That video, created and posted to YouTube by lonzo625, perfectly captures not just the retrofuturistic theme of the song — “(It’s the ’80s, Where’s Our) Rocket Packs,” by the band Daniel Amos — but the way its own “futuristic” sound itself now seems like a time-capsule relic from the early 1980s. I’ve thought of that song a few times recently due to a series of recent stories in which robots seem to feature prominently. First there was all that business... Read more
Let me first say that I have been humbled to have learned anew how important the TypePad site was to many people as a safe space, a home — or an inn, at least, or oasis — where one could be and connect without being reminded at every turn that there are others, far too many others, who think there’s something wrong with you, or who blame you just for being you, blame you for your identity, your history, your... Read more
The Journal of John Woolman is online. I guess that makes sense. It’s in the public domain now. But reading Woolman’s Journal online seems strange to me, since it’s one of those books I turn to now and then when I’m looking for respite from online buzz and bother. His gentle, unpolished reflections — it’s a journal, after all — offer a kind of retreat. Reading my copy of Woolman’s Journal isn’t just an encounter with this long-gone Quaker saint.... Read more
Dr. Catherine Clark Kroeger has died. Kroeger, a professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, helped to change the world for the better by founding two valuable and necessary organizations, Christians for Biblical Equality and PASCH (Peace and Safety in Christian Homes). Here is her Boston Globe obituary, and a memorial post from Christians for Biblical Equality. CBE has become a leading voice for what evangelical Christians refer to as an “egalitarian view of ministry.” In its own words, it is an... Read more
If you ever want to know about the creation, nurture and health of online communities, ask Patrick and Teresa Nielsen Hayden. They’ve been doing this and thinking about how it works since before the Web, and you can see the results in the community of commenters at their blog, Making Light, where I often lurk to enjoy the conversation there, feeling like a busboy at the Algonquin in the ’20s. “Design matters,” Patrick says, and he did such a nifty... Read more
For those who arrived here looking for Fred Clark's posts we can do no better than to quote his own announcement: Slacktivist is moving, heading over to join the growing community at Patheos.com. The new URL will be: www.patheos.com/community/slacktivist/. Fred's last typepad/Slacktivist TF post is below. This site remains as a place for those who have long been reading and commenting on Fred's posts to continue to meet and talk. Tribulation Force, pp. 346-352 The set-up: The man at the... Read more
OK, let’s try that again. Reboot. Reset. Restart. Reinstall. Seek to be born again, as it were. Big news. Really big news. Very exciting news, I think, but also not terribly disruptive news if we do this right. Well, safe to say I’m 0-for-1 so far. Let me first address what the move won’t mean. The good news is it won’t mean any changes in the substance, content or frequency of this blog. And thus, of course, the bad news... Read more
Tribulation Force, pp. 346-352 The set-up: The man at the counter handed Buck a message from Rayford, but since it was not marked urgent, he decided not to call him until morning. Rayford Steele had just learned about the implausibly rapid takeover of every media outlet in the world by Nicolae Carpathia, creating a global monopoly — the Antichrist’s One-World Media. Jerry Jenkins devotes quite a bit more space and readers’ time to this set-up, orchestrating a situation in which... Read more
In response to some concerns about hospitality toward atheists and the nonreligious here at the new site I started to write about why that saddened me and why its terribly important to me, personally, that my own faith and the various faiths of my new friends here not in any way be perceived to be exclusive or unwelcoming to the contributions of anyone, but somehow what started out as a description of why and how much I value the presence... Read more
I’m still learning to drive the new car here in WordPress/disqus land, and there’s more flexibility to it than I’ve yet learned to navigate. So consider this an open thread on comments and the comment system here. What’s good/better with the comment system and structure? What’s bad/not working? I don’t want to lose any voices from the ongoing conversation or, worse, to silence/shut out anyone who wants to participate and is having trouble doing so here. So please let me... Read more
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