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Presidential fixation
The primary problem with American political culture is that almost all of our scrutiny goes to the human beings running for president.
Sunday, September 30, 2012: Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Mark 9:38-50
If Moses is any example, the pastor’s yoke was never light. He wasn’t very far into his 40-year pastorate when he learned that his flock did not feel called to provide him with constant affirmation.
South African church leaders plead for mining dispute resolution
Cape Town, South Africa, 17 September (ENInews)--Two church clerics in South Africa have pleaded for a peaceful end to the mine workers unrest following ...
Did Jesus have a wife? New historical discovery raises old question
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Dan Brown, your phone is ringing. ...
Female "submission" in the global economy
The disappearance of well-paying manufacturing jobs in the U.S. has decimated the middle class. It has also put stress on gender roles—especially in the South, where there’s a strong presumption, backed by evangelical Christian teaching, that being a man means providing financially for your family.
Tuesday digest
New today (and yesterday) from the Century: Presidential fixation, church and state and punk, more.
Who. Are. The 47 percent?
So you've probably already heard that Mother Jones has video of Governor Romney saying, among other things, this:
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. . . . These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. . . . My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
As is often the case, Wonkblog has heaps of great commentary.
Church, state and punk: The Pussy Riot protest
Pussy Riot became a cause célèbre for the Russian opposition and its Western supporters. Many Russian Orthodox believers saw things differently.
Reconsidering Proverbs 31
Proverbs 31 used to be a standard at funerals. That was before we realized that womanly virtue meant more than giving a husband bragging rites in the city gates. I use to think it my pastoral duty to root out both masculine and feminine stereotypes in liturgy, hymnody and scripture. Now I’m not so sure.
Turn Here Sweet Corn, by Atina Diffley
Atina Diffley and her husband are organic farmers in Minnesota. Her book contains three stories in one.
Elephant King, by Trace Bundy
Named “Most Promising New Talent” of 2008 by Acoustic Guitar magazine, Trace Bundy has been impressing audiences with his playing, which will please fans of Phil Keaggy, Michael Hedges and Laurence Juber.
Dangerous vows
The newlyweds stood in worship surrounded by examples of the options for how their marriage will end. And 100 percent of marriages do end.
The 'maverick' Egyptian-American Copt behind the anti-Muslim film
c. 2012 Religion News Service
(RNS) When inflamed mobs stormed the U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt on Tuesday (Sept. 11), the media quickly looked to a likely spark.
...
Professor Jacques Berlinerblau tells atheists: Stop whining!
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) Jacques Berlinerblau wastes no ink in his new book trying to flatter his fellow nonbelievers. ...
Freedom of speech means freedom to insult, to criticize and to apologize
Many of the recent discussions about “free speech” in connection with the internet video about Islam called “Innocense of Muslims,” the violent reactions to it, and the apologies for it, seem to me...
Friday digest
New today from the Century: Dangerous wedding vows, the freedom of apology, more.
Links? Links.
Here are some things I read recently but didn't get around to blogging about.
‘God talk’ and the Democrats
God was out and now God is in. And Jerusalem wasn’t the capital of Israel and now it is....