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Other people saying things
"Dolphin Michael, 61, who retired from the Detroit fire department after 38 years, said he saw it coming...
My life with ALS: Depending on the care of others
At 52 I was lead pastor of a large, vibrant church. Then I was diagnosed with ALS, and I began to call on my faith community in a new way.
Law v. justice
The verdict in the Trayvon Martin case shows that a trial can be fair as far as the law goes, while the nation falls far short of offering justice to all.
Survey finds strength in religious left
A divide is developing in America about what it means to be a religious person, with a majority believing that it’s about acting morally but a strong min...
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: The editors on the Trayvon Martin case, Julie Ruth Harley on living with ALS, more.
When simpler isn't better
In theory, splitting up the farm bill to deal separately with farm policy and nutrition assistance makes a lot of sense.
Farm subsidies used to go mostly to actual farmers who could use the help. So while the pairing of farm aid and food aid was always politically motivated, it also made some sense: the farm bill was safety-net legislation, and food stamps fit right into that. As agriculture has changed, agricultural policy has become more and more of a mess of corporate welfare that's against the public interest. And one big thing protecting this status quo has been the fact that liberals can't vote against a business-as-usual farm bill, because it's also how hungry people get fed.
Welcoming Disciples
On Tuesday, the general assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) approved a resolution calling on the church in all its expressions to affirm the faith, baptism, and spiritual gifts of everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. This was timely, given the Defense of Marriage Act decision, though the resolution doesn’t specifically mention same-sex marriage. Nor does it mention ordination—the other hot-button issue around sexuality in the church—though it does affirm that neither sexual orientation nor gender identity is “grounds for exclusion from fellowship or service within the church.”
The Nature of Healing, by Eric J. Cassell
Eric Cassell reminds us that people experience sickness in profoundly individual ways. Physicians should learn to heal patients even when they cannot cure their diseases.
Rough treatment
Barton Swaim, reviewing Elesha J. Coffman’s The Christian Century and the Rise of the Protestant Mainline for the Wall Street Journal (subscription required), wrote this:
Nor were the editors [of the Christian Century] above dirty tricks, at one point even hiring an investigative reporter to find some impropriety in [the Billy Graham] organization’s finances. None came to light, but in something of a scoop, Ms. Coffman has discovered documents linking the revered historian Martin Marty to the rough anti-Graham campaign.
As far as Coffman’s book goes, I have only the usual quibbles that a historian voices when reviewing the work of another historian. It is Swaim who is unfair to the magazine.
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: Richard Lischer reviews John Sexton, Kelly Baker on the secular apocalypse, more.
Can Brad Pitt save us from the (secular) apocalypse?
In the opening scenes of World War Z, a news montage assaults the viewer. Clips document epidemics, wolves, global warming, reality television, pundits and others forms of dangerous nature. They evoke a world in seeming decline, in which one pivotal moment could lead to the global disaster from which we might not recover. Chaos and inevitable decline set the tone for the film.
But what ends us in World War Z are zombies.
Legends of the game
Baseball continues to receive elegiac tributes. John Sexton's latest joins company with the works of some impressive lovers of the game.
Christians in Sudan face increased hostility
Despite a promise by the Sudanese government to grant its minority Christian population religious freedom, church leaders there said they are beset by in...
Sunday, July 28, 2013: Luke 11:1-13
I was walking home when Vicki ran up to me. Vicki and I had become acquainted over the last few months because I regularly walked past her hangout in Old Louisville....
Other people saying things, Zimmerman verdict edition
I don't have any brilliant insights on the George Zimmerman verdict. Some say the story's about racism; others say it's about guns; others say it's about Florida's horrible self-defense laws....
The demon of history vs. the arc of justice
There is a long history in Florida, in the South, in the United States....
Doing the math on churches and food stamps
The median church size in the U.S. is 75 members: there are lots of little congregations, and a few very large ones. That in turn leads to this fun figure: asking a 75-member church to absorb $50,000 in increased ministry costs works out to about $666 per person each year, a 44 percent surcharge on the average worshiper's contribution.