Some of the Republican candidates say why they think openly gay and lesbian people shouldn’t serve in the military.
Posted in Videos | 17 Comments »I’m reposting part of a comment by Steve S responding to me saying I read the Bible the same way I read Jane Eyre.
Do you read all books like you read Jane Eyre?
The New York Times?
A New Kind of Christian?
The Audacity of Hope?
Gallic Wars?
The Gospel of Judas?
Because I would have a completely different approach to Jane Eyre than I would to a newspaper article or a history textbook, or even a cookbook. Don’t the genres and the authorship play any role in your approach to a piece of writing?
I guess I don’t understand what you are saying…
Could you clarify how the approach is the same?
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Glenn Hager tagged me to comment on “How would you define simple faith?”
Glenn writes
What is simple faith? Believing God (and living like it) when darn near everything in you and around says that you should deny him.
That definition seems fine to me, but it’s the last thing I would want to have, since I don’t have a belief in God.
I’m used to the concept of ‘faith in God’ separating me from Christians since they think it’s good and I absolutely don’t want to have any. I was pleasantly surprised to find a definition of faith that worked for me in Brian McLaren’s latest book Everything Must Change. (Brian didn’t say this faith replaces all other forms of faith it’s appropriate for Christians to have – he simply suggested this is a meaningful definition in the context of his topic) In the book Brian defined faith as ‘faith that I really can make the world a better place, so it’s worth trying‘.
That’s a kind of simple faith that has meaning and value to me.
I’m supposed to tag 5 people…ok, Benjamin (if you want to post about this – I had mixed feelings so I understand if you don’t), Rachel, Lainie, Bill and ‘anyone else who wants to be tagged by me’.
Posted in General Conversation | 10 Comments »In recent weeks my children started having to observe a ‘moment of silent reflection’ at school each day because of this recently passed Illinois legislation:
In each public school classroom the teacher in charge shall observe a brief period of silence with the participation of all the pupils therein assembled at the opening of every school day. This period shall not be conducted as a religious exercise but shall be an opportunity for silent prayer or for silent reflection on the anticipated activities of the day.
Thanks to Hemant’s blog, Friendly Atheist, I knew about the legislation as soon as it was passed. I wasn’t surprised when the schools my children attend started observing it.
A local atheist has already sued his school district over this . Happily a federal judge took his side and said the state can’t force schools to comply. I hope this strange legislation will soon be overturned.
Posted in General Conversation | 49 Comments »
According to a recent news article
Posted in General Conversation | 8 Comments »Scientists have found the fossilised claw of a 2.5-metre (8-foot) sea scorpion, a nightmarish creature living before the age of dinosaurs.
The discovery of the 390-million-year-old specimen in a German quarry suggests prehistoric spiders, insects and crabs were much larger than previously thought, researchers at Bristol University said on Wednesday.
“This is an amazing discovery,” said university researcher Simon Braddy.
“We have known for some time that the fossil record yields monster millipedes, super-sized scorpions, colossal cockroaches, and jumbo dragonflies but we never realised, until now, just how big some of these ancient creepy-crawlies were.”
I posted some of these a while ago. If you haven’t watched any before, here’s part 1, for context.
Posted in Videos | 3 Comments »My Dad is with us this week – he flew over from England to be with us for Thanksgiving. I’m thankful he can travel like that so he can be with us for the holiday.
Extended family on my mother’s side who live locally invited us to have dinner with them tomorrow. I’m thankful that get together is possible. A similar group of us spent Thanksgiving together ten years ago. It hasn’t worked out for us to do it again until this year.
Those of you who live where the 4th Thursday in November is Thanksgiving: have a wonderful day tomorrow!
(I hope the rest of you have a wonderful day too, whatever you’re doing!)
Edited to add: I enjoyed reading Ken Trainor’s Thanksgiving editorial this morning: Giving thanks for the extraordinary and the ordinary.
Posted in General Conversation | 4 Comments »Up/rooted recently started a city of Chicago group. Their second meeting was last night. I went and invited my Dad along (who is over from England, visiting us for Thanksgiving).
I expect I will only be an occasional attender, since it’s hard for me to go places in the evening. I did want to go last night and so I did whatever I needed to make that possible. I assumed interesting people would be there who I’d enjoy meeting. I also wanted to be supportive of the facilitator Rebecca, by showing up. Also I knew Lainie, who I had lunch with last week, was planning to come and bring her friend Shawna. I wanted to see Lainie again and meet Shawna.
The meeting had started when we got there. Everyone was seated around a big square table and they moved along to make room for us. There were about twelve people there. Apart from Lainie and Rebecca, there were two other people I had met before at up/rooted meetings (or Emergent-publicized events): Nanette, pastor of Wicker Park Grace where we were meeting, and Rachel.
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Last week I heard Ken Trainor give this talk. I’m posting it here with his permission.
The talk is about Ken and his book We Dare To Say: An Adventure in Journalling.
What I like best is: Ken creates a safe place for people to be spiritual.
(Ken is the Wednesday Journal editor who’s been publishing my dialog with Rev. Dean Lueking).
Since the topic tonight is spirituality, I’ll start with a confession:
Writing this book [We Dare To Say: An Adventure in Spiritual Journalling] forced me out of the closet. It has forced me to admit publicly that I am a spiritual person. I suppose I always have been, but I kept it hidden for years.
Spirituality, after all, has been hijacked by hucksters selling salvation and wild-eyed zealots dripping with sanctimony. Who wanted to be included in that company?
It all started 12 years ago. I was terribly unhappy and a friend suggested I go for a retreat to New Melleray Abbey in Iowa. If you want to raise some eyebrows, try explaining to people that you’re spending your vacation at a Trappist monastery. These days people regard it as an endearing eccentricity, but then …
Well, of course, when I got there, one thing led to another, and pretty soon my thoughts were turning to God.
Here I was, a reasonably sophisticated, properly skeptical, modern intellectual, and I was having these IMPULSES I couldn’t control.
It was like Spock in the old Star Trek series discovering he has a sex drive – very humiliating.
So I stand before you tonight, shaken and repentant. Some of you came out tonight innocently, expecting to enjoy some braised duck, or whatever it is Laura has on the menu, completely unaware that you’re about to be afflicted by a discussion on spirituality.
I throw myself upon your mercy and beg your understanding and forgiveness.
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Jim turns 60 today. Jim I hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Posted in General Conversation | 8 Comments »