madoc cairns
@madoc.bsky.social
writer, editor at plough magazine, personalist, catholic. awaiting the cossacks and the holy spirit
The US’s ongoing assassination wave obviously draws on longer trends, but it can’t, imo, be disentangled from the past two years of moral & legal norms about violence being publicly trashed. You can’t have nonviolent dialogue at home & murderous nihilism overseas. This kind of war always comes home
recently found out archaeological evidence suggests Jerusalem, across much of the period covered in the Hebrew Bible, may have had as few as 400 inhabitants, therefore meaning many biblical events fall under the remit of the reknowned adage: "try that in a small town"
Alternatively, if you take the UK at their word, the below images depict the single largest terrorist action in British history
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · 11mo agoOne of the largest acts of civil disobedience in British history is currently underway in Parliament Square, with over 1000 protestors risking arrest & jail time as ‘terrorists’ for public display of seven words: I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION.
Mike Higgins, who is blind and wheelchair bound, has joined today’s protest against the Palestine Action ban after being arrested at the last. He, and over 1000 others, risk arrest as a “terrorist” & up to 14 years in prison for displaying seven words: I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION
One of the largest acts of civil disobedience in British history is currently underway in Parliament Square, with over 1000 protestors risking arrest & jail time as ‘terrorists’ for public display of seven words: I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION.
🚨BREAKING: Defend Our Juries leaders arrested in clear violation of international law This is a terrifying example of UK authorities’ willingness to use authoritarian practices. amn.st/63327A6z3d
Five members of group supporting Palestine Action ‘arrested in police raids’
Defend Our Juries said a number of its spokespeople were held ahead of plans to announce a fresh mass protest against the ban on Palestine Action.
amn.st
The number of children a single BBC investigation found to have been killed by IDF snipers (90+) is more than double the number of children killed on October 7 & falls within the lower estimates of the number of children killed by Hamas over the organisation's entire history
The UK in 2025: it’s now a terrorist offence, carrying a sentence of up to fourteen years in prison, to hold this cartoon from Private Eye
A reminder that according to a Yougov poll from last month (18.06.2025): 55% of British adults oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza (only 15% support) And 45% of British adults think Israel is committing a genocide.
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · last yr.Police in Canterbury today informed a protestor that the phrase "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza" could be considered a declaration of support for Palestine Action and therefore a terrorism offence.
Police in Canterbury today informed a protestor that the phrase "Israel is committing genocide in Gaza" could be considered a declaration of support for Palestine Action and therefore a terrorism offence.
‘In death, as he was in life, he will remain a sign of contradiction.’ @madoc.bsky.social on the life & legacy of the 266th Pope, ‘Pope Francis. 1936–2025.’ Via The Lamp Magazine thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue...
The Lamp Magazine | Pope Francis 1936–2025
A symposium on the late pontiff.
thelampmagazine.com
Some Popes are different. Francis was one such Pope. My biographic introduction to The Lamp's symposium on the last pontificate is online here: thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue...
The Lamp Magazine | Pope Francis 1936–2025
A symposium on the late pontiff.
thelampmagazine.com
have to admit though that my favorite of Horkheimer’s critical recoveries of Nietzsche is from Dämmerung (1934), “Nietzsche & the Proletariat”!
James Crane@jamescrane.bsky.social · last yr.Horkheimer’s drafts for the “Anti-Xtianity” section have one of the strongest defenses of an anti-fascist recovery of Nietzsche—without giving Nietzsche an inch for the errors that the fascists, however mistaken they may have been, found appealing in him
"Perhaps most divisive of all was Francis’s own personality: authoritarian and anarchic, austere and ambiguous; the silence and the noise. He remained, always, La Gioconda: wearing a smile that seemed to—and perhaps did—reveal everything."
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · last yr.Some Popes are different. Francis was one such Pope. My biographic introduction to The Lamp's symposium on the last pontificate is online here: thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue...
Some Popes are different. Francis was one such Pope. My biographic introduction to The Lamp's symposium on the last pontificate is online here: thelampmagazine.com/issues/issue...
The Lamp Magazine | Pope Francis 1936–2025
A symposium on the late pontiff.
thelampmagazine.com
What’s happening in the UK is pathetic and dystopian
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · last yr.The High Court judgement regarding Palestine Action's proscription and the enforcement of the order today from is the most extreme application of terrorism legislation we've yet seen in this country. It's so extreme, in fact, that it's causing the law itself to become openly incoherent. Thread🧵🔽
If true that PA have dissolved, it now appears to be an offence to show support for the memory of an organisation which no longer exists, but at the time it existed, wasn't proscribed.
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · last yr.Add to this that Palestine Action have dissolved themselves. For reasons I'll go into later, there's good reason to think they really have. This means that no one will be arrested for being a member of Palestine action, or for funding them. You can't be a member of a group that no longer exists.
Not a terrorist offence: Participating in direct action like Palestine Action's Organising direct action like PA’s Supporting direct action like PA’s Being a former PA activist who does all of the above. Terrorist offence carrying up to 14 years in prison: Saying “I support Palestine Action”
I expect this thread to become national news this week. Excellent, as well as infuriating, public service
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · last yr.Ahead of the expected proscription of Palestine Action - the first time a protest group has been legally redefined as terrorist - I went through the Hansard of the 2000 Act they're being banned under. Turns out MPs were assured the law wouldn't be applied this way. Thread 🧵🔽
Thread on how MPs were told the Terrorism Act would not be used - as it is now being used against Palestine Action
madoc cairns@madoc.bsky.social · last yr.Second reading of the Terrorism Bill, 14 December 1999. Home Secretary Jack Straw responds to an MP asking if supporting international protests involve property damage would be counted as supporting terrorism: "Not even remotely".
This argument recommends that we assume that neither we nor MPs know what our laws are in discussing & voting onthem. All that matters is the law, as (re)interpreted by those MacIntyre called the clergy of liberalism, lawyers. But if this is our situation, we do not live in a democracy at all.
Slnieckar@slnieckar.bsky.social · last yr.The MPs certainly didn't understand, but in this system that's not their job. Their job is to vote as the whips tell them. On overturning, ministers' statements can be influential when interpreting the law, but the text of the law is what matters. So essentially, no.
It’s an excellent thread and fine research, thank you. Charles Clarke was minister of state, one step down from Home Secretary, at the time of this legislation
Alasdair MacIntyre on Aquinas, the modern state, and our duty to disobey unjust laws:
🧷 Pinning this for reference. Thread-of-Threads on Palestine Action & related issues (ongoing). 🧵🔽
The High Court judgement regarding Palestine Action's proscription and the enforcement of the order today from is the most extreme application of terrorism legislation we've yet seen in this country. It's so extreme, in fact, that it's causing the law itself to become openly incoherent. Thread🧵🔽
A lot of people have attempted to justify the proscription of Palestine Action on the basis that protests on military property or which damage military equipment have always been understood as terrorism. This is nonsense. Some examples from the last three decades. Thread🧵🔽
Ahead of the expected proscription of Palestine Action - the first time a protest group has been legally redefined as terrorist - I went through the Hansard of the 2000 Act they're being banned under. Turns out MPs were assured the law wouldn't be applied this way. Thread 🧵🔽
Apologies for spamming your timelines but transferring some threads on the Palestine Action prescription over here for public interest reasons