Latest Articles
Once Upon a Time; Mirror, Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman
Several current tales of Snow White nod at feminist critique—while leaving the old paradigms for female power and beauty intact.
A Door in the Ocean, by David McGlynn
In his sparkling new collection of essays, David McGlynn wrestles with some of the same fierce angels that haunt his short stories.
The ministry of the risen Lord
The one who puts all things under his feet is doing something in the world.
Sunday, September 23, 2012: Proverbs 31:10-31
Enough water has passed under the bridge to allow us to take a second look at the virtuous woman of Proverbs 31.
Children in worship
In the first issue of PLGRM, Rev. LeAnn Watkins, rector at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in St....
Tuesday digest
New today from the Century: What Jesus is doing, children in worship, more.
No, voting isn't like being part of a firing squad
Another election year, another crop of posts about why people shouldn't vote....
Unnecessary roughness: The moral hazards of football
A sociologist might see in football a society's need to control and ritualize violence. The church fathers, however, weren't much for sociologists.
Evangelicals seek a future for thousands of frozen embryos
c. 2012 Religion News Service (RNS) The embryo was frozen in liquid nitrogen when Gabriel and Callie Fluhrer found it....
Released: Pastor in Iran, teen in Pakistan
Religious rights activists are hailing the release of an Iranian pastor accused of apostasy and a Pakistani girl who was charged with blasphemy....
Monday digest
New today from the Century: The moral hazards of football, social media and social change, more.
Social media and social change
Social media can reduce activism to a fad—something that we take part in because a particular Twitter hashtag is trending, a video has become viral or a Facebook cause has become popular. It can ignore the hard work that has been taking place over decades and discount a long-term strategy that a community might have.
Saying and doing
Recently, a friend and I were talking about how disturbed and saddened we’ve been by the hateful and decidedly unchristian words spoken by self-proclaimed Christian leaders in recent years. The examples are too numerous to cite, and each has its own agenda of hatred and division. I complained that it was so deeply unfair that such intolerant and offensive perspectives were being allowed to speak for me and all other Christians.
My friend offered a profound and simple response: “Chris, they only speak for you if you don’t speak for yourself.”
Playing the mom card
I always feel like using the mom card highlights some sort of gender defect. My husband was a work-at-home dad for three years, and he has been just as involved in the diaper changing, sick days and parent/teacher meetings as I have. But I always have a feeling that when a guy uses the parent card, people think, What a great dad. But when women use it, people think, What an inept worker.
Lament for small places
If agriculture survives at all on the Great Plains, it will be very limited. What will take its place? Not many people, that's for sure.
Pakistani girl accused of blasphemy is granted bail
September 7 (ENInews)--A Christian girl in Pakistan who has been in custody for two weeks on charges of defaming Islam was granted bail on 7 September by...
Time and space in Mark
Mark has been a constant puzzle to me. I didn’t much care for it for a long time. His sense of urgency and spareness of narrative left me feeling I was reading the Cliff Notes of scripture....
Friday digest
New today from the Century: Lament for the plains, Stephen Hawking biography, more.