Jon Tevlin of the Star Tribune tells us about an attempt by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to rally young people around “traditional marriage” as a political cause. I’m not sure what the archdiocese expected to happen at this mandatory assembly for seniors at DeLaSalle high school, but I’m sure they didn’t expect anything as awesome as what did happen. “DeLaSalle kids have a few words with archdiocese at marriage talk,” Tevlin reports: “The first three-quarters of the... Read more
Walter Wink: “To Hell With Gays: Sex and the Bible“ (via) Imagine the difficulty that abolitionists faced in making their case in the mid-19th century. In the absence of proof-texts, they had to fall back on the tenor of scripture, the spirit of Jesus, and appeals to compassion and empathy. Amazingly, enough people understood their case that they were able to carry the day. Today almost no one still argues that slavery is justifiable because it is biblically sanctioned. Likewise,... Read more
“Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and to make gentle the life of this world.” “Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.” “Without such changes the U.S. may well become a permanently divided society.” “Since the Chamber has such wide sway over the composition of Congress, and the laws we... Read more
Matt Yglesias wrote recently about the fact that “Blows Happen to People, Not Just Political Movements“: … the media tends to portray defeats of climate-related legislation as a blow “to environmentalists” rather than a blow to, say, villagers in flood-prone lowlands or drought-stricken Texas farmers. Once you start paying attention, you see this kind of thing in coverage of all sorts of issues. We’ve certainly seen plenty of it in the coverage of the Supreme Court’s consideration of the Affordable... Read more
So, if you were born the day Kurt Cobain died, then you’re now old enough to vote. Read more
Richard Land, “ethics” spokesman for the Southern Baptist Convention, is doubling-down on his claim that the Trayvon Martin case is being overplayed by “race hustlers.” His phrase: “race hustlers.” Who says that? I mean, besides white racists, is there anyone who says that? The Southern Baptist Convention needs to fire Richard Land. Yesterday. Or sooner. The problem with his remarks about the killing of Trayvon Martin, a black child gunned down with impunity more than a month ago in Florida,... Read more
I don’t believe in ghosts because, if there were such a thing, then I think the following would be a true story. As far as I know, it is not. … It’s not widely discussed. Those who have witnessed it firsthand are, for obvious reasons, reluctant to talk about it. You’ll never see them publicly recounting their tales in front of the cameras and the microphones. These aren’t stories they are eager to tell. But one hears whispers, rumors, stories... Read more
And so the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day... Read more
Dear Southern Baptist Convention: A new name for the denomination won’t change the perception that you’re a parochial Southern institution clinging to mid-20th century white privilege. As long as you employ Richard Land as your “ethics” spokesman, it will be impossible for the rest of the world to perceive you as anything but a parochial Southern institution clinging to mid-20th century white privilege. It’s long past time for Richard Land to “explore new ministry opportunities,” to “spend more time with... Read more
“How Great I Am” “A Precious Moment for Jael” “I feel like maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that I have Elvis Costello’s sweat on a piece of toilet paper.” “Generally, devotion like that freaks me out. Big time.” “You are now free to get swept up in the tale of epic romance and frozen corpses, secure in the knowledge that the skies above them are astronomically accurate.” “‘One Million Hijabs for Shaima Alawadi,’ a recently created Facebook page, had nearly... Read more
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