Non Agnostic

bishop attacked in Turkey

2010-06-03T07:17:00.001-07:00

Roman Catholic Bishop Luigi Padovese killed in Turkey -- stabbed.

AP has "...the pope's apostolic vicar in Anatolia, was attacked in his home in the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun" and his driver is a suspect. When a bishop is murdered, well... that's a straight up assassination isn't it?

Possible connection to Muhammed cartoons.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37487272/

And commented on variously at

http://turkeynewz.blogspot.com/2010/06/catholic-bishop-in-turkey-murdered-by.html

http://www.nationalturk.com/en/catholic-bishop-in-anatolian-turkey-killed-after-stabbing-34636691

http://getsomenews.com/2010/06/catholic-bishop-reportedly-stabbed-to-death-in-southern-turkey-46437

http://sbynews.blogspot.com/2010/06/bishop-stabbed-to-death-in-turkey.html

http://faithofthefathersbenedictxvi.blogspot.com/2010/05/news-vatican-information-service.html

http://www.hristiyanblog.com/luigi-padovese-olduruldu/

[img: wikimedia commons; Raimond Spekking]

david gibson on ted haggard

2010-06-03T06:13:00.001-07:00

"Christianity is all about second acts, and disgraced evangelical leader Ted Haggard is the latest conservative Christian to exploit that role to the hilt.

Haggard announced Wednesday that he is starting a new church in the same town -- Colorado Springs -- that he left in humiliation in 2006 following a gay sex and drugs scandal. And he says this church will be for people like himself, "a church for sinners -- for people who have hit rock bottom and people who want to help people who have hit rock bottom. ... It is not a gathering for the righteous, except those who are righteous by faith.""

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/02/ted-haggard-is-back-gay-sex-and-drug-scandal-cant-keep-evangel/

Well, maybe Haggard's fall knocked a touch of sense into his noggin?

[img: http://www.mikhaela.net/weblog/uploaded_images/bp070215_haggard-704649.gif]

the debate nobody has with hitchens

2010-06-02T18:46:00.001-07:00

Hitchens is fun to watch. Good debater.

I'm a bit tired of seeing the same debate again and again, though. It's essentially a metaphysical debate about the existence of a very poorly defined and sloppily posited 'ultimate person'. Does that person exist or not? is the usual question being debated.

I want to see a debate about the pros and cons of living one's life liturgically, keeping mythological patterns and rhythms conscientiously, and about the use and/or value of choosing to live one's life framed by Story.

I don't think Hitchens would be very interested in that debate... but why aren't more Christians?

Pentacostal drum 'n bass: disinfo

2010-06-02T11:44:00.001-07:00

Via Disinformation.com:

http://www.disinfo.com/2010/05/pentacostal-drum-n-bass/

"Join fundamentalist fervor with a high-tech acoustic savagery, and you are prepared for the cleansing fury ofBaptazia. Be sure to turn up the bass."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmhZVjaqQo&feature=player_embedded

wahabi

2010-05-31T21:22:00.001-07:00

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/gulf/wahhabi.htm

'This branch of Islam is often referred to as "Wahhabi," a term that many adherents to this tradition do not use. Members of this form of Islam call themselves Muwahhidun ("Unitarians", or "unifiers of Islamic practice"). They use the Salafi Da'wa or Ahlul Sunna wal Jama'a. The teachings of the reformer Abd Al-Wahhab are more often referred to by adherents as Salafi, that is, "following the forefathers of Islam."'

&^*!ing Unitarians...

mars hill theology

2010-05-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

http://marshill.org/believe/

---

Narrative Theology

We believe God inspired the authors of Scripture by his Spirit to speak to all generations of believers, including us today. God calls us to immerse ourselves in this authoritative narrative communally and individually to faithfully interpret and live out that story today as we are led by the Spirit of God.

In the beginning God created all things good. He was and always will be in a communal relationship with himself-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God created us to be relational as well and marked us with an identity as his image bearers and a missional calling to serve, care for, and cultivate the earth. God created humans in his image to live in fellowship with him, one another, our inner self, and creation. The enemy tempted the first humans, and darkness and evil entered the story through human sin and are now a part of the world. This devastating event resulted in our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation being fractured and in desperate need of redeeming.

We believe God did not abandon his creation to destruction and decay; rather he promised to restore this broken world. As part of this purpose, God chose a people, Abraham and his descendants, to represent him in the world. God promised to bless them as a nation so that through them all nations would be blessed. In time they became enslaved in Egypt and cried out to God because of their oppression. God heard their cry, liberated them from their oppressor, and brought them to Sinai where he gave them an identity and a mission as his treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, a holy people. Throughout the story of Israel, God refused to give up on his people despite their frequent acts of unfaithfulness to him.

God brought his people into the Promised Land. Their state of blessing from God was intimately bound to their calling to embody the living God to other nations. They made movement toward this missional calling, yet they disobeyed and allowed foreign gods into the land, overlooked the poor, and mistreated the foreigner. The prophetic voices that emerge from the Scriptures held the calling of Israel to the mirror of how they treated the oppressed and marginalized. Through the prophets, God’s heart for the poor was made known, and we believe that God cares deeply for the marginalized and oppressed among us today.

In Israel’s disobedience, they became indifferent and in turn irrelevant to the purposes to which God had called them. For a time, they were sent into exile; yet a hopeful remnant was always looking ahead with longing and hope to a renewed reign of God, where peace and justice would prevail.

We believe these longings found their fulfillment in Jesus the Messiah, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin, mysteriously God having become flesh. Jesus came to preach good news to the poor, to bind up the brokenhearted and set captives free, proclaiming a new arrival of the kingdom of God, bringing about a new exodus, and restoring our fractured world. He and his message were rejected by many as he confronted the oppressive nature of the religious elite and the empire of Rome. Yet his path of suffering, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection has brought hope to all creation. Jesus is our only hope for bringing peace and reconciliation between God and humans. Through Jesus we have been forgiven and brought into right relationship with God. God is now reconciling us to each other, ourselves, and creation. The Spirit of God affirms as children of God all those who trust Jesus. The Spirit empowers us with gifts, convicts, guides, comforts, counsels, and leads us into truth through a communal life of worship and a missional expression of our faith. The church is rooted and grounded in Christ, practicing spiritual disciplines and celebrating baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The church is a global and local expression of living out the way of Jesus through love, peace, sacrifice, and healing as we embody the resurrected Christ, who lives in and through us, to a broken and hurting world.

We believe the day is coming when Jesus will return to judge the world, bringing an end to injustice and restoring all things to God’s original intent. God will reclaim this world and rule forever. The earth’s groaning will cease and God will dwell with us here in a restored creation. On that day we will beat swords into tools for cultivating the earth, the wolf will lie down with the lamb, there will be no more death, and God will wipe away all our tears. Our relationships with God, others, ourselves, and creation will be whole. All will flourish as God intends. This is what we long for. This is what we hope for. And we are giving our lives to living out that future reality now.

---

osteen

2010-05-31T20:56:00.001-07:00

http://www.daveburchett.com/archive/2005/12/21/270.aspx

Some Osteen dish.

news roundup

2010-05-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Some fresh links:

Religious Unity and the Synchronicity of Chaos Theory
Huffington Post (blog)

Huston Smith; Dalai Lama; "...we can hope that it will bring about a unity between adherents of the world's faiths leading to a sort of birth of a new world free from war and discord with all harmoniously joined in peace and prosperity."

Oh sure, we can hope. &^%$# hippies... it's engineering that saves people, not wishing & dreaming.

New York Community Board Supports Ground Zero Mosque
Voice of America
"Critics of the plan say it is disrespectful to the victims of the attack to build a Muslimreligious space so close to a site destroyed by Islamist[s]..."

But then again Islam is the religion of 'submission' and 'peace', no?

Female Religious Righter Caught in Affair?
ScienceBlogs (blog)
"Haley, currently a state rep in South Carolina, is a religious right, family values conservative all the way. Sarah Palin has endorsed her candidacy..."

Do as I say, not as I do, again again again.

US Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Arizona School Choice Suit
Catholic Online
"They stress that Arizonans are free to choose other school tuition organizations that fund non-religious private schools..."

Tax credits for 'donations' to educational non-profits (private tuition).. a step closer to school vouchers, methinks.

White's proclamation shows uneven nature of morality debate

Spartanburg Herald Journal

"...For instance, Spartanburg Mayor Junie White has issued a proclamation on behalf of the city of Spartanburg, declaring June 19 to be Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Day.The debate over sexual issues is fundamentally a moral and therefore religious one. Some people follow the Jewish and Christian Scriptures and see that authority as prohibiting homosexuality. Others adhere to a different moral authority that allows homosexuality.."

More sex news from South Carolina... sorta.

td jakes dfw

2010-02-06T10:45:00.001-08:00

The good bishop posts on home matters:

As long as I live, I will never forget the events of this summer! I've had some extraordinary experiences, beginning with the explosion at my home. Although it took a while to start the recovery process of the damages that resulted from the blast, and it may take months to completely restore our home, the important thing is that I still have my family - both spiritual and natural - and that means more to me than anything.

After such an eventful June, I welcomed in July with my Potter's House family. We celebrated 13 years of being in Dallas, Texas. I couldn't imagine us in any other city.

He used to live in Fort Worth, a great town. Anyhow -- good luck to him.

You know, I've always wondered.. by what apostolic lineage did he come by the mantle of "bishop", exactly?

uganda sex death

2010-02-06T10:36:00.001-08:00

via http://www.boingboing.net/2010/02/05/ugandas-kill-the-gay.html

You don't have to be queer to deserve death under Uganda's proposed homophobic hate law. If you are a straight Ugandan citizen convicted more than once of failing to rat out your gay friends, you too can be executed by the state for "aggravated homosexuality," because those two strikes make you a "serial offender."

jesus in baghdad

2008-12-21T19:07:00.001-08:00

By Jill Dougherty
CNN
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- From a distance, it looks like an apparition: a huge multi-colored hot-air balloon floating in the Baghdad sky, bearing a large poster of Jesus Christ. Below it, an Iraqi flag.
Iraqi children dress like Santa's elves for the Christmas party.
3 of 3
more photos »
Welcome to the first-ever public Christmas celebration in Baghdad, held Saturday and sponsored by the Iraqi Interior Ministry. Once thought to be infiltrated by death squads, the Ministry now is trying to root out sectarian violence -- as well as improve its P.R. image.
The event takes place in a public park in eastern Baghdad, ringed with security checkpoints. Interior Ministry forces deployed on surrounding rooftops peer down at the scene: a Christmas tree decorated with ornaments and tinsel; a red-costumed Santa Claus waving to the crowd, an Iraqi flag draped over his shoulders; a red-and-black-uniformed military band playing stirring martial music, not Christmas carols.
On a large stage, children dressed in costumes representing Iraq's many ethnic and religious groups -- Kurds, Turkmen, Yazidis, Christians, Arab Muslims not defined as Sunni or Shiite -- hold their hands aloft and sing "We are building Iraq!" Two young boys, a mini-policeman and a mini-soldier sporting painted-on mustaches, march stiffly and salute.

ramadan, lent

2008-08-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

I went into my favorite spot for Lebanese food this evening, picked up some maza and falafel to go. Tomorrow starts Ramadan, shopkeep said, so there'll be a special evening menu throughout the month. We chatted for a bit. His mom is Muslim, his dad Christian. He fasts for Ramadan and Lent. I feel such affection for Islam during Ramadan. May we all break our fasts together one day, En'shallah.

Some Ramadan blogs:
http://ramadankareem.blogspot.com/
http://thehijablog.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/ramadan-kareem/
http://jewaira.wordpress.com/2008/08/31/ramadan-blessings/
http://www.maryams.net/dervish/2008/08/31/ramadan-mubarak/

this green and pleasant land

2008-08-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

http://englishheretic.blogspot.com/2008/06/cult-of-ku.html

'

I was dismayed to read in Dave Evans’ recent book “The History Of British Magick After Crowley” a section in which he doubted the sources of Kenneth Grant’s fascinating discoveries of a form of Oriental black magick known as Ku. The gist of Evans’ argument was that he had contacted the University of Pennsylvania (from where Grant stated the Journal was published) and that they had never heard of the journal that Grant mentions in Hecate’s Fountain . So I decided to do a search myself. The journal and article is referenced at the back of a number of Grant’s books – as attributed to two authors: Shyrock and Feng. After a small amount of ‘googling’, I am delighted to say the article not only exists, but that the secretary of the American Oriental Society was kind enough to furnish me with a pdf of the article. Rather than freely disseminate the pdf, which would be doing a disservice to the AOS, I would suggest anybody with a real interest in obtaining a copy can email me and I'll provide details on how to obtain the journal article.'

Borg: a way, the way

2008-08-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Christianity as "a way": Marcus Borg (via apprising). "The cross is both personal and political."

Song of Songs

2008-08-27T07:35:00.001-07:00

Text analysis homonculi of poetry is at fleshmap.com.
Here is The Song of Songs.

It's not all just sex, but it is mighty sensual.

heidi montag: kinda baptist

2008-07-01T11:31:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, Jul. 01, 2008

Jesus was persecuted, and I'm going to get persecuted, ya know?

Photo: Frazer Harrison / Getty | Source: AP

obama dobson 2

2008-06-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

James Dobson and Barack Obama on political efforts, religious efforts, and the role of politics in religion, and the role of religion in politics:

Street Prophets: Confused Theology?

CNN: Distorting the Bible?

And doesn't Dobson's claims of distortion hinge on dispensationalism? I think Obama has higher theological ground here because he's saying "honestly, let's take the Bible as a whole seriously, then let's figure out how to conduct ourselves publicly, plurally." Dobson's position is necessarily more weak, because he must at once defend the passages in the Torah which condemn homosexuality, but he then must say that taking the other legalistic passages as seriously as Obama suggests we must is bad form. Dobson's position is clearly the more confused of the two.

However, this is not a theological argument. This is a debate about faith and secular democracy. Obama, by admitting to the tough parts of Leviticus then talking about how best to navigate our way faithfully through modern American life shows himself in a much stronger position than the Dobson camp would like. They're scared of Obama because Obama is right and they are wrong.

The cracks are showing in the old quid pro quo between the religious right and the economic and constitutional conservatives.

infinitude

2008-06-11T05:52:00.000-07:00

Reading this at Songs of Unforgetting:

The Infinite

An infinite that excludes the finite is not truly infinite; it is limited by that which still lies outside of it. The “truly infinite” (das wahrhaft Unendliche) is that infinite which includes all finites within it, for it alone is limited by nothing whatsoever outside itself.

Philip Clayton
Tags: god, infinite, panentheism, Philip Clayton, quotes

Makes me wonder about old James Carse, about Finite and Infinite Games, and if finite games can exist within infinite games... if memory's working, I think Carse covers that and posits they can and do (a timed game of chess within a infinite game of simulated city building, for example?).

That's a good book. That needs more play, theological and otherwise.

Here's Carse talking about religion (skip to the 5 minute mark) at the Long Now Foundation:

rob bell, bullhorn

2008-05-28T11:31:00.000-07:00

Rob Bell...
"the way you love others is the way you love god... that is the way of jesus..."

-

-

latin site:.va

2008-05-12T18:10:00.000-07:00

BBC:

Vatican gives Latin online boost

The Roman Catholic Church, for centuries a bastion of Latin usage, has given the ancient tongue a 21st Century boost by launching a website in Latin.

c.o.e. says: 'no Blake'; e.l.p.: rocked

2008-04-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

A report by Gnostic priest Jordan Stratford that the Church of England has banned the Blake hymn because it's "too nationalistic"...

You know, ELP did a kickass version of that back in ,73...
One of my favorite hymns and one of my favorite prog rock tracks...

(can't mention ELP's BSS without saying "Karn Evil 9" is one of the best songs of the 20th Century --- in our family, it's a grab something to drink, dim the lights, sit down, and listen for all 30 minutes kind of song.)

Anyways, all this reminds me of Kinky Friedman's line when he ran for Governor: this is the wussification of Texas! And banning hymns on grounds of nationalism is kind of wussified. Stratford points out briefly that you can take it metaphorically, but seems post-modern liberal Christians would rather not have to do the work of taking things metaphorically. It'd be too much like eating barbecue. It'd get their hands dirty with the wrong kind of company, huh?

Folks forget: Jesus was (is!) all about the 'wrong kind of company'.

crappy christians

2008-04-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Whatever happened to The Crappy Christian Show?
I mean, is it totally out of production these years?

"If you were offended by the Janet Jackson breast incident, this show isn’t for you. If you are anti-gay, anti-porn, anti-drinking, anti-cussing and anti-loving people just the way they are, this show isn’t for you. Everyone else, grab a drink, subscribe and we’ll have some fun!"

hello to papa

2008-04-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

The Pope visiting America has got me thinking a lot about the Catholic Church... On one hand, I find the idea of coming home to a "universal" church family very warming -- to be welcomed into the body of Christ. But on the other, I've got major beef with Catholic doctrine. The church is a church of man, of the world. The church is not the Kingdom. But still... I feel drawn to show up to a mass again, to see if there's a way, some way, to make peace with this little church.

I'm afraid there really isn't.

The body of Christ, after all, is everywhere, always. It's in bread, wine, pillbugs, soap, gelatin, soda, pork chops, shoes, jewelry, gasoline, cardboard lean-tos, tampons, tortillas, mitres, rice, rosary beads, park benches, mosque flagstones, and silly red hats.

fishy mitre

2008-04-07T10:50:00.001-07:00

From Deo's Shadow blog:

Dagon: described as god of the Philistines, is mentioned heavily in the Bible as “the Zeus of the plough.” The earliest mention of Dagon is from ancient Sumeria in 2500 B.C.E, translated from the Mari Tablets which discovered by French archaeologists in the 1930’s.

peace with nicene creed

2008-04-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

Seems dishonest to sit in a pew by folks who believe it literally and completely, if you're sitting there accepting it as metaphor, as symbol.

But what else could it be?

What else could it really be, and how else are we meant to engage it but as a meta-parable?

It's hard to find peace with the Nicene Creed.

good luck getting them to visit your town

2008-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

Them Johannites are scarcer than summer squash in Antarctica.

But they'll be in San Francisco this May 2008.

egina3: hail Sophia, Hypatia, Eve, Mary, Lilith...

2008-03-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Jordan Stratford blogs at:
http://jordanstratford.blogspot.com/

A good little blog by a Gnostic priest, previously of http://egina2.blogspot.com/

Gnostic artsy talk continues.

my rock

2008-03-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Last night I was struggling with my prayer. My mind was all over the place (as is perpetual), and I was getting frustrated that I couldn't concentrate. Then I noticed I was still "saying" my prayer. Like noticing my feet were still solidly planted on a flagstone even though I was staring at the clouds. I felt relieved and grateful, and very peaceful just then. My prayer was an anchor. And here was a presence, like honey, just gently and happily regarding me.

After a while longer, I stopped. I bowed my head and stretched from side to side. I sat back upright again and looked around at the room. The sofa and carpet and the clock and the lamps and television and chair and dog and books and cats were all still there. They and me were all each separate, but also each together.

I was still. Everything was still. Everything was still praying?

Amen.

jesus for president?

2008-03-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Jesus for President.
Publisher’s Weekly review here:

Jesus for President Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw. Zondervan, $16.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-310-27842-9 Here is the must-read election-year book for Christian Americans. What should Christians do when allegiances to the state clash with personal faith? Haw and Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution) slice through politics as usual and well past the superficial layers of the culture wars with their lucid exploration of how Christians can and should relate to presidents and kings, empire and government. Their entertaining yet provocative tour of the Bible's social and economic order makes even the most abstruse Levitical laws come alive for our era. They also provide a valuable political context for Christ's life, reminding readers that Jesus did not preach the need to put God back into government—he urged his followers to live by a different set of rules altogether, to hold themselves apart as peculiar people. The compelling writing is enhanced by a lavish, eye-popping layout. The pages are a riot of textured callouts, colors, photos and fonts—the perfect packaging for a message that must compete in a world of sound bites. With this second book, Claiborne emerges as an affable, intelligent, humorous prophet of his generation, calling people out of business-as-usual in a corrupt world and back to the radically different social order of the biblical God. (Mar.)

---

I'm looking forward to reading the book.

Top of head:

Let the president be the president, let the Christ be the Christ. Render unto Caesar. The Kingdom ain't political. Jesus wasn't a Marxist. "What you do to the least of these, you do to me." It ain't about butter nor guns -- but then how can it not be about butter or about guns? "The Kingdom is both within and without."

shane claiborne's litany

2008-03-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

swank on liberation theology

2008-03-20T19:08:00.000-07:00

Some of what Mr. Swank has said about Black Liberation Theology is true -- and he's made good points about the intent of Liberation Theology, I think. He hasn't always, though, and I read the general thrust of his take as wrongheaded. But this (link) is just nonsense.

And re: liberation theology generally: if those with worldly power have made you suffer by keeping you from participating in worldly power, it ain't fair and it ain't right, but, the Kingdom of Heaven is about rejecting worldly power altogether and embracing unconditional Love in the name of Jesus. Liberation comes through the practice of love, as I see it. Now I know there are those who understand Jesus' message as one primarily of social change and social justice -- and I can't deny that His message is also that. But the Kingdom? It isn't of this world. If we realize it though, it utterly transforms this world.

So it goes: Love, then Justice.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

2008-03-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Just found my way to a copy of The Cost of Discipleship.

Rosicrucians

2008-03-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

Rosicrucian Christian groups [wikipedia]:
Esoteric Christian Rosicrucian schools providing preparation through the occult study and the mystic living of the esoteric knowledge related to the inner teachings of Christianity.^[36]

The Rosicrucian Fellowship, 1909/11: its teachings are Esoteric Christian and claim to present the mysteries, in the form of esoteric knowledge, which the Christ spoke of in Matthew 13:11 and Luke 8:10; it seeks to prepare the individual through harmonious development of the mind (occultist) and the heart (mystic) in a spirit of unselfish service to mankind and an all-embracing altruism. According to this Fellowship, the Rosicrucian Order was founded in the year 1313^[37] and is composed by twelve exalted Beings gathered around a thirteenth, Christian Rosenkreuz; these great Adepts are presented as belonging to the human evolution but have already advanced far beyond the cycle of rebirth; their mission is explained as aiming to prepare the whole wide world for a new phase in religion—which includes awareness of the inner worlds and the subtle bodies, and to provide safe guidance in the gradual awakening of man's latent spiritual faculties during the next six centuries toward the coming Age of Aquarius.^[38]

According to major occult writers, the Order of the Rose Cross is for the first time expounded in the major Christian literary work that has molded the subsequent spiritual views of the western civilization: The Divine Comedy (ca. 1308–1321) by Dante Alighieri.^[39] ^[40] ^[41]

Anthroposophical Society, 1912
Lectorium Rosicrucianum, 1935
Archeosophical Society, 1968

megachurch at wikipedia

2008-03-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

McChurch

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

McChurch is a McWord used to suggest that a particular church has a strong element of entertainment, consumerism or commercialism which obscures its religious aspects. The term is sometimes used as a derogatory synonym for megachurch.

[hide]

Elements of a McChurch

The precise origins of the term McChurch are unclear, dating back to at least the early 1990s. Prominent media sources using the term include:

Charles Colson's 1994 book The Body, which describes a McChurch that the author attended in Japan. The author also uses the term "Hot Tub Religion" to express the same sentiment.
Robert McClory's 1992 article "Superchurch", published in the U.S. alternative newsweekly The Chicago Reader. This article describes Willow Creek Community Church, a megachurch in South Barrington, Illinois as a McChurch.
Maine State Representative Stan Moody's 2006 book "McChurched" which describes a pervasive consumerism in the evangelical Christian community. Moody, a Democrat, attributes this sentiment to the incorporation of Republican pro-capitalist influence into the religious community.
Dan Schaeffer's article "McChurch" in the 2002 issue of the Christian-themed Plain Truth Magazine. Schaeffer states that many Christian churches have "gone Las Vegas" in order to grow their congregations.

Elements of a McChurch common to these and other sources include the following:

Gift shops, coffee shops, and other revenue-generating amenities incorporated into the main structure of the church building.
Services focus on presentation, via skits or music, at the expense of doctrinal discussion.
Placement in suburban or exurban areas to attract an upper middle class clientele, ostensibly to boost donations.
Participation in other revenue-generating activities, such as selling curriculum materials or franchising.

Despite these common elements, the term is understood differently by conventional (secular) and Christian media sources. Secular sources, such as McClory and Moody contend that a McChurch promotes socially conservative political philosophy. On the other hand, Christian sources such as Colson and Schaeffer define a McChurch's theology as unduly permissive, especially with respect to sexual behavior, which both authors suggest is a ploy to boost membership and donations.

Related words

A number of similar derogatory words having somewhat the same connotation of McChurch have arisen, including "God Incorporated," "ChristCo," "Six Flags Over Jesus," "McJesus," "Fort God", "Religion Lite", "McEucharist" and "Krispy Kreme Christianity".

black liberation theology

2008-03-20T18:15:00.000-07:00

Worth considering, these days, what with Barack Obama's preacher's sermons bringing the issue into wide discussion: Liberation Theology...

From Wikipedia is:

Theological basis

Black liberation theology is theology from the perspective of the African diaspora. The message of black theology is that the African American struggle for liberation is consistent with the gospel--every theological statement must be consistent with, and perpetuate, the goals of liberation. This theology maintains that African Americans must be liberated from multiple forms of bondage—social, political, economic and religious. This liberation involves empowerment and seeks the right of self-definition, self-affirmation and self-determination.

The modern American origins of contemporary black liberation theology can be traced to July 31, 1966, when an ad hoc group of 51 black pastors, calling themselves the National Committee of Negro Churchmen (NCNC), bought a full page ad in the New York Times to publish their "Black Power Statement," which proposed a more aggressive approach to combating racism using the Bible for inspiration.^[1]

James Cone and Dwight Hopkins are considered the leading theologians of this system of belief, although now there are may scholars who have contributed a great deal to the field. It was Cone who in the spring of 1969 published the seminal work that systemized black liberation theology, Black Theology and Black Power (1969). In the book, Cone asserted that not only was black power not alien to the Gospel, it was, in fact, the Gospel message for all of 20th century America.^[2]^[3]

Controversy

Controversy over the theology surfaced during the 2008 presidential campaign as Barack Obama strongly denounced some of Jeremiah Wright's speeches which had been called divisive by press stories. That pastor had stated that his church was founded on black theology. When tapes were put for sale by the church after Wright's retirement, ABC News publicized several controversial sermons. ^[4] Wright's sermons were heavily critical of the United States Government, saying of the events of September 11, 2001: "The stuff we have done overseas is brought right back into our homes". He also said "people of color had not gone away, faded into the woodwork or just 'disappeared' as the Great White West went on its merry way of ignoring Black concerns."^[5]In other sermons, he said "The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color", referring to AIDS origins theories, and "The government gives them the drugs [referring to the Iran-Contra Affair], builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people...God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme".^[6]^[7]^[4]

South African Black theology

Black Theology was popularised in southern Africa in the early 1970s by Basil Moore, a Methodist theologian in South Africa. It helped to give rise to, and developed in parallel with, the Black Consciousness Movement. Black Theology was particularly influential in South Africa and Namibia for motivating resistance to apartheid.

Southern African black liberation theologians include Barney Pityana, Allan Boesak, Itumeleng Mosala and Zephania Kameeta.

Black religious scholars

North American black liberation theologians include:

Martin Luther King Jr.
Jeremiah Wright
Katie Cannon
James H. Cone
M. Shawn Copeland
Diana L. Hayes
James Allen Hendrix, OP
Dwight N. Hopkins
Peter Paris
Jamie T. Phelps OP
Anthony B. Pinn
Albert Raboteau
J. Deotis Roberts
Emilie M. Townes
Theodore Walker, Jr.
Cornel West
Delores Williams
Preston Williams
Gayraud S. Wilmore

In the United Kingdom, Dr Robert Beckford is the most well known black liberation theologian. He was the first theologian in the UK to develop and teach a course on Black Theology at an academic level. The International Journal of Black Theology is produced within the UK. It is edited by Dr Anthony Reddie, who has written over 40 journal articles and essay, and is therefore, the most prolific Black theologian in the UK.

eck, hu, eckankar; surat shabd yoga

2008-03-16T10:42:00.000-07:00

What are the historical links and overlaps between Eckankar, Surat Shabd Yoga or Sant Mat? Is Eck a Blavatsky-or-New-Thought-style Westernization of a salty old Sikh practice or what? One thing that always raises my neck hairs is when these "ancient traditions" come packed with (c) copyright logos (instead of the authority of Logos).

Unity (c) seems kinda like that -- appealing the like 19th Century liberal Christians who don't want to fall into the then-trendiness of Christian Science...

Aramaic of Jesus

2008-03-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

From {Wikipedia}:

Cultural and linguistic background

It is generally accepted that Jesus was born a Jew, and grew up in a Jewish family in Judea. For over a half-millennium, the colloquial language for Palestinian Jews was Judeo-Aramaic,^[1] stemming from the Babylonian captivity and invading Assyrian empire. Judeo-Aramaic was a version of standard Aramaic (which had originally been the language of Damascus) with a number of Hebrew words and some Hebrew-inspired grammar mixed in; the relation of Judeo-Aramaic to standard Aramaic is roughly comparable to the relation of Yiddish to German, although the difference between Judeo-Aramaic and standard Aramaic was less marked. For some Jews Hebrew remained a colloquial language, until the end of the 3rd century AD.^{[citation needed]} Nearly all of the Jewish scriptures were written in Hebrew, making it likely that a Jew who knew the Jewish scriptures also knew at least some Hebrew (especially as Hebrew and Aramaic are fairly cognate). There were also the Targums, Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible, in Galilee or Judea in the days of Jesus during the Early Roman Period. The use of Targums in the synagogue did not become customary until the 3rd century, after the use of spoken Hebrew declined in the aftermath of the catastrophic Bar Kochba Revolt.

From the 2nd century BC, Palestine had been heavily influenced by the Hellenistic civilization, and Koine Greek rapidly became the international language of the eastern Mediterranean, and so became the language of travelling merchants. It is thus likely that Jesus knew a few Greek terms. The New Testament itself, in the form we have it today, is mostly written in Koine Greek, including many quotations from the Hebrew Bible.

When Jesus is described by the New Testament as quoting from the Hebrew Bible, the quotations that are given most closely correlate with the Septuagint. Most scholars suggest that the New Testament authors most likely used an edition of the Septuagint, rather than translate a Hebrew (or Aramaic) source. However, among the Dead Sea Scrolls, in addition to various Hebrew versions of the Bible that resemble the much later Masoretic text, there are also Hebrew versions that more closely resemble the Greek Septuagint version (in similar fashion to the Samaritan Pentateuch).

Because of the influence of Greek in the east of the Mediterranean, even the officials of the Roman Empire did not really use Latin in the region, and so only a few words of Latin would have been known to most Jews, mostly confined to various symbols of Roman rule (such as the 'denarius' coin).

Aramaic phrases in the Greek New Testament

The Greek New Testament transliterates a few words and phrases, some Hebrew, some Aramaic and some either. These are mainly words attributed to Jesus, and perhaps had a special significance because of this. Words necessarily deriving from Hebrew (like Hosha` nā! "Please, save!") are hypothesized to be loan words from Hebrew for use in Aramaic.

A small minority believe that most or all of the New Testament was originally written in Aramaic. This position, called Aramaic primacy, is popular, but most scholars believe that the New Testament, as we have it today, was composed in the Greek language. However, it is not disputed that there does exist a Hebrew/Aramaic layer beneath the Greek text.

Talitha qoum (Ταλιθα κουμ)

Mark 5:41

And taking the hand of the child, he said to her, "Talitha koum", which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, get up".

This verse gives an Aramaic phrase, attributed to Jesus in the resurrection of a girl, with a transliteration into Greek, as ταλιθα κουμ.

A couple of Greek manuscripts (Codex Sinaiticus, Codex Vaticanus) of Mark's Gospel have this text, but others (Codex Alexandrinus, the Majority Text and the Vulgate) write κουμι (koumi) instead. The latter became the Textus Receptus, and is the version that appears in the Authorised Version.

The Aramaic is ţlīthā qūm. The word ţlīthā is the feminine form of the word ţlē, meaning "young". Qūm is the Aramaic verb 'to rise, stand, get up'. In the feminine singular imperative, it was originally 'qūmī'. However, there is evidence that in speech the final -ī was dropped so that the imperative did not distinguish between masculine and feminine genders. The older manuscripts, therefore, used a Greek spelling that reflected pronunciation, whereas the addition of an 'ι' was perhaps due to a bookish copyist.

In Aramaic, it could be טליתא קומי or טלתא קומי.

Ephphatha (Εφφαθα)

Mark 7:34

And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, "Ephphatha", which is 'be opened'.

Once again, the Aramaic word is given with an attempted transliteration, only this time the word to be transliterated is more complicated. In Greek, the Aramaic is written εφφαθα. This is from the Aramaic 'ethpthaħ', the passive imperative of the verb 'pthaħ', 'to open'. The guttural 'ħ' was generally softened in Galilean Aramaic,^[2].

In Aramaic, it could be אתפתח.

Abba (Αββα)

Mark 14:36

And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Abba, an Aramaic word (written Αββα in Greek, and 'abbā in Aramaic), is immediately followed by the Greek equivalent (Πατηρ) with no explicit mention of it being a translation. The phrase Abba, Father is repeated in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6.

In Aramaic, it could be אבא.

Note, the name Barabbas is a Hellenization of the Aramaic Bar Abba (בר אבא), literally, "Son of the Father", but here Abba is probably the diminutive form of the Hebrew name Abraham, like Akiba is of Yaakob.

Raca (Ρακα)

Matthew 5:22

But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Raca, or Raka, in the Aramaic of the Talmud means empty one, fool, empty head.

In Aramaic, it could be ריקא or ריקה.

Note: The phrase "without a cause" is missing from Matthew 5:22 in the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus.

Mammon (Μαμωνας)

Main article: Mammon

Gospel of Matthew 6:24

No one can serve two masters: for either they will hate the one, and love the other; or else they will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Luke 16:9-13

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

2 Clement 6

Now the Lord declares, "No servant can serve two masters." If we desire, then, to serve both God and mammon, it will be unprofitable for us. "For what will it profit if a man gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" This world and the next are two enemies. The one urges to adultery and corruption, avarice and deceit; the other bids farewell to these things. We cannot, therefore, be the friends of both; and it behoves us, by renouncing the one, to make sure of the other. Let us reckon that it is better to hate the things present, since they are trifling, and transient, and corruptible; and to love those [which are to come,] as being good and incorruptible. For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. (Roberts-Donaldson)

In Aramaic, it could be ממון.

In the New Testament the word Μαμωνᾶς — Mamōnâs — is declined like a Greek word, whereas many of the other Aramaic words are treated as indeclinable foreign words.

Rabboni (Ραββουνει)

John 20:16

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (KJV)

Also in Mark 10:51. Hebrew form rabbi used as title of Jesus in Matthew 26:25,49; Mark 9:5, 11:21, 14:45; John 1:49, 4:31, 6:25, 9:2, 11:8.

In Aramaic, it could be רבוני.

Maranatha (μαρανα θα)

Main article: Maranatha

Didache 10 (Prayer after Communion)

.. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen. (Roberts-Donaldson)

1 Corinthians 16:22

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.

In Aramaic (מרנא תא) it means Lord, come! or Our Lord, come!

Eli Eli lema sabachthani (Ηλει Ηλει λεμα σαβαχθανει)

Matthew 27:46

Around the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, saying "Eli Eli lema sabachthani?" which is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

Mark 15:34

And at the ninth hour, Jesus shouted in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, for what have you forsaken me?"

This phrase, shouted by Jesus from the cross, is given to us in these two versions. The Matthean version of the phrase is transliterated in Greek as ηλει ηλει λεμα σαβαχθανει. The Markan version is similar, but begins ελωι ελωι (elōi rather than ēlei).

The lines seems to be quoting the first line of Psalm 22. However, he is not quoting the canonical Hebrew version (êlî êlî lâmâ `^azabtânî), but is using an Aramaic translation of it (see targum).

In the following verse, in both accounts, some who hear Jesus' cry imagine that he is calling for help from Elijah (Eliyyâ). This is perhaps to underline the incomprehension of the bystanders about what is happening. Matthew's use of ηλι may indicate a more 'official' rendition of the psalm verse, more in line with the Hebrew. Mark's version probably represents the Aramaic colloquial better. The Aramaic behind Matthew is êlî êlî lmâ švaqtanî. Whereas Mark has elohî elohî.

A few ancient Greek manuscripts show signs of trying to normalise this text. For instance, the peculiar Codex Bezae renders both versions with ηλι ηλι λαμα ζαφθανι (ēli ēli lama zaphthani).

As the phrase is clearly translated into Greek in both instances there can be little doubt as to its meaning. However, a minority have speculated on different meanings. Among them is George Lamsa, whose research is generally considered pseudoscience by other scholars.^[3]^[4]

The Aramaic word švaqtanî is based on the verb švaq, 'to allow, to permit, to forgive, and to forsake', with the perfect tense ending -t (2nd person singular: 'you'), and the object suffix -anî (1st person singular: 'me').

This phrase is treated in more depth at Last sayings of Jesus.

In Aramaic, it could be אלהי אלהי למא שבקתני.

Jot and tittle (ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία)

Matthew 5:18

For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the Law (that is, the Torah) till all is fulfilled.

The quotation uses them as an example of extremely minor details. In the Greek original translated as English jot and tittle is found iota and keraia. Iota is the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet (ι), but since only capitals were used at the time the Greek New Testament was written (Ι), it probably represents the Aramaic yodh (י) which is the smallest letter of the Aramaic alphabet. Keraia is a hook or serif, possibly accents in Greek but more likely hooks on Aramaic letters, (ב) versus (כ), or additional marks such as crowns (as Vulgate apex) found in Jewish Bibles. The standard reference for NT Greek is A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian Literature, Bauer, Gingrich, Danker, et al. (commonly known as the Bauer lexicon. Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon for keraia is here: [1]. See also the article on the antithesis of the Law.

Korbanas (κορβανας)

Matthew 27:6

But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, ‘It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since they are blood money.’

In Aramaic (קרבנא) it refers to the treasury in the Temple in Jerusalem, derived from the Hebrew Corban (קרבן), found in Mark 7:11 and the Septuagint (in Greek transliteration), meaning religious gift.

The Greek κορβανᾶς is declined as a Greek noun.

Sikera (σικερα)

Luke 1:15

for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit.

In Aramaic (שכרא) it means barley beer, from the Akkadian shikaru.

Hosanna (ὡσαννά)

Mark 11:9

Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!

According to the Bauer lexicon, see references at end, this word is derived from Aramaic (הושע נא) from Hebrew (הושיעה נא) (Psalm 118:25, הוֹשִׁיעָה נָּא, meaning "help" or "save, I pray", "an appeal that became a liturgical formula; as part of the Hallel ... familiar to everyone in Israel."

---

References

All Aramaic words are from A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Bauer-Arndt-Gingrinch-Danker (ISBN 978-0226039336). Though primarily a Koine Greek Lexicon (it is the standard reference for NT Greek), it includes Aramaic words in the Aramaic "square-script" alphabet.

^ Casey, P.M., 2002. An Aramaic Approach to Q: Sources for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
^ Kutscher, E.Y.. (1976). Studies in Galilean Aramaic.
^ Review of Lamsa's translation by Herbert G May, Journal of Bible and Religion, Vol. 26, No. 4, Oct., 1958 (JSTOR)
^ Review of Lamsa's translation by PAH de Boer, Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 8, Fasc. 2, Apr., 1958 (JSTOR)
^ Bauer's Lexicon: Gal 1:18; 2:9,11,14; 1Cor 1:12; 3:22; 9:5; 15:5; also 1Clement 47:3
^ The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon - Entry for "ṭbyʾ"

jesus on power

2008-03-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

Nathanael Baker has:

My Kingdom is not of this World
WThis is a post by N.T Wright from Newsweek at the Washington Post. In what is election year both in New Zealand and America, it is good to remember that Jesus offers a counter-cultural view of power. Read and see.

He Would Challenge Power, Not Run for It
This is of course an impossible question, like 'If the sun were to rise in the west, would it be green or blue?' In other words, by agreeing to the terms of the question you make it impossible to give an answer based on anything other than highly distorted speculation.

Jesus didn't run for anything. He acted as if he were a different kind of ruler altogether, with a 'kingdom' that didn't originate from the present world (otherwise, he said, his servants would fight to rescue him) but instead was meant FOR this present world, to transform and heal it. The present way we do politics and government is, alas, part of the problem, and he would have challenged it (its huge cost, its pretense of participation which is shamelessly manipulated by the media, its cult of personality, its ignoring, all too often, of the actual needs of the poor, etc. etc.) just as he challenged the power structures of his day.

The real question is, what sort of a cross would today's system be intent on using to kill him?

lion in the water

2008-03-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

Christopher's poem:

lion in the water

lion in the water
fear and be weary
watch and admire
funnel clouds in the sky
fear and be weary
watch and hide
lion in the water
strong and playful
innocent and loved
coming home
to his pride
gathered up in love

(Aslan is on the move...)

sacred harp, or shape note singing

2008-03-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Short Takes has:

The Sacred Harp

Christiana and I went down to St. Bart’s church yesterday (Sunday) afternoon to hear Sacred Harp or shape singing. I had seen a flier a few months ago about an all day sing that was being held at the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn so I stopped off after my guitar lesson to hear what it was about. There were at least 200 singers and the sound and energy was incredible. As far as I can tell the dynamics of shape singing are, loud, louder and very loud but the sound is happy, even when the lyrics are gloomy, and very American. Above is a brief audio clip that I recorded with my camera. The recording isn’t very good but it gives you an idea. Below are a couple of paragraphs I copied from www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/~mudws/harp.html about shape singing.

“Sacred Harp singing is a non-denominational community musical event emphasizing participation, not performance. Singers sit facing inward in a hollow square. Each individual is invited to take a turn “leading,” i.e. standing in the center, selecting a song, and beating time with the hand. The singing is not accompanied by harps or any other instrument. The group sings from The Sacred Harp, an oblong songbook first published in 1844 by B.F. White and E. J. King. The music is printed in “patent notes,” wherein the shape of the note head indicates the syllables FA , SOL , LA , and MI . The repertory includes psalm tunes, fuging tunes, odes and anthems by the first American composers (1770-1810), and also settings of folk songs and revival hymns (1810-1860). The current 1991 Edition contains many songs in these styles by living composers.

This style of singing stems from singing schools in the colonial period. Preserved in the rural South, Sacred Harp singing (also called fasola singing or shape-note singing) is making a major resurgence in cities and campuses throughout North America.”

voodoo on dreamland

2008-03-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday March 15th, 2008
Voodou!

This week Whitley Strieber takes us on a fascinating adventure into the unknown realm of Vodou. We are guided by Kenaz Filan, an initiate of the Societe la Belle Venus and the author of the Haitian Vodou Handbook, who explains Vodou ritual and tells us about his experiences with the Vodou lwa, or spirits honored in Haitain practice. He also discusses the controversial relationship between Catholicism and Vodou, and the current state of Vodou practice in Haiti and elsewhere. Then Linda Howe updates us on another fascinating reality: water on Mars.

Just noting.

Also see: Haitian art; Zombie Quiz; Ontological catfights between bawdy Lwas and fat Baptists; Brief History of Voodoo; Brief History of Marie Laveau.

Got a buddy that runs with a Shiva sect that's been having some unhappy run-ins with Voodouns in the last few years... But Papa Legba has always been kind to me, and I still say Jah Respeck! to the old man, me.

Exterminatrix of Heresies

2008-03-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

(Damn! Via I Have to Sit down (via New Advent) & via St. Gaspar's.)

That's the "don't f*^@k up or Mary's gonna beat the hell out of you Mary. That's the I'm about to beat the holy $h!t out of you, with your frikkin questions, so papa don't come home and beat the $h!t out of me Mary.

It's such a wrathful side we don't hardly ever see depicted.

perpetual virginity

2008-03-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Brothers of Jesus, yes; then how the perpetual virginity (post-Jesus married life) of Mary? No sex with Joseph to get these boys conceived and born?

Singing in the Reign explains. In part:

However implausible it may sound to a sex-saturated Western culture that a man would ever do such a thing, the fact of the matter is that the Old Testament appears to assume it as a real possibility. Indeed, the fact that an entire chapter of the Bible is devoted to it appears to suggest that vows of sexual abstinence on the part of women must have been a visible enough part of the culture that a law was necessary to deal with the situation! (This should come as no surprise to students of antiquity; consecrated virgins were part of the religious landscape of the ancient world). Should there be any doubt about this, I would suggest in passing that the reader call to mind the controversy that faced Pauline churches about young widows renegging on their vows of sexual abstinence (1 Timothy 4) and the otherwise difficult and confusing passage in 1 Corinthians about what a man should do about marrying his "virgin" (1 Cor 7:36-38). If both these texts apply to the situation envisaged in Numbers 30, then Mary's situation is anything but unique in culture.

Anyway, love to hear your thoughts about this. It's just my take at this point. I'll need to do more research, but I thought I'd offer a little rose to Our Lady.

Oops, wrong Mary... that was meant to be:

truthiness?

2008-03-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

In information science, people talk about accuracy. Accuracy is whether or not a quanta of information is factual.

Clearly, there's much in the Bible that isn't accurate. Or, if you want, there's clearly much in universe that isn't accurate... but either way, if you insist on defining the "truth" of the Bible in terms of accuracy, you're going to have to figure out whether the Bible is "literally true", and you're probably in for a tough time of it.

Real truth is much more important than mere accuracy. Creationism? Resurrection? Miracles? These things are true, but you'll be very hard pressed to find factual evidence -- that's because the way that they are most importantly true is above fact, above accuracy. They're true in the way that "rainbows are beautiful" and in the way that "love is the most important thing in the world".

These things are truer than facts. To argue whether they physically happened in these few dimensions of earthly perception rather misses the point.

-
Neale Donald Walsch has a good post on this subject [link]:

The Bible also says that, if found to be in an adulterous relationship, both the man and the woman are to be taken to the city gates and also stoned to death. If Monday's allegations are true, that could mean the end for New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer. He'll have to be stoned.

Mallika Chopra and Family

2008-03-13T10:34:00.000-07:00

I thought this was sweet. :)

Category: Parenting

The Jesus Inside Me (by Mallika Chopra)

Last night, I took my daughters to watch my father at his book signing at the local Barnes and Noble for his new book, The Third Jesus. . They were so thrilled to see "Nana" talking in front of people, and Tara, my six year old, whispered to me excitedly, "He told all of them that we were his grandchildren!!" Leela, my three year old, was most interested in pretending to color during his short talk, even though she knew so many people were watching her.

After my father finished speaking, we rushed out to get the kids home to bed. A young man - probably a college student - rushed up to us as we were heading out.

He asked me, "Are you Deepak's daughter?"

"Yes," I replied.

He opened his notebook, looked at his scribbles, and asked, "Did he say that Jesus Christ is actually ourselves?"

I smiled. The thing is for some reason, many people think my brother and I are authorities on mind/body medicine, ayurveda, consciousness, vedanta, physics, spirituality in general and in all its forms, and now, of course, Jesus Christ. Alas, if only people knew how little we know!!

"I'm not sure what his exact quote was," I replied, "But, in essence, I think that is what he was saying. That we all are part of, have God inside us."

The guy looked at me in awe. I seriously thought he was going to cry. "Dude." He paused. "That's just so fucking awesome."

He looked back at his notes, and I made my escape.

"Mommy, I guess he liked Nana's words." Tara chimed in. "Isn't that nice?"

I was grateful that my daughter, for the first time, had seen and realized the power of her grandfathers words, and I was proud of her and my father.

I guess so, I smiled. And we headed home.

Faraj Rahho

2008-03-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paul Faraj Rahho's body was found Thursday near the town of Mosul, where he and three companions were ambushed by gunmen on February 29. The archbishop's driver and two security guards were killed during the attack. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had ordered security services to make it a priority to find and free the archbishop. [cnn]

mccain catholics hagee

2008-03-12T13:30:00.001-07:00

McCain loves: Catholics.
McCain loves: Hagee.
Hagee loves: not Catholics.
Catholics love: Hagee?
McCain loves: Muslims?
Rod Parsely loves: not Muslims.
McCain loves: Jews.
Hagee loves: not Jews.
Muslims love: Rod Parsely?

Jesus loves: all.

God is: love. (even the Pope says so)

Christian writers have generally described agape, as expounded on by Jesus, as a form of love which is both unconditional and voluntary. Tertullian, in his 2nd century defense of Christians remarks how Christian love attracted pagan notice: "What marks us in the eyes of our enemies is our loving kindness. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another'" (Apology 39). (w: link)

sexual morality

2008-03-12T13:22:00.000-07:00

What's moral is to educate your children about becoming responsible adults. Responsible adults should use contraception unless they want to make babies. The moral thing to do is to encourage contraception -- not just to prevent pregnancy, but to prevent the spread of disease.

"Christians" preaching abstinence-only need to grow the f*!k up.

dotCommonweal:

In addition to its very, very complete coverage this morning of Eliot Spitzer’s downfall, the NYTimes carried what I consider a related report: 25 percent of U.S. teenaged girls have one or more sexually transmitted disease.

In addition to an account of the CDC’s report, the Times deployed its usual public health analysis of the problem, quoting head of Planned Parenthood thus: “’The national policy of promoting abstinence-only programs is a $1.5 billion failure,’ Ms. Richards said, ‘and teenage girls are paying the real price.’” She recommends ever more thorough sex education. But has that worked either?

And then there’s the question of condoms, about which the FDA says: ”latex condoms are ‘highly effective’ at preventing infection by chlamydia, trichomoniasis, H.I.V., gonorrhea and hepatitis B. The agency noted that condoms seemed less effective against genital herpes and syphilis. Protection against human papillomavirus ‘is partial at best,’ the report said.”

13 now

2008-03-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Amy Welborn reminds us:

It has been 12 days since Mosul’s Chaldean Archbishop was kidnapped:

The Iraqi Church is “suffering profoundly” from the “darkness and silence” which reign over the kidnap of Mosul’s Chaldean Archbishop, as anxiety and concern increase among the faithful and their pastors. A fresh appeal has been launched today by the Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk, Msgr. Louis Sako, pleading with the West not to fall into the trap of indifference in the face of violence in Iraq, or accept it as “normal”, but to once again raise its voice against the injustices which afflict the nation and its people.

gnostic art

2008-03-08T17:39:00.001-08:00

no kirpaan near the papa please

2008-03-08T08:45:00.000-08:00

A report that Sikhs will be banned from toting their traditional kirpaan ceremonial daggers in meeting with pope [link]:

Sikhs had been invited to join other religious leaders for a 45-minute meeting with Benedict on April 17 in Washington to express a shared commitment to peace. But the Secret Service would not allow the Sikhs to carry a kirpaan, which resembles a small sword or dagger.

The kirpaan "represents the Sikh commitment to resist oppression and injustice" and is to be carried "only in a defensive posture and never to initiate confrontation," according to the World Sikh Council-America Region.

Isn't that a bit like telling diners at a restaurant that they can't have access to steak knives? "You'd normally be able to use a knife to cut your meat, but by definition a knife is a weapon, so you'll have to forget your cultural practices of eating with utensils and start ripping the steak up with your bare hands. For safety reasons."

Lord help us learn to trust each other.

muslims only, please

2008-03-08T08:34:00.000-08:00

From the AP, via MSNBC:

BOSTON - Harvard University has banned men from one of its gyms for a few hours a week, a move to accommodate Muslim women who, for religious and cultural reasons, cannot exercise comfortably in their presence...

Harvard's policy is no different from commercial gyms that cater partially or even exclusively to women, said Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations.
"The Muslim bashers portray it as the world coming to end, but if women have a couple hours a week to work out in private, I don't see it as a major issue," he said.

See also: "Sharia Law in the UK?"

This will really begin to grate on the nerves of modern educated secular pluralists -- how much room shall we give each other before some of us feel trodden on? And for 'red state' folks? Beyond the Beyond, for them.

We'll figure it out together, so long as we're patient and long-suffering with our brothers and sisters (and so long as they are with us too). But this is a sure sign of the fast (fast!) growth of Islam in the West. Very interesting.

ancient-future worship

2008-03-08T08:16:00.000-08:00

MSNBC has:

Evangelicals observing Lent?
Fasting, and giving up chocolate and favorite pastimes like watching TV during the 40 days before Easter are practices many evangelical Protestants have long rejected as too Catholic and unbiblical.
But Lent -- a time of inner cleansing and reflection upon Jesus Christ's sufferings before his resurrection -- is one of many ancient church practices being embraced by an increasing number of evangelicals, sometimes with a modern twist. The National Community Church, which has three locations in the District and one in Arlington County, updated the Lenten fast by adding a Web component: a 40-day blog, where participants from as far away as Australia, Korea and Mexico discuss their spiritual cleansing.
This increasing connection with Christianity's classical traditions goes beyond Lent. Some evangelical churches offer confession and weekly communion. They distribute ashes on Ash Wednesday and light Advent calendars at Christmastime. Others have formed monastic communities, such as Casa Chirilagua in Alexandria, modeled on the monasteries that arose in Christianity's early years.
This represents a "major sea change in evangelical life," according to D.H. Williams, professor of patristics and historical theology at Baylor University. "Evangelicalism is coming to point where the early church has become the newest staple of its diet."
Experts say most who have taken on such practices have grown disillusioned with the contemporary, shopping-center feel of the megachurches embraced by baby boomers, with their casually dressed ministers and rock-band praise music.
Instead, evangelicals -- many of them young -- are adopting a trend that has come to be known as "worship renewal" or "ancient-future worship."

2008-03-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

Age To Come blog has this on spiritual preparation, with weapons of war as metaphor for trial and power:

The full armour of God

I thought, what with things Anglican here, there and everywhere, now might be a good time to remind ourselves of the larger picture. The excerpt below taken from here.

Ephesians 6:10-13, “Finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and have done all to stand.”

This is the indisputable message of God to all who would hear it today. It is not to move to a far off land, it is not to hoard or store, it is to prepare ourselves spiritually for what is about to descent. The message of the hour for God’s remnant is to make sure that their retain the whole armor of God, from truth, to righteousness, to the preparation of the gospel of peace, to faith, salvation and the word of God. All these parts make the whole, all are equally important, and all are necessary to our ability to overcome the darkness, and to stand in the evil day.

We cannot have the breastplate, without the sword or the helmet, or the helmet without having our waist girded, and our feet shod. All work in concert, to make up the true warrior of Christ, one who is not only willing to stand, but able to stand, who has done all in preparation for the battle that is to come.

We must be complete Christians, in complete armor, whole and unwavering in the face of the evil day that is upon us. That the evil days are approaching is no longer a debatable issue, for all one must do is turn on the morning news, or surf a few news sites to see where the world is headed. I speak not of a singular nation, but of a global crisis that will test the faith, endurance, and resilience of every man.

These are the days in which few will stand, and many will fall, wherein one will know in whom they have placed their trust and in whom they have relied.

We prepare not that we may boast of our foresight, we put on the armor not so others might see we are warriors, but simply that we might stand, and having done all to stand.

When all the messages of ease and comfort, of opulence and excess will be proven an illusion by the reality that will set in there will be chaos within what we now know as the church. Uncertain, unprepared, defenseless, many will run to and fro looking for truth, looking for an anchor in the storm, and it will be in these days that some will be called upon to point the way to the Bible, to the cross, to Christ. With wisdom as our guide, may we prepare now for the soon coming days, may our foundation be firmly planted upon the rock that is Christ and His word, that in our obedience and humility we might have peace, and the comfort of knowing that we are safe from harm in His eternal embrace.

Explore posts in the same categories: Christian, Prophecy

But you know, I'm bored and tired of the occult metaphors. I remember the preacher telling us "always carry your Bible, and you can tell folks it's your sword. And if you ain't got that handy, just carry your little New Testament, you'll at least have your dagger." Metaphor has its limits.

There's the literal word, which is mental and weak. Then there's the metaphors, which may help take you further in. But ultimately you've got to sit down and practice, then get up and practice.

to hell with the gospels

2008-03-05T19:04:00.000-08:00

...if the gospels aren't true to His message.

"If you see the Buddha in the lane, kill him."
"If you see the Christ in the road, eat him."

Minister to India? Yes, minister to India:

friendship, church, sangha

2008-03-05T18:57:00.000-08:00

Faith Dance on friendship [link].

I'm thinking about friendship and sangha. Is the term church analogous, or should it be, to the term sangha? The church as a brotherhood/sisterhood of practice, of prayer.

Friendship lets us grow (and grow closer to the Spirit) by growing closer to each other.

jesus politics

2008-03-05T18:54:00.000-08:00

Cracked Pots posts a piece by Gabriel Salguero:

Jesus: Is he electable

Filed under:Practical Theology, Faith, Politics — posted by Jose Humphreys on March 5, 2008 @ 11:28 pm

This is an article “On Faith” by Gabriel Salguero a friend and pastor here in Manhattan.

I think that Jesus, if nominated, would not run. Jesus’ function as a prophet transcends political partisanship. I am utterly convinced that he would have a corrective for all political parties, this is what prophets do. Let me be clear that Christian does not equal blind allegiance to any political party or ideology. This is dangerous and idolatrous. Jesus would also be critical of religious practices that oppressed and ignored any group that includes Jews, Muslims, Hindus, agnostics, atheists, secularists, etc.”

Read more.

Tags: Christian, Jesus, Faith, Politics, Religion, Church

thanksgiving

2008-03-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

A reminder from heaintthroughwithmeyet to be thankful!

Be thankful here, be thankful now.

grimoire of Pope Honorius

2008-03-03T21:37:00.000-08:00

Couple remembrances:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Honorius_III
and
www.hermetics.org/pdf/grimoire/grimoireofhonorius.pdf
not that AD 638 Honorius, but rather the AD 1200-something one.

downward mobility of Christ 2

2008-03-03T20:58:00.001-08:00

In the previous Claiborne piece, I'm not sure that it follows that for poverty to end, wealth must too.

You know, yesterday I was talking to my son about stuff and we were going through some of the anthropology texts on the shelf -- Colin Turnbull, Victor Turner, Geertz -- and I realized that poverty isn't a lack of economic activity, technological advancement, or of industry. You can be dirt "poor" by SoCal standards but get all the cassava root you need, and live in balance and happiness with your little river -- it's not about "stuff", it's about livelihood and the ability to get whatever subset of the whole eco-organism you need in order to survive and prosper. Survival and prosperity are not synonymous with industry and profit. Gave me a jolt to see that in a new way...

So wealth is here and now, when the river gives up fish, when the pecans are plenty under the tree. Must that end for lack to end?

I do not believe it's a zero-sum game.

Is it?
Did Jesus?

downward mobility of Christ

2008-03-03T20:29:00.000-08:00

From Shane Claiborne and Speaking of Faith [link]:

---

by Shane Claiborne
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/newmonastics/claiborne_downwardmobility.shtml

Downward Mobility in an Upscale World
The vision of Jesus is not spread through organizational structures, but through touch, breath, shared life. It is spread through people who have discovered love.

Not long ago, I sat and talked with some very wealthy Christians about what it means to be the church and to follow Jesus. One businessman confided, "I, too, have been thinking about following Christ and what that means … so I had this made." He pulled up his shirt-sleeve to reveal a bracelet, engraved with W.W.J.D (What Would Jesus Do?). It was custom-made of twenty-four karat gold.

Maybe each of us can relate to this man — both his earnest desire to follow Jesus and his distorted execution of that desire, so bound up in the materialism of our culture. It is difficult to learn to live the downward mobility of the gospel in this age of wealth. For the most part, those of us who are rich never meet those of us who are poor. Instead, nonprofit organizations serve as brokers between the two in a booming business of poverty management.

I believe that the great tragedy of the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor, but that they do not know the poor. Yet if we are called to live the new community for which Christ was crucified, we cannot remain strangers to one another. Jesus demands that we live in a very different way.

I recently surveyed people who said they were "strong followers of Jesus." Over 80 percent agreed with the statement, "Jesus spent much time with the poor." Yet only 1 percent said that they themselves spent time with the poor. We believe we are following the God of the poor — yet we never truly encounter the poor.

About five years ago, I became part of a community called the simple way, a group of Christians literally born out of the wreckage of the church. Dozens of homeless families and children had moved into St. Edward's, a cavernous, abandoned Catholic church in one of the most struggling neighborhoods of Philadelphia. A small group of us who were students at Eastern College, a suburban Christian school, decided to move in with them as a gesture of solidarity. From that initial step, one miracle followed another as those families mentored us in community, worship, and love.

Eventually, we settled in a rowhouse in Kensington, a few blocks from St. Edward's. It is the poorest (but most beautiful!) district in Pennsylvania. There is no place we'd rather call home. Here, we play and dance. We plant gardens. We feed people. We cry. We have a community store. We help kids with homework. We live, and we spend our lives joining folks in poverty as they struggle to end it. Because we know that we cannot end poverty without ending wealth, we also spend time talking with Christian communities about our work and hosting visitors.

Before moving to St. Edward's and then Kensington, I had worked in Calcutta, India, first at Mother Teresa's home for the destitute dying and then in a leper colony. A week after returning to the United States, I began a year at Willow Creek Community Church, one of the largest, wealthiest congregations in the world — where a food court graces their worship center. Talk about culture shock!

This contrast brought me face to face with Christ's radical love, a love strong enough to bring us together across chasms of difference. I longed for the two worlds to meet, for the lepers to know the landowners. I committed my life to trying to make that a reality.

Over the years I have come to see how charity fits into — and legitimizes — our system of wealth and poverty. Charity assures that the rich will feel good while the poor will remain with us. It is important that the poor remain with us, because our capitalist system hinges on it. Without someone on the bottom, there is no American dream and no hope for upward mobility.

Charity also functions to keep the wealthy sane. Tithes, tax-exempt donations, and short-term mission trips, while they accomplish some good, also function as outlets that allow wealthy Christians to pay off their consciences while avoiding a revolution of lifestyle. People do their time in a social program or distribute food and clothes through organizations which take their excess. That way, they never actually have to face the poor and give their clothes, their food, their beds. Wealthy Christians never actually have to be with poor people, with Christ in disguise.

If charity did not provide these carefully sanctioned outlets, Christians might be forced to live the reckless Gospel of Jesus by abandoning the stuff of earth. Instead, thanks to charity, we can live out a comfortable, privatized discipleship.

But when we get to heaven and are separated into sheep and goats (Matt. 25), I don't believe Jesus is going to say, "When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me" or "When I was naked, you donated to the Salvation Army and they clothed me." Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions: "You fed me, … you visited me, … you welcomed me in, ... you clothed me.…"

If we are to truly be the church, poverty must become a face we recognize as our own kin.

Several years ago, I attended a protest against sweatshops where the organizers had not invited the typical rally speakers — lawyers, activists, advocates. Instead, they brought kids from the sweatshops. A child from Indonesia pointed to his face. "I got this scar when my master lashed me for not working hard enough. When it bled, he did not want me to stop working or to ruin the cloth, so he took a lighter and burned it shut. I got this scar making stuff for you."

I was suddenly consumed with the overwhelming reality of the suffering body of Christ. Jesus now bore not just nail marks and scars from thorns, but a gash down his face. How could I possibly follow Jesus and buy anything from that master?

If we are content with discipleship that ends merely with generosity, we still serve money. Generosity is a beautiful response, but we should not confuse it with love. Generosity is merely what is expected; what is required is to return that which has been stolen. God did not create some of us rich and others of us poor.

Basil the Great, writing in the fourth century, put it this way: "When someone strips a man of his clothes, we call him a thief. And one who might clothe the naked and does not — should not he be given the same name? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat in your wardrobe belongs to the naked; the shoes you let rot belong to the barefoot; the money in your vaults belongs to the destitute." Or, in the words of Dorothy Day, "If you have two coats, one of them belongs to the poor." Should we not, then, return our stolen goods with humility, like a child returning a stolen candy bar to the grocery store clerk? Should we not cry out, in the words of St. Vincent de Paul: "May the poor man forgive me the bread I give him"?

Often wealthy folks ask me what they can do for the simple way. I could ask them for a few thousand dollars, but that would be too easy for both of us. Instead, I ask them to come visit. Writing a check makes us feel good and can fool us into thinking that we have loved the poor. But seeing the squat houses and tent cities and hungry children will wreck our lives. We will never again be the same.

As we have done this work and have accompanied others new to it, we've come to see a pattern. People join us with the idea of "saving the poor." Later, they say instead that "the poor saved me." But both comments have one thing in common. They revolve around me — what I have to give poor people and what they can give me. God wants us to move beyond ourselves to join all of creation in groaning for liberation. There we face, perhaps for the first time, the reality that we, too, are poor.

I believe the church has forgotten its identity. The church is not an institution, a meeting, or a building. It is not something we go to. The church is something we are — an organism, not an organization.

Instead of living out this alternative vision, the church has been content to be a broker between the rich and the poor. Both those trapped in poverty and those trapped in riches view the church as a distribution center, a place where the poor come to get stuff and the rich come to dump stuff. No radical new community is formed.

In this model, both go away satisfied (the rich feel good, the poor get fed) — but neither goes away transformed. They do not join together to discover a new way of living.

In ministering in this way, the church has adopted the model of many of our nonprofit organizations. Functionally, many nonprofits act as brokers between the rich and the poor. They facilitate the exchange of goods and services, putting plenty of professionals in the middle to guarantee that the rich do not have to face the poor and that power does not shift. Rich and poor are kept in separate worlds. Charity does not feed fundamental change.

Brokering poverty also seduces Christians into being gatekeepers to power. Our progressive movements are haunted by the temptation to facilitate power. If anything, the recent dismantling of the welfare system and the corresponding public praise of small attempts by churches, nonprofits, and other faith-based institutions to take up the slack has increased this pressure. Policies like charitable choice (where churches compete for federal funding to run social programs) allow our government to pat churches on the back: "You do a better job at managing poverty than we do, so we'll just discontinue our social supports and let you do the job!" And our churches, flattered and uncritical, scramble for the new state money like a prize.

In that model, the power structure has not budged. The power has merely changed hands. But power does not trickle down. Just as trickle-down economics has failed, trickle-down politics does not bring change.

Many beautiful Christians working for social change in a range of movements believe we can bring about fundamental change by using power benevolently rather than reworking the power equation. We see ourselves as the good guys who will use our influence for justice — and perhaps, in these terms, we succeed in getting our candidate on the ballot or elected. But the Christ we follow has a different, harder path--one of downward mobility, of struggling to become the least, of joining those at the bottom.

Several years ago, I was at a meeting where a new movement to end poverty was announced. I looked around. The only poor people in sight were the handful of people I had come with. Launching a movement to end poverty without poor people in critical roles is like launching a civil rights movement without Black people, or a feminist movement without women. As long as the poor are not present and intricately involved in the process, ending poverty will remain an intellectual, political concept. It will not convert us.

The church needs to stop talking about ending the pain of the poor and instead join the poor. All around us, the poor are crying out. They can no longer be silenced. Wherever that outcry is heard, the church must be present.

All this does not mean that social-service organizations do not do a great deal of good. I am not calling for all these organizations to be dismantled. But I am calling Christians to ask critical questions about their relationship to God's poor people.

I believe all our "programs" should have their genesis in true relationship. At our house, we tutor — but we did not start by deciding to do a tutoring program. We simply fell in love with kids who needed help with their homework. We feed people — but we did not begin with a decision to start a feeding program. We simply fell in love with our neighbors, and they were hungry.

We have now established a nonprofit organization ourselves, but we did this in order for the organization to serve us. We are not committed to the organization, but rather to our fellowship together.

I see many communities doing amazing things through established organizations. God can — and does — work through these organizations. But the reign of God dwells in people.

Those of us who yearn for the kingdom of God must follow in the steps of Jesus. Jesus was not "in charge" of the poor. He was poor. The message of Christ from the manger to the cross is that the world is conquered through weakness, through leastness, through struggle--not from the top, but from the bottom.

The people wanted a mighty Messiah. They got a baby refugee. They wanted a powerful king to take over Rome. They got a wandering homeless man. He could have saved the world with his mighty power, but he did it through his ridiculous love. The power of God lies in the brokenness of Jesus: naked, cursed, spit upon, with birds picking at his flesh as he died the rotten death of a criminal.

The great temptation of the church, and of every believer, is the offer Satan made to Jesus in the desert: to win the world with power. But power will not end poverty. We must discover another way of living.

Jesus did not set up a program, but rather modeled a way of living that incarnated the reign of God. That reign did not spread through organizational establishments or structural systems. It spread through touch, through breath, through life. It spread through people who discovered love.

I am haunted by the command of Jesus to love our neighbor as ourselves. I struggle because I sleep in a house while my neighbor sleeps in a cardboard box; I eat twice a day while my neighbor hasn't eaten once. I draw strength from following Jesus in community. I live with people who, if they pass someone with a worse pair of shoes, have taken their shoes off and switched; people who have quietly handed over winter jackets to someone they met on the street without a coat.

This is the reckless love of Jesus, which teaches us to see the connections between our wealth and our neighbor's poverty. The love of Jesus will teach us another way of doing life, a way that will bring God's reign to earth as it is in heaven. The reign of God is not for the future. It is something we live today.

Jesus reminds us that it is easy to love people who are just like us: "Even idolators do that" (Matt. 5:47). We are called to love those who hate us. Love those who create poverty, and love those who are trapped in it. See in each of them yourself — the same blood and tears We are all capable of the same evil, and we have potential for the same good. As one believer said, "In the oppressed I recognize my own face, and in the hands of the oppressor I recognize my own hands." From addicts I learn of my addiction, and from the saints I learn of my holiness.

The God of love and the love of God know no bounds. The unending love of Jesus teaches revolutionaries to love police officers, anarchists to love politicians, vegetarians to love meat eaters, peacemakers to love soldiers. This is the love that makes us the church.

Ultimately, only this radical love of Jesus can end the poverty-wealth dichotomy. When the rich meet the poor, together they will end wealth. When the poor meet the rich, together they will end poverty.

People do not get crucified for charity. People are crucified for living out a love that disrupts the social order, that calls forth a new world. People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them.

may He lead us from the darkness to the Light

2008-02-28T19:05:00.001-08:00

Christian militants disrupt our Senate's invocation prayer:

[via technorati, via talkingpointsmemo]

Who do these wee Christians reckon "the Deity Supreme" is? What do they reckon that is? What do they reckon that the Supreme Being their Hindoo brother prays to is if He isn't God? There is no God but God. God is One, there is just He: fundamental theological principle, of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, yes, and Hinduism, yes? This is such an entry level concept.

hard right xtian sex culture

2008-02-28T08:19:00.001-08:00

This from "Anthropotek", and worth quoting in full:

Re-virgin-ization breaking into news again:

Across the country, "revirginization" appears to be gaining steam. Spiritual efforts to reclaim virginity emerged back in the early 1990s and now, prompted by abstinence-only school courses taught to thousands of girls nationwide, and by religious teachers, there are reports of more and more young women like Watts attempting a sexual do-over. Other women are opting for a more radical route to reclaim their virginity: surgical replacement of the hymen, the small membrane that stretches from the walls of the vagina and that typically breaks when a woman first has intercourse — or for many other reasons, from tampon use to vigorous exercise.

In the last few years, say doctors who perform the surgery, a steady stream of patients, many motivated by the conflict between mores in this country versus their country of birth, or the country of their parents' birth, are interested. "The rate of inquiries is increasing," says Dr. Denise Baker, a Bradenton, Fla., surgeon who performs the procedure on about 100 women a year.

[via MSNBC]

Amazing -- the right traditionally eschews 'feel good' and relativistic 'feels good to me' theology for hardline fundamentalist, literalist readings of the Good Book. But here we have grown women, many times deflowered, claiming that they're prayer makes them "feel" like virgins again. And the megachurches are buying it wholesale... which opens the way for repairing the once-opened hymen with surgical technology.

Is that cosmetic surgery? Would be morbidly curious to see a meme map showing connections and overlays between this technologically accomplished (but thoroughly prayer-powered) re-writing of biological history & that most gruesome, disempowering (and also religiously motivated) act in sub-Saharan Africa -- female "circumcision".

Go read some Alice Walker, please.

Is there some bridge here between fundamentalist Christianity and fundamentalist Islam -- where the religion has to hit women where we live? Megachurches as germination beds for a reactionary theocratic right-wing-evangelical-southern-baptist-taleban?

Sophia, save us.

right reverend Micahel Nazir-Ali says

2008-02-27T08:15:00.000-08:00

The Bishop suggests Islam is a threat to Britons, to British culture:

Bishop Nazir-Ali, who remains under police protection with his family, went on to warn that unless Christianity fills the current "spiritual and moral vacuum" that has grown in Britian over the last 50 years Islam could its place.

"Do the British people really want to lose that rooting in the Christian faith that has given them everything they cherish - art, literature, architecture, institutions, the monarchy, their value system, their laws?" he asked.

{via ChristianToday}

That vacuum? That may be a spiritual vacuum, but it's not a moral one. And it's the fault of the Church that people don't play Church anymore. Somebody said 'the future of Christianity is contemplative -- or there will be no Christianity.' The rote and rule and empty rite has created the vacuum.

women reclaiming Islam

2008-02-27T07:33:00.000-08:00

Via [BBC News]:

Women 'reclaiming Islam'
American Muslims' determination to grasp the basic principles of their religion - rather than the sometimes harsh rules contributed by other cultures during its long history - grew out of the wreckage of the World Trade Center towers.

We've been working with a variety of organisations on really taking the teachings of Islam and delivering them without the baggage of tradition

Lena Alhusseini

Shahnaz Taplin Chinoy stands on Brooklyn Heights and surveys the southern tip of Manhattan. She recalls the events of 11 September 2001, and the moment she made it her mission to reclaim the Islam of her childhood.
"I was bombarded by questions from friends," she says. "They kept saying, 'why does Islam suppress women? Why does Islam condone violence?' I was flabbergasted at the Islam of the hijackers which was so disconnected with the Islam of my youth - which was not extremist at all."

a great Islamic Reformation

2008-02-26T17:15:00.000-08:00

Turkish scholars are looking carefully at the prophet Mohammed's (Peace Be Upon Him) hadiths, says the BBC [link]:

Turkey is intent on sweeping away that "cultural baggage" and returning to a form of Islam it claims accords with its original values and those of the Prophet.

Women are re-examining their portrayal in the scriptures

But this is where the revolutionary nature of the work becomes apparent. Even some sayings accepted as being genuinely spoken by Muhammad have been altered and reinterpreted.
Prof Mehmet Gormez, a senior official in the Department of Religious Affairs and an expert on the Hadith, gives a telling example.
"There are some messages that ban women from travelling for three days or more without their husband's permission and they are genuine.
"But this isn't a religious ban. It came about because in the Prophet's time it simply wasn't safe for a woman to travel alone like that. But as time has passed, people have made permanent what was only supposed to be a temporary ban for safety reasons."
The project justifies such bold interference in the 1,400-year-old content of the Hadith by rigorous academic research.
Prof Gormez points out that in another speech, the Prophet said "he longed for the day when a woman might travel long distances alone".
So, he argues, it is clear what the Prophet's goal was.

obama on faith

2008-02-26T08:49:00.000-08:00

O seems led by The Spirit.
Here's excerpts from one of the greatest speeches on being a modern Christian that I've ever heard:

[link to full video]

unity

2008-02-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Smacks of the 'new age', Unity does, but good gracious -- they really seem to have open hearts. Hugging planet earth with prayer.

The (almost, but not quite dogmatic) statements about the nature of God and Christ and the powers of affirmative thought and prayer are a bit of a turn off, sure. But any service that takes out a moment to sit in silent awe and be probably has more than a thin stripe of legitimacy.

lookin' good for Jesus

2008-02-12T16:15:00.001-08:00

A leading retailer in Singapore has withdrawn a cosmetics range with a Jesus theme after complaints from local Roman Catholics, local media report.
The range, named Lookin' Good for Jesus, was on sale at three Topshop outlets in the Asian city state.
Catholics complained the cosmetics' marketing was disrespectful, full of sexual innuendo and trivialised Christianity. [BBC NEWS]

Rev. Tom Honey

2008-02-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

@ TED Talks: "How Could God Have Allowed the Tsunami?"

This is a courageous talk for a Church of England vicar to have given. It concludes that certain traditional concepts of God just won't do ... and calls for believers and nonbelievers alike to dig deeper in their quest for truth.

Father Seán ÓLaoire

2008-02-11T10:25:00.001-08:00

has really excellent audio homilies here:
http://spiritsinspacesuits.com/mp3s.php
Father knows his scripture...
Overview of the first .mp3:

1. Mary Magdalene and the Mighty Mix-up
Speaks of the historical conflation of three women and of several stories; and the deliberate or accidental agenda around sex and sexism in the development of Christianity.

2. The Evolution of the Notion of Sin
Speaks of the development of the idea of sin from taboo-breaking to covenant-breaking to law-breaking to being asleep.

3. The Evolution of the Notion of Forgiveness
Speaks the development of the idea of forgiveness from tribal reintegration to rededication to covenant to priest-mediated reconciliation to Self-realization.

yaldabaoth strikes again

2008-02-09T17:17:00.001-08:00

dobson don't vote

2008-02-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

James Dobson is apparently not gonna vote in the general elections of November 08. He hasn't found a candidate he can support. And that makes sense -- theocrats don't really believe in representative democracy, after all. They believe in a strict goose-stepping cosmic monarchy, right?

myspace not for christians

2008-02-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

According to 'hisway' [link], MySpace is kinda like Sodom and Gomorrah and good Christians ought to have nothing to do with it. Quoth he:

Myspace is all about pride, selfish desires , lust of the flesh and outright evil. It amazes me how many people are blind to the devises of the enemy as they have not changed since the Garden of Eden.

The argument seems to be that you'll find "bad stuff" and "bad people" in MySpace, therefore it should be rent in wrath by the righteous. Godly folks, one must guess, should only hang out in social network sites like christianblog? Because that's like really representative of the diversity and complexity of God's creation? And because that's like really representative of the diversity of the human response to said creation? Huh.

dabbling in vexes too

2008-02-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

I was on a military base and I got into an argument with the manager of the base movie theater. We were chatting about history and I mentioned Dr. John Dee.

"Who's that?" he said.

"He was a Christian magician and adviser to Queen Elizabeth. Called on angels to help England defeat the Spanish Armada."

"Christian magician? He wasn't a Christian then."

"Yes he was. He was a Christian and a magician." ...Argument heated up from there.

Can you be a Christian and practice magick? Some put it like: you ought not suffer a witch to live. Some Christians say magick is what Jesus had in mind for his followers. Christian-witch hybrids are working their wicce right now. Some say our search engines are acting oracles, that the Internet has made us all players in a kind of cyber-tarot, whether orthodox, heterodox, agnostic, or acrostic.

Me, I don't reckon working with magick is a very good idea. Magick is messy, chaotic, and it tends to give people big-heads. For me, the "natural magic" of sitting and Being is enough. The magic is already in the world, working through us -- best to learn about its processes by sincere observation rather than dissection and control. And Christianity isn't really about controlling reality.

But that doesn't mean sincere Christians can't sincerely practice magick.

What do you think?

sharia law in the u.k.?

2008-02-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

Litigio-religious news from Great Britain: the Archbishop of Canterbury suggest the UK is heading toward partial Sharia law:

Under English law, people may devise their own way to settle a dispute in front of an agreed third party as long as both sides agree to the process.
Muslim Sharia courts and the Jewish Beth Din which already exist in the UK come into this category.
Dr Williams' comments are likely to fuel the debate over multiculturalism in the UK.
Last month, one of Dr William's colleagues, the Bishop of Rochester, said that non-Muslims may find it hard to live or work in some areas of the UK.
The Right Reverend Dr Michael Nazir-Ali said there was "hostility" in some areas and described the government's multicultural policies as divisive.
He said there had been a worldwide resurgence of Islamic extremism, leading to young people growing up alienated from the country they lived in.
He has since received death threats and has been placed under police protection.

[From BBC News]

quitting gayness in New Life Church

2008-02-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

...apparently hasn't been easy for Pastor Haggard [link]. When are the New Lifers going to start going after some of the other abominations... like the folks who eat birds of prey? Or having a haughty tongue? These abominations deserve attention too, no? Though I grant it seems likely Haggard is abominable in more than one dimension...

gnostic homily for ash wednesday

2008-02-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

I like this part of Rev. Marshall's homily:

Not until we know the Self as one can we overcome our addictive attachments to worldly things and truly enjoy what we possess on earth. Those who put on this light of Self-knowledge will pass by the archons while in the world and make their mystical ascent into the light. According to the Gospel of Philip:
"Not only will the archons be unable to detain the perfect ones, but they will not be able to see them, for if they see them, they will detain them. There is no other way for a person to acquire this quality except by putting on the perfect light and becoming perfect oneself. Everyone who has put this on will enter the Kingdom. This is the perfect light, and it is necessary that we by all means become perfect ones before we leave the world."
In the Lenten purification with the ashes we can take on this perfect light, not in another world after death, but here in this flesh. In this manner, we return our dust to dust, and find beneath it the fiery being and incorruptible light of our true Self—the Christ within.

heathens

2008-02-05T17:48:00.000-08:00

I finally got my hands on a copy of Iron John again (a great book) and it's stirred an interest in me to go see what the heathens are up to these days... especially after thinking about the connection between ash wednesday and the ash tree that Odin hung himself on.

Here's some of what I happened on:
The AFA is looking for new members.
Asahel is looking for meaning, and blogging.
Ranting heathens.
A pagan dad.
Pagan menfolk site.
Witchvox. Respeck.
Starhawk is still at it.
Ray Buckland is still at it.
Don't forget Robert Bly, whether pagan or not.

Just noticing.
Carry on.

(Asatru types work hard to disclaim racism, don't they? What about Wiccans -- are their covens exclusive to euro-descended folks, or open to all? Curious. Some of that old Northern Euro "volkish" talk gets pretty awful pretty quick.)

ash

2008-02-05T14:23:00.000-08:00

About Ash Wednesday...

Wikipedia has:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday

Catholic Encyclopedia:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01775b.htm

About:
http://catholicism.about.com/od/holydaysandholidays/f/2008_Ash_Wed.htm

A Gnostic Homily:
http://www.gnosis.org/ecclesia/homily_AshWednesday.htm

Psalm 51:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_51
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Bible%2C_King_James%2C_Psalms#Psalm_51

And the ash is also Yggdrasil, the old Norse 'world tree'... and didn't Odin hang himself upside down there, and pierce his own side, until he brought the word of the Runes into being?

the feast before the fast

2008-02-05T14:16:00.000-08:00

Just thinking about Lenten and Carnival. Me? Off coffee for 40 days. But today it's gonna be 4 or 5 cups to glut, so I'm really glad to say goodbye to it when the tinny shakes take hold and metal mouth sets in good.

Anyway. Happy Mardi Gras.

revealing religious scholars for media

2008-02-05T12:54:00.000-08:00

Interesting -- The Revealer's 'talking heads' page [link]...

The Revealer was created first and foremost as a resource for journalists and media makers. To that end, we seek to bridge the divide between media makers and academe. Following is a guide to scholars from around the world who work with New York University's Center for Religion and Media and would like to work with journalists and media makers. They're among the big thinkers in their respective fields, but they're not "authorities"; by their involvement with the Center for Religion and Media, they signal their commitment to the idea of media as an ongoing conversation, one in which the expertises of scholars, media makers, and ordinary people complement one another rather than competing for the last word.

force vs foreigner

2008-02-05T12:18:00.000-08:00

I've got to come down on the side of Light Saber. The Force beats solar-powered accidents of alien biology.Many other answers to the question may be found here [link].

the failure of man

2008-02-04T23:14:00.000-08:00

Over at Infosthetics, see biblical infographic diagrams.

Mostly sad attempts to make sense of Larkin's world.

The plumbing diagrams of the Great Mystery, hawked carnival-style:

be not a pharisee

2008-02-04T22:48:00.000-08:00

Somebody said to me, said: be not a Pharisee, meditating all alone, judging those bodies you don't take communion with.

And that's a helluva thing.

Seeking a cave with a candle and a parcel of ration bread, we don't witness, do we? Got to get that candle out from under the bushel, be brave enough to learn from "mere" literalists, and brave enough to witness under threat of slander to the Kingdom here, the Kingdom now (may grace grant the ability and the right intention...).

witnessing and islam

2008-02-04T22:32:00.000-08:00

1. Now I don't like no damn censorship -- read me not wrong -- but this here [link] speaks to the power of letting the purity of your mindful presence be the witness. Evangelizing with your words and names and grammars? Does not compare.

2. Grow up, Malaysia. Ideas swim. Get it?

3. When are the Sufi-types going to gain popular cultural weight with Muslims again? Huh?

4. When are the Christians going to learn to see the planks in their eyes? Huh? (not one in one thousand, not two in ten thousand... will I be one of them? will you?)

dabbling vexes

2008-02-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Magick and your dabbling with Spirit does no good. You, in the end, get dabbled with. Remember Victor? You just can't encompass the doxa. You get shoved left or right by the field, scrabbling around for dregs, for a few meaningful words, for a little starlight to steer by. You get dealt out. There's no ontological bearing, and you're adrift in your own irrelevance, relatively genius.

Do yourself a favor: Just sit. You be the hungry toad in the muddy bank. So go mad or get real.

thomas and elaine

2008-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

Listening to Elaine Pagels on the Gospel of Thomas... a good presentation. At several points she could have had a knee-jerk liberal response (overly apologetically ecumenical response), but she chooses to look the issue square-on and say that she doesn't know what it means but it troubles her too (I'm thinking about the saying of Jesus about bringing a sword).

Anyways, good on Dr. Pagels. Good on her for bringing forth what was within those jars at Nag Hammadi.

We've all got to come to our own peace with what Jesus said, and that's not easy.

christians and buddhists

2008-02-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a nice essay by John Shore [link to Crosswalk.com] [link to his blog].
Excerpt:

That our Christian friend in the orange cap meant well isn’t in question. Of course he only wanted what was best for Catherine and me. But he failed to interest us in Christianity because his evangelizing effort was grounded in what all such efforts are necessarily grounded in: A lack of respect on the part of the evangelizer. He didn’t respect us, or our belief system.

By disrespecting us, the evangelizer proved to my wife and me that he did not love us, because love without respect is no love at all. And by not loving us, that brother was breaking what Jesus himself called the greatest law of all: To love your neighbor as you love yourself.

I’m a Christian, and proud of it. But unless I’m missing something so huge it’d be like a car parked in my living room, that Christian was violating Christ’s most important and explict directive to all Christians. I’d like that not to be true, but I just can’t see how it isn’t.

Evangelicals are killing Christianity, y'all... at least it looks like they're trying their damndest to.

Anybody ever heard of Kennedy Roshi? Or Habito Roshi?

(And look at good old Deshimaru here, making fun of Bodhidharma... Can your Oklahoma City evangelical make fun of Moses or Paul?)

wiccans, aye up

2008-02-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

Ecclesia Gnostica links to a nice one at Dianne Sylvan's.

Aye, Christians need such a list...

I don't care what the name of your religion is.

I care that your religion has made you a kinder, more compassionate person.

prayer and poverty

2008-02-04T13:52:00.000-08:00

A great talk by John Main on "The Grand Poverty of the Mantra" [link to .mp3] over at the World Community for Christian Meditation website...

The essential task for the Christian is to understand poverty as the condition of spiritual development, to see prayer as the deepening of our conversion -- of our turning from 'self' to God in faith.

... the mantra is the sacrament of our poverty in prayer.

Hoeller in PARANOIA

2008-02-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

"The Suppressed Teachings of Gnosticism"

I mean, Dr. Hoeller's view isn't exactly noncontroversial... but I find myself partial to his take, rosy-goggled and benefit-of-the-doubt as it may at times seem to be. (Note -- this is 5 years old now)

How would you describe Gnosticism to someone who's never heard of it before?

I think we could describe it as a very early form of Christianity, very different in many respects from what Christianity became later on. It is much more individualistic. It is much more orientated toward the personal, spiritual advancement and transformation of the individual, regarding figures such as Jesus as being helpers rather than sacrificial saviors. It is a form of religion that has a much more ecumenical and universal scope in terms of its relationship to spiritual, religious traditions other than the Christian.

post singularity tesseractian sects

2008-02-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

or multidimensional post-evolutionary autopoietic quantum Christ-ing?

...or something like that.

Christian transhumans, or Transhuman Christians: they gots a technopoly on tha theologies.

Wikipedia has a splash [link], but you'll find more here [link] and here [link]. Some in the archives at JET, too...

Most of this seems to be a heavy-handed approach to Teilhard de Chardin... but I haven't yet read it deeply. Techno-noosphere? WIRED did a story on that too, some years back (Wow -- 13 years ago now).

agnostic, gnostic, or non agnostic?

2008-02-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

This blog logs happenings relevant to prayer, mysticism, "alternative Christianity", meditation, and related items. Doesn't seem to be much out there in bloggish, newsy format on the web for the un-sanctimonious Western seeker.

Hopefully this is a move in that direction.

This ain't straight-edge, orthodox, or new-age.

Friends include Merton, Deshimaru, Amma, Tutu, and Pearson.

Peace & Love...

Non Agnostic

bishop attacked in Turkey

david gibson on ted haggard

the debate nobody has with hitchens

Pentacostal drum 'n bass: disinfo

wahabi

mars hill theology

osteen

news roundup

td jakes dfw

uganda sex death

jesus in baghdad

ramadan, lent

this green and pleasant land

Borg: a way, the way

Song of Songs

heidi montag: kinda baptist

obama dobson 2

infinitude

The Infinite

rob bell, bullhorn

latin site:.va

Vatican gives Latin online boost

c.o.e. says: 'no Blake'; e.l.p.: rocked

crappy christians

hello to papa

fishy mitre

peace with nicene creed

good luck getting them to visit your town

egina3: hail Sophia, Hypatia, Eve, Mary, Lilith...

my rock

jesus for president?

shane claiborne's litany

swank on liberation theology

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Rosicrucians

megachurch at wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

Elements of a McChurch

Related words

See also

black liberation theology

Theological basis

Controversy

South African Black theology

Black religious scholars

See also

eck, hu, eckankar; surat shabd yoga

Aramaic of Jesus

Cultural and linguistic background

Aramaic phrases in the Greek New Testament

Talitha qoum (Ταλιθα κουμ)

Ephphatha (Εφφαθα)

Abba (Αββα)

Raca (Ρακα)

Mammon (Μαμωνας)

Rabboni (Ραββουνει)

Maranatha (μαρανα θα)

Eli Eli lema sabachthani (Ηλει Ηλει λεμα σαβαχθανει)

Jot and tittle (ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία)

Korbanas (κορβανας)

Sikera (σικερα)

Hosanna (ὡσαννά)

References

jesus on power

My Kingdom is not of this World

lion in the water

lion in the water

sacred harp, or shape note singing

The Sacred Harp

voodoo on dreamland

Exterminatrix of Heresies

perpetual virginity

truthiness?

Mallika Chopra and Family

The Jesus Inside Me (by Mallika Chopra)

Faraj Rahho

mccain catholics hagee

sexual morality