Today is the last full day of summer. Autumn officially begins tomorrow morning at 10:49 a.m. And don’t get me wrong, dear, in general I’m doing quite fine … “The Boys of Summer,” Don Henley “Dog Days Are Over,” Florence + The Machine “Endless Summer,” Daniel Amos “The Other Side of Summer,” Elvis Costello “Rain in the Summertime,” The Alarm “Someone, Somewhere in Summertime,” Simple Minds “Summer Babe,” Pavement “Summer in the City,” Regina Spektor “Summer of ’69,” Bryan Adams... Read more
Try not to be an asshole. That’s always the first rule. That’s Rule No. 1. No matter what the topic, no matter how specific or how general, Rule No. 1 is always Rule No. 1. It comes first not because it’s the most important, necessarily, but because unless we hear and heed Rule No. 1, we’ll probably never find out what any of the other rules are. No one will want to talk to us long enough to tell us.... Read more
One of the odder stories this week involves a small scrap of Coptic papyrus and what it says about Jesus. The fragment is old, but not Jesus-old. It’s more like Constantine-old — 4th-century probably. I’ll let James McGrath summarize: Karen King, a scholar well known for her work on the phenomenon usually referred to as “Gnosticism,” has come into possession of and has been studying a Coptic papyrus fragment which is likely to be authentic, dates from around the 4th... Read more
Max S. Gordon: “Proud Americans, Be Who You Are” In other words, I can’t dismiss Paul Ryan’s good-natured homophobia as anything else but what it is, a hatred of gays. I can’t blame a generation gap, or that he’s from some other country that isn’t “free” like us, or any of the bullshit excuses that would let him off the hook. He’s just like me. Only he has privileges that I don’t, because he’s heterosexual. It’s that simple. We try... Read more
Here are a few recent stories in which various people — including some public officials — demonstrate how to be a really big jerk. I don’t recommend being a big jerk, mind you, but if that’s your goal, then study these stories carefully. These folks are putting on a clinic in jerkitude. 1. Walk into a store owned by Christians, throw their religious literature into the trash and insult their faith. Mayor Tonya Hoeffel of Garrett, Indiana, is a big... Read more
Scott Paeth discusses Molly Worthen on Democrats and the progressive Catholic social tradition, seconding this point from Worthen: The handful of nationally known Catholic political thinkers who might be called progressive, or at least compassionate and cosmopolitan — like the journalist-scholars Garry Wills and E. J. Dionne Jr., blogmeister Andrew Sullivan, or the feminist nun and blogger Sister Joan Chittister — are far outnumbered by the ranks of prominent Catholic conservatives in the trenches of activism and policy making. I’d... Read more
Ellen Painter Dollar extends an invitation to young evangelicals exhausted and frustrated by their community: While I am sympathetic to those who wish to bring reforms, of feminist and other natures, to the evangelical movement, I also want to remind those who are fed up with how women and their voices are welcomed (or not) in evangelical churches, publications, and conversations that there are many churches (that is, movements, denominations, and congregations) where women and other marginalized groups (such as... Read more
The scoop seems to belong to David Corn of Mother Jones, “SECRET VIDEO: Romney Tells Millionaire Donors What He Really Thinks of Obama Voters“: During a private fundraiser earlier this year, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a small group of wealthy contributors what he truly thinks of all the voters who support President Barack Obama. He dismissed these Americans as freeloaders who pay no taxes, who don’t assume responsibility for their lives, and who think government should take care... Read more
This video — — makes this post from July of 2011 newly pertinent, so I’m re-posting it today. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – Via David Atkins at Hullabaloo: [On July 25, 2011] famed “Christian” pastor Rick Warren, wealthy author and megachurch leader,... Read more
The Game Show Network has a (basic-cable) hit on its hands with The American Bible Challenge, a new quiz-show hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy. GSN says the show features contestants who: “compete based on their knowledge of the Bible. Utilizing current as well as historical references, questions will be drawn from the rich, dense narrative found in the world’s best-selling book.” It’s not quite true that the game is based on “knowledge of the Bible, but about trivia extracted from... Read more
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