7 things @ 9 o’clock (9.6)

Last updated on: September 5, 2013 at 8:03 pm By Fred Clark

Does David Barton know our schoolchildren are being forced to use Arabic numerals? A reminder of how Reagan and Rumsfeld reacted to the use of chemical weapons by a dictator in the Middle East. I can't think of any reason for a pastor to want to build an 11-story cross that isn't either tribalistic or Freudian. BBC looks back at a case of Satanic panic. A fascinating profile of Mother Angelica -- she's not actually a muppet. Kansas kicks unemployed people off of food stamps because if you're not allowed to work then you're not allowed to work for food. Read more

8 years ago: Two Americas

Last updated on: August 30, 2013 at 1:40 pm By Fred Clark

The poor in America eventually receive a begrudging, belated assistance that proves far costlier, far less effective and far less efficient than a timelier response. A lot of them usually die before this belated assistance is provided, but this is seen as a helpful reminder that they ought not to become "dependent" upon handouts such as medical care for their children or a rescue from a rooftop. Read more

7 things @ way later than 9 o’clock (9.5)

Last updated on: September 5, 2013 at 7:07 pm By Fred Clark

Oklahoma not-so O-K. The celebrity sex-tape that explains why the world's biggest military is unrestrained by the world's most complacent democracy. Some good praise for the NALT Christians Project. Some good critiques for the NALT Christians Project and some thoughts on necessity vs. sufficiency. Qanta Ahmed calls for a NALT Muslims project. A professor offers kind words for students before blowing their minds. New history looks at white evangelicals' role as "active belligerents" against the Civil Rights movement -- and how that shaped their faith. Read more

More about the NALT Christian Project

Last updated on: September 4, 2013 at 7:54 pm By Fred Clark

Amethyst Marie: "I am the little girl in Sunday School who’s always the first to raise her hand. I am the girl who gets the lead solo in the Christmas pageant every year. I am the teenager who plays piano for the worship service every fourth Sunday. I am the lady who hosts a small group in her home. I am the teacher in your kids’ Children’s Church. I am the Facebook friend who posts Rachel Held Evans‘ articles on your news feed all the time. I am the friend who prays for you and with you every time you ask. I am Mary Lambert. I am Jason Collins. I am a Christian, and I am not an LGBTQ ally. I AM queer, and I am here." Read more

11 years ago: Powerpoint sucks

Last updated on: August 30, 2013 at 1:34 pm By Fred Clark

PowerPoint is awful in such a banal, low-key way that it doesn't rise to the level of obsessive hatred. But it should. This pervasive "presentation software" is everywhere. And people are using it for a whole lot more than "presentations" -- they're laying out fliers, newsletters, whole magazines on this glorified electric Colorforms set. Read more

Shanah Tovah

Last updated on: September 4, 2013 at 5:44 pm By Fred Clark

Happy and blessed New Year. Read more

7 more things that are older than (Ken Ham’s) Adam

Last updated on: September 4, 2013 at 5:22 pm By Fred Clark

Ken Ham and other young-Earth creationists tell us the universe is 6,000 years old. The universe says different. Here are a few more things recently in the news that are older than Ken Ham's universe. Read more

Jesus Is Not At All Like That (my video for the NALT Christians Project)

Last updated on: September 4, 2013 at 1:24 pm By Fred Clark

I never made a YouTube video before, and that probably shows, but when John Shore invited me to contribute one to the NALT Christians Project, I couldn't say no. (I've included the transcript -- all the words, but none of the bad lighting and awkwardness.) Read more

The NALT Christians Project offers permission and an invitation

Last updated on: September 4, 2013 at 12:57 pm By Fred Clark

Here is the testimony of the faithful. Here are Christians from all over the place "unapologetically expressing their full acceptance of LGBT people." And look! They're still Christians. This love and acceptance is an expression of their Christian faith, not a rejection of it. Read more

7 things @ 9 o’clock (9.4)

Last updated on: September 3, 2013 at 10:41 pm By Fred Clark

Pentecostal group launches "the Joseph Company," for Christians who want to be Pharaoh's right-hand man. Remembering the Great Purge at Southern Baptist seminary 20 years after Al Mohler's fire sale. Art Pope is a jerk, a complete kneebiter. Pa. cop remains on school board after indefinite suspension for threatening to overthrow the government. "Rescuing children" doesn't usually involve arresting them. Is Azahoth responsible for invulnerable blood worms invading water supply? Read more