‘Don’t waste this thing. It’s too good.’

Last updated on: November 14, 2013 at 4:48 pm By Fred Clark

Wm. Dwight Ozard: "we want to just make the most out of this thing, to use a metaphor that I'm certain is inappropriate, given my disease, to suck the marrow out of the bones of life, to live deeply and without reservation, hesitation or fear. To breathe deep the air of spring and the breath of God, to savor the depths of flavors and the best of God's good earth and to 'taste and see' the goodness of God, to hold the things that matter close to the heart, to treasure the hard parts of loving and frolic like a 4-year-old in a mud puddle in the good, easy parts." Read more

7 things @ 9 o’clock (11.14)

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 1:51 am By Fred Clark

There's no one right way to read the Bible, but there are many wrong ways to do so. I did not realize that Bob Jones IV went on to become Captain Rectitude. An Iowa imam joins Tony Perkins in supporting the Pilgrim idea of "religious freedom." What exorcisms are for. Giant puppets =/= winning. David Barton and Kenneth Copeland say appalling things to soldiers with PTSD. Read more

2 years ago: The American evangelical persecution complex (continued … and continued and continued …)

Last updated on: November 12, 2013 at 6:21 pm By Fred Clark

Telling people they're being persecuted, and that their only hope is to respond to this fundraising letter with a donation of ___$100, ___$50, ___$25 (check one) also proves to be a lucrative racket. Read more

On ‘leadership’ and men, men, men, men, manly men, men, men …

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 6:43 pm By Fred Clark

If you're looking for leadership in how to organize a meaningful conference, or how to respect others, or how to respond to criticism, you won't find any such leadership from the Leadership Network. What you'll find instead is a clown show that looks like an HR training video on what not to do if you want to avoid getting sued for creating a hostile workplace environment. Read more

Haiti should not be the model for America’s future

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 3:32 pm By Fred Clark

What would it mean to do what they're suggesting? What would it look like if we took government out of the picture, "liberating" health care, education and assistance for the poor from the hands of government and leaving it entirely up to the free market and to churches and private charities? As it happens, this is not a hypothetical question. We know precisely what this would look like because we have a model of precisely this kind of society: Haiti. Read more

Reformed seminaries ought to understand Reformed political theology

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 2:01 pm By Fred Clark

Michael Kruger is a Reformed theologian. He teaches, and serves as president, at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte. Yet Kruger seems wholly unfamiliar with, and wholly ignorant of, Reformed political theology. That's more shocking than the credulous falsehoods Kruger swallows and regurgitates as his talking points against universal health care. Read more

Dear Capt. Stubing: All TV theme songs are about Jesus

Last updated on: November 12, 2013 at 10:42 pm By Fred Clark

Gavin MacLeod was surprised to realize the true meaning of "The Love Boat's" theme song, but if you've ever paid attention to TV theme songs, you won't be surprised at all: All TV theme songs are really about Jesus. Read more

7 things @ 9 o’clock (11.13)

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 2:10 am By Fred Clark

If we're going to pay for their stadiums, they should have to pay for our hot dogs and beer. Is Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen trying to get fired? Methodist clergy apparently not allowed to officiate weddings for relatives. Bible scholars on your teevee. A cry in the dark. What does it mean to really honor veterans? Read more

10 years ago: The Good Old Days

Last updated on: November 10, 2013 at 10:43 pm By Fred Clark

"I see settlers with flintlocks, bearing blankets of smallpox / When slaught'ring the natives was the latest craze …" Read more

Animal-hoarders are not animal-lovers

Last updated on: November 12, 2013 at 5:16 pm By Fred Clark

If someone has a cat, I believe they like cats. If someone has five cats, I believe they love cats. But if someone has 19 cats, I'm no longer convinced they love cats. I'm suspicious, rather, that they're some kind of hoarder. Read more