Never assume

Last updated on: April 29, 2011 at 6:25 pm By Fred Clark

My all-time favorite photo cutline from the Associated Press was for a picture of President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI. It read: “Pope Benedict XVI (left) welcomes U.S. President Barack Obama (right) at the Vatican.” It’s difficult to imagine a reader for whom the words “Pope Benedict XVI” and “President Barack Obama” are in any way meaningful while also requiring those “left” and “right” designations to tell them apart. I can’t imagine anyone looking at that photo and thinking,... Read more

Flashback post: "What's the score?"

Last updated on: April 29, 2011 at 4:03 am By Fred Clark

The following was originally posted in March of 2005 (using actual scores from actual NCAA tournament games). I’m reposting it today because: A) it’s still true, and B) we’re still having this same argument at the paper and I’m still losing it. And I’m a sore loser. The sports section is still safe. It is, in some ways, the last bastion of reality-based journalism. Turn to the sports pages and there you can read the unambiguous results of a sporting... Read more

"It's all middle game"

Last updated on: April 28, 2011 at 5:06 pm By Fred Clark

Hey, did you hear what infamous lying historian David Barton said about net neutrality? He … Wait, sorry. Who cares what a confirmed and unrepentant evil liar like David Barton says about anything? And why would anyone think to ask him about it. Was someone sitting around thinking, “Hmmm, this business about the free flow of information on the Internet seems important, but confusing. If only we could find someone to sort it out — someone, perhaps, who has made... Read more

TF: Regional sales force awards banquet

Last updated on: April 26, 2011 at 4:15 pm By Fred Clark

Tribulation Force, pp. 368-374 More than 800 pages into this story the Antichrist finally signs his big peace treaty with Israel. This, according to Tim LaHaye’s Bible prophecy scheme, officially heralds the start of the End of the World. Everything we have read up to this point has occurred in LaHaye’s prophetic limbo period — an unstable interim between the Rapture of the real, true Christians and the onset of the seven-year “Great Tribulation” during which God will pour out... Read more

You must remember this …

Last updated on: April 25, 2011 at 10:03 am By Fred Clark

I tripped over a very strange sentence in The New York Times on Friday. It was in John Leland’s article about the group of evangelical Christians planting churches in the East Village, the “Evangelical Squad” behind Trinity Grace Church. Responding in the Village Voice, Rosie Gray has some fun with the way this group is “trying to seem so hip and edgy in an awkward ‘Cool Dad’ kind of way.” And she’s right, but that’s not what bugged me. What... Read more

Easter Saturday

Last updated on: April 23, 2011 at 6:12 am By Fred Clark

(With the new site, I’m reposting this from last year.) Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore, we are saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;? therefore, we are saved by faith.? Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. – Reinhold Niebuhr This is my favorite day in Holy Week, this Saturday, this unrestful Sabbath, my favorite day in... Read more

Make Believe – Makin' Pies

Last updated on: April 22, 2011 at 5:58 am By Fred Clark

I don’t want something for nothing, but it’s all I can get … “Make Believe,” Bathtub Mary “Make Him Believe,” Jeffrey Gaines “Make It All OK,” R.E.M. “Make It Work,” Christy Moore/Paul Doran “Make Me Smile,” Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel “Make My Life a Prayer,” Keith Green “Make You Feel My Love,” Adele “Make You Feel My Love,” Joan Osborne “The Maker,” Daniel Lanois “Maker of the Universe,” Phil Keaggy “Makin’ Whoopee,” Gerry Mulligan Quartet “Makin’ Whoopee,” Louis Armstrong... Read more

"What will replace it has not yet become clear"

Last updated on: April 21, 2011 at 6:30 pm By Fred Clark

From Brian McLaren at the Huffington Post: It’s obvious neither the voices of the poor themselves nor ours raised in solidarity with them are being heard by most of our fellow evangelicals. Instead, they seem to be tuned in to Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Ann Coulter and others like them. They’ve discovered that by speaking boldly in black-and-white terms, they can sway evangelicals to their bold way, their complexity-free truth, and their highly profitable life. In my travels,... Read more

Sooners

Last updated on: April 21, 2011 at 2:12 pm By Fred Clark

Bruce Prescott, leader of the Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists, recently spoke at an immigration rally on the steps of Oklahoma’s state capitol, where he argued that “Immigrants Shouldn’t Need ‘Any Stinking Papers.'” The rally opposed Arizona-style anti-immigration legislation proposed in the state’s legislature: [Republican Rep. Randy] Terrill wants Oklahoma to adopt stricter anti-immigration laws similar to measures passed a year ago in Arizona. An anti-immigration bill is progressing through the legislative process, but it’s gone through a special panel approved by... Read more

Calling all Freds

Last updated on: April 20, 2011 at 12:54 pm By Fred Clark

I want to address a matter of great concern to all Freds everywhere. Our good name is in jeopardy. I’m sure you’ve seen news footage of the cruel demonstrations by the so-called Westboro Baptist Church. They gather to heckle and mock wherever others gather to mourn — particularly at the funerals of fallen soldiers or disaster victims. You’ve seen them shouting their ugly slogans and waving their ugly signs that say things like “God Hates Fags” or “God Hates America.”... Read more