"A touch of Puritanism today"

I've just watched The Bible A History - Moses and the Law. It was presented by Anne Widdecombe (A.W.). This is really good television. I have to hand it to Channel 4, they are prepared to let people have their say - even when their views aren't mainstream.

A.W. tackled some big issues and interacted with people who violently disagree with traditional Christianity and Judaism. But she managed to put her case and, in my opinion, put it in a way that both revealed the moral bankruptcy of modern Britain and offered direction and hope for the future.

The quote about Puritanism came from a section of the documentary in which A.W. recounted how a brand of radical Puritanism had brought positive social change in the town of Dorchester.

It brought to mind some comments made by an internationally renowned (Christian) futurologist at a recent conference. He suggested that one possible future scenario in Britain is that there will be a radical swing back to traditional moral values; desperate times require desperate measures.

Perhaps A.W. and our conference speaker are right. Perhaps that uncomfortable future that we sometimes look ahead to isn't one in the grip of secularism, but one equally unfamiliar because it has been touched by Puritanism.

You can read the story of what happened when Puritanism got hold of Dorchester here

Lifelong learning resources

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