Cuttle Fish, Clones and Cluster Bombs

Michael Northcott is a priest who is also Professor of Ethics at Edinburgh University. This book of his sermons is in the best tradition of preaching as explained by the theologian Karl Barth, that preachers should have the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Northcott's most recent book is on the ethics of global warming, and as such he is widely informed on environmental matters, many of which are raised forcefully in this book. The description of the effects of cluster bombs may sound clinical, but the reality is totally devastating and arguably contrary to the Geneva conventions (this also applies to the use of depleted uranium) - there is every reason for venting moral outrage at such actions designed to enable the US to 'impose its will on the rest of the world by all means available, regardless of international law or basic human morality. Northcott then reminds us that Jesus chose a donkey on his last journey into Jerusalem to confront the forces of evil in his own epoch. Written around the time of the protests against the Iraq war, it is a reminder that the true meaning of the cross can be reclaimed from modern-day Christian imperialists. Here is a voice of integrity, passion and courage well worth listening to.