Links Roundup

I think you’ll enjoy this interview I did with Steve McSwain:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/interview-with-emergent-church-leader_b_5213401.html?utm_hp_ref=email_share
Speaking of interviews, here’s an excellent one for Christian educators – with my friend Suzanne Ross: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/teachingnonviolentatonement/2014/04/faith-forward-the-future-of-christian-education-part-2/
There have been so many disturbing news headlines lately, including several relating to the death penalty. In this reflection on that subject, Southern Baptist Jonathan Merritt takes on Southern Baptist Albert Mohler:
http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2014/05/02/capital-punishment-dont-start-old-testament/ Quotable:

After this week’s botched execution in Oklahoma, Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, argued why Christians should support the death penalty at CNN.com. Grounding his argument in Genesis 9:6, where Noah is told that anyone guilty of intentional murder should be put to death, Mohler says, “The one who intentionally takes life by murder forfeits the right to his own life.”
…. Such thinking requires a bit of arbitrary Biblical picking and choosing.

Even more powerful is Jonathan’s Atlantic piece on the subject. Quotable:

The most reliable predictor of whether someone will be sentenced to death is not the amount of evidence, but the race of the victim. Geography is also an important factor, which is why a handful of counties are responsible for most of the executions in the United States. And then of course wealth is a factor, as almost all death-row inmates could not afford their own attorney. Though Americans often boast about a system that provides equal justice for all, the reality is that factors outside of the case’s merits often determine its outcome. It’s hard to imagine that a Jesus who aligned himself with the poor and powerless, marginalized and maligned would support the broken system we often call “justice” in America.

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