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The Soul of the World, by Roger Scruton
Roger Scruton’s basic theme is this: “Science cannot tell who I am, let alone where, when, or how.” But I-you moral dialogue is not rooted in science.
Sheepdog or sheep?
Every war movie is in essence a pro-war movie, even when it tries to be against war.
Marked as human
On Ash Wednesday, as we remember our sins and ask to be forgiven, let's also remember what we love and ask to love it more.
Blogging Toward Wednesday: How I learned to love mercy
In my younger, decidedly anti-Christian days, I did not like the way Christians asked God for mercy. It reinforced my idea that “the Christian God” was cruel and punishing. After all, if God was a loving and compassionate God, one would not have to beg for mercy. And if God was cruel and punishing but at the same time righteous and just, then human beings were clearly bad and unworthy.
This whole system of thought—shameful people and cruel God—made me want to stay far, far away from Christianity and Christian churches.
That'll preach . . . someday
"Daddy, build something."
My son and I are sitting on the floor of his room in front of a tub of Legos. I played with most of these exact pieces when I was his age, and I've been excited and proud to see him so interested in them as well.
Sealed with a kiss
(RNS) When I was a young girl, my mother taught me to add “x” and “o” — a kiss and a hug — after my signature....
Yglesias on the would-be "mayor of America"
This is a really smart anlysis of how Jeb Bush is positioning himself in the buildup to the 2016 presidential election: he's...
Other people saying things
"If Ross's argument enjoys the virtue of sobriety, it is still injured by the vice of be...
Meeting God in Mark, by Rowan Williams
Why is it that the book of Mark, unlike the other Gospels, is so short and fast-paced and contains so little of the teachings of Jesus and so few miracle stories?...
N.C. Muslims 'genuinely fearful' after triple murder of students
c. 2015 Religion News Service...
Pope Francis wants ‘absolute transparency’ as he pushes Vatican reform
c. 2015 Religion News Service...
Episcopal Church examines policies on alcohol abuse after bishop’s DUI crash
Episcopal Church clergy and laypeople alike are rereading church policy on alcohol and the consecration of bishops after a fatal December crash in Baltimore in which a bishop drove while drunk....
Charles Hard Townes, pioneer in science-religion dialogue, dies at 99
Charles Hard Townes, a Nobel laureate who helped invent the laser and a pioneer in the dialogue on science and religion, died January 27 at age 99....
The shape of ashes
To say "earth to earth" is a good thing, we have to believe it's really going to happen.
Her hands
She was looking at her fingers.
I was zeroed in on my laptop with my own fingers flying over the keys typing an e-mail when I glanced over at my mom sitting next to me on the couch. Her hands. She stretched her fingers out turning them over and back again and again periodically wincing at both the pain and sight. She looked at me and said softly in Korean, “They look strange, don’t they?”
A fragmented Christendom civil religion
We lack the historical perspective in the present moment to realize how much impact has happened (we are like fish in water, yet we don’t know anything else so it all seems right). The truth is that Christianity, or better yet, a fragmented Christendom civil religion begins to grow around the beginning of slavery and begins to crumble right as the southern freedom movement (or civil rights movement) really gets going in the 50s.
The limited vision of I Am Michael
Last month, I spent some time at the Sundance Film Festival. In a recent post, I noted the difference between marketing films to Christians and the possibility of film as a transformative space in the life of a Christian. Instead of imagining Christians as a set audience whose worldview we don’t want to disturb, I wonder if we could use Christianity’s specific theological language to enliven our understanding of film. Could Christianity’s theological lens illuminate elements of film that other cultural perspectives miss?
Perhaps the best example of this possibility that I saw at Sundance came from watching the Justin Kelly film I am Michael.
Statue of controversial missionary Junipero Serra could get booted from U.S. Capitol
c. 2015 Religion News Service...