Every religion worth anything addresses this dilemma in two ways. First by requiring that its adherents practice both charity and justice here in this life. And second by extending the hope that such unfairness will ultimately be rectified, if not in this world, then in the next. When religion goes awry or becomes corrupt, it often results from or results in an emphasis on one of those two aspects to the neglect of the other. Read more
Persecuted American Christians flee to Pharaoh's Palace; "people need to be alarmed;" and I was hungry, and you gave me really good calzones. Read more
We need other options if we want to escape from the miserable binaries that Qoheleth describes so well. But the language to describe such options has been co-opted by "Third Way" talk that advocates the unprincipled, obsequious "centrism" of a Joe Lieberman for President brochure. Read more
Another lovely gem from Veronica Falls, plus some linkage for your weekend reading, with appearances by Gaugin, Ken Ham, the military-industrial scamplex, Sheena Easton, Weird Al, Wonder Woman, Buffy, and that guy in the background on the cover of every Amish romance novel. Read more
"Look, the tears of the oppressed — with no one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power — with no one to comfort them." Read more
The suffix -lover is frequently used to produce pejorative epithets, but it has a dubiously hit-and-miss track record. It can, sometimes, be an effective insult-building suffix, but it also sometimes backfires spectacularly in a way that more reliable alternatives (-bag, -head, -hole, -pants, -wad, etc.) do not. So caution is advised. The main difficulty of using -lover to transform a word into an insult is, of course, that it winds up accusing someone of a virtue. ... Read more
A somewhat appropriate song from Roddy Frame, plus: Another religious right group frets over gay teachers; testamental balance on a pitching staff; pondering the Times' bicentennial; conspiracy theories that lose track of "follow the money;" and a meditation on football in Texas, from the outside looking in. Read more
Another look at Krister Stendahl's Three Rules for Religious Understanding: 1. Let the believers define their religion, not their critics; 2. Don't compare your best with their worst; 3. Always leave room for holy envy. Read more
Both of those scripts -- the "Muslim-on-Muslim violence" narrative that mirrors our American "black-on-black violence" narrative, and the fearful "Clash of civilizations" narrative that projects inherent menace a la "Birth of a Nation" -- require us to view Muslims as Other, and as essentially inferior. Read more
"Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen." Read more
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