"Hate" has become another all-purpose term of opprobrium, like "Nazi." If you oppose someone for any reason, you are a "hater." If you disapprove of some idea or practice, you are accused of "hating" those who hold that idea or follow that practice. But despite the inflation of the word's meaning, there is such a thing as "hatred," and we would do well to understand the emotion.
The leading cause of death throughout the world in 2019 was not heart disease or cancer, but abortion. Worldwide, there were over 42 million abortions. This compares to a total of 58.6 million deaths from all other causes. So deaths by abortion were some 42% of the total.
Our new class system is not based on the socio-economic hierarchies of upper, middle, and lower classes; nor do our class struggles follow the socialist analysis of property-owners vs. the working class. Rather, our new class conflict is between the working class and the "managerial elite." So says Michael Lind, who shows how this new class accounts for our culture and our politics.
Millennials are increasingly leaving the church and, unlike other generations, they are not coming back when they "settle down." But if they were brought to church as children, by both parents, they are staying with the church. Unless, as is increasingly happening, they marry outside the faith.
Peter Burfeind writes about the connection between self-love and melancholy, tracing today's separation between the self and the physical world back through the Middle Ages and its recovery of Gnosticism. The remedy, says Burfeind, is Luther's emphasis on going "outside ourselves"--to Christ, the Sacraments, our neighbors, and Vocation.
Speculation has arisen about the possibility of robots serving as ministers. Already robots have been programmed to do the chanting at Buddhist funerals and give blessings at a state church (in Wittenberg, no less!). This exemplifies the functionalist misunderstanding of ministry, which is not a set of tasks but a vocation. Does God call robots? Can a machine be ordained?
The United Methodist Church has arrived at an agreement that will accept same-sex marriage and gay ordination, while helping those who disagree to leave to form their own denomination.
The lethal drone known as the Reaper that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani may have ignited another war in the Middle East--this time between the United States and Iran. Or, as I think, it may prove to be the catalyst for our final withdrawal from that region once and for all.
Pope Francis has said that Christians should not try to "convince" non-Christians to change their religion and that anyone who tries to "proselytize" an unbeliever is "not a disciple of Jesus." But what did St. Peter and other actual disciples of Jesus do?
Medical science is learning more and more about pregnancy and fetal development. We now know that there is a "radical mutuality" in the relationship between the mother and her child in the womb. Both work together to build the placenta. And just as cells from the mother's body become part of the baby, cells from the baby become part of the mother.
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