The quote comes from a recent post by Sarah Bessey, “Blessed are the Ones With Questions.” Click through to read the whole thing. I don’t think we give enough credit to the ones with questions. Oftentimes they are simply saying out loud what the rest of us are thinking and wondering. The questions aren’t the threat — it’s the alternative to growing numb and complacent, the specter of a stalled-out journey, the encroaching “lives of quiet desperation” that so terrified... Read more
The Mike Luckovich cartoon above should help explain (to the deliberately obtuse who claim not to understand) why people who say “stop praying and do something” are not opposed to prayer per se, but are saying yet again that prayer without action is meaningless, much as the Letter of James says faith without works is dead. If you still don’t get it, read what Bob Cornwall, or Zack Hunt, or Thomas Whitley, or the Daily News has had to say.... Read more
HT Hemant Mehta Read more
I must confess that I didn’t even notice the little tag at the bottom of the image above when I shared it. I was treating it as an anonymous internet statement, and thought it made a point worth sharing. But having been asked about it, I feel the need to comment on the subject. The only other place I found an image with a similar tag was on an image which was created to poke fun at fears in the United States... Read more
This cartoon from PHD Comics will help you tell the difference, while also noticing the similarities. Read more
The point that the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke doesn’t have an “inn” in it has been given the Matrix treatment by Jeff Carter. Read more
The cartoon above came to my attention via Daily Kos. Brice Jones recently wrote a blog post about Stephen Carlson’s argument regarding the mistranslation “inn” in Luke’s infancy narrative. That in turn builds on the case that Kenneth Bailey has made regarding the cultural background of that story. On the one hand, the traditional versions of the Christmas stories – both those in Matthew and Luke – can be useful in addressing issues like refugees and hospitality. On the other... Read more
Libby Anne shared some examples of the different framing of events in the media. White survivors of hurricane Katrina were described as having “found bread,” while black survivors were described as “looters.” And while anyone with dark skin or who is a Muslim will be described as a thug or terrorist, Robert Dear is said by the New York Times to be a “gentle loner.” The language the media uses matters. It doesn’t just express our own biases, but passes them... Read more
Paul Levinson recently shared the video above on his blog, which is a lecture explaining the rationale for the forthcoming book, Touching the Face of the Cosmos: On the Intersection of Space Travel and Religion. This is the collection that my science fiction short story, “Biblical Literalism in the New Jerusalem,” will be published in. The book is available for pre-order on Amazon. Read more
From Rachel Held Evans. HT Brian LePort for this year’s reminder. Read more
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