Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Jesus Creed

Home
Evangelical
Weekly Meanderings, 29 November 2014

Weekly Meanderings, 29 November 2014

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:11 pm by Scot McKnight

Weekly Meanderings, 29 November 2014 2015-03-13T22:11:38-05:00 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.

On Ferguson there are so many things to say about racism and injustices — and have been said by many and said well and I will be posting my own thoughts next week — but two clips about media accountability — constant coverage, repeating rumors and not facts, drawing conclusions too early, keeping the process under constant scrutiny — have me thinking about the importance and problem of media coverage of an event like this.

The first is by our friend Karen Spears Zacharias: (And I would add to her observations that media have become “judges” and “prosecuting” and “defense” attorneys well before the full evidence from both sides is known — and this distorts the story and complicates the process.)

Forgive me for harping, I know I keep repeating myself on this matter, but Media seems to have forgotten its role in society. Making good TV is not the role of Media. Reporting is the role of media. Reporting means to focus on facts, not spouting opinion. Someone noted that one of the news anchors took to the airwaves and declared during a major newscast that the Grand Jury had “failed” in its job to indict the police officer. As if an indictment was a forgone conclusion.

Everybody has an opinion these days.

To hell with facts.

Now I may be of the opinion that an injustice was done, but I have very little knowledge of the facts of the case. I might have an opinion about whether I think an indictment was in order but it’s just an opinion. I have nothing to base that opinion on other than that which has been reported to me by Media. I am not qualified based upon my limited access to the facts of the case to make an informed decision.

Media these days is too unreliable a source. They rely too much on rumor and innuendo. Gossip and yapping heads.

They have forfeited their reporting skills in order to be the first with a story, any story.

Sometimes Aaron Sorkin’s Newsroom seems more documentary than fiction.

In the past, Media has taken its role of responsibility seriously. They pursued the rumor until they had the facts, then reported Watergate and My Lai and yes, on Birmingham and Selma. They took seriously their job to inform us, but never assumed it was their job to work us into a lather of civil disobedience.

These days far too many of our so-called journalists are newsmakers, not reporters.

But, we need media to keep the process under scrutiny, as these two paragraphs from Naom Scheiber illustrate:

My own view is that St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch had two legitimate options following Wilson’s killing of Brown, neither of which he chose. The first would have been simply to decline to indict Wilson for the reasons McCulloch’s defenders posit—that the law would have made it very difficult to secure a conviction. The second legitimate option would have been to obtain an indictment against Wilson from the grand jury, which McCulloch almost certainly could have done had he sought one. But McCulloch chose a third option—using the grand jury process to establish Wilson’s innocence—which is deeply unfair.

Why? Because grand juries simply aren’t equipped to adjudicate guilt or innocence. As The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin points out, prosecutors have enormous sway over grand juries. Typically, they cherry pick the evidence that establishes probable cause, helping them obtain indictments in almost every case. But in this case, McCulloch clearly didn’t believe an indictment was deserved. So he used his influence in the opposite direction—stacking the deck in favor of a non-indictment. Specifically, he inundated the grand jury with “every scrap of evidence [he] could find,” in Toobin’s words, at which point “the grand jury threw up its hands and said that a crime could not be proved.” [UPDATE: This New York Times story goes even further, showing how McCulloch’s team essentially cherry-picked evidence establishing Wilson’s innocence. It describes how they accepted Wilson’s account at face value, even leading him toward exculpatory statements through their questioning, while going out of their way to point out flaws and contradictions in alternative accounts from other witnesses.]

And another view, one focusing on moral responsibility, by African American Baptist pastor Voddie Baucham:

Rest assured, I do believe there are systemic issues plaguing black men. These issues are violence, criminality, and immorality, to name a few. And all of these issues are rooted in and connected to the epidemic of fatherlessness. Any truly gospel-centered response to the plight of black men must address these issues first and foremost. It does no good to change the way white police officers respond to black men if we don’t first address the fact that these men’s fathers have not responded to them appropriately.

There is indeed an epidemic of violence against black men. However, that violence, more often than not, occurs at the hands of other black men. In fact, black men are several times more likely to be murdered at the hands of another black man than they are to be killed by the police. For instance, in the FBI homicide stats from 2012, there were 2,648 blacks murdered. Of those, 2,412 were murdered by members of their own ethnic group. Thus, if I am going to speak out about anything, it will be black-on-black crime; not blue-on-black. I want to apply the gospel and its implications in a way that addresses the real issue. If a few black men being killed by cops requires a national “dialogue,” what in the world does the overwhelming number of black-on-black murders require? If the police do not see black men through the proper gospel-centered, image-of-God lens, what does the black-on-black murder rate say about the way we see ourselves?

A wonderful, and sad, story by John Rosengren about African American football player — the first ever — at Iowa State College: Jack Trice.

Meghan O’Gieblyn on her own spiritual journey and hell.

Like so many formerly oppositional institutions, the church is now becoming a symptom of the culture rather than an antidote to it, giving us one less place to turn for a sober counter-narrative to the simplistic story of moral progress that stretches from Silicon Valley to Madison Avenue. Hell may be an elastic concept, as varied as the thousands of malevolencies it has described throughout history, but it remains our most resilient metaphor for the evil both around and within us. True compassion is possible not because we are ignorant that life can be hell, but because we know that it can be.

H0w trendy was the apostle Paul? Nijay Gupta:

And yet, and this is perhaps the most important thing to know about Paul as apostle at large, he was remarkably un-trendy in his perspective on honor and power. You see, in Paul’s world, the hottest commodity was honor or reputation. It wasn’t dying with the most toys that mattered – it was dying with the highest number of honors recognized by the most number of people, popularity through status and virtue. Sometimes a concern with honor can be a very good thing, like a business “priding itself” on fine craftsmanship or excellent, trustworthy service. However, good “pride” can all-too-easily turn into greed and self-absorption wrapped up in the paper of “reputation.” While many first century people tried to position themselves as superior in the great race for honors in culture, Paul was far too busy being untrendy in the work of the gospel. Here are four ways Paul was noticeably “untrendy.”

Elahe Izadi, on broken hearts:

Yes, love is grand and can heal all wounds, as they say. But bad marriages can do just the opposite. People in unhappy marriages are at a much higher risk for heart disease than people in more joyous unions, according to a first-of-its kind study released this week.

“Married people seem healthier because marriage may promote health,” said lead study investigator Hui Liu, a Michigan State University sociologist. “But it’s not that every marriage is better than none. The quality of marriage is really important.”

That negative effect on cardiovascular health was even more pronounced for women and older adults, as found in the National Institutes of Health-funded study published this week in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior. It’s one of the first to take a nationally-representative sample of adults and examine the impact of marriage quality on heart health over time.

Poop cruise:

Move over, poop cruise.

There’s a new poop-related form of transport on the road, and this one is more neat than nasty.

A “Bio-Bus” that runs solely on the biomethane gas generated by treated waste (of the food and human variety) is up and running as of this week in the UK, where it’s following a Bristol-to-Bath route.

The BBC reports that the 40-seat bus can go 186 miles on a single tank of gas; creating that tank requires the equivalent of five people’s waste for one year. (It’s unclear if that’s sewage waste only, or includes a person’s food waste, too.)

The bus emits 30% less carbon dioxide than a comparable diesel engine would.

Jessica Cilella:

On a recent Tuesday morning, Bernard and Margaret Sloan got flu shots, had their blood drawn and discussed medications with their doctor.

The couple — married 67 years — had their procedures done by a nurse and Dr. Paul Chiang, home health care provider extraordinaire, while they sat on a red, floral sofa in the comfort of their Wheaton home.

“There’s just something unique being in the home that you can’t get in the hospital, ER or doctor’s office,” Chiang said. “I’m going into your world. I’m stepping into your life.”

This summer, Chiang completed his 25,000th house call since 2000, when he started working forHomeCare Physicians, a Wheaton-based medical house call program.

He may not carry the same black bag as did doctors who routinely made house calls in the 1950s and earlier, but Chiang’s motivation and mission are the same.

“The heart of medicine is about service. It’s about caring for my patients,” he said. “I have such an opportunity to get a better feeling and a better understanding of my patients, their families, their joys and their struggles by being at their house.”

Rachel Feltman:

This weekend, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoferetti will travel to the International Space Station with precious cargo in tow — a specially designed espresso machine that will produce the authentic Italian brew in zero gravity. In addition to being Italy’s first female astronaut to go into space, she’ll be the first astronaut in history to sip real espresso while orbiting the Earth.

Until now, the intrepid explorers who circle high above us have had to make do with instant. Those dark days are finally behind us.

ISSpresso was custom-made by LavAzza, an Italian coffee company, along with Argotec, an aerospace firm that specializes in creating space food.

But how does it work?

Exercise and brain health:

By Kathryn Doyle

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who participated in a physical activity program after school did better on thinking tasks than kids who didn’t take part in the program, according to a new study.

Participants in the nine-month program performed better on tasks that tested their abilities to block out distractions, focus and multitask, said Charles H. Hillman, the study’s lead author from the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Those skills, he added, are needed by people throughout their lives.

“Kids and adults do these things all the time,” said Hillman.

Additionally, the findings suggest that physical activity has a direct effect on brain health. If that’s true, then cutting back on physically active times of the day like recess may have unintended consequences, the researchers write in the journal Pediatrics.

Previous research has found that inactivity affects adults’ brain health, but there have been few studies to test the connection between inactivity and brain health among children, the researchers write.

Meg Murphy on marriage — is it changing?

The overall forces of biology, social needs, and economics will never let some form of long-term partnership fade away, according to Bentley University’s Dean of Arts and Sciences Daniel Everett.

The definition of marriage has been fluid over time and between cultures, he said. “In American marriages, as they have evolved, the ideal is to marry by mutual consent and build first and foremost a relationship,” said Everett.

“Among some Amazonian societies, the marriage relationship is first an economic partnership, with clear division of labor, from which a relationship may develop,” said Everett.

“Among more religious societies, such as rural Catholic in southern Mexico where I have done field research among the Tzeltals, there is some overlap with the Amazonian — and American rural — model as economy first, relationship second, with clear division of labor, but with the added sanction of religion,” said Everett.

Will the millennial generation usher in a new era that saves American marriage by allowing it to evolve? Radical as it may seem, they just might.

Bathrooms and those air dryers:

First things first: When you go to the bathroom, wash your hands properly when you’re done. Seriously. This is not a drill.

But what to do with those wet hands? Putting them under a hand dryer could end up spreading bacteria in public restrooms, according to research conducted by University of Leeds scientists and published in the Journal of Hospital Infection.

Researchers coated subjects’ hands with Lactobacillus, a harmless bacteria that you don’t typically come across in a public bathroom. The idea was to mimic hands that hadn’t been washed properly. After drying hands, researchers went in and conducted 120 air-sampling tests. They found that Lactobacillus counts in the air were 4½ times higher near high-powered jet dryers than around warm-air dryers. And bacteria counts were 27 times higher near warm-air dryers than when subjects used paper towels.

Weekly Meanderings

Previous Post

November 28, 2014

Indeed

Next Post

November 30, 2014 First Sunday of Advent

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Acts of the Apostles Adam Advent Anabaptism Angels Anglican Apologetics Atonement Baptism BCP Prayers Bible Biblical Studies Birds Blogging Bloglossary Bonhoeffer Books Calvinism Christianity Church Church History Coffee Colossians Commentary Recs Conversion Creation Creeds Culture Death Ecclesiastes Economics Education Embracing Grace Emergent Emerging Movement Eschatology Essays Ethics Eucharist Evangelicalism Family Fasting Fathers Fellowship of Differents Footsteps Tour Fun and Whimsical Gospel Grace Happiness Heaven Hell Holy Spirit Irenaeus James Jesus Jesus Creed Job Justification Kingdom of God Law Lectures Lent Liberalism Love and Marriage Mabanteneni Manhood Mary Miracles Missio Alliance MissioLife Missional Missional Jesus Movies and Film New Perspective Northern Seminary OneLife Origins Project Orthodox Parables Pastor's Spouse Pastoring and Leading Pastoring and Preaching Patristics Paul Paul-John Tour Pharisees Pietism Political Theology Prayer and Formation Preaching Problems for Faith Psalm 119 Psalms Public Issues Purgatory Religions Resurrection Revelation Romans Rule of JCreed Science and Faith Sermon on the Mount Sports Ten Commandments Theology Third Way Top Ten Lists Translations Uncategorized Universalism University Ministry Way Out Weekly Meanderings Wisdom Women and Ministry Work Worship Writing & Blogging Youth Ministry

Select a Month July 2021 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 0000

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What symbol is most commonly associated with Christianity worldwide?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The cross The dove The fish The lamb