2 years ago: Confused Rhode Islanders sing secular song to defend Pagan symbol
Such tribal symbols don’t have to have anything to do with the nominal Christian faith on which this tribal religion has been appended. The Bible may not say anything about Christmas trees, but then it doesn’t say anything about guns either. Or the American flag. But whenever anyone says anything that might be remotely construed as questioning the sacredness of those, such comments will be made into the focus for the next performance of IndigNation theater and the pre-existing offendedness of the tribal Christianists will be projected in that direction for a while. [Read more...]
NRA: Cringe with those who cringe
“Ask the others to join us for prayer,” Tsion says to Buck, and the reader’s eyes involuntarily scan ahead to see an unbroken block of text that continues for the next two pages. Oh no. No, not that, not again. They’re going to pray and we’re going to have to watch. [Read more...]
JB: ‘How extremely expensive it is to be poor’
Here’s a bit from James Baldwin’s essay “Fifth Avenue, Uptown,” (collected in his 1961 book of essays, Nobody Knows My Name). If you want to understand what’s wrong with Dave Ramsey’s victim-blaming ideology of poverty, Baldwin is a good place to start. [Read more...]
7 things @ 9 o’clock (12.6)
Rob Bell and N.T. Wright on the trajectory of the Bible. How a lowly blogger is changing the conversation among the Serious People. Cuts to food stamps are equivalent to erasing all private charity efforts to aid the hungry. I don’t know what Tamikrest is singing about, but I like it. [Read more...]
Nelson Mandela (1918-2013)
“Love your enemies,” we were told. And, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Nelson Mandela reminded us of what that looks like, and that it was actually possible. [Read more...]
1 year ago: Evangelicals vs. Persons With Disabilities: The real dangers of fighting against imaginary monsters
Did this treaty have anything at all to do with abortion or the Antichrist? No. Nothing at all to do with either of those, but American evangelicals aren’t going to let a little thing like reality get in the way of some oh-so-enjoyable self-righteous masturbation. [Read more...]
‘The rich rule over the poor’: Dave Ramsey doesn’t understand poverty, Part 2.5
Three smart women saying smart things: Elizabeth Stoker dismantles “The ‘Dependency’ Argument;” Tressie McMillan Cottom answers the rich person’s question of “Why Do Poor People ‘Waste’ Money on Luxury Goods?” and Linda Tirado explains “Why Poor People’s Bad Decisions Make Perfect Sense.” [Read more...]
‘The rich rule over the poor’: Ramsey’s II, challenging Pharaoh
Here’s a round-up of some of the recent responses to Dave Ramsey’s recent ugly bout of punching-down at the powerless. Some of this criticism is sharp and strongly worded, but most of it is still far, far gentler than the sarcastic reproach with which Job blasted Bildad when that archetypal fool resorted to Ramsey’s brand of victim-blaming garbage in the Bible. [Read more...]
7 things @ 9 o’clock (12.5)
Oxford and Vatican team up to put ancient texts online. Montgomery County clerk still pushing for marriage equality as his main opponent faces criminal charges. Inmate firefighters: I’m ambivalent about the policy, but excited by the story possibilities. More news from the states of dismay. That time when Langston Hughes had to explain a poem before Congress. More trailer-park Jubilee. [Read more...]
6 years ago: The Rich Fool
I believe that a progressive estate tax is wise, prudent and just policy for a society concerned about equality of opportunity and the preservation of democracy and personal liberty rather than oligarchy. That belief is based on a host of principles — e.g., justice and liberty are Good Things — and prudential judgments that I believe are both reasonable and congruent with my Christian faith. This is, in other words, not a sectarian belief that I would seek to impose on secular society, but rather a conclusion that I think would be shared by all people of good will. [Read more...]
‘The rich rule over the poor’: Dave Ramsey, McDonald’s, and the personal salvation of personal finance (part 1)
Credit-card banks and other lenders are scared of Richard Cordray and of Elizabeth Warren. But they’re not scared of Dave Ramsey. They love the guy. No matter how many new ways they concoct to fleece their customers, they can always count on Ramsey to have their back, telling his radio audience that it’s their fault and that their only response should be to cut expenses and pay those new rates and fees in full. [Read more...]
‘The information’s unavailable to the mortal man …’
Over the Rhine and the Lone Bellow team up on a Paul Simon classic, plus some Wednesday morning links, including: A pep-talk from Digby, Oswald’s pallbearers, the claim that we out-love God, counting adherents of conspiracy theories, urinal physics, biblical manhood, George Bailey’s Yelp reviews, and the Mormon bishop in disguise. [Read more...]
7 things @ 9 o’clock (12.4)
A church that gets a lot of things right, but one big thing very wrong. More on Christianist patriarchy and child marriage. Good actor, bad movie. Marg Herder forges hope for the long term. “How can Christians get poverty wrong?” Sea level turns out to be a lot more complicated than I realized. [Read more...]
10 years ago: Concerned Women for America
“So they think women should stay home with their kids instead of working? … But they’re for welfare reform? … So I guess it’s different for poor women?” [Read more...]
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