When Barack Obama vows to destroy Islamic State’s “brand of evil” and David Cameron declares that Islamic State (ISIS) is an “evil organisation” that must be obliterated, they are echoing Tony Blair’s judgment of Saddam Hussein: “But the man’s uniquely evil, isn’t he?” Blair made this observation in November 2002, four months before the invasion Read more
The last weeks have seen a ghastly roll call of terror attacks in the obvious places: Syria, Libya, Iraq and Lebanon, as well as Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia and Pakistan. Also suffering are places where we have only in recent years seen such violence: Nigeria, and in many parts of central Africa, in Russia and across Read more
One of the striking features of innovative interfaith work is the very high proportion of women and girls who are involved, despite the received image of mostly male religious leaders in dialogue. Of the 687 young people who applied to be one of our 34 Faiths Act Fellows, there were 487 women and 200 men. Read more
A senior Vatican figure has rebuked Tony Blair after it was reported at the weekend that he “strongly supports the Prime Minister’s proposal” to legalise gay marriage.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, had harsh words for the former Prime Minister, who became a Catholic in 2007 and whose comments were reported in the Independent on Sunday.
He said: “If the stories in the press about Blair’s thinking are true, I think he should examine his conscience carefully”, Vatican Insider reported.
Meanwhile Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, was expected to praise marriage today. In a Social Justice Strategy Paper he is expected to say that the stability of the parents’ relationship is a key factor in the development of children and that marriage is particularly good for children, The Telegraph reported.
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Tony Blair, Britain’s former Labour Prime Minister and a Catholic convert, has come out in support of Conservative efforts to provide a way for gay and lesbian couples to marry. Blair, who introduced same-sex civil unions to Britain, is reported as telling friends that he “strongly supports” plans for gay marriage. Blair’s support of gay Read more
According to the Blair Faith Foundation, “though many Enlightenment thinkers assumed that religion and faith were on the wane, to be inevitably replaced by rational, scientific insight, this theory looks increasingly implausible today. Rather than Europe leading the way, it is now clearly the exception to the rule. The world is becoming more religious.” How do Read more
There are more Muslims in China than in the whole of Europe. There are more practising Protestants than in Britain. There are more practising Catholics in China than in Italy, and an estimated 100 million or more people who consider themselves Buddhists. Tony Blair writes “I was in a province of China recently where I Read more