Philosophical Fragments
The Morning Report, which began when this was a solo blog, is hereby reinstalled, yet as a series of links to news and commentary both sacred and secular. Thus, one Christian’s sense of what is worth reading today:
1. HOLY WEDNESDAY. Here, we think, is what happened on Wednesday of Holy Week. Prepare for Friday and Sunday. (h/t Justin Taylor.)
2. RENEWING THEOLOGY. Where do the evangelical churches in America most need theological renewal? We asked a list of prominent professors, pastors and bloggers, and here is what they said. (Yours truly also contributed.)
3. THEOLOGIES OF INDIFFERENCE. I enjoy Lisa Robinson’s reflections whenever they are posted at Parchment and Pen. Here she posts about the need to take our faith and our theology seriously. There is a laissez-faire attitude toward theology today, but we need discernment, lest our theological confusion and the propagation of falsehoods dilute the power of the church and turn people away.
4. THE MANY SIDES OF HEAVEN. On Faith, a joint feature of Newsweek and the Washington Post, reflected this past week on theories of heaven. Scot McKnight picks up on the entries he found most interesting, at the Jesus Creed.
5. MY LITTLE FRIEND. Not concerned about how our culture is shaping our children? Not concerned that the pervasive crassness, immorality, and sexualization of children is being thrust upon them? You should be:
[ED NOTE: This was apparently not produced for a school play, but for some rather obscure Hollywood purposes. TMZ has the story. For me, it does not much alter the point.]
6. SLICK BARACK. President Obama is set to allow offshore drilling for oil in areas that have long been held in moratorium. The practical reasons for this decision are clear: reducing reliance on foreign oil, stimulating the economy, providing jobs. What are the political reasons?
7. ROMERICA. Is America in the midst of a decline that mirrors the slow-motion fall of Rome? Some say as much.
8. THE GAIA GUY. James Lovelock, the scientist who developed the thoroughly unscientific Gaia theory (which lies behind the movie Avatar), gives an interview that, refreshingly, critiques scientists on both sides of the AGW debate.
9. HEAD HUTAREE. What can Christians do to ensure that “Christian” militias fail to flourish? Here is a portrait of the leader of the Hutaree.
10. MEDIUM-SIZED BANG. The Large Hadron Collider is finally working as intended.
11. THE FRONCH. The crime of the century? Can’t wait for the movie that shows a band of plucky thieves who — good-naturedly, of course — break into a bank and steal the belongings of others — who are rich, of course, and therefore undeserving. I can’t deny that I do find it fascinating how thieves accomplish these things, but movies like the Ocean series glorify theft too much for my taste.
12. OBAMACARE AND THE DEMOCRATS. Apparently Americans are no more fond of the Democrats health care reform act than they were before it was passed. It’s worth reading Howard Fineman on this point as well. Will the American public change its mind about the health care bill? Or will Democrats suffer a slaughter in the November midterms? It’s one or the other.
13. EXPLOSIVE IRRESPONSIBILITY. Both parties, and both of the past two administrations, have helped assemble a ticking debt bomb. I’m afraid we’re approaching the point where the only questions are when the bomb will blow and how much it will destroy. Once again: where are the adults?
14. COLUMN OF THE DAY. This is a week old, but still relevant, and if there is a better writer than Megan McArdle right now on matters of business and economics, I’ve never read the person. McArdle is neither Left nor Right, God bless her, but she does expect results. Read this.
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