There was a time when religious freedom was a big deal to Americans. It used to be at least a consideration. I mean, it is in the Constitution and all. People have asked for all kinds of things — psychedelic mushrooms, exclusion from the draft, not to get blood transfusions when they’re bleeding to death … Read more
Thanks to a pointer from Justin Taylor, here’s that rarest of things: an article that attempts to apply thoughtful, Biblical logic to an argument over gay rights: Our culture has conditioned us to believe that “loving our neighbor” requires accepting them as they are. We now excuse all manner of behavior that our holy God … Read more
Natasha Crain responds to comments from a reader who grew up Christian but later became an atheist. In doing so, she offers some good advice to Christian parents whose kids are going to grow up in a world that’s ever more hostile to their faith: Atheist Reader: We no longer live in closed monotheistic Christian … Read more
Here’s Acculturated on the early notices for the upcoming movie Noah: Then there is Darren Aronofsky’s Noah. My close friend Brian Godawa, screenwriter and Bible scholar, thoroughly examined Noah in his excellent movie blog on the basis of an early draft of the script. He reports that it displays a “violent hatred of humanity” and … Read more
I’m a pretty easy going guy, but I have two main pet peeves: 1) People who leave their shopping carts rolling around in the parking lot. The stores install those cart corrals (which already take up valuable parking places) for a reason. Would it kill you to roll your cart into it, instead of leaving … Read more
As an introvert who continues to struggle with my condition, I found a lot to like in this two-part post from Holly Ordway: an introvert’s perspective on sharing your faith in public. Here are some highlights: So when I was an atheist, I would have responded very badly indeed to a Cheerful Extrovert for Jesus … Read more
Ok, this is unrelated to anything; it’s just a question that’s been nagging me for a while: Why does every new car have a touchscreen for controlling all of it’s interior functions? Jalopnik has a post on potential issues therewith: Cars are getting less dependable, but it’s not so much to do with typical mechanical … Read more
Hey there, single friend. Now that all that Valentine’s Day ugliness is behind us, lean in close and let’s have a real heart-to-heart. I know, when a married person tries to give you “single people advice,” it usually goes like this: “Hey, I understand exactly how you feel. I really struggled with singleness for that … Read more
From The Huffington Post profile of Lecrae: The morning after Graham’s birthday bash, Lecrae flew to Las Vegas to attend the Soul Train Awards. “That was completely different worlds,” he said. You don’t say. An interesting article all around, about Lecrae and Christian music and his place in it.
From Prager University, a neat little explanation of why cutting tax rates doesn’t always mean reducing government revenue. So, if there’s a point at which raising tax rates leads to less government revenue, why do advocates of big government always want higher and higher taxes? It’s not because they don’t understand the Laffer Curve; they … Read more
How does someone raised as a devout Muslim end up becoming an evangelical Christian? And does that change make him more or less likely to wear a turtleneck with a sports jacket? (He doesn’t really address that, but I wonder.) Let Nabeel Qureshi, who has more guts than I will ever dream about having, explain: (Via … Read more
I subscribe to a survivalist/prepper blog called ITS Tactical (because I’m planning on becoming an unstoppable special forces commando as soon as I finish this bag of Doritos). They recently published a post on surviving cold weather conditions. As the post described symptoms associated with the onset of hypothermia, it struck me that the descriptions … Read more
Now that I have a daughter, I plan to do everything in my power to raise her to be just like this: And I will make a video like this, and I will play it on a loop for every boy who comes to pick her up. “Ok, you kids have fun. Oh, wait, have … Read more
Connor Wood has a compelling post on the history, and the future, of the ongoing slap-fight between science and religion. There are a lot of quotable parts, so I’m going to quote a lot: since the 19th century, the religion-science divide has been encouraged by the popularizers of Science for the sake of their profession. What … Read more
According to The New Republic (“liberals who can be reasoned with”), it’s 36 days: “Humorous responses to Sandy’s destruction rose, peaked, and eventually fell over the course of 100 days,” wrote McGraw. “We find that temporal distance creates a comedic sweet spot. A tragic event is difficult to joke about at first, but the passage … Read more
Well, it seems that Donald Miller has stirred up a mini-firestorm. A couple of days ago, he posted an article about how he doesn’t really dig on church worship services and so he worships God in other ways. I thought it was an interesting take, and I was largely supportive of it. But I didn’t … Read more
As someone who doesn’t really get into the churchy worship experience, this post from Donald Miller really speaks to me: …I experience an intimacy with God I consider strong and healthy. It’s just that I don’t experience that intimacy in a traditional worship service. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of … Read more
The Come Reason blog addresses the need for Christians to be able to engage non-believers with good arguments: …when arguing, one must be skilled in providing a thoughtful exchange. One must know the techniques in arguing and how to properly argue. It is tragic that so many Christians today seek to engage those who hold … Read more
On Super Bowl Sunday, sports and religion intersect like no other day in American life (possible exceptions: anytime Notre Dame and BYU play each other in anything; Joel Osteen’s church-wide foosball tournament). Walter Russell Mead shares the stats and adds a dose of good sense: According toa recent survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), … Read more
Personally, in that fight, I’d put my money on the “Wrath” God. But there doesn’t have to be a fight; D.A. Carson explains how to reconcile the Old Testament image of God with the New Testament image of God: (Via Justin Taylor)