Yes, Oreos are as Addictive as–or more addictive than–drugs. That’s not news.

Last updated on: October 18, 2013 at 9:45 am By Rachel Marie Stone

But didn’t we know that already? The quintessential fast-food trio of “burger, fries and Coke” perfectly illustrates the food industry’s ability to capitalize on our most instinctual taste preferences. Unlike, say, a pot of vegetable stew or a bowl of apple slices, the fast-food trio contains all three potent tastes–salt, sugar and fat in combination–endlessly engineered, tested and retested for “hyperpalatability,” making them addictive as well as irresistible. Fast-food chicken tenders–even the kind made with “real” chicken breast–are softened, conditioned,... Read more

The Thought-Terminating Cliche that “Born Again” Has Become: Devouring Addie Zierman’s ‘When We Were On Fire.’

Last updated on: October 17, 2013 at 10:19 am By Rachel Marie Stone

I’ve been reading devouring Addie Zierman’s just-released memoir, When We Were On Fire. There’s so much to say about this book–anyone who was raised evangelical (like me) will find themselves alternately cringing and laughing at Addie’s vivid evocations of 90s evangelical Christian [ahem, consumer] culture and all the heady highs–let’s pray for revival!–and crushing blows–Jesus is telling me not to date you anymore–that it dealt. But though there was much in this book that had me alternately groaning, snorting, and... Read more

Once Upon a Time, We Knew How To Die: Katy Butler’s Astonishing New Book

Last updated on: October 15, 2013 at 7:33 am By Rachel Marie Stone

There was a time when I hoped—and even prayed—that my friend’s death would come very soon. That’s a statement easily misconstrued, the kind that validates the cliché that “context is everything,” which itself affirms the ancient wisdom of Ecclesiastes. “For everything there is a season,” including “a time to be born, and a time to die,” “a time to heal,” and, if I may presume to expand on the preacher’s line of thought, a time to refrain from attempts to... Read more

When Advised to ‘Pray About It,’ It Can Help To Realize You Have Options.

Last updated on: October 14, 2013 at 8:06 am By Rachel Marie Stone

We all have hard times, ranging from the minor annoyances, slights, and hurts of everyday life to more serious and even desperate crises. Growing up in the church–as a pastor’s kid, no less–I often heard the words “pray about it” or “I’ll pray for you” batted about rather mindlessly. There’s a funny meme I saw once that said something along the lines of “when considering ‘what would Jesus do,’ remember that flipping over tables and telling people off is a... Read more

Does One REALLY Have to Give Up Wine, Coffee, Sushi, and Dyeing One’s Hair…

Last updated on: October 11, 2013 at 5:52 am By Rachel Marie Stone

…just to have a healthy baby? I really wanted to like University of Chicago economist Emily Oster’s new book, Expecting Better. I’m well aware that many of the things that are standard procedure in American pregnancy and birth are not supported by good research (for example, continuous fetal monitoring during labor and the gestational diabetes test don’t seem actually to help either mothers or babies). But I was supremely disappointed by this book, not only because it has an annoying,... Read more

Making Beauty Out of Next To Nothing–a post at Convergent Books

Last updated on: October 10, 2013 at 7:05 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Not long ago, I spent several weeks learning to make pottery in a simple studio on the shore of Lake Malawi. Initially I’d been most interested in “throwing” pots on the electric wheel, which is mesmerizing and almost magical in its speed. The spinning surface facilitates the transformation of lumps of clay into vessels of varying shapes with only the slightest coaxing of the hands. But I soon found the pace of the wheel overwhelming. I drifted away from the... Read more

There is Neither Neo-Reformed nor New Monastic; Neither Evangelical Nor Mainline, but Irreverence Is in All And Through All

Last updated on: October 9, 2013 at 9:41 am By Rachel Marie Stone

Oh for heaven’s sake. I’m a missionary and a homeschooling mom. Where do I get off starting such a ridiculous and irreverent meme? It’s been around the Internet quite a bit and was actually the #1 trend on Twitter in the US for a brief moment. As I said, ridiculous. But very fun. I just keep imagining lots of people sitting in front of their computers…laughing, and laughing and laughing. Here’s what I told the good folks at Christianity Today:... Read more

Putting Human Lives into the Invisible Hand of the Almighty Market

Last updated on: October 7, 2013 at 2:17 am By Rachel Marie Stone

My friend Sharon Hodde Miller recently made a plea on Facebook that seems to have resonated with a lot of people–including me: I’ve been called names for supporting universal healthcare, too (though I think that resorting to ad hominem almost always means that you’ve lost the argument.) I’ve also barely escaped drowning in the US healthcare non-system. I hope it does not sound arrogant when I say that I think I’m in a unique position with respect to judging healthcare... Read more

Overcoming the Presentism Bias in the Blogosphere

Last updated on: October 4, 2013 at 2:10 pm By Rachel Marie Stone

As Maria Popova (creator and curator of the popular Brain Pickings blog) pointed out in a recent interview for Copyblogger, online culture “fetishizes the new(s),” forgetting all the knowledge and wisdom that’s come before us. Popova calls this “our presentism bias,” which is “anchored in the belief that if it isn’t at the top of Google, it doesn’t matter, and if it isn’t Googleable at all, it doesn’t exist.” As Popova points out, this “presentism” is often a form of... Read more

Pontifex Says: Neglecting the Elderly = Covert Euthanasia. The Justice Issue We Ignore.

Last updated on: October 2, 2013 at 8:12 am By Rachel Marie Stone

It was not without reason my friend John rebelled at the thought of going into a nursing home: the majority (60%) of nursing home residents have no visitors, which isn’t surprising when you consider that more than 50% of nursing home residents have no close relatives and an incredible 46% have no living children. When you compound those numbers with the astounding estimate that as many as nine out of 10 U.S. nursing homes are understaffed (and many of those... Read more