This is a cross-post of a blog entry on my site, returngood.com, which focuses on Christian nonviolence.
Adherents of Christian nonviolence are often lazy and scared.
There. I said it.
We are often too lazy to actually read relevant reports and offer nonviolent alternatives in current violent situations. We tend to give pat answers, wring our hands about the difference between "violence" and "force" and walk away.
We are also often too scared of falling flat because we haven’t thought out exactly how a nonviolent method of dealing with real, identifiable badness would play out.
Nonviolent Christians, it’s time we played ball. And we could do a lot worse than to start with al-Qaida (AQ).
John McCain was asked to discuss his Christianity for almost an hour last night. He effortlessly rattled off the politically correct answers to each issue that is supposed to be of great importance to the faith-based community, including abortion, gay marriage and stem cell research.
But there was one large gaping hole in the discussion. When asked what it meant to be a Christian, he answered, "I'm forgiven, saved."
Forgiven? From what and by whom? Saved? From what and by whom?
Every born again, evangelical Christian needs to be asking themselves how a professing Christ-follower can discuss his faith for almost an hour and never once mention the name of Jesus. Not once.
Hot chicks sometimes prefer intellectual writer types, but more often they go for the athletic go-getters.
Did McCamp miss the memo about hot chicks? Check this out. Hot chicks usually don't go out with political geeks, especially not the kind who are full of themselves and lie constantly. That lets me off the hook, because I am a novelist (sooo much cooler), but doesn't bode so well for McCain's campaign team.
Just to be fair, hot chicks probably do like B., a whole lot, but I am not jealous like McCain and company. I'm considering running for president too, you know, just to inform the cougars out there I'm available (if you have a private jet). I would so like to have more homes than the McCrazy-Riches. Make my dream come true, and marry this blogger into your world of wealth. I prefer shaken, not stirred.
Nietzsche talks about how Christian fundamentalism is outdated. And Bishop Spong goes even farther, arguing that theism is no longer a valid way of understanding God. In that regard, he carries on the meme first promoted by Nietzsche that God is Dead. But, that said, it is much harder to prove a negative than it is to prove a positive. The fact of the matter is that despite the advances of science and technology, the Big Bang that started it all is still shrouded in mystery.
As Irrationalbutsane notes in his or her diary today, some in the MSM have adopted a new narrative that seems, at first blush, counter to the smears we on the left have come to expect. Upon closer inspection, however, these are just smears dressed up but not terribly well hidden as snark and hate. At least three columnists, including Maureen Dowd an erstwhile liberal, have embraced the narrative that Obama is both prophet, king, savior, and god. Some putrid examples after the jump...
If Ambinder is right, the talk of a McCain VP selection this week is a diversion to try to drum up some positive coverage (because Barack Obama already looks like the President).
ENPR Special: Sources say McCain Veep Pick to Come This Week 07/21/2008 Sources close to Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign are suggesting he will reveal the name of his vice presidential selection this week while Sen. Barack Obama is getting the headlines on his foreign trip.
John McCain will huddle with vice presidential aspirant Bobby Jindal during a trip to New Orleans later this week, sources close to the campaign confirm to The Fix.
I'm writing today because I'm increasingly concerned that no one is paying attention to the biggest resource depletion crisis looming on the horizon. No, I'm not talking about peak oil, or peak metal, or peak civil liberties.
No, this is much more dangerous. There is a resource that is vital to us, imported form the Middle East, and we're going through it like we're never going to run out.
Well, we are running out, and I for one am not going to let it slip under the radar. Its time we prepared, as a movement and as a nation, for the real threat to global civilization:
Today, Senator Obama spoke about his plan to bring money to faith-based programs. And while there is no doubt that many of these programs work and Obama would do a much more even-handed job of getting them money than Bush ever did, he also talked about faith and our obligations to help others. In that regard, Obama has set standards for himself to follow.
This is an old video I made early in the primary....but James Dobson reminded me of it today by attacking Barack Obama and everyone else who doesn't just agree with James Dobson. Enjoy.
Maybe I should edit / update it or something. Aside from the very beginning it's all very current, really. And no, I'm not trying to sound like a Sheen. That's just how my voice comes out.
Democratic Presidential Nominee Barack Obama, a senior lecturer on Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, does not understand the Constitution. This is according to Dr. James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family. Dobson, who has a Ph.D. in child development from the University of Southern California, also claims that Obama does not understand the Bible.
As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.
Dobson bases his claims on a June 2006 speech by Obama. In that speech, Obama asked whether chapters like Leviticus, which suggests slavery is OK while eating shellfish is an abomination, or Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, which "is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application", should guide public policy.
I just love Christian websites. They provide so much inspiration...for tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. I think I hit the mother lode today. The following questionnaire is intended as a tool for parents to insure that their children haven't become pagans or begun to stray from true Christian doctrine.
After all, Satan and his minions are constantly on the prowl for vulnerable and impressionable Christians. Should there be any doubt, one can simply take a look at all of the twisted and tortured Christian pastors and politicians who have been caught in compromising situations.
I've taken the opportunity to provide my own irreverent answers to these "important" questions. While my answers dramatically deviate from those provided on the site of origin, they might actually make you grin. Whether that makes you a pagan is open to debate.
First, full disclosure: I was raised as Catholic boy and spent four years in a seminary where I earned my masters in religion. Still, if I were running for president of these United States in this or any other year, I’d insist that my religion is my business and would refuse to get into a conversation about it no matter how much pundit and opposition pressure there was about how the voters need to know so they know my values. My stance would be quite simple: As a public office seeker, I place my highest value on the Constitution, especially the First Amendment separation of Church and State. As soon as a candidate for public office starts trafficking in his religious beliefs, he has crossed that clearly inviolable line. Period. End of Discussion.
John McCain, on the heels of rejecting two fundamentalist preachers who had endorsed him, has had to deal with another controversy involving religon. McCain has issued a statement in which he denounced Jesus Christ for controversial statements made by the Son of God over 2000 years ago.
