Calum Paton

N.T Wright says Americans' defense of gun rights is inconsistent with their defense of the unborn, because they are too polarized by social media, they accept "over-simplified" arguments to fall in line with a particular leader, they can't handle "nuance," and ultimately, they just aren't an "educated electorate." But does this sound like a nuanced, educated take on gun laws? "When I go to America, it always astonishes me that the same people are vitriolically opposed to abortion and vitriolically in favor of everybody carrying guns and being prepared to shoot people at any time. On the one hand, you'd have thought if they're so concerned about preserving human life, even in embryo and in vitro, etc., then why are they not concerned about preserving human life when it comes to, say, a school shooting by somebody who's been able to walk into a store, even though mentally disturbed, and buy a weapon-grade automatic rifle? I mean, for somebody from the other side of the Atlantic, and I suspect for you [Carey Nieuwhof] in Canada, this is just nonsense."

The Indian Council of Scotland · Statement: It is with increased discomfort we view the unseemly language being used to denigrate Kate Forbes MSP – a potential candidate for the office of First Minister. Let me be very clear; I am not a Scottish nationalist and do not support the fragmenting of the United Kingdom. But that does not prevent me, nor the Indian Councils of Scotland and the United Kingdom, from expressing our collective disgust at the language used to mis-characterise a young, Scottish Protestant, Kate Forbes. She is in our view, doing her utmost as a devout Christian, to adhere to the teachings of her Saviour. I have never met Ms Forbes – but I understand her family distinguished themselves in India. Her father worked as an accountant managing the finances of a group of Christian mission hospitals which ensured people living in poverty were able to access free health care. For that alone, the Indian Councils of Scotland and the United Kingdom, salute the Forbes family. As a child in India – we know Ms Forbes will have been imbued with a deep love and affection for the people of India, their traditions, religions, and varying social and economic circumstances. Are some members of her own party and the extremists of the Green party really saying a young Highland lady, and a follower of Jesus Christ, is not fit to hold the highest office in devolved Scotland? If every other faith was subjected to the scrutiny and opprobrium Ms Forbes and her Church is subjected to – few would be deemed fit for office by the secular ‘religious police’. Religious intolerance blights our society - and what has been said and written about Ms Forbes, shames us all. I am not from her religious tradition, but I commend her honesty and the uncomplicated simplicity of her Christian faith. Her mother and father laboured as devout Scottish Christians in India. Sadly, it appears, their talented daughter is not allowed to express her faith in her native land. I’ll finish this note with a quote from Kate Forbes, speaking on the BBC, she said: “I believe in the person of Jesus Christ, I believe He died for me, He saved me and that my calling is to serve and to love Him and to serve and love my neighbours with all my heart and soul and mind and strength. So that, for me, is essential to my being. Politics will pass. I was a person before I was a politician, and that person will continue to believe that I am made in the image of God.” Neil Lal Chairman and President of The Indian Council of Scotland and United Kingdom

Number ten: Some height difference this

What an incredibly powerful video