No Christian should overlook the past weekend’s Saddleback Civil Forum that had Pastor Rick Warren interview presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain. (Transcript here) Prior to the forum and now in its wake, people ask: how involved should a church get in politics? Rick Warren explains his position in an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg: […]
“Belief in God symbolically evaporated when more than a hundred atheists were ‘de-baptized’ with a blow dryer yesterday,” writes the Columbus Dispatch. The article quotes the ceremonial formula intoned by Frank Zindler: “Do you agree that the magical potency of today’s ceremony is exactly equal to the magical efficacy of ceremonial baptism with dihydrogen oxide, […]
I couldn’t help but notice the court case regarding the wife of Joel Osteen (a well-known pastor). I’m not interested in the case, but I did notice the difficulty in putting a proper jury together. Here’s a line from a prospective juror: “As a Christian, I wouldn’t feel it would be my place to judge them.” […]
Another recent trend: men pampering their bodies. Randy Stinson critiques the trend, calling it the feminization of the American male. This line critiquing Tony Glenville’s Top to Toe made me chuckle: For instance, Glenville advises, “A special occasion calls for special treatment, and taking the time to visit your hairdresser, go for a massage, and […]
I should get used to the fact that contemporary society loves to blur boundaries. Most recently, I’ve been thinking about how a basic distinction like male and female is increasingly challenged. For instance, with the Olympics around the corner, definitions of men and women are debated. The NYTimes writes: Although the verification test has changed […]