anti-gay biblical interpretation is a choice, too

Good morning. Oh how nice it is to get a full night’s sleep. I feel so much better and even kind of looking forward to the day’s work — grading the first 23 or 24 of my students’ research papers.
But first my mind’s been spinning a bit about homosexuality and Christianity. My friend Chanel asked [...]

70% of African-Americans voted to “eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry” (Prop 8)

After the elation of Tuesday night, the depression of this statistic I read last night:
As reported by the LA Times, exit polls find that seventy percent of African-American voters in California voted to “eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry.”
A lot of Obama/Yes-on-8 voters? The Associated Press exit polls show that African Americans and [...]

passionately uninterested

So one of the last students I conferenced with today, Blake – as he was packing up to go, asked me what topics other students were doing (for their second paper, an argumentative research paper). When I mentioned that Ken is doing something on Islam, he said that he’d like to have researched something on [...]

Happy Birthday, Rich Mullins (1955-1997)

Happy Birthday, Rich Mullins (1955-1997)! He would’ve been 53 today.  It seems facile to say he was/is “my favorite Christian musician,” but that’s what he was/is, by far. I thank him for many years of helping me focus on what’s important, leave the rest to drop off, and for inspiring me toward that work.
I’d have [...]

good news for Prossy Kakooza

Yay! Just got news that Prossy Kakooza has been granted asylum in the UK (see my previous post about her here). Here’s the message from the pastor of MCC Manchester:
Dear Friend,
You signed an online petition asking the UK Government to grant asylum to Ms Prossy Kakooza, a Ugandan Lesbian who had fled to the UK [...]

The Green Bible

I discovered this at Borders tonight — The Green Bible. And it’s a “green-letter” edition, aimed at marking not the words of Jesus in red, but all references to nature, to the earth, to the environment in green.  What a great idea.

At first, I thought, Oh, it’s sad that we even [...]

“Thy will be done in art, as it is in heaven”: Cather on religion and art

I’m a little depressed, worrying about my dad’s health and not feeling that great myself since last night. But I did read most of Willa Cather’s The Professor’s House today and figured quoting a rich passage is almost as good as a chunk of dark chocolate at a time like this, right? :)
Professor Godfrey St. Peter [...]

working toward the “new earth”

As I was writing my previous post, I went looking for something I could link to to illustrate NT Wright’s emphasis on the need (for Christians) to struggle with scripture. Didn’t find anything. I think I read it in one of his books. Anyway, I did find this video on “Nightline: Bishop Tom Wright (Life [...]

“True Religion vs. Religious Hegemony”

Found this just now when I tried out a google search for “religious hegemony.” Yes, yes. I agree completely, Mac.
“True Religion vs. Religious Hegemony via haircuts” (April 29, 2007) from “mac’s daily miscellany.”
[...]
Far too often, religious people seek to impose their beliefs on the populace at large. If that’s what society wants, so be it. [...]

some rambling on civil discourse, church and state, religious hegemony, and warped apocalyptism

Here’s a brief article from Arizona State University news on Sharon Crowley and her book Toward a Civil Discourse: Rhetoric and Fundamentalism, called Rhetoric book looks at ’second coming’ (from August 28, 2008).
I’ve definitely got to read this book.
Crowley’s goal is to help find a civil discourse in which we can all listen (and talk) [...]