In the UK (and the US as well as elsewhere) freedom of speech is being weaponised in the academy in ways that effectively curtail those who speak to truth to power and who challenge colonialist behaviour and related injustice. This article examines the direction of travel in UK academia in recent years related to both freedom and ethics through two key movements: trans rights and Palestine solidarity. Particular attention is given to definitions of academic freedom and freedom of speech, related government policy and its effects, and the moral duties of theologians and theological ethicists. In conclusion, the article calls for a new theological ethics that can stand up against injustice and the increasingly authoritarian moves of governments and university managers.

In this article, we argue that ritual in the Church of England is used to both affirm and police trans identities. The Church’s recent guidance accompanying renewal of baptismal vows as a liturgy of welcome for trans people, and the accompanying backlash, highlights the role of liturgy and ritual for trans belonging in the Church and the ways power over liturgical words and praxis is overtly wielded. By contrast, the marriage rite has established ontological meaning for trans bodies, but only on the condition that they support heterosexuality. Yet, there is a subversive access to meaning-making in both these ritual contexts. The lived experiences trans people of faith in the Church of England shared with us reveal the ways in which Church-sanctioned ritual ensures that trans bodies are used to reproduce fixed meanings around sexuality, sex and gender.

Young adults in university environments are increasingly exploring gender variant identities and challenging binary constructions. Knowledge about the lived experiences of trans and non-binary young people in higher education, however, is partial. Our research into Anglican Foundation Universities in England begins to address this lacuna. In particular, chaplains may find themselves acting as a bridge between the equality, diversity and inclusivity policies of universities and the Anglican Church's official rejection of both same-sex marriage and the writing of new liturgies for trans folk; this may be especially the case for queer students who have personal connections with the Christian faith. We argue there is a need for deeper reflection on the notion of safe space and the cis-construction of trans and non-binary folk as vulnerable and we ask whether protection and vulnerability discourses create contradictions that undermine agency and positive visibility of trans and non-binary young people. This article adds to research in the field by bringing together religious and gendered identities at UK universities; it draws on interviews with trans and non-binary folk to explore experiences of chaplaincies and campus spaces.

In this article, we argue that public theologians have a rich tradition from which to argue for the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. In particular, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's resistance to the co-opting of Christianity by the Nazi regime is frequently cited in theological circles as an exemplar. Yet, we find major public figures and theological societies, such as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the United Kingdom's Society for the Study of Theology (SST) to be wanting in this regard. From an examination of Welby's comments on the Israeli bombardment in Gaza, and the SST's response to our open letter and the lament from Palestinian Christians, we argue that theologians are failing. We draw on Palestinian liberation theology and anticolonial theologies to argue that the work of liberation is the raison d'& ecirc;tre of theology and requires political activism. We conclude, therefore, that theological silence is complicity in injustice.

This research project was funded by the Church Universities Fund and York St John University; it explores the experiences of trans and non-binary staff and students at Anglican Foundation universities, and the support role of university chaplaincies. Against the backdrop of media coverage of proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act and criticism of the Church of England regarding its position on gender identity and sexuality, our priority was to hear the voices of trans and non-binary folk and to make practical recommendations for chaplains and others working in education. The report has been commended by participants: ‘I feel well listened to, understood, and insightfully interpreted back to myself’ – Revd Dr Christina Beardsley; ‘ground-breaking … thought-provoking … refreshingly inclusive … should be required reading for anyone who teaches or works with trans and non-binary individuals’ - Dr Michael Bonshor.

In 2016, two unexpected election results shook the U.S. and the U.K.: the successful presidential campaign of Donald Trump and the victory of leave campaigners in Britain. Commentary on both events highlighted the anti-immigration rhetoric and the rise of populism: the kind of populism that seeks to mobilize the 'common' people against the privileged elites and those deemed to be unwanted outsiders. What was missing from the majority of pre- and post-election coverage was feminist analysis of the patriarchal nature of the campaigns and their impact on women, especially religious women. By drawing on available reports of both election campaigns and views expressed by mainstream and fringe Christian leaders and theologians, this chapter explores the underlying misogyny that led to large numbers of White evangelical women voting for President Trump, despite his openly sexist and racist behavior, and against the growth of the hashtag #whitechurchquiet. Likewise, male voices in political and Christian circles dominated in the lead up to the U.K.'s referendum on EU membership; yet, women are more likely to suffer from the impacts of post-Brexit austerity and the rise in religious hate crime. Hence, this chapter considers the gendered implications of Christian rhetoric and theology in Britain, including that of current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and its impact on Muslim women in particular. The chapter concludes that the persistence of White Christian patriarchy and its entanglement with right-wing populism (including QAnon conspiracy theories) is evident in responses to Black Lives Matter protests and COVID-19, and, yet, is clearly at odds with liberation theology's preferential option for poor.

By adopting a scientific method and seeking to understand religious practice as human activity, the supposedly neutral and objective study of religions followed an androcentric and colonialist agenda. A feminist approach to the study of religion, therefore, seeks to expose inequality: both the androcentrism hidden in the insider/outsider approach to the field and the androcentrism embedded in religion(s) that a purely phenomenological account of the data ignores. With the rise of first-wave feminism and its focus on suffrage in industrial societies, awareness grew of the marginalization of women in the Christian religion and in society. In the global north, the study of religions expanded substantially in the 1960s. Consequently, the beliefs and practices of cultures other than Christian ones became the focus of analytic studies whose starting point was a Protestant assumption that religion is a private matter, whereby the individual assents to a set of propositions.

This article highlights the contemporary relevance of Macmurray's work for the turn in philosophy of religion towards living religion. The traditional academic focus on belief analyses cognitive dissonance from a distance and misses the experience of being religious. Alternatively, Macmurray emphasized emotion and action over theory and cognition, examining religion as the creation and sustenance of community, over and above doctrinal division and incompatible beliefs. From an understanding of humans as embodied and relational, Macmurray critiques individualism and self-sacrifice for failing to result in other-centred action and the promotion of social justice and equality. Using Macmurray as a springboard, this article considers the new speech acts of digital media and the possibility of community in online religion, finding that the virtual world holds risks as well as advantages for women and other marginalized groups to have a voice and explore diverse religious practices and identities, including reimagining metaphors and symbols to have relevance and meaning in changed social circumstances. In conclusion, this article finds that online communities are significant for the spiritual practice of the religiously affiliated and religious 'nones'; as such, online religion is relevant to the understanding of living religion aimed at in philosophy.

Introducing the IssuesAt the outset, the very notion of 'public theology' is contentious when considering issues of race, gender and sexual equality and yet these issues are of primary significance for Christian churches today.Despite the election of its first black President, Barack Obama in 2008, racial justice is not a reality in the United States of America; on the contrary, the number of black Americans killed by police is a serious concern.While some white Christians have supported 'Black Lives Matter Sunday', 1 polls conducted by the Pew Research Center, following the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, reveal that eighty per cent of blacks believe that the grand jury made the wrong decision in not charging the police officer, Darren Wilson, in the death of Brown, compared with only twenty-three per cent of whites; likewise, only sixteen per cent of whites believe race was a 'major factor' in the grand jury's decision-making, compared with sixty-four per cent of blacks. 2 Even more troubling than the discrepancies in the perception of racial discrimination is the perpetuation of notions of white supremacy through the Ku Klux Klan, its claim to be a Christian group and its use of biblical texts to support its views. 3 In June 2015, over one hundred and twenty years since Ida B.Wells called for an end to the lynching of black people, and over fifty years since Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote his Letter from Birmingham Jail highlighting the 'whiteness' of the gospel as it was preached in America, controversy over the Confederate flag and the burning of seven black churches has made international news headlines.

This article seeks to draw out the links between systems thinking and the philosophy of John Macmurray. In fact, while systems theory is a growing trend in a number of disciplines, including counselling and psychotherapy, the narrative describes its ancient roots. Macmurray’s insistence that humans exist as interdependent ratherthan independent beings is supported by systems theory. Moreover, Macmurray’s critique of institutionalized religion and his favouring of inclusive religious community is akin to a model of spirituality that, in positive psychology, is conceived of as an open system.