If you're reading this, it means the power is out at Slacktivist world head quarters here in Chester County, Pa. (I've set this up to post automatically, just in case, due to the way Hurricane Sandy is blowing the trees around here.) Consider this an open thread for anyone with electricity to discuss whatever you like -- stormy or sunny -- here in comments. (And we're back!) Read more
"Given Romney’s shifting positions, he can only be judged by the people with whom he surrounds himself. Many of them espouse yesterday’s thinking on national defense and security, female/family reproductive rights, and the interplay of government and independent private enterprise. In this context, Barack Obama represents the future, not that past." Read more
White American evangelicals are "pro-life." This is the single most important political aspect of American evangelicalism. It is the single most important theological aspect of American evangelicalism. And it is the paramount factor in evangelical identity for evangelicals themselves. Fifty years ago, this would have been unimaginable. Read more
Maybe, just maybe, fear of disease isn't the optimal core of good character or the optimal basis for good behavior. And maybe, just maybe, preventing cancer might be more "pro-life" than scoring cheap tribal political points by anti-science fear-mongering over anything and everything having to do with ladyparts. Read more
"We are God's children," all Christians say. For some, that means we are exceptional and special, elect and uniquely blessed so that we will be given "the remnant of Edom" -- the plunder taken from those others who are not God's children. For some that means we have a calling and a commission -- an exceptional obligation to invite and include "all other peoples." Read more
"We support biblical families," Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy says of his fast-food corporation. So let's take a look at some of those biblical families. Today's entry: Benjamin & Jabesh-gilead. Read more
"Let's all embrace the future -- stop pretending we care about each other and start hoarding canned goods." Read more
Is Richard Mourdock's extreme politics the consequence of his odious theology? Or is his odious theology a consequence of his extreme politics? It doesn't matter. Whichever one he latched onto first was bound to introduce the other. The two things require one another and cannot be separated. Politics twists theology which deforms politics which warps theology which ... Read more
Scot McKnight on the difference between the white Social Gospel and the social justice tradition of the black church: "A theology done from the oppressed and for the oppressed is not the same as a theology done from the position of power and privilege." Read more
Some links to read before the power goes out: "How to give a cat a pill" ... verses from the Koran at high school pep rallies ... bad rituals and snake handlers ... Aristotelian ethics in professional wrestling ... 40 years of unpersuasive propaganda ... laughing at LifeWay ... and the Angel of the Gap. Read more
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