the history of the church as well as UK law, which I’ve reflected in the piece. Note that editing made it less clear that David Hilborn is commenting on postmodern ideas rather than expressing them himself – and he is the Academic Dean of LST.
Miriam Cates profile: my interview with the feisty Tory MP at the ARC conference in November.
Danny Kruger’s ‘Covenant’: a review of the Conservative MP’s recent book about community and politics from a socially conservative (ish) perspective
The faith of Africa: an interview with Pastor Agu
My favourite part of the ARC conference was meeting very interesting people and interviewing them. The first profile to be published is my interview with Pastor Agu Irukwu, who leads one of the largest churches in the UK. Originally from Nigeria, he has a helpful perspective on the UK church’s challenges. It is available on podcast, too.
My own conversion to Christianity – like Ayaan, I had political reasons, but then surprising things happened…
Religious conversions are in the news following Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s fascinating article about her conversion from Islam to atheism to Christianity. She cites concern for the fate of Western Civilisation in her reasons. I reflect on my own journey from leftie Guardian journo to conservative Christian for The Critic here.
A new rival to the WEF, with Christian values at the centre?
The Alliance for Responsible Citizenship is certainly an interesting idea. Its launch has been successful, with influential people from all over the world attending its first conference in London’s Greenwich last week. I was there, and I wrote a report for Premier here.
Christians choosing homeschooling
Recently I wrote about the rise in home education in the Christian community. There are concerns that some mainstream education makes it harder for children to develop a faith, and there is increasing alarm about the extreme content in some schools’ Relationship and Sex Education. Have a read and tell me what you think. I found it a fascinating subject…
How should Christians respond to pressure from the secular world?
Christians are often in the news for expressing and acting on their traditional ethics – often for being sacked or “cancelled”. How should we respond to this kind of pressure? I wrote an article for Premier’s Christianity magazine, asking a range of Christian thinkers what they thought.
It’s possible to do keto when in Rome… even clean and/or vegan (ish) keto (includes restaurant recommendations)
I don’t often write about my health or diet, but both are a huge part of my life because I have a serious migraine problem that used to be very disabling. Happily, a few years ago I discovered that eating a low carb diet radically improved it. I’d tried various other diets that hadn’t helped. Then I went low-GI, which worked partially, and led me to low carb, which really does work well. (It’s the same for diabetes and epilepsy, if you’re interested.)
However… it’s not easy. I love carbs, for a start. I love bread, pasta, rice, most sweet things, fruit… all carbs! My migraines are painful and debilitating enough for me to be motivated to give up these treats – I soon regret it if I fall off the wagon.
Unfortunately, I don’t like meat, and I have other health concerns, which makes keto more difficult. I used to eat cheese and cream by the bucket load, but I now want to avoid dairy due to the cancer risk, and I try to eat as natural and unprocessed a diet as I can. If you’re interested, drop a comment, and I’ll write more about it in future.
Anyhoo… I love Italy and am learning Italian, and this summer had a fantastic opportunity to visit Rome. The first thing friends asked was, ‘but what about your diet?’ Italian food is of course known for its fantastic pasta and pizza… and gelato. So I was a bit worried.
I read a few blog posts and they advised cheese and ham platters or mozzarella salads. Not inspiring, and not very healthy. But I’ve good news… it was a lot easier than that. Even if you’re trying to stay ‘clean’ or even ‘vegan’, there are better options.
Firstly, any decent trattoria (which are everywhere) usually has second courses that are meat and veg, with at least one fish dish, and around £18 a dish. That was my ‘go to’ option. I had an amazing salmon, turnip greens and tomato dish that was absolutely delicious and filled me up for hours. There are usually veg sides too.
Secondly, you can add olive oil and vinegar to everything, increasing the taste and the healthy fat content.
Thirdly, supermarkets had a few dirty keto protein bars etc and a wide range of 90% chocolate.
One tip is to avoid ‘fried’ because it often means covered in batter, to my disappointment when a fried cod dish turned out to be c. 10% fish.
Here are a few less typical restaurant recommendations:
My favourite place, very near the Vatican. It had the most to choose from, due to a large selection of vegetable dishes that can be eaten on their own or with fish/meat. A plate of three veg and fish was around £13. There is a farm shop attached.
This is a healthy vegetarian/vegan restaurant near the Piazza del Popolo. I had a gazpacho, which probably wasn’t the lowest carb option, but it was delicious. The menu had a few other options I could have eaten.
There were a few poke outlets. This one offered a choice of salad (rather than rice) together with fish or tofu, avocado and other salad items, including a topping of nuts. It was about £10 a go so one of the cheaper options.
Just down the road from Ami Poke, this is mostly wraps etc but there are a few keto and/or vegan options, including a courgetti dish.
How can we reduce division in the church?
I think and write a lot about the culture wars, and how it is possible to cross the “divides” we find in our society. I believe it’s one of the most important tasks of the present, as if it gets worse then there will be serious consequences. I read an interesting book on this subject recently, by a psychologist who applied her craft to her experience of church. Have a read and let me know what you think.
Why “bog standard” might be a good thing when it comes to ministry…
As usual, apologies for not keeping this blog up to date, but here is an article published a few weeks ago for Christian Today. I’ve been thinking about it for a while in the wake of the leadership scandals we’re seeing in the church, and why fashionable, popular and charismatic (not the theology!) might be bad traits in ministry leaders. Have a read and let me know what you think!
Does Jesus clearly say he’s the Son of God, or God himself?
This has become a common debate, despite the Biblical evidence being pretty clear. I write about it for Christian Today here. Let me know what you think!
Book review: Christ and the culture wars
Here’s a review of a recent book on the “culture wars” and identity politics by Ben Chang, for Christianity magazine. The book is about how modern social justice narratives may make evangelism a lot harder, and it presents some possible solutions. I’m not convinced it goes far enough. Have a read and let me know what you think!
Is the wider world more apocalyptic than the church?
Given climate change, Russian wars and covid, there’s plenty to worry about the future of our world. It used to be just very religious people who were announcing the end of the world, but now it’s scientists, journalists and the media. I wrote about it for Christianity magazine – take a look here.
To address tribalism in society, the church needs to unite
I’m enjoying writing regular articles for Premier’s Unbelievable ministry, the apologetics forum hosted by Justin Brierley. A recent discussion on tribalism and the culture wars got me thinking about the church’s own tribal behaviour – and what we should do about it! Take a look here.
Does the West’s individualism distort Christianity and its deconstruction?
I’ve had some interesting feedback from a recent article on Western self-centredness and the ‘deconstruction’ movement that I wrote for Premier’s Unbelievable, a great apologetics and debating outlet. Take a look – it’s a reflection on a recent debate between someone who is “deconstructing” their Christian faith and someone who is more orthodox. Michael Gungor, the deconstructionist, has responded on twitter if you want to get involved in the discussion.
Digging into the Census results on religion in England & Wales
I was asked to do an analysis of the recent Census results for Christianity magazine, beyond the typical headline of ‘Christianity declining’ etc. I think I show that it’s a lot more complicated than that – take a look here. Perhaps the decline has already happened, and our spiritual state is actually improving? It’s not clear. One thing is clear – we need to look outside the West and learn from others about how to grow in faith.
Shia LaBeouf’s faith
I have just written for Christianity magazine on Shia LaBeouf’s recent conversion to Catholicism, which he talked about with Bishop Barron and is posted on YouTube. It’s well worth a watch, but hopefully you can catch the highlights in this article.
For what it’s worth, I think he’s being genuine. With addiction and his other issues, relationships with God can be very tumultuous. I hope and pray he will grow in faith and love.
Beauty and pain
I’ve been writing more for Christian Today lately, but I’m slow at putting them on here. Apologies! Here is one of the recent articles, exploring beauty, attractiveness and how we value ourselves, through a sad recent story from a supermodel. Take a look!
Challenging euthanasia with love
Apologies this is a little late, but I recently wrote on the subject of euthanasia for Christianity magazine. In the UK it’s big news as there are various attempts to legalise the practice. And campaigners are worried that there is increasing support within politics.
Christians have traditionally been against euthanasia, so I wrote about some of the arguments, but also called for action in order to help those who might wish for euthanasia. I don’t think we should treat them any differently from anyone who is feeling suicidal – we should look for ways to support and help those involved and show them how much we value their lives. Have a read here.
What does the UK church really think about abortion?
I wrote a front cover piece for Christianity magazine on the issue of abortion – the first time I’ve really grappled with the subject. While writing it I did change my mind – it’s always interesting when that happens! I think I’d seen it as a bit of a lost cause, as the public is so pro abortion. However, I now feel more motivated to address the issue – with compassion. Take a look at the article here.
One important thing I learned. If you have had an abortion or played any role in one, or if you are pregnant and considering it, then there is a lot of help and support out there for you, without judgement. Feel free to comment here and I will try to signpost.
Heather Tomlinson's Blog 