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Tom Morello's gratuitous response to Paul Ryan
Musician and activist Tom Morello has gotten a lot of pats on the back for his strongly worded rebuke of Congressman Paul Ryan in Rolling Stone last week. And sure, it's hard to resist a hook that juicy: Morello's best-known project, the leftist and often polemical Rage Against the Machine, is one of Ryan's favorite bands.
Can't Walmart just go away?
Do you remember what the world was like before Walmart? Can you imagine a world without the retailer (again)?
My wife and I seldom shop at the Walmart in our town. (Occasionally one of our grandchildren will put something from there on a gift wish list.) However, when we’re at our family’s lake cottage, we shop regularly at Walmart—it’s one of the only options in that area. Every time we walk into the place, one of us utters some misgivings about the experience.
Friday digest
New today from the Century: Sherlock's omniscient hero, Tom Morello's gratuitous op-ed, more.
The gospel in seven words
The Century asked 23 authors to boil Christian proclamation down to just a few words. What is the essence of the essence of Christianity?
Disputed sources underlie Rep. Akin’s rape remarks
“The question of rape always stirs the emotions whenever it is introduced into the abortion debate,” wrote Dr. Fred Mecklenburg in 1972....
On not being afraid
As I grow older, I'm increasingly scared of heights. But there I was with my four-year-old in front of a three-story water slide.
Sooner or later, you have to choose between the Bible and inerrancy
A discussion I’ve been part of on Facebook illustrates something that I have said before on numerous occasions: ultimately, for those approaching the Bible as a sacred text, one has to choose betwe...
Thursday digest
New today from the Century: David Heim on the "gospel in seven words" project, Lee Hull Moses on not being afraid, more.
Where the Conflict Really Lies, by Alvin Plantinga
Alvin Plantinga posits a profound conflict between naturalism and science. This extraordinary claim is deeply counterintuitive.
Old-fashioned nuns say the past is key to the future
c. 2012 Religion News Service KIRKWOOD, Mo....
The conversation Akin provoked
It's hard to imagine a more efficient way to rack up diverse denunciations than Rep. Todd Akin's approach in an interview on Sunday, when in one breath he both promoted a foul bit of junk science alleging that rape victims don't generally get pregnant (and thus don't need abortion services) and coined the term "legitimate rape." Pretty much everyone everywhere has condemned his comments, and rightly so.
A number of rape victims have written responses, including Shauna Prewitt, whose post at xoJane went viral and taught a lot of us something appalling that we didn't know.
Wednesday digest
New today from the Century: Brueggemann on Susan Jacoby, the conversation Akin provoked, more.
Life on the land
My favorite book of the summer is Turn Here Sweet Corn, a memoir by organic farmer Atina Diffley....
Never Say Die, by Susan Jacoby
Susan Jacoby is an important truth teller. Her book's core idea is that old age is real, inescapable and often dreadful—despite society's illusions.
It looks like a wedding: The new Episcopal same-sex rite
The new liturgy makes no claim that couples of the same sex can, in the ecclesiastical sense, marry. What it does say is more interesting.
Obama, Romney quizzed on religious perspectives
President Obama says it’s not his job to defend his Christian faith against doubters who suspect he’s Muslim....