Nicholas Baines

LATEST ARTICLES ( 612 )

• Christmas Day 2015

  This is the text of the sermon preached on BBC Radio 4 at Ripon Cathedral in the Christmas Day service at 9am:It was only very recently that I heard about the... Read more

  Posted on 25 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Slaughter of the Innocents

  This is the text of an article (about the persecution of Christians) commissioned by the Times today:Religious special pleading is rarely convincing or... Read more

  Posted on 24 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Down to Earth (Christmas)

  This is the text of an article written for the Yorkshire Post about the meaning of Christmas:When we say that someone is 'down to earth', we usually mean that... Read more

  Posted on 18 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Man on the Moon

  

  This is the script of this morning's Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans Show with guests: Len Goodman, Danny Boyle, Idris Elba, Kirstie Allsopp and... Read more

  Posted on 11 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Radio Times and the Christmas Telly

  

  It’s clearly a truth universally acknowledged (at least by journalists) that you should never let the facts get in the way of a good headline – especially... Read more

  Posted on 07 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• European Amnesia?

  

  The Reimagining Europe blog continues to provide space for a different sort of conversation about the future of Europe ahead of the UK referendum in 2017. Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• A Question of Strategy

  It is perhaps no coincidence that Parliament was gripped yesterday by the debate on whether the UK should join in bombing ISIS/Daesh in Syria and that today... Read more

  Posted on 03 December 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Buy Nothing Friday

  This is the text of this morning's Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4's Today programme:Today has been designated 'Buy Nothing Day' in over sixty five countries... Read more

  Posted on 27 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Security Strategy

  Yesterday in the House of Commons the Prime Minister made a statement about the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. It wa... Read more

  Posted on 24 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Just Pray?

  This is the text of an article requested this morning by the Yorkshire Post in relation to the decision by cinema advertising bodies not to show an advert... Read more

  Posted on 22 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• A Way with Words

  This is the script of this morning's Thought for the Day on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:There's an oft-repeated story that St Francis of Assisi told his... Read more

  Posted on 20 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Requiem for Paris

  

  I once lived in Paris. I worked for a telecommunications company near the Eifel Tower, doing a variety of jobs in translation, teaching and accounts.I loved... Read more

  Posted on 15 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Dancing into Mourning?

  

  This is the script of this morning's Pause for Thought on the Chris Evans Show on BBC Radio 2 with Sara Cox, Jeremy Vine, Gabrielle Aplin and Carrie... Read more

  Posted on 13 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• BBC Futures

  

  I chair a media trust that goes by the name of Sandford St Martin. We reward excellence in religious broadcasting and advocate for the same in a range of... Read more

  Posted on 11 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Helmut Schmidt RIP

  

  Another giant has died. Former West German Chancellor, Helmut Schmidt died today at the age of 96.I got interested in Schmidt when I was studying German politic... Read more

  Posted on 10 November 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Out of Office (Sri Lanka 3)

  

  I remember being in Indonesia in 1999 and failing to comprehend the rules of the road. The traffic looked chaotic. It was impossible to work out who had the... Read more

  Posted on 23 October 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Out of Office (Sri Lanka 2)

  

  We have just spent two days in the far north of Sri Lanka. This is where the civil war saw its bloody conclusions in Jaffna in 1995 and Kilinochchi only five... Read more

  Posted on 22 October 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• ‘That’ Letter (again)

  Following the furore over the bishops' letter to the Prime Minister about refugees, I was asked to put pen to paper for the Yorkshire Post to explain why I... Read more

  Posted on 21 October 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• Out of Office (Sri Lanka 1)

  

  I am currently in Sri Lanka with our diocesan link bishop. I hadn't realised when we arrived yesterday in an almighty thunderstorm that this might be the mood... Read more

  Posted on 19 October 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY

• All Things Considered

  This is the text of this morning's Presidential Address at the first Diocesan Synod of the new triennium in the Diocese of Leeds (West Yorkshire & the Dales):“A... Read more

  Posted on 17 October 2015 RELIGION, SOCIETY, SPIRITUALITY