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These questions are particularly pointed when they are expressed in religious terms: Why did God allow this to happen? Why did God permit darkness to overwhelm the light? Why did God stand by when so many needed Him to intervene? Theologians call this "the mystery of suffering", which is a poetic way of saying we don't know the answer to those questions. Many traditional answers have been suggested -- technically known as "", they are attempts, in Milton's phrase, to "justify the ways of God to men".

The fact that the questions are re-issued with every earthquake, tsunami, famine, flood or war is comprehensive evidence that our best efforts at theodicy have foundered.

In the ancient world one particular theodicy seemed like the right answer to many: that suffering is a form of divine punishment, just as material prosperity is a form of divine blessing. We've seen enough good people suffering and wicked people prospering to doubt this simple-minded reading of human affairs.

Nevertheless, the link between punishment and suffering is , the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the city of Christchurch in New Zealand is proof of God's judgment. Why? Because the quake took place on the first day of a Gay Ski Week.

Let's not for a second allow the impression to be given that this bizarre analysis is representative of mainstream theological opinion. Most Christians, I suspect, will sigh with embarrassment that a group calling itself "Christian" has chosen to use the tragedy in Christchurch as an ideological stick to beat others with.

Update
The to a gay ski week has now been taken down, perhaps in response to complaints to the host site.

These are some of the week's big religion and ethics news stories. You can talk about the stories on this thread and suggest others.

Religion stories
Christian website
Peter Robinson:
Islamic scholars to Libyans: It's a
Bishop sings Coalition's
The Vatican may be cosying up to science
Gay couple shut out of
Vatican: Warning
Muslim Brotherhood
New book claims Jesus can
German Catholic church

Ethics in the news

It is not wrong to sell arms, says David Cameron as he defends
Can forced sterilization
Gove: more single parents

Thinking allowed
Social networks:
Who is Ireland's greatest ?

From Serbia to Egypt, pro-democracy protesters have acknowledges the influence of Gene Sharp's blueprint for toppling dictators. Sharp is persuaded that non-violence can be more powerful than violence, and successful too.

When the dictator sends tanks to confront you in the square, throw flowers at the tanks, as they did in Cairo, and overwhelm the soldiers with expressions of shared humanity and shared citizenship. Sharp's pamphlet lists 198 "non-violent weapons" for confronting dictators and their regimes.

To those who suggest that violence is the best way to break a dictator, Sharp replies: "By placing confidence in violent means, one has chosen the very type of struggle with which the oppressors nearly always have superior- ity. The dictators are equipped to apply violence overwhelmingly. However long or briefly these democrats can continue, eventually the harsh military realities usually become inescapable. The dictators almost always have superiority in military hardware, ammunition, transportation, and the size of military forces. Despite bravery, the democrats are (almost always) no match."

Instead, Sharp offers readers an accessible guidebook in which he sketches a roadmap for regime change. It ends with these words:

"There are three major conclusions to the ideas sketched here:

• Liberation from dictatorships is possible;

• Very careful thought and strategic planning will be required to achieve it; and

• Vigilance,hardwork,anddisciplinedstruggle,oftenatgreat cost, will be needed.

The oft quoted phrase "Freedom is not free" is true. No outside force is coming to give oppressed people the freedom they so much want. People will have to learn how to take that freedom themselves. Easy it cannot be. If people can grasp what is required for their own liberation, they can chart courses of action which, through much travail, can eventually bring them their freedom. Then, with diligence they can construct a new democratic order and prepare for its defense. Freedom won by struggle of this type can be durable. It can be maintained by a tenacious people committed to its preservation and enrichment."

A strategy matched by tenacity is what we have seen unfolding in recent weeks across the middle east. Photocopies of Sharp's book are circulating in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and in other countries. More and more people are now recognising Sharp's little book as one of the most important texts of the 20th century and one of the few texts that is already redefining the global politics of this century.

Read Sharp's , which he founded.
Read his
Read .
Read an article by Ruaridh Arrow, who is finishing a documentary about Sharp.
Read Tina Rosenberg's "

You can read the open letter in full . The document -- which begins with a note of exasperation: 'We can no longer keep silent' -- urges the Vatican to create space for an open, informed debate about how the church can be reformed. Specifically, it invites discussion on the following key issues:

1. "The Church also needs married priests and women in ordained ministry."

2. "The faithful should be involved in the process of appointing important office-holders (bishop, parish priest). Whatever can be decided locally should be decided there. Decisions must be transparent."

3. "It is urgent that the protection of rights and the legal culture within the church be improved. A first step is the creation of institutional structures of an administrative justice system in the Church."

4. "The Church's esteem for marriage and for the unmarried form of life goes without saying. But this does not require the exclusion of people who responsibly live out love, faithfulness, and mutual care in same-sex partnerships or in a remarriage after divorce."

5. "The Church cannot preach reconciliation with God if it does not create by its own actions the conditions for reconciliation with those whom the Church has wronged: by violence, by withholding law, by turning the biblical message of freedom into a rigorous morality without mercy."

6. "The Eucharist and other celebrations of the sacraments must not become frozen in traditionalism. Cultural diversity enriches liturgical life; this is not compatible with a tendency toward centralized uniformity."

It is difficult to read this letter without thinking of an earlier appeal for reform by It's also significant that this latest appeal is ultimately addressed to a German theologian who once recommended an open debate about the rule of compulsory celibacy --

There's an old and apocryphal story that when an old firebrand preacher died people went through his sermon notes, and to their surprise, written in the margins were the words, 'argument weak, shout louder'.

Last Thursday the world celebrated Darwin Day. Here in Northern Ireland I wasn't aware of any such celebrations, and so you might think that Darwin is considered to be irrelevant in this part of the world, but I think that would be a mistake. You might also be forgiven for thinking there are only two sides to the Evolution debate: the radical New Atheists on the one side and the Young Earth Creationists on the other. But that's not the full story. There are many people of faith who fully embrace evolution as scientific fact - many of whom are involved in biology, and the other sciences. Theistic Evolution allows for the truth of evolution through natural selection while still able to embrace a godly component to it.

But wait, I hear you cry. Isn't evolution only a theory? Shouldn't it be treated as merely hypothetical, simply an idea with very little to back it up? The Theory of Evolution has the same scientific standing as Atomic Theory, the Germ Theory of disease, and the Theory of Gravity. If you think that gravity is simply an idea with very little to back it up, then might I suggest taking your most prized possession to the top of a tall building, shouting out loud "it's only a theory", then throwing it off. Don't forgot to record those results now, won't you?

Some people might also tell you about the mass of scientists who deny evolution and they may even produce lists of them. This looks very impressive, but the truth of the matter is even more impressive. Statistically, there are more historians who deny the Holocaust than biologists who deny evolution.

We should be thankful to Charles Darwin. His pioneering work, coupled with the later evidence of DNA, shows not that we were planted on the Earth, but that we come from the earth. We're chemically related to the rocks, and we're biologically related to plants and animals. We're not separate from creation; we're part of it.

Knowing this should transform how we treat one another, because apart from superficial differences like skin colour and facial features, we are all genetically related - and so the people of China, South America, Indonesia, North Africa, and all points in between really are my brothers and sisters. And it should also transform how we treat other animals as well as the ecosystems they reside in.

But to our shame we don't tend to hear that. What we do tend to hear are the noisy calls from those on the extremes. Argument weak, shout louder.

These are some of the week's big religion and ethics news stories. You can talk about the stories on this thread and suggest others.

Religion stories
Sentamu: don't force churches to
Orthodox church sues over temple
Muslims mark Muhammad's birthday on

Ethics in the news
The Moral Maze: "Who should be allowed to marry?"
Sex offenders to get right of appeal
Oxford ethicist argues for designer babies with high IQs
Is South Dakota set to legalise the
Sacked Christian doctor says he
Peter Tatchell: Full pardon urged for
Scott Mills documentary: The World's Worst Place to Be Gay?
Ian McEwan calls for voluntary
The infidelity
Government advisor calls for war
Silvio Berlusconi faces Ruby sex charge trial in April
Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protesters
Whales and dolphins -

Thinking allowed
Why Tunis, Why ?
Libya: Protests 'rock city of Benghazi'
Congo: the world's most under-reported crisis
Mind vs. Machine: what does it
A Dictionary of Modern English Usage: a
Mark Twain: his own

Sponsored by Channel 4 and now an annual fixture which throws a spotlight on politicians, journalists, bloggers, activists and campaigners who have made an impression on the cultural and political landscape of the past 12 months.

Here's the .

I'll just mention some of my ´óÏó´«Ã½ colleagues in the shortlist. Darragh McIntyre of Spotlight fame and David Gordon, formerly political editor of the Belfast Telegraph and now a producer on the Nolan Show, are facing off in the Investigative Journalism category, alongside Suzanne Breen. Mark Devenport is up against the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s former security editor Brian Rowan for the award of political journalist of the year, alongside Eamonn Mallie. And yours truly has been nominated in the Thinker and Explainer category, alongside a University of Ulster showcase and Disability Action.

You can follow the awards ceremony on Twitter (hashtag: #slugger11). And if I can get my phone to work inside the Black Box, I'll send a few updates myself on @williamcrawley.

Update
Congratulations to all the winners, and especially to my colleagues Mark Devenport and Darragh McIntyre, who wont their categories. Bizarrely, I was given the award for Thinker and Explainer of the Year.

Another article about Scientology? What's so unusual about this one? A couple of things. First, the New Yorker and its l which is famed for combing through every factual claim and literary reference in every article to maintain the magazine's reputation for accuracy. Laurence Wright says the New Yorker has never previously devoted so many fact-checking resources to a single story.

Second, Paul Haggis (pictured), the double-Oscar-winning film director and writer, whose story prompted the New Yorker investigation. The article by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Laurence Wright is titled "The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology" and tells the story of Haggis's after more . Haggis is now the church's most high-profile defector.

Add to those considerations the fact that the Church of Scientology co-operated in the New Yorker's investigation, providing "seven linear feet" of documents in binders, which the magazine's fact-checkers went through with fine tooth combs.

What's the ? The article claims that the church's founder was not, as the church asserts, a war hero, who healed himself of major injuries using the techniques later described in his book . A church spokesman reportedly told the New Yorker that the church's credibility rested on the authenticity of that assertion. The article also reveals that the Church of Scientology is being investigated by the FBI . (Read more UK coverage .) (Read a of Laurence Wright's report.)

For their part, Church of Scientology authorities say: "The Church has never been advised of any government investigation," and maintain that the New Yorker article is "little more than a regurgitation of old allegations that have long been disproved."

Audio
Listen to Laurence Wright (Read interview .)

That's the view of the Boston University biblical scholar and pastor in her new book

She writes: "I love gay people, but the Bible forces me to condemn them" is a poor excuse that attempts to avoid accountability by wrapping a very particular and narrow interpretation of a few biblical passages in a cloak of divinely inspired respectability." Professor Knust offers an alternative reading of the Bible .

Jennifer Wright Knust's comment piece, based on her book, links to a recent , who told the broadcaster that the Scriptures clearly teach that homosexuality is a sin.

These are some of the week's big religion and ethics news stories. You can talk about the stories on this thread and suggest others.

Religion stories
Smartphone Sins: Catholic Church
Church of Scientology
The Apostate:
The Church Of Scientology,
Cult leader had sex with schoolgirl
A letter from the Anglican
Irish bishop asks laypeople to help
Fr Ray
Christian GP sacked as Government drugs adviser
Education Bill accused of
Call for Israel

Ethics in the news
Jonathan Chaplin: I
Julian Savulescu: The HFEA has (and )
Andrew Brown: Cameron's
General Synod backs
Obituary: civil rights activist and
Irish atheists say: Please vote
New challenge to
Foreign Policy: experts weigh in on

Thinking allowed
Richard Dawkins, the
Hugh McLeod on
Spinoza, part 1:
The Greenbelt
Too Young to Look Old: What
Pink Smoke Over the Vatican: Will Women Priests

I don't often post an open thread, but some of you tell me it's a good idea because it lets you get stuff off your chest without throwing the direction of other threads. It also permits you to make suggestions about subjects we might give some more substantial space to on Will & Testament. Let's see. Expatiate at will (sorry about the pun). Keep it legal. The house rules still apply.

Here's the link to the initiative's The event's main celebration on Thursday is now so over-subscribed that they've moved its venue to the Waterfront Hall and there's now Ministers and pastors can still register for the day conference (also on Thursday) as can those who who like to attend the students gathering on Friday.

Revival '11's Praise Leader is and the keynote speaker is the well-known Christian writer , former minister of in London.

Read more about the missal controversy .

Malcolm Bruce MP, chair of the International Development Select Committee, speaking today on Sunday Sequence, said the payment was inappropriate and ran the risk of setting a dangerous precedent that would permit the government to take money from the international aid budget to meet its other financial commitments.

A similar criticism has been made by Paul Chitnis, chief executive of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, who called for spending rules to be . Harriet Harman, the shadow international development secretary, said the money should be put back into the aid budget.

For its part, the UK government has defended the use of aid money to meet part of the £10m costs of the papal visit by claiming that the payment recognises the Catholic Church's enormous contribution to international development and its humanitarian work across the world.

Critics, including some leading Catholic aid workers, say the government should have used Foreign Office funds rather than money specifically set aside to help some of the poorest people on the planet.

Setting aside the financial implications of not extending voting rights to prisoners, what of the moral case? When prisoners go to prison, they don't cease to be citizens: why then should they lose a basic right and responsibility of citizenship? We debated the issue today with criminologist from Queen's University, the Conservative and , Reader in Law at the University of Bristol, and author of which has just been published by Oxford University Press.

Listen again to Sunday Sequence here.
Read a ´óÏó´«Ã½ briefing on prisoners' voting rights.

Lord Mackay writes:

"Judge Rutherford found for the claimants. The case hinged on the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations, specifically Regulation 3(4) which, according to Judge Rutherford's ruling, should be read to mean that a homosexual civil partnership must be treated in the same way as marriage when it comes to providing goods, facilities or services. The wording of the Regulations on that point is not particularly clear, but that appears to be the thrust of it. Therefore, Judge Rutherford ruled that providing a double room to a married couple but not to a homosexual couple in a civil partnership, is an act of direct discrimination of grounds of sexual orientation. However, Judge Rutherford has granted leave to appeal. He recognises, quite rightly in my view, that this is a significant case with finely balanced and complex legal points."

The relevant clause in the Regulations has been taken by others to have a clearer meaning than Lord Mackay acknowledges. This is what says:

"(4) For the purposes of paragraphs (1) and (3), the fact that one of the persons (whether or not B) is a civil partner while the other is married shall not be treated as a material difference in the relevant circumstances."

The debate continues.

The Church of Ireland has released this profile of Bishop Jackson:

Bishop Jackson has been Bishop of Clogher since 2002. He was made Deacon in 1986, and Priest in 1987. He served his curacy in Zion Parish, Dublin, and lectured at Trinity College, Dublin and the Church of Ireland Theological College (now Institute) before taking up the post of College Chaplain at Christ Church College, Oxford, from 1989 to 1997. From 1997 to 2002, he was Incumbent of St Fin Barre's Union and Dean of Cork. Bishop Jackson has held many notable positions in the Church of Ireland, including chairmanship of the Church in Society Committee and, currently, chairmanship of the Board for Social Theology. The bishop has also been active in the wider Anglican Communion, especially in the arena of inter-faith dialogue.

Bishop Jackson is 54. He is married to Inez, who is a doctor, and they have one adult daughter, Camilla. He was educated at Portora Royal School, Enniskillen; Trinity College, Dublin; St John's College, Cambridge and Christ Church, Oxford. Following approval by the House of Bishops, the Archbishop-elect will be consecrated in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin on a date to be determined.

I'll post links to some of the top religion and ethics stories of the week. You can add links to other stories of interest here and suggest topics for discussion on this week's Sunday Sequence.

Religion stories
Presbyterians choose new Moderator.
Where's the Arab world going, and can
Intelligent Design: or flawed ?
Rowan Williams urges Robert Mugabe to stop
Church must make women
The Muslim Brotherhood may gain power in Egypt by .
Bishop of Manchester's bid to get the
Vodou Priest defends
Baroness Ashton in political correctness row over word ''.
What happened at the
Rabbis challenge Murdock on Holocaust "".
Gay people were sexually abused, says imam of
David Kato's Anglican funeral:
Mixed Messages from ABofC Dangerous for LGBT in .

Ethics news
Forgiveness: respect, autonomy and .
Uprisings: From Tunis to .
The Casablanca Call for

Thinking allowed
Rethinking the Great .
In defence of .
Reading WikiLeaks as .
Can spirituality exist without ?
Why Would a Catholic Married to a Jewish Woman

The Presbyterian Church has released the following biographical profile of Ivan Patterson:

Rev Ivan Patterson (62) has been minister of in Co Down for the last 20 years. He describes his ministry as "conservatively biblical with a strong evangelical outlook. I get great satisfaction from helping people and would love them to become more knowledgeable about the God of the Bible and the implication of that for their lives. We cannot expect people to come and find us so we have to be open to be found. That means being and active in our communities, making our Christian voice heard and having confidence in Christ to share our faith through being involved in what is going on outside the walls of our church as well as inside."

To emphasise this his congregation of some 350 families have just completed a development programme creating a new reception area and other facilities that make their church, which faces directly on to Newcastle Main Street an open and welcoming building for everyone, everyday.

Born on 15 January 1949, Mr Patterson was brought up in the Co Antrim village of Buckna where he attended the local Presbyterian Church. After schooling at Rocavan Primary School, Ballymena Intermediate School and Ballymena Technical College he worked as a television repair engineer before continuing his studies to gain admission to Queen's University. After graduating in Semitic Studies he completed his training for the Presbyterian Ministry at gaining a Masters in Theology in 1979 and also studied for a short time at the . Mr Patterson was ordained in 1980 and served for two years as assistant in First Bangor Presbyterian Church before becoming minister of the Bushvale congregation near Ballymoney in 1982. In 1991 he was called to Newcastle Presbyterian Church.

Throughout his ministry Mr Patterson has taken particular interest in youth work and overseas mission. He served a convener of the between 1989 and 1993 and was the first chairman of , a body set up by the Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic Churches to provide support and training for youth leaders and community relations experiences for young people. He has also travelled to Kenya, Nepal and India to see church work there and has a particular interest in Romania, establishing a twinning arrangement between his church in Newcastle and a congregation of the Hungarian Reformed Church in Hodos, Romania.

Mr Patterson who is currently clerk of the Iveagh Presbytery is married to Maureen and has one married son and two grandsons.