An election year always brings a fresh crop of books earnestly warning against the perils of partisanship. The solution to this “problem,” these books usually suggest, is a kind of bland nonpartisan attitude — the Golden Meh. This is a popular pose among pundits and op-ed columnists, one that seems to arise from an intense desire not to be disliked. The prescription of such pundits always seems to be that we mustn’t take our politics too seriously. If we take... Read more
“Thinking critically is not the same thing as thinking cynically,” Dianna E. Anderson writes in a post on “On Kony 2012 and Thinking Critically.” That’s an important distinction, although I suspect “thinking cynically” is actually an oxymoron. That’s why cynicism can be so tempting — it exempts us from the hard work of having to think and pretends to free us from responsibility. The surprising popularity of the Kony 2012 video launched by the American advocacy group Invisible Children is... Read more
After gazillionaire Santorum-supporter Foster Friess inadvertently discouraged women from voting for his pet candidate by saying that an “aspirin between the knees” was all the health care women need, he eventually offered a half-hearted apology. This comment from Friess’ pseudo-apology is revealing: My wife constantly tells me I need new material — she understood the joke but didn’t like it anyway — so I will keep that old one in the past where it belongs. Friess’ wife “didn’t like it”... Read more
1 John 4:7-12 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be... Read more
“Dear 1962, This is The Future speaking. You spent a lot of time thinking about me lately. I’m touched. Let me tell you what’s happened …” “I told myself, ‘If you can only get to the stove and pick up one of the iron skillets, you might be able to knock him in the head and grab the gun.'” “Who puts a pit full of tigers in the softball diamond?” “Are people really so unfamiliar with Calvinism that they don’t... Read more
Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, Part 9 Left Behind II: Tribulation Force, Part 10 The fire-breathing prophets and flaming stuntmen marked the dramatic highpoint of our film. The big conflict is now behind us and Cam-Cam’s scheme is in place. Or is it? Director Bill Corcoran only has one source of tension left to milk for suspense here at the end of his movie –we don’t yet know for sure whether the two magicians were able to fix the brainwashed... Read more
Mary E. Hunt: “Communion or Disunion?: Sacraments do not ‘belong’ to the clergy“ The shift is in models of authority — from the top down, clergy-centered model to a more rounded, communal one. It is a new thing under the contemporary Catholic sun but it is real. … One account of Ms. Johnson’s experience at her mother’s funeral included a detail I cannot verify but can well imagine. A blogger who spoke with her [John Shore] wrote that after being... Read more
(Part 1 of this review here, by proxy.) At the end of Ronald J. Sider’s most recent book, Fixing the Moral Deficit: A Balanced Way to Balance the Budget, there’s an appendix of “Action Steps” for readers. The first of these reads as follows: Read and reflect on a few dozen of the hundreds of biblical verses about God and the poor. Then prayerfully ask God to help you share God’s love for poor, hurting persons. If you need help... Read more
It’s International Women’s Day, so here’s another round-up of links on women in the church (and the world). Brooke Eikenberry: “Unbinding the Feet: Women in Ministry” To me, it is a question of injustice, and we as believers should seek justice for the oppressed and downtrodden. But it is more than that; it is also a desire to see the Church be all that it should be. In hindering some women from the fullness of their callings, we hinder the... Read more
The Consumerist brings us the entertaining story of a New Mexico man who picked the wrong restaurant to dine-and-dash: We certainly don’t condone the act of dining-then-dashing. It’s illegal and, more importantly, just plain rude to the people that prepared and served your meal. It’s especially rude when the servers are law enforcement officers working a fundraising event for the Special Olympics. And yet, a man in New Mexico stands accused of trying to feed and flee an Applebee’s during... Read more
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