[266.1] FROM AMUSING TO CHALLENGING

To start on a lighter note, those following the current UK political scene might be amused by BBC's Tory leader TV trail thwarted by Jesus.

Slightly more seriously, Jonathan Bartley has a conversation about the politics of Jesus with former Home Office minister Ann Widdecombe, who converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism (she is against women priests, but has discovered that Catholic Social Teaching can be a bit roug for a high Tory too!). The exchange occurs as part of Ed Stourton's In the Footsteps of Jesus on BBC Radio 4. There's a short-term internet 'listen again' feature on the relevant BBC page, though the transcript wasn't up when I last checked.

The theme of the programme is described as follows: "When the Roman Emperor Constantine had a vision of Jesus just before his victorious battle for Rome it was arguably one of the most important moments in the history of the West. It was the start of the process whereby Christianity would go from a persecuted minority to the official religion of the largest Empire the world had seen. But how did that change Jesus and his message?" Quite a bit, I think you could say...

Also relevant to this theme: God and the politicians - where next?; After absolutism: the world, the church and the papacy; Questioning political leadership; The 'which Blair?' project; Keeping the wrong kind of religion out of politics.

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