The uproar (among a vocal few) about President-elect Obama asking Pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration has been illuminating. On the one hand conservatives who complain that Warren is somehow “endorsing” what they view as Obama’s more repugnant policies need to chill. (Although note Cal Thomas’ warning that Warren might do [...]
Posts from ‘December, 2008’
Yes Virginia – there is a black hole at the center of our galaxy
Not everyone knows that for most of my life I have been an astronomy buff. Was given my first telescope around age 8(?). Built a telescope (six inch Newtonian) in eighth grade. Took daily observations primarily of the sun and planets. And if I had several thousand dollars to spare on whatever a good eight [...]
Dog bites human, sun rises in east – and Presiding Bishop lies
Oh where to start?
There is plenty with which to find fault in what Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts-Schori had to say to the National Press Club on December 16. Baby Blue characterizes it as:
… an amazingly sophomoric speech (which she lectures the press to be nicer and stop writing about schism and sex).
But what deserves particular [...]
Sandlin and his tiger – giving Louisiana a bad name
I am not sure I believe in animal “rights”. But I do believe human beings have a divinely given responsibility to care for animals. This is a theological conviction rooted in exegesis of Genesis 1-2. God created human beings to represent God within creation and to “manage” (my loose translation of yirduu < Hebrew rada[h] [...]
Jim Engster and Peter De Lorenzo on NPR dodge the U-word
This week was listening again (why oh why) to the Jim “the Soporific One” Engster Show on local public radio station WRKF Baton Rouge. His guest was Peter DeLorenzo of Autoextremist.com and The United State of Toyota: How Detroit Squandered its Legacy fame. Discussing the proposed government bailout of the “Big Three” automobile manufacturers based [...]
Newsweek declares its opposition to fair, honest, balanced reporting
The blogosphere is abuzz with the recent controversy surrounding not just a front page article in Newsweek magazine but also how the editor responded.
This week Newsweek featured an article by Lisa Miller entitled “Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy“.
Well darn – the title alone tells you what is coming right?
It is bad. Really bad. Even if [...]
Is grace-ful parenting even possible?
Partly because pastors need to eat as well as feed and partly because I was sick of listening to the Jim Engster Show (which often is on NPR when I drive) I made an effort to find and download sermons which I would listen to in my car.
I chose Paul Zahl now rector or All [...]
As Chasidism so Christian witness
The terrorist targeting of the sole Jewish center in Mumbai India has been particularly rattling. This is what human beings driven by religious fanaticism are capable of.
Enough of that. Two of the five (six?) Jewish people murdered at Chabad House Mumbai were the rabbi and his wife. (I recall when a Chabad House was started [...]
Alas – again with the inerrancy thing
I occupy an awkward middle ground between “conservative evangelical” and “flaming liberal”. On the one hand I no longer have a place in Southern Baptist life (although I serve a congregation that contributes to the Southern Baptist Convention and frankly that does not overly bother me – there is still much that is good and [...]
Dennis Prager – By their hatred of (the) Jewish people shall ye know them
I have a soft spot for the Jewish people. (Not necessarily mean the modern state of Israel.) Many of my teachers as an undergraduate and graduate student were Jewish. One of my best friends at Cornell was Orthodox and lived at a Jewish coop house.
For years I have believed that the instant someone on the [...]
