Including ‘generates controversy,’ but excluding doesn’t

Last updated on: July 2, 2012 at 10:18 am By Fred Clark

Greg Horton of Religion News Service writes about the end of one great Christian music festival and the beginning of another: “As Cornerstone wraps up, Wild Goose Festival takes off.” Here are a couple of paragraphs that get at the core of the current situation in American evangelicalism: As Cornerstone prepares for its final act, Wild Goose, in its second year, is still finding its footing. Both festivals strongly emphasize justice and aesthetics, and while Wild Goose is clearly more... Read more

We are many, we are many, we are

Last updated on: July 1, 2012 at 5:07 pm By Fred Clark

“If I do not fight bigotry wherever it is, bigotry is thereby strengthened. And to the degree that it is strengthened, it will thereby have the power to turn on me.” “It does not surprise me that the American public is not interested in the gospel of Jesus or black liberation theology or any type of liberation theology because that theology speaks for the poor and America is not interested in the poor.” “Quaker officials rejected the Publick Universial Friend... Read more

Empathy is always one possible option

Last updated on: July 1, 2012 at 1:16 pm By Fred Clark

Chief Justice John Roberts suffers from a chronic, pre-existing medical condition of precisely the sort that would have made it impossible, before the Affordable Care Act, for him to purchase insurance in the private sector. Some right-wing commentators think this influenced Roberts’ decision upholding the ACA. But they don’t imagine that this might have influenced his decision due to the revelatory insight or empathy this personal experience provides. No, they’re just claiming that Roberts’ epilepsy medicine clouded his cognitive functions.... Read more

Sunday favorites

Last updated on: July 3, 2012 at 7:00 pm By Fred Clark

Proverbs 31:6-9 Give strong drink to one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more. Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy. Read more

Smart people saying smart things

Last updated on: July 3, 2012 at 7:00 pm By Fred Clark

Desmond Tutu, Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Muhammad Yunus: “Statement of Concern on Violence and Discrimination against LGBTI People“ As a global community of individuals dedicated to a more peaceful and just world, we wish to express our grave concern as to how our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) brothers and sisters are being treated across the globe. Collectively we represent a diverse array of countries and cultures. Today more than ever, we wish to express that the same... Read more

That’s all the lumber you sent

Last updated on: June 29, 2012 at 9:59 pm By Fred Clark

“I was raised as a Minnesotan, and when people drop by your house, you put on coffee, so that’s what we did.” “Finger-pointing and lies never does any good, does it?” “It sounds like a plot dreamed up by the creators of Southpark, but it’s all true: schoolchildren in Louisiana are to be taught that the Loch Ness monster is real in a bid by religious educators to disprove Darwin’s theory of evolution.” “The situation is pretty bad when the... Read more

NRA: Returning the rental car

Last updated on: June 29, 2012 at 4:09 pm By Fred Clark

Nicolae: The Rise of Antichrist, pp. 17-18 Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins have set out to destroy America. They’ve obliterated New York City and Washington, D.C., with perhaps-nuclear bombs and followed that initial attack with perhaps-nuclear missile strikes at airports in Chicago and Dallas. And this is just the beginning of the horrors the authors have planned for America. It’s going to get much, much worse as this series of books goes on. The authors will destroy ever more of... Read more

My right to be offended by your existence trumps your right to exist

Last updated on: July 3, 2012 at 7:13 pm By Fred Clark

Rod Dreher tweets: “Oreo embraces gay pride? Since when do we expect supermarket cookies to take political stances?” Because, you see, gay people aren’t really people — they’re political issues. Dreher would never think to criticize green-stuf Oreos for St. Patrick’s Day as “a political stance,” but rainbow stuf Oreos for Pride Month are somehow essentially political. Celebrating Irishness with your Irish customers is cheerful fun and good business. Celebrating pride with your LGBT customers is a “political stance.” What... Read more

‘Why don’t you people ever seem to live near churches?’

Last updated on: June 29, 2012 at 3:20 am By Fred Clark

Following Justice Antonin Scalia’s weird, epic outburst from the bench Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court, Corey Robin offers a profile of the conservative jurist. Scalia is a lifelong, ultra-conservative Catholic. Robin highlights one of the curious ramifications of that, which is that here in America, very conservative religious believers tend to drive a lot on Sunday mornings: After Vatican II liberalized the liturgy and practices of the church, including his neighborhood church in suburban Washington, D.C., he insisted on... Read more

From Pennsylvania to a Perfect World

Last updated on: June 29, 2012 at 2:42 am By Fred Clark

How am I gonna keep myself away from me? “The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Co. Resignation Letter,” Matthew Friedberger “Pennsylvania Six-Five Thousand,” Glenn Miller “Pennyroyal Tea,” Nirvana “People Are Strange,” Echo and the Bunnymen “People Get Ready,” Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions “People Get Ready,” Eva Cassidy “People Get Ready,” Jeff Beck & Rod Stewart “People Have the Power,” Patti Smith “The People Here Are Not Shy,” Over the Rhine “People in Your Neighborhood,” Idiot Flesh “People Watching,” Jack Johnson “People... Read more