Social Observations
A New Language
Do you know anyone who is a racist? Or, better yet, do you know anyone who would claim to be a racist? Do you know anyone who would not object heartily if he were called a racist and refuse to accept that he was such? A word devoid of meaning It seems to me that…
Read MoreThem
There is no shortage of rhetoric regarding the division of people. From racial divisions to cultural divisions; from socioeconomic divisions to religious divisions. It seems that humanity has some ingrained nature to construct barriers to determine who is or is not a part of my group. By what they are not. Group identity is a…
Read MoreThe Bible: Literal? Inerrant? Infallible? Authoritative? True?
There are just so many semantic and linguistic nuances flitting about regarding the bible that a person hardly knows what to make of it. For many of us, the designations “inerrant” and “infallible” are academically split hairs that have become the weapons of war for those who find in them ultimate meaning. But we find…
Read MoreTone
Have you ever noticed that you can tell which side of an argument a person favors just from the tone of their voice? They don’t even have to take a side for you to know where they stand. You can just tell. Tone is also indicative of religious or philosophical leanings. I can peg a…
Read MoreThe Genie is Not Free; He’s Dead.
Robin Williams died yesterday of an apparent suicide. By now I’m sure this is not news, and in fact most of you will be tired of reading about it; but please, don’t stop reading this now because I have jumped on the bandwagon. I actually have something I wish to say. The Academy tweeted this after…
Read MoreWhite Privaledge (Privilege)
I think I was in my mid twenty’s when I first understood the privilege and standing my gender and skin color afforded me. It was for many reasons that I was unaware of these privileges, primarily that I grew up in a largely homogenous town where being those things didn’t really get you anything someone…
Read More“God Knows My Heart” and other things we need to stop saying…
Have you ever heard someone say something to the effect of “God knows my heart” when an interaction has gone sour? Have you perhaps ever said that? I have, on both counts. But it’s also a saying that has never really sat well with me-even when I’ve said it! Here’s why.When we say something like…
Read MoreLoving Driscoll, Coulter, Jakes and Osteen.
There are so many people who claim to speak for “Christianity” that I wish to have nothing to do with. I wish they would go away or that someone with authority would tell them that they are not Christians and that they do not speak for Jesus. But that’s not going to happen. And so…
Read MoreOn the Wrong Side of History
Have you ever wondered what history will make of the things you are concerned with? This is of course, not to trivialize the things that are real issues (such as earning enough money to buy food, getting enough sleep, etc) that no one in history will ever know about. What I mean are the large…
Read MoreBeing for Others
If I can be so incredibly arrogant as to assess the enduring legacy of conservative evangelicalism as a culture, it would be a culture of fear. Fear of the “world” (try figuring out exactly what the “world” is in the bible. I guarantee it will scare the bejesus out of you); fear of knowledge; fear…
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