I want to expand on the previous post about the tribalist celebration of Christian athletes — the quest for “the new Jeremy Lin or Tim Tebow.” And to illustrate what I mean, I want to turn again to our old friend Cam-Cam, former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron. Lauren Markoe of Religion News Service just profiled Cameron: “From prime-time heartthrob to ‘Hollywood freak.’” Markoe, accurately, notes that Cameron’s embrace of tribal Christianity has put him at odds with many of... Read more
Here’s a pic of the great Amy Poehler on Saturday Night Live (pinched from Crooks & Liars). If you understand why that’s funny, then you’ll also understand why this is also (unintentionally) funny, from Christianity Today’s liveblog — “Humber Games: Christian Pitcher Is Perfect.” The subhead asks, “Is White Sox’s Phil Humber the new Jeremy Lin or Tim Tebow?” “God is so good,” Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber said this afternoon moments after he threw a perfect game against... Read more
I’m with Tony Jones on this. I can’t really say I understand what the Hindu festival of Holi is all about, but it looks awesome (Tony has an amazing video at the link above). The joy and playfulness of this prompts me to what Krister Stendahl called “holy envy.” My outsider’s understanding (based on Google) suggests Holi is a celebration of spring and of “the victory of good over evil.” So if if had been, say, a pre-Christian Celtic festival,... Read more
Luke 3:10-14 And the crowds asked him, “What then should we do?” In reply he said to them, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.” Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, “Teacher, what should we do?” He said to them, “Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what should we do?” He said to them, “Do not... Read more
“The others are Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Mike Scott, Dwight Gooden, Hideo Nomo and David Cone.” “All you hear about in the news is the people who have stayed on public assistance or are leeching off the system, but it’s not about that.” “SNAP benefits are at the very top of the list of stimulative spending, generating $1.73 in the economy for every dollar spent on the program.” “Here is a summary of global warming and climate change myths, sorted... Read more
Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports for NPR: “Watergate Figure, Evangelist Chuck Colson Dies at 80” Charles Colson, who served time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal and later became an influential evangelical Christian, has died. Colson went from being one of the nation’s most despised men to a hero of conservative Christians. Colson passed away at a Northern Virginia hospital on Saturday afternoon following a brief illness, according to a news release from his media representatives. … In... Read more
Ed @ Gin and Tacos: “Running the Numbers: The Lottery, Part 2“ Lotteries are machines designed to extract money from the poor and redistribute it to the middle and upper classes in the form of property tax relief, school funds, and merit-based scholarships. This is the point at which one of our friends on the right reliably steps in to remind us that no one points a gun at the poor and forces them to buy lottery tickets. This is... Read more
I’ve been playing this over and over since stumbling across it earlier this week. This is Bill Frisell, Eyving Kang, Ron Miles and Curtis Fowlkes doing John Hiatt’s “Have a Little Faith in Me.” Yeah, it’s your basic guitar-violin-trumpet-trombone combo. Fowlkes’ trombone line may be permanently stuck in my head. And, actually, I’m happy about this. I’m also happy that this song is becoming something of a standard. It should. Here are nine more versions of Hiatt’s classic, just because:... Read more
I first wrote about Richard Land’s awful comments on the Trayvon Martin case because it seemed to me a particularly egregious example of the sort of horrible, nasty dishonesty that politically conservative evangelicals regularly spout with impunity. I wrote that Land needed to be fired because that was true, but also because I didn’t expect him to experience any consequences or accountability for his hateful rant. It’s beginning to look like I may have been wrong about that. Richard Land’s... Read more
“I think there is a desire to establish a religion in America known as secularism.” — Mitt Romney, April 2, 2012 Once again: the opposite of secularism is sectarianism. Those are the choices. Pick one. Romney chooses sectarianism. Next question for everyone who, like Romney, rejects secularism: Which sect do you think should be established as the official one? Because if you don’t want a secular government, then you’re going to have to tell us which sect should be in... Read more
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