The big question: Why aren’t there more liberal Christians? I remember when I begin my own move from the very conservative religious world into a progressive, more liberal, freer religious world how terribly frightening it was. I couldn’t find a roadmap. The rules were unclear. I had to make too many decisions. It was exhausting to have to think for myself all the time. Agreeing to disagree is a truly terrifying stance as one has to let go of absolute... Read more
The research was thorough and worldwide and the results clear: Religious beliefs matter AND religious people hate to be stereotyped. As in, stop doing that. It doesn’t help. Why religious beliefs matter so much The Faith and Media Initiative conducted the study using an impressive set of participants from countries around the world representing multiple faith groups. The full report can be found here. But the summary is fairly simple: for multiple reasons, the media does a truly awful job... Read more
If we really want to protect children, for heaven’s sake, ban the Bible! And, for sake of consistency, keep those kids away from church. There’s a lot of talk these days about removing certain books and restraining teachers from speaking of various subjects that might cause “discomfort” in their students. Most of these restrictions are driven by a group of people who generally identify as Christian. From what I can discern, these parents don’t want their children to have the... Read more
I was in London when Queen Elizabeth celebrated her Diamond Jubilee, ten years ago. I never stopped admiring her. At that time, my oldest son, now a British citizen, had an office on the top floor of a six-story building that overlooked St. James Park and the Thames river. We gathered there for snacks and Pims, waiting for the royal regatta to pass while watching the TV footage of the celebration projected on a large screen. It was a typical... Read more
What Does The Bible Say About Politics? Absolutely nothing . . . and absolutely everything. If we want to use a narrow definition, i.e., the politics of democracy with a secular government elected by the people in the 21st century USA, then the Bible has zip to say about the current situation. Certainly, the idea of a democratic system of governance has been around a long time—the Greeks tried it in the sixth century B.C., managing to keep it going... Read more
I treasure life and think the female role of being the bearer of the future of humanity is a position of unbelievable privilege. Note: see the first part of this post: Women Who Abort Are Murderers: Lock Them Up. So, should we label women who undergo abortions as murderers and properly prosecute them? This is the sad but logical conclusion of the anti-abortion stance that any product of conception, even in the earliest zygote stage, is fully human and should... Read more
Let’s handle this situation with real justice: if abortion is murder, then women who abort are murderers. In the civilized world, murders must be punished. In other words, lock them up. The rationale behind the anti-abortion movement states that from the moment of fertilization, the zygote is a person, independent of the gestating woman, and thus endowed with all the rights that come with personhood. Part of me wants to quibble with this definition since obviously no zygote/embryo/fetus can develop... Read more
And I wonder: how many women and children and young men and aging parents will face slaughter in their fight for freedom in Ukraine before even China says, “Enough already.” My sleep, since the beginning of the Putin invasion of Ukraine, stays troubled and interrupted. Today, after awakening at 3 am, I finally gave up at 4:00. With the light from my phone, I wander into the dark kitchen and turn on the oven to 500 degrees in preparation for... Read more
My thoughts on Ukraine Day Seven: “You arrogant ass. You’ve killed us.” I keep thinking of this scene near the end of the fascinating movie, “The Hunt For Red October” made off the book written by Tom Clancy. It’s one of my favorite movies ever, and the scene above has stayed with me. The captain of the Russian pursuit submarine is sure he’s got the renegade Red October, with plans to defect, set for the kill. But canny moves by... Read more
On this Ukraine Day Six, I stay glued to news feeds. I awaken early to see, “Are Kharkiv and Lviv still standing?” I read of women, children, and the elderly necessarily fleeing Ukraine while others, many of whom know zero about fighting wars, make their way back to do whatever they can to stand for freedom. And what do too many “Christian” people here in the US do? They cheer on Putin because they think this is the next big... Read more
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