Author: stephenmcalpine

The Age of Look-The-Other-Way has been replaced by The Age of the Exposé, and it is catching out the previously hidden sins of public people.  This is as true for Churchbiz sin as it is for Showbiz sin. And it’s proof that Churchbiz has often protected and promoted its celebrities as much as Showbiz does. […]

A visitor to our church came up to me at the end of the meeting last Sunday and said to me, “That was great, where I go to church we don’t normally do that.” “Normally do what?” I asked, casting my mind over what element of the church service was out of left field or […]

In what is a classic case of Captain Obvious, United States crowd sourcing organisation Church Clarity is pushing churches to reveal where they stand on certain “policies” in order to be transparent and helpful to certain groups in the community. Oh and it just so happens that their first issue of policy pertains to whether churches […]

Mercedes latest ad campaign Grow Up is an astonishing piece of story telling.  It’s sticky, grippy and gripping in an emotional sense.  It’s what I call a Velcro Story and it clings like a burr. It’s a full blown relationship story that has anger, sorrow, betrayal, frustration. Oh, and a Mercedes. It’s a game changer.  It’s […]

The Anglican Diocese of Sydney certainly has gold in its coffers, but it’s got a tin ear when it comes to how the decision to donate one million dollars to the No campaign will go down. The announcement that the diocese had taken that step was accompanied by prescient comments by the Archbishop of Sydney, […]

David Aaronovitch’s article in The Times today dares to say what others dare not say about the Las Vegas shooter, Stephen Paddock, namely that the point of his action is the pointlessness of it. Aaronovitch observes that Paddock is more terrifying to us than Bin Laden. Forget your conspiracy theories, which are coming thick and fast. […]

We’re living in a watershed moment. At least that’s clear now.  It’s clear now that both sides of the argument in the same sex marriage campaign are presenting slippery slope scenarios. And all watersheds have slippery slopes.  That’s the point of a watershed.  In its technical meaning a watershed is the high point in a […]

What happened in Vegas is horrible. But then again, what happens in Vegas has often been horrible.  Behind the glitz and the glamour, there is a seedy, evil underbelly in Sin City.  An underbelly exposed so ruthlessly and shockingly by Martin Scorsese in the 1995 classic Casino. One of the final scenes of that movie […]

Yes, it seems to be a contentious article. I haven’t read it yet. But the real headline for me, the words that indicate what life is like in our western context is on the bottom line after the date: “21 min read”. Not 20. Not 22. But 21. Assuming I read at the same pace […]

Hugh Hefner’s “exceptional and impactful” life represented by a black dot, on a piece of paper representing the life of a no-name sub-Saharan Christian woman who died this morning in childbirth: Thank you.  That is all.