Tag Archive

Since I revamped the category-system to include one called “Reading”, I figured I should bring back the Sunday reading feature that I had going earlier in the year.

• In honor of Independence Day, Roger McClellan republishes on Crossleft a poem by Shane Claiborne challenging the traditional interpretation of what it means to be an American –  and what it means to be proud to be an American.
• Over at Resident Theology, Brad East offers a critique of flags in churches (a topic I have touched on here), and proposes an innovative alternative to both total avoidance and patriotic pseudo-idolatry.
• Twitter user Stephen Prothero (@sprothero), a professor at Boston University, continues to offer his analyses of religion — “wiping out religious illiteracy 140 characters at a time”.
• I went to Borders and picked up a copy of Sojourners magazine (the July issue, not the August one). I read an interesting article by Brian McLaren about reclaiming ancient spiritual practices, and also a well-done critique of the death penalty written by a conservative author. Also, Resa Aslan approvingly analyzes the Obama administration’s departure from the “war on terror” rhetoric. (A quick, free registration is required to view the articles online.)

A few interesting articles from this week.

• In an old post (but new to me!) over at Inhabitatio Dei, Halden Doerge reprints the “Maasai Creed”, a cultural “update” of the Nicene Creed written by Catholic Missionaries to the Maasai tribe in Africa in the 1960s. “He was buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch him, and on the third day, he rose from that grave.”
• The Times Online reports that Israeli soldiers have finally admitted what everyone kinda knew already: they killed Palestinian civilians deliberately. Incidentally, intentionally killing civilians is a war crime.
• The Economist has a terrifying chart illustrating the data on just how much the US spends on its military. Hint: It’s way more than the next fourteen highest spenders — put together.
• Finally, Joe Carter has a post on the ten worst things in evangelicalism — from a Christian perspective. Among other issues, he points towards the overemphasis on tribulationism (as opposed to emphasis on, you know, the gospel); the whole “sinner’s prayer” idea; and the church growth movement. As someone who has attended solidly evangelical churches all my life, I find that his concerns resonate deeply with my own.

Stuff I’ve been reading this week. Enjoy.

• At Dinosaur Comics, T-Rex explains the subtleties of conceptual metaphor, including the lesser-known “Life is a discount store with sales that can occasionally be taken advantage of” analogy.
• In her best post yet from her new blog Trust in Turbulence, my old friend Samantha Nasser writes brilliantly on abolitionists. Hint: she’s not just talking about the anti-slavery movement.
• In an old post that I just recently stumbled upon, LarryE aptly, and provocatively, critiques the way American culture throws around the term “hero”, especially with regard to soldiers, criticizing the idea that someone can be a hero just for what their job is rather than for taking specifically heroic action. One especially insightful point: “In war, in combat, as long as the soldiers are there, there is an unavoidable trade-off: The more you wish for them to remain safe, the more you are wishing for them to kill others. That is what safety in combat means.“ [You can also read Samantha's comments on the essay.]
• Another old post I just found: At The Daily Mull, Ken Watts explains what Jesus actually meant with the whole “Give unto Caesar” thing. His analysis is brilliant; I’d seen a shorter version of it before, in Jesus for President. Incidentally, Watts is a post-Christian. (He also has an interesting series of posts comparing Watchmen to Christian fundamentalism, starting with this.)
• Over at Unorthodoxology, David Henson writes on the profound theological statements of children, specifically here on the question of evil and God’s love. In this brief post, he raises some interesting questions that merit much further discussion.
• Having only recently “come out” as a Christian pacifist, D. C. Cramer offers a well-written exploration of “pacifism and police” as part of his “Folly of the Cross” series.
• Kieth Brenton gives his reflections on war in a piece that is filled with sentences that could each qualify for Quote of the Year. “Sin is sufficient to lead to death. We do not need to help it along by having wars.”