Links round-up
Here are a whole bunch of links that I've found interesting lately ...
On the election:
My friend Alan Bean has some strong words for white Evangelicals here.
My friend (and neighbor) Dave Anderson offers some pastoral words for conservative Evangelicals here.
The good people at Faith and Public Life, Sojourners, and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good just released a really important report on what we can learn about the American religious landscape from their post-election survey. Very interesting and important - here.
For a laugh:
Here's the famous prayer scene from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
Some inspiration:
Karen Armstrong is leading an initiative to create a Charter for Compassion. Here's a short video, and links to ways you can get involved and help create it ...
On music:
This week I wanted to go to a concert by Bifrost but missed it. You can hear some of their music here.
For my fellow Bruce Cockburn fans - here's a great podcast.
On human sexuality:
My friend Tony Jones is going to be part of a beliefnet dialogue about gay marriage this week. You can find links and reflections here ...
Andrew Lang introduces an important paper he wrote on the subject of homosexuality and Christian tradition here ...
My friend Graeme Codrington wrote a courageous article called What the Bible says about Homosexuality. It stirred up a lot of hot controversy, and Graeme graciously invited a more civil dialogue here.
I hope my conservative friends will give a compassionate hearing to Keith Olberman's recent special comment on Proposition 8 in California. Your mind probably won't be changed, but perhaps it will be informed so you can better understand those of us who cannot follow the standard conservative line on the issue.
Are you Catholic?
Here's a great article on the Kingdom of God, especially for Catholics, here. My books SMJ and EMC along with SWFOI all deal extensively with the subject as well.
Please spread the word about the first "catholic emergent" event being hosted by Father Richard Rohr ... info here. Richard and I will be joined by Phyllis Tickle, Shane Claiborne, Alexie Torres-Fleming, and I hope by you as well - whether you're Catholic, Protestant, or "other."
0 Comments3 Minutes
immigration in europe
Here's an open letter from my friend Sam Lee to the prime minister of the Netherlands. It will give you a feel for how the immigration issue is being addressed by a thoughtful Christian pastor/activist there ...
0 Comments1 Minute
justice …
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." -Proverbs 31:8-9
Here's a video about some good people seeking to live out these words from Proverbs 31.
0 Comments1 Minute
a prayer about the earth …
The poignant prayer of confession was written by my friend Ted Durr ... It was inspired by Psalm 78
Dear God,
You, who have done so much, please receive this confession from us, who honor [what you have done] so poorly.
On Monday we breathe air you give us. We remember not to keep it clean.
On Tuesday we fill soil with nitrogen, minerals, and trace of salt. We call this enrichment. We remember not how it poisons earth.
On Wednesday we spew out carbon and refuse. We remember not how You made Earth To Be One living, breathing Whole.
On Thursday we dam up a stream and remember not the creatures who live there.
On Friday we fly away to ‘quaint places’, and remember not the balance of land, people, and ancestors who go back to beginnings.
On Saturday we celebrate consuming ways and call it blessing; we drive over paved acres, and call it progress; we dirt-bike on forest trails, and litter Nature; we watch flickering pixels and think they are real. We remember little, because we care too little.
On Sunday we sing, praise, listen, and pray, and call it ‘worship’. Today we ask: Dear God, having lived the past week with us: What do You call it? What do You remember? Dare we ask?
Please hear us, forgive us, and help us to get it better. Amen.
(A prayer of confession suggested by Psalm 78, written by Rev. Ted Durr)
0 Comments2 Minutes
A Theology of Guantanamo Bay
I had a fascinating dinner with my friend Ziya Meral last night. A human rights activist, he has written a provocative theological reflection on Guantanamo Bay. You can read it here.
A powerful quote:
If Jesus were caught living the vicious subversive Gospel today, he would not be on a wooden cross, since the wooden cross no longer symbolizes what it did then: the dishonouring and dehumanization of the individual in the presence of the entire city as a punishment. He would be wearing an orange jumper, living in a cage, dishonoured and dehumanized, in the presence of the entire world who behold all this on the TV screen.
Another powerful quote:
I believe that the Western church has one final chance to offer an alternative to an increasingly polarizing world. If we miss this opportunity too, I am afraid the modern church will lose all of its moral standing, or whatever is left of it.
0 Comments1 Minutes