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Weekly Meanderings

Weekly Meanderings

Last updated on: September 10, 2011 at 12:02 am by Scot McKnight

Weekly Meanderings 2011-09-09T19:29:18-05:00 Scot McKnight

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

April’s very important telling of a story about redemption through suffering. And Josh writes to his boys.

Lise: the personal is political. K. Rex Butts sketches in some ideas about the banning of instrumental music in restorationist churches.

Many are asking this one: What to preach on 9/11? And here’s a second set of reflections by Allan. And this means stories, like these from Christine. And it also means perspective, like that of John Fea.

The best Bible texts now available online. (HT: AR)

Readers of this blog need to see this new blog at Brazos, which features a video interview with Christian Smith about his new book … and the blog has other things too! Tim Dalton helps us know the greatest theologians of the church. And John Stackhouse helps us understand evangelicalism, ruffling some feathers in process. And Roger Olson is “against Calvinism” — with nuances.

:mic on unexpected encounters. A pastor reflects on praying with your feet.

Ann Voskamp on the struggle to find time for prayer. Ted’s wondering. Rebecca Trotter dives into the women and submission debate.

On abortion (HT: JT), by Scott Klusendorf: “The case for elective abortion based on the alleged silence of Scripture is weak. First, the Bible’s silence on abortion does not mean that its authors condoned the practice, but that prohibitions against it were largely unnecessary. The Hebrews of the Old Testament and Christians of the New were not likely to kill their offspring before birth. Second, we don’t need Scripture to expressly say elective abortion is wrong before we can know that it’s wrong. The Bible affirms that all humans have value because they bear God’s image. The facts of science make clear that from the earliest stages of development, the unborn are unquestionably human. Hence, Biblical commands against the unjust taking of human life apply to the unborn as they do other human beings. Third, abortion advocates cannot account for basic human equality. If humans have value only because of some acquired property like self-awareness, it follows that since this acquired property comes in varying degrees, basic human rights come in varying degrees. Theologically, it’s far more reasonable to argue that although humans differ immensely in their respective degrees of development, they are nonetheless equal because they share a common human nature made in the image of God.”

We were at this very site on Bunker Bay, and a young surfer began to talk to us about sharks and how to minimize risk. Sad story.

What is anarchism anyway?

Meanderings in the News

A history of American political slurs, and a must (and fun) read. Not the least the one about Ignoramus Abe, and this: “After Lincoln and Tennessean Andrew Johnson received the Republican nomination, the New York World fulminated: “The age of statesmen is gone; the age of rail splitters … has succeeded … In a crisis of the most appalling magnitude … the country is asked to consider the claims of two ignorant, boorish, third-rate backwoods lawyers.”

This is a good report of how brain and politics are connected.

Good news in Turkey: returning confiscated properties. “The Turkish state began seizing properties in 1936 The Turkish government has agreed to return hundreds of confiscated properties to the country’s non-Muslim minorities. The European Union has joined Christian and Jewish communities in praising Turkey’s historic step. The Turkish government has pledged to return hundreds of properties confiscated from religious minorities over the last 75 years, a decision lauded by the European Union and Turkey’s Christian and Jewish communities. Former owners of any property or land sold on to a third party are also to be refunded the market value by the state treasury.”

Somebody read Genesis 3 in the wrong direction! “SACRAMENTO, California (AP) – A snake bite left the victim seriously hurt, but the injured party isn’t whom you’d expect. Police say a python underwent emergency surgery after a man allegedly bit the creature twice.”

Brad Wright, who’s been telling us that the news isn’t as bad as some think, might be one who says, “But this one just might be some bad news.” The US Postal System by Steven Greenhouse: “The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.”

College rankings and ratings, by Daniel de Vise: “Bob Morse is a wonk, a number-cruncher who works in a messy office at a struggling publishing company in Georgetown. He’s also one of the most powerful wonks in the country, wielding the kind of power that elicits enmity and causes angst. Morse runs U.S. News & World Report’s annual Best Colleges guide, the oldest and best-known publication to rank America’s premier colleges. The annual release of the rankings, set for Sept. 13 this year, is a marquee event in higher education. Some call it the academic equivalent of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.”

Robert Reich, the evidence is the shrinking middle class he says: ” Look back over the last hundred years and you’ll see the pattern. During periods when the very rich took home a much smaller proportion of total income — as in the Great Prosperity between 1947 and 1977 — the nation as a whole grew faster and median wages surged. We created a virtuous cycle in which an ever growing middle class had the ability to consume more goods and services, which created more and better jobs, thereby stoking demand. The rising tide did in fact lift all boats. During periods when the very rich took home a larger proportion — as between 1918 and 1933, and in the Great Regression from 1981 to the present day — growth slowed, median wages stagnated and we suffered giant downturns. It’s no mere coincidence that over the last century the top earners’ share of the nation’s total income peaked in 1928 and 2007 — the two years just preceding the biggest downturns.”

Roger Simmemaker says “buy American!”New Balance is one of the few American manufacturers of athletic shoes, so it only makes sense that Simmermaker, 46, author of “How Americans Can Buy American,” wears that brand. With [last] Monday being Labor Day, a U.S. unemployment rate of 9.1% and a creeping dread about the economy, Simmermaker is part of a renewed movement to persuade American consumers to buy products made in the U.S. to advance economic growth and keep people working. For too long, movement leaders say, consumers have ignored where products are made and simply chased what they believe is the most inexpensive price — ultimately enriching countries like China and keeping workers there employed. “It’s important to understand that workers in China don’t pay taxes to America,” Simmermaker said “Only American workers do. And American companies typically pay twice as much in taxes to the U.S. Treasurycompared with foreign-owned companies.”

E-readers and traditional magazines, some reflections by Prospero: “The more general question, however, is whether publishers like Amazon (and particularly Amazon) represent a threat to the older magazine model, in which a variety of articles are bundled together and sold for a price that, even on the newsstand, is lower than what a reader would expect to pay if buying everything piecemeal. Part of the reason readers buy magazines is because they are comfortable outsourcing some of the decision-making about content delivery, and welcome the fact that magazines curate the news. The last issue of the New Yorker, for example, included articles about Mr Perry, the gold standard, tarot cards, Wikipedia, Syria, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia, and Rin Tin Tin. Few readers are interested in every article, but most will enjoy several of them. And magazine buyers tend to enjoy the serendipity of stumbling upon something that turns out to be fascinating. I don’t think I’ve read anything serious about tarot cards, for example, but I am more likely to read about it the New Yorker than I am to buy something a la carte, given that the subject never interested me before. It may be that e-publications will eat up part of the magazine market, but brands with a strong editorial line and loyal readers should fair pretty well.”

Hungary’s gotten aggressive about being hungry for the wrong things: “In an effort to address rising obesity rates and health care costs, Hungary on Thursday implemented a law imposing special taxes on foods with high fat, salt and sugar content. The move comes as other European countries also consider policies to fight obesity.”

Just in case you didn’t see the report about the young man who somehow faked being a physician’s assistant for a few days.

Weekly Meanderings

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September 9, 2011

Response to a Letter about Alcohol Consumption

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September 10, 2011 Peter Leithart on 9/11

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