Matters of Life and Death

John is away this week so here’s an episode from the MOLAD vault to enjoy. Diagnosis rates for autism have been steadily rising for decades now, and as the condition has become more prevalent there has been a growing debate within the community and wider society about what autism is. Some prefer to talk about neurodiversity rather than think of it as a developmental condition, and others go as far as calling it a superpower. How should we as Christians engage in this important conversation? And should we be concerned by research efforts underway to identify an ‘autistic gene’ or pre-natal test for autism, which could be used to try and select or abort the condition away? This week we discuss these questions and more with Erin Burnett, a theologian and author who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as an adult and has researched and written on the intersection between autism and the church.

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

For the first part of this episode we return to a subject we discussed last year, after new data from India showed its fertility rate had continued to plummet and was now below replacement rate. Just a few decades ago, many feared India would be among those countries whose populations would uncontrollably explode, plunging tens of millions into famine and disaster. But in fact, even developing nations with wildly different cultures around marriage and family are emulating the developed West’s steep decline in birth rates. Does any of this matter though, and should it concern Christians beyond blood-and-soil nationalists worried about ethnic vigour?
Then we move on to consider the wave of bans on social for under-16s, as countries like the UK and Canada begin to follow Australia’s lead in restricting access to apps like TikTok and Instagram for teens. Is it credible to actually prevent determined teenagers and greedy tech firms from colluding to sidestep these laws? And what responsibility should Christian parents take on themselves, rather than wait for governments or Silicon Valley to protect their children?

The Economist article on India’s birth rates https://www.economist.com/briefing/2026/06/04/indias-population-will-soon-be-falling-probably-quite-fast

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

In the wake of its devastating abuse crises, the Church of England has poured money and effort into massively boosting its safeguarding apparatus. But a recent independent audit has warned the safeguarding team is being swamped with complaints and disputes which are nothing to do with children or vulnerable adults, and so should be handled as HR matters and not investigated as safeguarding concerns. Why are churches and Christian organisation consistently not good at resolving disputes and grievances between colleagues? Why do we find it so hard to learn from secular wisdom and well-established HR best practice? What is the issue with having my line manager also be my pastor or prayer partner? And is there any wisdom in Scripture which might help us do better as brothers and sisters in working well together?

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Following on from our recent episode about making IVF more ‘ethical’, we zoom out a bit in this conversation to think about other questions presented by the huge advances made by reproductive science and medicine in the last 50 years. Has the way IVF breaks down procreation to its respective elements created in our culture a “Lego kit” approach to our humanity, believing it is endlessly remixable through dozens of permutations? How has access to this technology also affected our social understanding parenthood and required the law to change? What is lost when we move reproduction away from the intimacy of sex between husband and wife and into the lab? And how on earth are Christian couples struggling to conceive to navigate all this theological and ethical complexity?

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com

Tim is away this week, so here’s an episode from the MOLAD archive. Society has been on a long and slow journey in recent decades into a richer and more sympathetic understanding of how abuse and coercion work within relationships. We are much better at both identifying and prosecuting this kind of abuse, and at being more attuned to the needs of victims and understanding why they find it difficult to just walk away. But domestic violence and controlling behaviour are also prevalent, sadly, within the church context too. How are we doing at identifying and confronting these toxic relationships, and looking after those traumatised by them? This week we interview Natalie Collins, an author, activist and expert in gender violence and church to find out more.

• You can send in your questions for us to discuss on the podcast, or ideas for future episodes, to molad@premier.org.uk
• Subscribe to the Matters of Life and Death podcast: https://pod.link/1509923173
• If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, visit John's website: http://www.johnwyatt.com
• Find some of Tim's journalism and sign up for free to his weekly church news newsletter The Critical Friend: https://tswyatt.com
• For more resources to help you explore faith and the big questions, visit: http://www.premierunbelievable.com