• Continuing the sub-theme here of egotistical index-skimming (seriously, IRD, what am I? chopped liver?), I’m pleased to be a footnote (or two) in Brantley Gasaway’s new book, Progressive Evangelicals and the Pursuit of Social Justice.
But I’m even more pleased to learn that Gasaway pays particular attention to the noble, quixotic history of The Other Side — which was prophetically getting a lot right while those of us in the Wallis/Campolo/Sider orbit were still getting it wrong.
• With the new Left Behind movie hitting the screen tomorrow, this picture seems appropriate:
Yes, that’s “The Cage,” without Kirk.
• Good to see and credit where credit is due: In September, 23 anti-abortion groups filed an amicus brief in support of a pregnant UPS worker who was denied light-duty accommodations during the term of her pregnancy. The case — Young v. United Parcel Service — addresses many of the legal questions that would be remedied by the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which I’ve long criticized anti-abortion groups for not supporting, since without the legal protections it provides, pregnant workers can face a situation in which they can keep either their job or their pregnancy, but not both. For a summary of the case, see the amicus brief filed a year and a half ago by NOW and the Women’s Law Project.
• Charisma’s chief sex-demon correspondent, Jennifer LeClaire, laments the presence of LGBT characters on TV shows and the absence of heroic, outspoken Christian characters. “When Christian characters do make their way to mainstream television shows, they are usually portrayed as judgmental jerks who run around condemning everyone to hell,” LeClaire writes.
I’ll just note that if every show in prime time added a character accurately based on Jennifer LeClaire herself, then the problem she’s complaining about would be far, far worse.
• Again: The Bible was written by and for humans from Earth. Elsewhere in the universe, I’m sure, intelligent life in other forms revere their inspired holy books. Those books do not mention Jesus of Nazareth or any other humans from Earth. If those beings truly are intelligent life, that fact won’t strike them as remarkable, and certainly not as the basis for any crisis of faith. (Although, if any of them are as vain and egotistical as we humans can be, they may start by skimming the concordance, sighing disappointedly when they find they haven’t been mentioned by name.)
• Ian Ebright stopped blogging at The Broken Telegraph to focus on filmmaking. Movie festivals have decided that was a good move — rewarding his short film, From the Sky, with a variety of honors. Here’s the trailer:
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