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<\/a><\/p>\nBlogger\u2019s rolling out new features, so I figured I should let you know that you can now read this blog in any of the five new dynamic templates<\/a>. \u00a0Of the five, I only like the sidebar view<\/a>\u00a0and, to be honest, I find Blogger\u2019s enthusiasm about this new feature to be a little hilarious. \u00a0I\u2019m not planning to start viewing blogs this way (especially since I mostly read them on Google Reader, rather than their actual pages), but let me know if you try it and have any problems.<\/p>\n Looking at the sidebar layout<\/a> makes me wonder if this site is due for a redesign. \u00a0Does anyone have any things they\u2019d like to see added\/eliminated or any tweaks you\u2019d suggest?<\/p>\n In keeping with the last two Friday\u2019s quick takes (one on common myths about Catholicism<\/a>, one offering some clarifications<\/a>) I want to highlight some more\u00a0resources\/handy cheat guides for Christians talking to atheists and atheists talking to Christians.<\/p>\n The most persistent question atheists (me included) have been raising on this blog is How does any specific Christian denomination figure out the proper way to read the Bible?<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m still looking for guest posts on this topic<\/a>, but, in the meantime, it\u2019s probably worth taking a look over Mark Shea\u2019s overview of Sacred Tradition at the National Catholic Register<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n Catholics interpret the bible in light of Sacred Tradition, and, since I find both the analysis and the history it\u2019s based on very confusing, I\u2019ll probably go whole hog and read Shea\u2019s By What Authority?<\/a><\/em>\u00a0one of these days. For now, the article is loads better than my old resource, Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n The next link isn\u2019t really the answer to anyone\u2019s question unless you\u2019re much cooler than me and were already wondering, \u201cWhat would it be like to read the thoughts of a Soviet-born, Israeli-reared, cultural Jew turned Orthodox convert<\/a>?\u201d \u00a0The answer is: it\u2019s wonderful. \u00a0The blog started last week, and every post so far has been beautifully written and raised complex questions about Jewish identity and membership. \u00a0Here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n I know my parents feel dishonored by my conversion, and I know they are not the only Jewish parents who do. It\u2019s not the kind of dishonor that more traditional parents may feel when their child refuses to follow in their intellectual footsteps: they did not raise me religious, and have probably even less regard for observant Judaism than for Christianity. It took me years to understand \u2013 or, rather, to stop denying \u2013 that the root of their sadness and anger is that they see my becoming a Christian as choosing another family over theirs. They see my godparents as substitute parents that I have chosen over them, my Christian friends as a substitute extended family; and while they accuse me of having chosen to love strangers more than family, they also blame themselves for, allegedly, being such bad parents (which they weren\u2019t at all!) that their child had to go looking for an alternative family.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Head on over to read more!<\/a><\/p>\n I always like Richard Beck\u2019s explanations of his theology, and his most recent installment on the development of his Universalist beliefs<\/a> is delightfully clear. \u00a0I\u2019d be interested to hear what the Christian readers of this blog make of his struggles with Talbott\u2019s three propositions as laid out below:<\/p>\n Beck is pretty sure you can only get believe two out of three, and he\u2019s ended up sticking with 1 & 2.<\/p>\n After I complained about the hypocrisy of Christians who believe their friends are going to hell but don\u2019t bother to evangelize to them, Tristyn took me to task in a truly exceptional post that turned into an apologetic for her brand of crypto-fideism<\/a>. \u00a0Here\u2019s a quick quote:<\/p>\n A lot of the questions I get asked about Christianity seem to boil down to a bizarre kind of absolutism\u2013 most of the conversations end with a \u201cwhat happens if?\u201d \u201cWhat happens if the fast is broken?\u201d \u201cWhat happens if someone throws an icon away?\u201d \u201cWhat happens if you don\u2019t cross yourself?\u201d Perhaps I\u2019m misreading my friends, but they always seem to be looking for a line that, once crossed, will definitively send one to Hell, and if a particular behavior doesn\u2019t, they can\u2019t seem to understand why it\u2019s relevant. I chalk this up, too, to the inability to understand Christianity not as a system but as a relationship. What happens if I don\u2019t bum my friend a cigarette? What happens if I forget his birthday? What happens if I steal from him? A friendship can survive many transgressions. That doesn\u2019t mean we shouldn\u2019t avoid them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s times like this I feel compelled to nyah-nyah that I get to have these discussions with her in person. \u00a0But don\u2019t look so glum, her whole blog<\/a>is excellent (especially if you like Tom Waits)<\/p>\n On the atheist side, NFQ is starting a new series this week working through moral problems from a secular perpective, so\u00a0watch that space<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tonight, I\u2019m heading out to hear an ex-gay speaker (Christopher Yuan from\u00a0Exodus<\/a>) at an event sponsored by the Yale Christian Fellowship and Yale Students for Christ. \u00a0That is, assuming it\u2019s not an April Fool\u2019s Day prank. \u00a0I assumed it must be, but now I\u2019ve heard that the YCF and YSC boards are both\u00a0schisming\u00a0over the sponsorship. \u00a0If there\u2019s anything of interest, I\u2019ll write something up over the weekend.<\/p>\n Also in the category of surprisingly not an April Fool\u2019s prank, (though I guess you could show it to people today, let them assume it was a trick, and then reveal that these actually exist)\u00a0coffee bean-shaped stainless steel casings<\/a> for phase-change materials<\/a>. \u00a0They\u2019re meant to quickly cool your coffee to an appropriate temperature and then keep it there for a long time by slowly releasing the heat stored by cooling it down from scalding.<\/p>\n\n
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