The Senate released a report detailing the way the CIA used brutal interrogation techniques during the War on Terrorism. The report said that not only was the torture–which included waterboarding and “rectal rehydration”–immoral, but that it was ineffective in uncovering terrorist threats. The CIA strongly
Much contemporary church architecture features sanctuaries “in the round,” so that the worshippers can see each other. Traditional churches are linear, with a sequence of spaces facing the altar. (Actually, the super-traditional churches are also cruciform, with the congregation coming together in the Cross.) After
Researchers have injected brain cells from human fetuses into baby mice, giving them brains that are half human. Those “humanized mice” are much more intelligent than regular mice. Read the report, which is breezily free of moral judgment, and contemplate just how many things are
The Chinese government is forbidding the use of puns in state-supported media. Alexandra Petri objects. (If you are one of those, like Chinese communists, who can’t stand puns, do NOT read her punitive words after the jump. I invite you, though, to respond in kind
When we blogged about the Wittenberg Nightingale, the all-Lutheran online radio channel, the number of listeners shot up into the stratosphere. So founder Lori Lewis said that as a gesture of thanks, she would set aside a block of programming and bill it as “brought
The great figure of Advent is John the Baptist. We think of him as that harsh, say-it-like-it-is prophet who ate insects. But what he preached was repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Which he conveyed by baptism. (more…)
Conservatives are skeptical about the government and look to the private sector to solve our problems. Liberals are skeptical about the private sector and look to the government for solutions. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says that our problem is that BOTH the public sector
This year we will have a college football championship playoff, eliminating all of that controversy over end-of-the-season ratings. So we thought. But there is still controversy about which four teams were selected to play. Earlier last week, Texas Christian University was ranked #3, going on
Reformed pastor Peter Leithhart says that Protestantism requires a high view of the sacraments. He focuses specifically on baptism and its role in a key Protestant teaching: the assurance of salvation. (more…)
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Blog drama
In the earlier days of this blog, we were renowned for the high level of discourse and the friendliness of our commenting community. We had lots of different opinions and different sorts of people participate–conservatives and liberals, Lutherans and Pentecostals, feminists and gays, Muslims and