One of the great challenges of being a minister is finding something fresh and inspiring to say every year during holiday seasons.<\/p>\n\n
The challenge must be especially daunting for liberal clerics who walk a tightrope between ancient doctrines and their own postmodern beliefs. They must say something innovative and daring \u2014 Christmas after Christmas, Easter after Easter, Earth Day after Earth Day.<\/p>\n\n
Which brings us to a recent epistle by Bishop Charles E. Bennison, Jr., of Philadelphia, an ultra-candid voice in the Episcopal Church establishment. In \u201cThe Challenge of Easter\u201d he claims that the ministry of Jesus was rooted in irony and transcended imperialistic laws, codes and creeds. He worked by trial and error. He bent the rules.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThis is what causes fear \u2014 Jesus forgives sins,\u201d wrote Bennison. \u201cHe claims the authority of God in doing so. \u2026 He acknowledges his own sin. He knows himself to be forgiven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Wait a minute, said many careful readers. Jesus was a sinner? Says who?<\/p>\n\n
Bennison quickly issued a statement saying he didn\u2019t mean to contradict scripture and centuries of doctrine. But he stopped short of a clear retraction.<\/p>\n\n
And so it goes on the religion beat. Year after year readers send me bizarre items from all kinds of sources, from church bulletins to the World Wide Web. Some of this stuff is too good to throw away. Thus, I always mark this column\u2019s anniversary \u2014 this is No. 15 \u2014 by sharing out-takes.<\/p>\n\n
It helps to read between the doctrinal lines.<\/p>\n\n
* According to a survey by the Barna Research Group, non-Christian Americans rank \u201cevangelicals\u201d 10th out of 11 categories of people. Evangelicals, for example, were viewed less kindly than real-estate agents, movie stars and lawyers. They placed just ahead of prostitutes.<\/p>\n\n
* Media stereotypes are hard to defeat. Carl Rosen of New York Magazine notes: \u201cWhen VeggieTales first came out, my office received promo copies of the first three videos. I saw the word \u2018Christian\u2019 and threw them away. Then my wife bought one without reading the fine print and we watched it with our son and we all thought it was great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* For a decade or two, social activist Tony Campolo has been firing up audiences by asking if it\u2019s a sin for Christians to drive BMWs. Now, saints and sinners alike are pondering the significance of last year\u2019s \u201cChevrolet Presents: Come Together and Worship\u201d concert tour. Inquiring minds want to know: What would Jesus drive?<\/p>\n\n
* Catholic prelates in Germany have expressed dismay that the Langnese company is marketing ice creams named after the seven deadly sins of envy, gluttony, greed, lust, pride, sloth and wrath. \u201cGluttony\u201d ice cream I can grasp. What would \u201csloth\u201d taste like?<\/p>\n\n
* Does anyone know why the anti-war anarchists \u2014 www.actagainstwar.org<\/a> \u2014 who are trying to paralyze the streets of San Francisco keep meeting at the St. Boniface Catholic Church? Just asking.<\/p>\n\n * The most popular satire site in cyberspace is www.theonion.com<\/a>. Now, some Eastern Orthodox Christians with too much time on their hands have created its Byzantine counterpart \u2014 www.theoniondome.com<\/a>. Anyone seeking evangelical satire should visit www.larknews.com<\/a>. Meanwhile, I can\u2019t decide if www.yourgoingtohell.com<\/a> is satire or not.<\/p>\n\n * Someone needs to check the urban legends files. Wire services report that a 30-year-old Dutch student named Jennifer Hoes has set her wedding date. On May 28 she plans a civil ceremony in which she plans to marry herself.<\/p>\n\n * This was a wild year for Patricia Heaton, the outspoken star of the hit sitcom \u201cEverybody Loves Raymond.\u201d In addition to walking out of the raunchy American Music Awards, she continued to speak out against abortion. Is she feeling the heat in Hollywood? \u201cWhen my final judgment comes,\u201d Heaton replied, \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll be answering to Barbra Streisand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n * Need an unofficial \u201cHarry Potter\u201d school tie? It turns out that the maroon-and-gold ties sold in the Calvin College bookstore are dead ringers for the tie in the young wizard\u2019s school uniform. Was this predestined?<\/p>\n\n * And finally, Canadian newspapers reported that Anglican bishops are complaining about Father Dorian Baxter\u2019s popular \u201cElvis Priestly\u201d ministry, in which he performs weddings and funerals in a velvet Elvis suit.<\/p>\n\n The bishops believe this is in poor taste. Perhaps the priest is merely being ironic.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the great challenges of being a minister is finding something fresh and inspiring to say every year during holiday seasons. The challenge must be especially daunting for liberal clerics who walk a tightrope between ancient doctrines and their own postmodern beliefs. They must say something innovative and daring \u2014 Christmas after Christmas, Easter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[330,444,458,720],"class_list":["post-1225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-episcopalians","tag-humor","tag-internet","tag-religion-news"],"yoast_head":"\n