Grace is the smell of rain. Federal nutrition programs provide 23 times as much food aid as churches and all other private charities combined. Two kids on a playground, the right thing to do depends on which one is the bully. A mathematical analogy for theology and God-talk. Alan McCornick on removing "the toxicity that plagues organized religion." You cannot be replaced. Sciortino and Son produce a must-see political ad. Read more
When the Bible becomes raw material for a trivia quiz, its readers become people who can buzz-in and correctly provide both sets of names for Daniel’s three friends, but not people who can tell you anything about what it means to live faithfully in exile. Read more
The white evangelical abolitionists started with the same approach used by the white evangelical defenders of slavery: citing proof-texts and clobber texts they regarded as definitive. For every "slaves obey your masters" quoted by slavery's defenders, the abolitionists could recite an opposite "break every yoke" and "let the oppressed go free." Read more
Another mass killing, we all know our lines by now. Racists, unsurprisingly, don't tend to know very much about other cultures. "The first lesson was going to be learning how to fall." It's Ex-Gay Awareness Month, so in the extremely unlikely event that you're able to find one, wish them well. Looking for good news from the States of Dismay. The fascinating and surprisingly snark-free story of an evangelical Christian rap battle. Read more
O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! O.J.! … Hey, wait, isn’t there a WAR going on? … Read more
This may seem like an intramural theological dispute between factions of white Protestants and, therefore, the very definition of a parochial matter. But here in America, white Protestant disputes over the Bible, what it means and how to read it, are never confined to pulpits and seminaries. These disputes tend to spill over into the broader culture, reshaping all of American politics. That was true, as Noll shows, in the 19th Century. That was true, as Dupont shows, during the civil rights movement. And it is true today, as our politics is now shaped by reaction against the advances of the civil rights movement and by a pervasive anti-feminism. Read more
Colorado flooding and how to help. More on the creepiness of the Pledge of Allegiance. Baltimore Sun calls for more NALT vids done. Archbishop of Twin Cities goes full church lady. Sister Teresa of Catalonia. Hoping that people saying awful things will grow into the capacity for proper embarrassment. Setting the bar too high for the reception. Read more
I don't know a lot of people who live in the 2nd District of South Carolina, so instead just let me toss out a few other possibilities. Here are 21 people other named Wilson who would be better qualified to represent the people of the Palmetto State. Electing any of these would be far less embarrassing than repeating the mistake of sending Addison Graves Wilson back to Congress. Read more
"When human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High, when one’s case is subverted -- does the Lord not see it?" Read more
It may be that the text is as they say, inerrant and infallible. But this means little more than Archimedes' claim about the lever. "Give me a place to stand and lever long enough and I will move the world," Archimedes said. And he was right — except that he didn't have a lever long enough, and that there was no place to stand, and that even if there were no human could survive to stand there. Read more
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