Some more interesting stuff for your week...
1. This Denver Post editorial clarifies why private businesses can't be allowed the right to turn away customers solely on the basis of personal prejudice. It also points out the distinction between that and freedom of speech exceptions, which answers my own concerns about cases like this.
2. Although I was never homeschooled myself, I knew a fair amount about the homeschool movement back in the 90s when evangelical groups were pushing hard for it. Thus, it's very interesting to get this update on the results of that grand experiment. Granted, there are many homeschooled children whose experiences are far more positive than these, and there are cases in which home schooling genuinely is the best option for a kid, but we now have a generation of young adults that can attest that separatism and indoctrination are never good reasons...
3. ThinkProgress points out five ways in which the world is becoming a better place. In the midst of all the reasons we have to worry for the future (destruction of the environment, terrorism, the decline of the American middle class, etc.), it's helpful to be reminded that all is not bleak.
4. From the "this is cool" department, a collection of maps that will help to clarify the way you see the world.
5. Finally, a plug for an upcoming project that I'm personally excited about: a live-action version of the long-running comic Knights of the Dinner Table...
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Friday, December 06, 2013
Links
A few interesting articles to round out your week with:
1. First, this article on a side of C.S. Lewis that most people have never been aware of. Some people want to keep their spiritual heroes on pedestals; personally, I like him more now that I know a little more about his human side.
2. Rob Bell on how to read the Bible. It comes to life in a myriad of ways as soon as we stop trying to read it like an instruction manual.
3. Building on this piece from John Shore, perhaps the billboard Times Square really needs this Christmas is one that says Don't Feed the Fundies (of any stripe).
1. First, this article on a side of C.S. Lewis that most people have never been aware of. Some people want to keep their spiritual heroes on pedestals; personally, I like him more now that I know a little more about his human side.
2. Rob Bell on how to read the Bible. It comes to life in a myriad of ways as soon as we stop trying to read it like an instruction manual.
3. Building on this piece from John Shore, perhaps the billboard Times Square really needs this Christmas is one that says Don't Feed the Fundies (of any stripe).
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Introversion
I've blogged before on the challenges of being an introvert, which even today often comes with a stigma (good luck with job interviews when you're hopelessly terrible at making good first impressions). I was inspired to bring up the topic again by Glennon from Momastery's recent post on the subject. I can relate to a lot of what she says (I'm not a big fan of telephone calls either).
Fortunately people (at least in the Western world) are generally more accepting these days of introverts (and geeks, and gay folk, and people of mixed race, to name the other major ways in which I fail to conform to the majority). At my current age I can embrace being different, but it wasn't until I hit my 30s that I really began to feel comfortable in my own skin. And even now sometimes it can be a struggle.
So, for those extroverts who have never quite known what to make of me (and other introverts), here's a helpful primer that's been making its way around the internet. (It should be possible to enlarge the picture to readable size in your browser.)
(Source: http://romanjones.deviantart.com/art/How-to-Live-with-Introverts-Guide-Printable-320818879)
Fortunately people (at least in the Western world) are generally more accepting these days of introverts (and geeks, and gay folk, and people of mixed race, to name the other major ways in which I fail to conform to the majority). At my current age I can embrace being different, but it wasn't until I hit my 30s that I really began to feel comfortable in my own skin. And even now sometimes it can be a struggle.
So, for those extroverts who have never quite known what to make of me (and other introverts), here's a helpful primer that's been making its way around the internet. (It should be possible to enlarge the picture to readable size in your browser.)
(Source: http://romanjones.deviantart.com/art/How-to-Live-with-Introverts-Guide-Printable-320818879)
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Quote of the Week
"I'm still struggling to break free of the notion that faith is an argument to be won. Lord have mercy."
-Rachel Held Evans
God knows it's a tough habit to break...
-Rachel Held Evans
God knows it's a tough habit to break...
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Inerrantists vs. Inerrantists
Boy, get a little busy and suddenly that post I've left sitting unfinished is several weeks old. Anyway, I thought this essay was worth pointing out:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2013/10/22/strange-fire-fight-exposes-charade-of-biblical-inerrancy/
It highlights a very problematic point for biblical inerrantists: if the Bible is indeed free of error and intended by God to be usable as a clearly stated instruction manual for all people in all places and times, why is there such vast and irreconcilable disagreement between different groups of believers who consider themselves inerrantists?
The short answer, of course, is "Satan," by which the speaker always means that everyone but the speaker's group has been led astray by the enemy. Being an inerrantist also means never admitting to the possibility that one's own interpretation of the Bible might be in error (at least not in any significant way), since ultimately there is no clear dividing line between biblical inerrancy and personal inerrancy.
Note that this applies primarily to fundamentalists like McArthur and not to all inerrantists equally, since more moderate evangelicals have a far more nuanced take on biblical inerrancy, but the problem never completely goes away. At least, not until we stop treating the Bible like a divinely perfect rulebook and allow it to speak to us on its own terms.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2013/10/22/strange-fire-fight-exposes-charade-of-biblical-inerrancy/
It highlights a very problematic point for biblical inerrantists: if the Bible is indeed free of error and intended by God to be usable as a clearly stated instruction manual for all people in all places and times, why is there such vast and irreconcilable disagreement between different groups of believers who consider themselves inerrantists?
The short answer, of course, is "Satan," by which the speaker always means that everyone but the speaker's group has been led astray by the enemy. Being an inerrantist also means never admitting to the possibility that one's own interpretation of the Bible might be in error (at least not in any significant way), since ultimately there is no clear dividing line between biblical inerrancy and personal inerrancy.
Note that this applies primarily to fundamentalists like McArthur and not to all inerrantists equally, since more moderate evangelicals have a far more nuanced take on biblical inerrancy, but the problem never completely goes away. At least, not until we stop treating the Bible like a divinely perfect rulebook and allow it to speak to us on its own terms.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Life Soundtrack 36
4:12, by Switchfoot
One of my favorite Switchfoot songs, and an oft-needed wake-up call for all those times I get caught up in the busyness of life.
Also, for the record, the original track runs exactly four minutes and twelve seconds.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
A Few Good Links
A few recent items from my reading (and viewing) list that were worth sharing:
-Justin Snow's Decline and Fall of the Ex-Gay Movement provides an accurate and fairly comprehensive history of the movement. While it still feels premature to announce its fall, I certainly pray that its decline is terminal as people continue to wake up to the fact that gay people are no more broken and no less valuable than everyone else.
-Nakedpastor's version of the blind men and the elephant nicely sums up how foolish we make ourselves look when we claim to have God all figured out.
-Momastery's Glennon responds to her critics, some of whom sound a lot like those blind men arguing over the nature of their elephant.
-Finally, on a lighter note, here at last is a horror movie that doesn't insult my intelligence.
-Justin Snow's Decline and Fall of the Ex-Gay Movement provides an accurate and fairly comprehensive history of the movement. While it still feels premature to announce its fall, I certainly pray that its decline is terminal as people continue to wake up to the fact that gay people are no more broken and no less valuable than everyone else.
-Nakedpastor's version of the blind men and the elephant nicely sums up how foolish we make ourselves look when we claim to have God all figured out.
-Momastery's Glennon responds to her critics, some of whom sound a lot like those blind men arguing over the nature of their elephant.
-Finally, on a lighter note, here at last is a horror movie that doesn't insult my intelligence.
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
Random Links
Well, not so much random as diverse. Just a few interesting things I've come across recently.
1. If it happened there - how the media might report the US government shutdown if it were happening in another country. We Americans could only benefit from occasionally engaging in the academic exercise of judging ourselves by the same standards that we judge other countries.
2. 19 everyday situations that are impossibly difficult for the socially awkward. I can identify with almost all of these, and think Chandler Bing's quote at the end sums it up perfectly.
3. Every LGBT person could use a brother like this.
4. Another case to be made that Romans 1:26-27 works best as a clobber passage when its context is ignored.
5. Finally, a bit of geekery: size comparisons for a whole slew of ships from various science fiction properties.
1. If it happened there - how the media might report the US government shutdown if it were happening in another country. We Americans could only benefit from occasionally engaging in the academic exercise of judging ourselves by the same standards that we judge other countries.
2. 19 everyday situations that are impossibly difficult for the socially awkward. I can identify with almost all of these, and think Chandler Bing's quote at the end sums it up perfectly.
3. Every LGBT person could use a brother like this.
4. Another case to be made that Romans 1:26-27 works best as a clobber passage when its context is ignored.
5. Finally, a bit of geekery: size comparisons for a whole slew of ships from various science fiction properties.
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