Category Archives: Middle East

When We Are Angry At God: Sermon Preached on 12th February 2023 (Second Sunday before Lent)

Posted on February 12, 2023 by Gerry Lynch

Earthquakes aren’t caused by human beings. Their randomness and violence can leave us angry at God. Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East, sermon, Turkey | Tagged earthquake, God, suffering, theodicy | Comments Off

Your Guide to Israel’s General Election

Posted on March 15, 2015 by Gerry Lynch

Originally posted at Slugger O’Toole… Israel goes to the polls on St Patrick’s Day to elect a new parliament, which in turn will either confirm incumbent Binyamin Netanyahu in office or oust him in favour of the centre-left. The St … Continue reading →

Posted in Middle East | Tagged democracy, elections, israel | Comments Off

Is Paddy Ashdown right? Is it time for an end to Sykes-Picot?

Posted on August 16, 2014 by Gerry Lynch

Paddy Ashdown had an unusually courageous article in the Guardian on Thursday calling for the West to accept that the 1920s-era boundaries of Middle Eastern countries should be redrawn. Courageous doesn’t mean sensible. How does his argument stack up? “This … Continue reading →

Posted in Global, Middle East | Comments Off

Nobody loves themselves a conspiracy theory anywhere in the world like they love themselves one in the Middle East

Posted on August 14, 2014 by Gerry Lynch

The latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds in the Middle East: ISIS is a front established by the USA to legitimise a reinvasion of Iraq, and ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is actually a Jewish actor called Shimon Eliot. (Of … Continue reading →

Posted in Global, Middle East | Comments Off

Feast of the Transfiguration: Thousands Face Death on the Mountain

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Gerry Lynch

#Yezidi refugees from #Shingal. Children, women and old people without water, food and safety! #TwitterKurds pic.twitter.com/RhqhbmmWLg — êzîdîPress (@EzidiPress) August 3, 2014 Mountains are somewhere apart from the mainstream of the world. They are often gorgeous, above the general fray … Continue reading →

Posted in Global, Human Rights, Middle East | Comments Off

Iraqi Christians in Parliament Square

Posted on July 29, 2014 by Gerry Lynch

I attended the national demonstration on the persecution of Iraqi Christians in Parliament Square, London on Saturday 26 July. There was a large turnout of Iraqi and other Middle Eastern Christians, a healthy and welcome presence of Iraqi Muslims, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Global, Human Rights, Middle East | Comments Off

The Good Samaritan Visits North Belfast

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Gerry Lynch

And, behold, a certain pastor stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt love … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Global, Middle East, Northern Ireland | Comments Off

The Silence of Lost Worlds and the Fate of the Middle East’s Christians

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Gerry Lynch

Crossposted at Slugger O’Toole… Monasteries are very quiet places indeed. Garrulous as I am beyond the normal Irish capacity for such things, I am not someone obviously identifiable as a great lover of silence. At the Community of the Resurrection, … Continue reading →

Posted in Christianity, Europe, LGBT, Middle East | Comments Off