Xnmp Forum

Casting about

2006-12-13T01:54:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, December 13 2006 | Thoughts toward recasting this project and blog

So I've tentatively changed the motto (the "fine type" under the Xnmp masthead) from "Developing Christian worldview through analysis of the news, entertainment, and their media" to "Developing Christian worldview through analytical thinking, in community."

Too "high concept"? Too "low"? Too pretentious? Too vague? Something else? Let's hear it.

See Xnmp for December 13 for link to original article, comments, and background.

A Voice from the Martyrs

2006-12-01T00:20:00.000-05:00

Friday, December 1 2006 | Story of Romanian late pastor George Calciu, jailed for his faith, still inspires

Thanks to Frederica Mathewes-Green for sending the link to this article.

See Xnmp for December 1 for link to original article, comments, and background.

'Tis the season...

2006-11-29T02:37:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 29 2006 | A Jewish writer urges Christians to stand up against efforts to secularize Christmas

...But when political and commercial institutions announce changes of policy to avoid offending minorities ("political correctness" at its most blatant) I agree with both of these writers that we should demand equal, or even proportional, recognition along with all the non-Christian observances our society (graciously, and correctly) goes out of its way to celebrate.

See Xnmp for November 29 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Those Christians

2006-11-26T00:03:00.000-05:00

Sunday, November 26 2006 | New Episcopal presiding bishop shows the paucity of Christianity in the 'Christian left'

And thanks to a wise Jewish columnist for seeing what many Christians fail to see, or look for.

See Xnmp for November 26 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Happy Thanksgiving

2006-11-23T00:24:00.000-05:00

Thursday, November 23 2006 | Reduced coverage next four months

Because of a book project, I'm in a reduced coverage mode from early November until some time in March (Lord willing). Your prayers for a timely and inspiring finish are greatly appreciated.

On a roll: I'm in Chapter 4 of the Everything C. S. Lewis and Narnia Book. Thanks for the prayers.

Click here for Xnmp November for links to original articles, comments, and background.

Mass marketing

2006-11-20T02:48:00.000-05:00

Monday, November 20 2006 | Challenge to Catholic pastors: compete with megachurches offering free Starbucks' coffee and Krispy Kreme

Is it the calling, or is it proper, for churches on any side of the denominational divides to be "marketing" themselves and their "spiritual wares"? And what tolls are such practices going to collect?

See Xnmp for November 20 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Brave New World...?

2006-11-19T02:44:00.000-05:00

Sunday, November 19 2006 | Elton John 'represents a growing trend in the western world'

I doubt that he nails it for people like those, who think that if Elton John doesn't change their thinking it doesn't matter, but they can't claim they haven't been warned. Indeed there is a brave new world upon us. Even as we speak.

"Problem is, he speaks for and represents a growing trend in the western world. In a culture where pop stars and afternoon television presenters shape opinion, good old Elton has a great deal of influence."

See Xnmp for November 19 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Reduced coverage

2006-11-18T02:46:00.000-05:00

Saturday, November 18 2006 | Reduced coverage next four months

Because of a book project, I'm in a reduced coverage mode from early November until some time in March (Lord willing). Your prayers for a timely and inspiring finish are greatly appreciated.

Special bonus today: Please check out the news coverage of my current book in my hometown paper, in Judy Rose's "Postcard."

Click here for Xnmp for November.

Punisher punished

2006-11-17T01:29:00.000-05:00

Friday, November 17 2006 | Professor disciplined for punishing Christian student who refused to lobby for homosexual adoption

Seems my predictions here on November 2 missed the mark. Instead, the media in general have ignored the case entirely.

See Xnmp for November 17 for link to original article, comments, and background.

No duh

2006-11-16T00:29:00.000-05:00

Thursday, November 16 2006 | Paper says 'three Christian groups move to condemn gay sex'

So a D (as in duh?) for the reporting, though the quote chosen for inclusion on Xnmp nicely summarizes the Christian position on this issue and why it is the most bothersome one facing churches in this era.

And it has to be said every time this is discussed (at least in summary takes) that I support homosexuals being welcomed in the church, but on the same terms any unmarried people are welcomed, as committed to the church's changeless standard of chastity. All Christians are called to support our mutual struggle to living holy lives, including the struggles of those encumbered with same-sex attraction.

See Xnmp for November 16 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Milking the cash cow?

2006-11-15T00:38:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 15 2006 | Holy Hollywood: Newsweek headlines Hollywood's discovery of religious market

...or just milking the most recently found cash cow?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An evangelical pastor:

“People are still tweaked over ‘Last Temptation,’ and more recently ‘The Da Vinci Code’” says Matthew Crouch, of Trinity Broadcast Network fame, who produced and distributed “One Night with the King.” “Those movies are heresy to some pastors. We don’t burn people at the stake for that anymore, but it still kindles the same kind of rage.”

Anymore? I didn't know any Protestant church any time burned heretics at the stake. And is "rage" a new fruit of the Spirit?

See Xnmp for November 15 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Getting a grip

2006-11-14T03:13:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, November 14 2006 | Groking postmodernism

...And it is a handle I can get a grip on.

I've been intending to do "Xnmp essays" for some months, since I discontinued my Jonals back in July to concentrate more on Xnmp, but this is the first not directly related to a news item of the day. Let me know what you think of the concept of interspersing some of these occasionally.

And even more importantly, feedback on the points raised in the essay is desired.

Tip: If you encounter any terms in the essay you want more information about, hover your cursor over them and you may find a helpful link. Your mileage may vary (based on your "wants").

See Xnmp for November 14 for link to original article, comments, and background.

A truce?

2006-11-13T02:21:00.000-05:00

Monday, November 13 2006 | Retailers rediscover 'Merry Christmas'

Though I think the war on Christmas is real, I also think I've noticed a "softening" in the tone of social and cultural news coverage since the election. And I think I remember a similar phenomenon in past election seasons. But interestingly, I've never seen that phenomenon discussed on Fox News Watch.

It's no big revelation and rather "natural" that people want to lick their wounds after the election is over, regardless of who wins or loses. But is this backtracking on secularizing Christmas also a reflection on the part of the retail sector that "the war on Bush" can also be eased off, now that he's relegated to lame-duckdom?

Just a thought.

And I have to add another, which is almost totally unrelated. It occurred to me while preparing this that regardless of their feelings about religion or anti-religion, apart from the possible defection of Christians from certain stores in reaction to certain actions, it makes a certain "business sense" to secularize the holiday in the long run. After all, Christianity has virtually died out in Europe, yet Christmas is still celebrated as a time of giving gifts and, more to the point making major year-end spending decisions there, just as though it still "means" something. So if Christianity wanes here, too, the department stores sure don't want Christmas to follow the "church" into the dustbin of history. So the less "religious" the "winter holiday" is in the general public's mind, the more likely it is to survive as a major spending season in a more secularized society.

(Do you share my dismay over why the Wall Street Journal hasn't called to offer me a job?)

See Xnmp for November 13 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Queen mother

2006-11-12T01:44:00.000-05:00

Sunday, November 12 2006 | Sir Elton John calls for a ban of religion 'for the sake of gays'

I was kidding on the previous page. But seriously, do you suppose Elton John has ever known an actual Christian? Here's a clue: If he knows haters who call themselves Christians, he's being taken in. (They may be being taken in, as well, by their own delusions.) But there's no such thing as hateful Christians. If you hate your neighbor, you're no son of God.

I've long had most of Elton's hit songs in my personal collection. But it's going to be a lot harder to listen to them after such an ignorant rant against one of the world's largest minorities. After the Beatles put out "Imagine," it took years...decades, actually, to get past it.

See Xnmp for November 12 for link to original article, comments, and background.

World domination

2006-11-11T02:25:00.000-05:00

Saturday, November 11 2006 | Three scientists' books aim to shoot down any gospel other than science

In the 1950's and for some years later, while memories of the scientific experimentation of the Third Reich gone wild were fresh in the West's collective memories, the favorite plotline of any "B" movie or comic book was likely to be built around the mad scientist's schemes to take over the world. That plot has died away, as has the memory of what "science" bestowed not only by Hitler's Dr. Frankensteins but by nuclear weapons. So now, apparently, the scientific establishment has come to the point where it can sell its used car to all of us again.

I have a feeling they'll find a ready market.

We confronted an earlier report on Dawkins' "atheistic gospel" here on October 11.

See Xnmp for November 11 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Reduced coverage

2006-11-10T01:15:00.000-05:00

Friday, November 10 2006 | Reduced coverage next four months

Because of a book project, I'm in a reduced coverage mode from early November until some time in March (Lord willing). Your prayers for a timely and inspiring finish are greatly appreciated.

When important articles and news break, I'll try to be on top of them. Please check back frequently to keep in touch. And as always, your input on the blog side is always welcome and appreciated.

Click here for Xnmp for November.

Winning souls

2006-11-09T01:10:00.000-05:00

Thursday, November 9 2006 | Benedict XVI: People are made just in God's eyes and saved by Jesus' 'pure grace, an unmerited gift of God'

Another related item in the same day's news also gladdens the hearts of Christians who believe in winning souls. The pope also said to Switzerland's bishops that they have a responsibility to stand against the secularizing influences in the postmodern world:

"'The problems can be resolved if God is at the center, if he becomes the measure we use,' the pope told the bishops, who were concluding their 2005 'ad limina' visits to report on the status of their dioceses. The 2005 visits were interrupted by the hospitalization and death of Pope John Paul II.

"Pope Benedict said modern people refuse to believe or to live their faith fully because they do not really know God, and they have never really experienced his love for them."

See Xnmp for November 9 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Kingdom come

2006-11-08T00:52:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 8 2006 | Colson: Christians must never desire the luxury of 'fasting from politics'

America is not the Kingdom of God and never will be. The Kingdom of God is not America and never will be. But Christians have both rights and responsibilities in every democracy they inhabit, to act justly to and for all people in the society, and this is doubly applicable in those democracies they gave birth to.

And there can never be a hiatus from doing what's right every time the opportunity presents itself.

See Xnmp for November 8 for link to original article, comments, and background.

I'm a hyprocrite, you're a hypocrite

2006-11-07T02:53:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, November 7 2006 | Terry Mattingly: 'Hypocrites are us'

Lots of food for thought here. The key is "Anyone who believes anything struggles to live up to those beliefs in the harsh light of day." Anyone who misses the fact that people often choose vocations in religion in the hope that being more "exposed" will force them to be more faithful in practice needs a refresher in human psychology 101. And those who hide out in vocations that don't expose them are no less likely to be duplicitous, only less likely to be caught.

The same rationale is a motivation behind the ancient churches (Catholic and Orthodox) promotion of confession of sins to a member of the clergy or spiritual father or mother. Though the abuse of confession is "confessing so we can begin sinning again fresh," the intention behind it is that it will add a layer of reluctance to fall into sin because the consequences, in the confessional, are painful on the here-and-now level of everyday life.

See Xnmp for November 7 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Chastening

2006-11-06T01:25:00.000-05:00

Monday, November 6 2006 | Standing-room-only at Colorado Springs' New Life Church after pastor's firing

"Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. And he disciplines every son he receives." In response to a blog feedback yesterday, I agree that some good has come out of the exposure of Haggard's sin. But, rather than getting rid of a scourge, the good would be that he has been chastened, as has been his church and the larger church that identifies with him.

We are all bearers of one another's burdens, and if we fail to do so, we are not the church. Gospel 101 (Galatians 6).

See Xnmp for November 6 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Galvanizing reactions

2006-11-05T01:00:00.000-05:00

Sunday, November 5 2006 | Liberals fear Haggard's fall could galvanize conservative voters in his Congressional District

Having been an evangelical most of my life (before becoming Orthodox 12 years ago), I think the long-term fallout from the fall of Ted Haggard will be another win for the so-called gay agenda, the promotion of "civil rights" based on sexual preference and practice and the legalization of "gay marriage." This will be because many Christians (not all of whom are evangelicals, but including some Catholic and Orthodox believers as well) will abandon the fight now because the exposed hypocrisy of one leader seems to expose the fight as "ugly," leading to embarrassment for the church.

Case in point: In the 1970's, evangelical spokesmodel Anita Bryant was the galvanizing point for the religious opposition to advances of the gay movement. But the implosion of Bryant's own marriage and her failure to act as a church member (but as an autonomous individual) in the wake of that, discredited everything she had fought for, and ultimately all she had opposed came to pass. Haggard was not as central in the current situation as Bryant was then, but his clay feet will be another win on the anti-Christian secular humanist onslaught on religious values in America.

The Haggard case has devolved to "he said/he said," Haggard vs. Mike Jones. Since nothing illegal is being alleged, and Haggard's church and the National Association of Evangelicals have already made their stands, there will be no legally binding investigation. The controversy will just fade away; we're unlikely to ever know the truth. And it hardly matters. The damage is done.

See Xnmp for November 5 for link to original article, comments, and background.

License sodomy?

2006-11-03T01:36:00.000-05:00

Friday, November 3 2006 | Reporter expresses the confusion many share about 'legislating morality'

Though this online "column" may not have wide exposure, it does, I think, represent thinking that many well-meaning Christians share, failing to realize that their responsibilities as citizens cannot be separated from their commitment to Christ, if He is truly their Lord.

Though possibly motivated by a noble desire to show kindness toward people with same-sex attraction, Mr. Gray's public policy, if allowed to prevail, would simply entrap those so attracted even more deeply in the sin patterns that condemn all persons who resist repentance and fail to fight against lusts and carnal lifestyles. Though we may not force people to do right in their sex lives, we have no duty to make it easier for them to do wrong.

See Xnmp for November 3 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Liberalism at its finest, again

2006-11-02T00:16:00.000-05:00

Thursday, November 2 2006 | Student suit claims university required her to support homosexual adoption

But watch this case in the weeks to come and see who defends the "professor" and who villifies the Christian student and her legal advocates. See who defends "multiculturalism" but opposes cultural pluralism (multiculturalism's democratic and biblically supported opposite).

See Xnmp for November 2 for link to original article, comments, and background.

An uneasy fit

2006-11-01T00:05:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, November 1 2006 | Christian conservative ties to GOP described as strained, 'not broken'

The hard truth is that politics and godliness are not a good fit. By definition, politics is down and dirty, worldly by its very nature. And faith is always seeking higher ground. Nor is secular politics a high priority to believers whose real citizenship is in the new Zion.

But the incarnation of our Lord, born as a vulnerable babe among farm animals in a stable and cradled in a manger, is primary evidence that the ordinariness of our normal lives has been visited by the eternal Godhead and given meaning, purpose. Because worldly existence is meaningful, every facet of it belongs to its Creator/Redeemer. The "down and dirty," and so-called secular politics, included. We might rather not dirty our hands with ministering to the polis, but as citizens in a democratic republic, do we have a choice to opt out?

Sometimes, too, things have to get worse before they get better. This is not a prediction but an observation: this may be one of those times.

See Xnmp for November 1 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Zombies and Christian metaphors

2006-10-31T00:35:00.000-05:00

Tuesday, October 31 2006 | Halloween special: Mattingly on how zombie movies may reflect classical Christian themes

Happy Halloween

And for our Lutheran and Reformed friends, Happy Reformation Day (anniversary of Luther's posting of the 95 Theses on the Wittenberg Castle Church door).

See Xnmp for October 31 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Journalistic credibility

2006-10-30T00:36:00.000-05:00

Monday, October 30 2006 | Evangelicals seen as 'rehabilitating' Halloween after an era of, mainly, simple opposition

Nothing has ever changed the observation in my 1972 book, The Reformation of Journalism, that Christian Science is neither Christian nor scientific, but that the Monitor is more careful and credible than many other papers because of its stake in making the Christian Science religion seem more credible.

But for all its credibility, not only did it miss the Lewis/Narnia connection, it also failed to recognize the origins of Halloween in Irish Druidism rather than in "paganism" more generally or the Wiccan religion specifically.

Notwithstanding, I'm glad it found this change in the evangelical world.

See Xnmp for October 30 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Separation of school and state

2006-10-29T00:52:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 29 2006 | Movement for parents to remove their children from state schools growing among Baptists

Of course the largest American religious (not to mention Christian) communion, the Roman Catholic Church, has already seen the importance of separate schools. But ironically, the Catholic schools have become so secularized in recent decades that they are little improvement over the state ("public") schools.

By the way, I dislike calling state schools "public" schools because, obviously, they do not represent the whole public, but only the liberal, secular humanist minority that has wrested control over them (to the shame of the rest of us).

See Xnmp for October 29 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Screwy Catholics

2006-10-28T01:12:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 28 2006 | Candidate for election in Quebec is a pro-gay-marriage, pro-abortion Catholic priest

The easy answer to my questions on Xnmp is, someone can think this way because obviously he "thinks" much differently than I do. His rational processes don't work the same way. Either that, or he's never actually read the Bible and considers himself the member of a Catholic church which exists, primarily and perhaps even exclusively, in his mind rather than in the real world.

I can imagine the reaction of the typical Baptist, or the typical post-Catholic chased away by all the pedophilia and pederasty charges, to the linked article as demonstrating, again, how screwy the Catholic Church is.

But we must consider the pastoral care factor in cases like these. Though it's easy to say the Pope, the bishops, and his fellow priests should shun priests like him and defrock them, those who think that way are failing to realize the depth of the commitment between the church and its clergy. The clergy have, as Jesus called His disciples to do, forsaken their families and their pasts to pledge their first and primary loyalty to the church, and the "church," in the persons of its hierarchy, has committed to treat their priests as their sons. To treat them otherwise would be comparable to a military officer treating his or her troops as less important than the taxpayers they all represent, or even the civilians in the country in which they are carrying on engagements.

See Xnmp for October 28 for link to original article, comments, and background.

'Conservative' cons

2006-10-27T01:13:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 27 2006 | Latest 'conservative' attack on Christians borders on signalling a trend

Mac Donald's pitting faith against reason reminds me of an incident seared in my own memory, of a friend with whom I was designing a curriculum of writing seminars half jokingly (but more than half seriously) proposing that the seminars on "religion writing" all be subsumed under "fiction."

Constantly we see such facile arguments as Mac Donald's, snidely suggesting that Christians are incapable of intelligent thought, when it's obvious she can't have bothered reading anything of substance on the subject herself. Another columnist whose screed I stumbled into a few days ago started her argument by saying there are an estimated 40,000 "flavors" of Christians (denominations) out there, and they're all fighting for the proposition that they have the corner on the one and only real truth over against the 39,999 alternatives. Both the "40,000" and the claim that most Christians claim to have the sole corner on the truth are total fictions.

In fact, the explosive growth in evangelical circles in both the United States and the southern hemisphere around the globe attests that "interdenominational" and "nondenominational" brands are much preferred because today's faithful don't want to quibble over arcane doctrines and claims of exclusive truths, but rather want to concentrate on the larger issues of who God is and who man is in His world.

What's your take on either of these propositions or others they raise?

See Xnmp for October 27 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Evangelical feminism

2006-10-26T00:25:00.000-04:00

Thursday, October 26 2006 | Feminist egalitarianism called a new 'path to liberalism' within evangelicalism

Mohler's analysis suggests (at least obliquely--or am I reading this in from my own bias?) that the cultural disruption of the gay rights/gay pride movement is a subset of the feminist movement launched by the introduction of the birth control pill in the '60s and its subsequent sexual revolution.

I have more explicitly proposed this in the past, even suggesting that it was only after AIDS devastated the gay male population of San Francisco that the movement became dominated by the most radical (lesbian) wing of feminism and it was they who reversed the "promises" of earlier gay leaders that same-sex marriage would never be part of their agenda.

See Xnmp for October 26 for link to original article, comments, and background.

You have not, because you ask not

2006-10-25T00:25:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 25 2006 | University of Notre Dame leaders reflect on Harvard's proposal to study faith and reason

The Old Testament emphasizes seeking both knowledge and wisdom, and the Gospels and Epistles are models of complex thinking, seeking the mind of God (1 Corinthians 2:16).

See Xnmp for October 25 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Spiritual culture war

2006-10-24T00:33:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, October 24 2006 | City must pay a Christian dance troupe it discriminated against, train police in meaning of First Amendment

...we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So put on the whole armour of God, that may enable you to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:12-13

See Xnmp for October 24 for link to original article, comments, and background.

No update today

2006-10-23T23:33:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 23 2006 | Editor leaves town; a day off—no update

Biased news

2006-10-22T00:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 22 2006 | BBC News celebrities admit they're biased against Christians, for multiculturalism

Is it okay that the BBC is not as sensitive to Christian feelings as to Islamic ones? After all, Judeo-Christian sensitivities are not as fragile as Muslim ones. We revere the Bible but aren't shocked if unbelievers throw it in the dustbin. After all, they crucified our Lord, and He asked the Father to forgive them rather than behead them. How can we do less than imitate our Savior?

See Xnmp for October 22 for link to original article, comments, and background.

The married minority

2006-10-21T01:43:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 21 2006 | Cal Thomas discovers that, after decades of life as a white married man, he's now in a minority

Often, what's really up for discussion on this forum is as much the comments here and following the excerpt from the linked article on Xnmp as the article itself. This time, please read and discuss the linked article by Cal Thomas.

See Xnmp for October 21 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Lessons unlearned

2006-10-20T00:41:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 20 2006 | Fascist 'Brown Shirts' are multiplying in the Western world, and they don't come from the right

And my definition of fascist goes to the root of the word, which means to bring us together into one mind (whether we want to be absorbed by anyone else's mind or not).

See Xnmp for October 20 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Theopanic

2006-10-19T00:53:00.000-04:00

Thursday, October 19 2006 | Rich Lowry: 'Theo-panic' equals emotional, self-righteous, and close-minded politics

The perpetuation by liberals and even some secularist so-called conservatives of the myth that there is a theocratic movement afoot among mainstream American Protestants is aimed at disenfranchising and marginalizing values voters, plain and simple.

How democratic is that?

See Xnmp for October 19 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Better and better

2006-10-17T23:54:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 18 2006 | Forbes: Americans are better off than ever, but still not satisfied, still griping

This is a much more "religious" topic than many more obviously religion-slanted ones. Greed, dissatisfaction, whining, at their roots, are always aimed at God. Ungratefulness is right up with pride as the root of all animosity. In fact, I suspect it's just a variation of or symptom of pride, in another dress.

See Xnmp for October 18 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Getting real...at last?

2006-10-17T00:34:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, October 17 2006 | Credible Christian characters beginning to appear in network TV prime time

In the years when The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (the Nelsons) and Father Knows Best ruled the ratings, we admired these families for their centeredness, their values, and their influence on the country. But the shows never gave many clues about what their centers were. Years later, when Father Knows Best had a reunion show, the writers revealed that the family's anchor was church and faith. And in interviews, David Nelson also spoke of his family's dependence on God. The "public stoicism" was part of the good old days of broadcasting, where the generally known Jewish favorite Jack Benny always had Christmas shows and almost all thoughts about religion were internalized rather than spoken or written, outside church walls.

I was curious about "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," having followed Saturday Night Live from its early days to the present, but my viewing of the first episode was interrupted by a small family emergency (my grand-daughter needing someone to pick her up at the airport), and afterward I read that the first episode consisted of mainly an attack on Christianity. So I passed on watching in the weeks afterward. Now, through the linked article, I think I'll give it another chance.

See Xnmp for October 17 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Giant dreams

2006-10-16T01:38:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 16 2006 | $100,000 movie made by a 'guy who can't write, can't direct, can't edit and can't act' grosses $3 million, thus far

It may sound a little like kids selling lemonade or Lucy with her psychiatric advice table at five cents a bromide. But as the Southern Baptist guy Kendrick says, "We're doing the best that we can and we're learning...I truly believe that I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing."

If you get a chance, are you going to see this movie?

See Xnmp for October 16 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Untouchables

2006-10-15T01:17:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 15 2006 | Thousands of lower-caste Hindus convert
to Buddhism and Christianity over new laws forbidding conversions

Most likely, these new laws were the final straw, the act that convinced them the missionaries were telling the truth about the religion of their birth.

See Xnmp for October 15 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Maranatha

2006-10-14T02:21:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 14 2006 | Voting for Republicans could delay the second coming of Christ, preacher claims

I had never heard of K.A. Paul before this came down my vacuum tube (as, I believe, Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska refers to the Internet). But the Houston preacher was in the major media this past week because he met with House Speaker Dennis Hastert to encourage him to resign in the wake of the Foley-Congressional Page scandal, and subsequently reported (falsely, it would appear) that Hastert told him he would resign.

The thing I find most remarkable about what's been reported in the linked article is that such a "nut case" could draw a crowd of 1,000 in greater Cleveland.

See Xnmp for October 14 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Derailed?

2006-10-13T00:45:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 13 2006 | Journalist sees acceptance of gay marriage as a 'train wreck coming' to derail religious freedom

Former senior correspondent for Time Magazine and author of several recent books Aikman sounds a theme others have raised.

Though the liberal party in the most recent national elections seemed united in opposition to gay marriage, their leaders now seem to have reversed positions as part of their obsession to topple conservative governments in Washington and several states.

See Xnmp for October 13 for link to original article, comments, and background.

State neutrality

2006-10-12T01:47:00.000-04:00

Thursday, October 12 2006 | Philosopher Wolterstorff: prohibition of teaching creation proves states are not neutral toward religion

Or religions.

Some of the other estimable thinkers featured in the linked article also offer ponderable ideas.

See Xnmp for October 12 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Apostle of godlessness

2006-10-11T00:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 11 2006 | Oxford prof Richard Dawkins writes and speaks up for his religion: atheism

How many middle-class Americans have you seen applauding gay basher "Baptist pastor" Fred Phelps? Even the liberal press reports that only members of his own family support him.

It would seem that the esteemed professor has done about as much research in American conservative Christians as he has on Jesus Christ.

N. B.: Anyone who says there's no God is actually promoting himself for the job.

See Xnmp for October 11 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Conspiracy emerging?

2006-10-10T01:34:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, October 10 2006 | Gay activists accused of hiding Mark Foley revelations for maximal impact on midterm elections

I caught an interview with a page who was comparing the Congress with high school, and from the revelations from the trail of emails and text messages, it seems apt, if dismaying to us tax-payers whose tax dollars support such shenanigans.

See Xnmp for October 10 for link to original article, comments, and background.

The 4 percent panic

2006-10-09T00:28:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 9 2006 | New York Times examines evangelical fears of an exodus of today's teenagers from the churches

It's interesting that the New York Times takes such an active interest in this, its nemesis, a minority its writers usually love to hate and denigrate. Could this be whistling in the dark? Could this be the liberals' comeuppance to the conservative theory that liberals will be eclipsed in a decade or two because they are failing to reproduce?

See Xnmp for October 9 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Mellowing

2006-10-08T01:27:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 8 2006 | New signs indicate that Northern Ireland firebrand Ian Paisley may be mellowing

From my perspective, having followed only via press reports, Paisley has been mellowing for some years, having earlier become a member of the former Northern Ireland Parliament, and even the British Parliament and a member of the European Union government, all of which represented compromises I had once thought he would not have made.

Having been to Northern Ireland now several times (but not having more contact with Paisley), and having written about the Emerald Isle a number of times, I'm still fascinated, but far from an expert.

See Xnmp for October 8 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Anti-culture Christians

2006-10-07T01:07:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 7 2006 | Book review: Great commission vs. cultural mandate; must Christians choose?

The cultural mandate is God's instruction to Adam and Eve to reproduce, to fill the earth, and to rule over all parts of it as His regents. It is discussed in some detail in my current book, Everything Jesus.

See Xnmp for October 7 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Anti-Christian action

2006-10-06T01:00:00.000-04:00

Friday, October 6 2006 | Michael Medved exposes the madness and paranoia behind current flood of anti-Christian books

...But obviously if Knopf is willing to put this much money into
promoting just one of these theocratic conspiracy books, some of them are making some publishers big money. And that's the name of the game and the American way.

See Xnmp for October 6 for link to original article, comments, and background.

How they hate

2006-10-05T00:18:00.000-04:00

Thursday, October 5 2006 | Maryland school sued for prohibiting student reading of the Bible during her break

If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you.

--Jesus, John 15:18

See Xnmp for October 5 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Putting faith in doubt

2006-10-04T02:23:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, October 4 2006 | Andrew Sullivan's book, The Conservative Soul, called 'a canonization of subjectivity'

To be sure, Sullivan (as he usually does) makes some points that sound attractive, but his bottom line is his faith in himself and his calling similar faith in his readers in themselves. Subjectivity, as the CT and Xnmp headlines say.

If you like to see the context in which I used Cardinal Ratzinger's quote last Easter, please check out the following three-part article:

http://www.nantyglo.com/postcards06/apr1706.htm
http://www.nantyglo.com/postcards06/apr1906.htm
http://www.nantyglo.com/postcards06/apr2106.htm

See Xnmp for October 4 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Counter culture

2006-10-02T21:03:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, October 3 2006 | Christian women on today's campuses are the new counter-culture revolutionaries

In macro-culture terms, Western Culture is Christian culture or, "a" Christian culture. But that's been eclipsed several times over by waves of secular philosophy--worldviews--like modernism, existentialism and more recently, post-modernism. Though I've written about it several times, post-modernism (like existentialism in its heyday) remains elusive, hard to pin down. One recently read nutshell said it was the worldview of resignation and deep disappointment after the failure of utopian Marxism finally had to be admitted by the intelligensia of the Western world, which dawned in waves from the 1960s to the '80s. But even those not ever attracted to Marxism or socialist pie in the sky feel there's something real about post-modernism, that it has it's finger on something.

I suspect that the fruits of the sexual revolution, sketched in Mattingly's article, has as much as any other recent development to do with what it means and portends to our next generations.

See Xnmp for October 3 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Journalism Theory

2006-10-02T01:22:00.000-04:00

Monday, October 2 2006 | Southern Baptist Press cries foul on New York Times Pulitzer-winning feminist

It's impossible to divorce one's religion from one's reporting. One may report so obliquely that even people who share his religion don't see it, but it's still there. I don't think it's serving any public to encourage reporters to pretend neutrality when they have none. Not to say that I haven't written about thousands of "events" that I cared very little about, but that's disinterest, not neutrality. But even the fact that my newspapers considered the achievements, or their passing on, of local people newsworthy, they were showing a bias in the direction of fostering community, fostering caring. My paper, not the Wall Street Journal or USA Today, showed that bias because it was in the service of our perspective, our religion, on what served the community in a way that reflected Christ's command to love our neighbors. Part of loving our neighbors is building neighborhoods, and that's one of the qualifying modalities of doing journalism.

See Xnmp for October 2 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Ecumenical see

2006-10-01T01:39:00.000-04:00

Sunday, October 1 2006 | Top Eastern Orthodox hierarch says adding Turkey to European Union could solve Christian problems
Pope's visit to Turkey presents opportunities, risks, challenges

From the early days of Xnmp in 2002 I've thought and written that Turkey's admission in the EU would be good for Europe, for Turkey, and for Christian-Islamic relations. So it's gratifying to find that the Ecumenical Patriarch of my church apparently shares my opinion in that.

Like the previous and present Popes, I also value Europe's Christian history and heritage and would like to see the Union at least acknowledge that in its founding documents. But adding a non-Christian member to the Union will not change the history or the heritage, but would demonstrate the real meaning of that heritage, a desire to make peace and be neighbors to all of God's people.

See Xnmp for October 1 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Mad mad world

2006-09-30T02:04:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 30 2006 | The UN assembly clapped politely as Iranian madman prayed for Islam's 'perfect man'...and the apocalypse

Well, I have to count myself out of doing them, best sellers or not. I'm sworn off blasphemy and some Mullah would probably put a price on my head for even pretending to interpret Shiite teaching.

Obviously, there seem to be some overlaps in this Shiite teaching about the advent of the "perfect man" and the rapture and apocalypse scenario taught in the Left Behind novels (and which many evangelicals say they see in the New Testament). But the also obvious divergence in their scenarios is that there is no possibility of, or room for, Christians who await the second coming hastening it by violence.

See Xnmp for September 30 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Liberal rehearsal

2006-09-29T01:01:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 29 2006 | Charges dismissed against Welsh evangelist arrested for distributing Bible's teachings on homosexuality

So the arrest and charges were a trial balloon to determine how much liberalism the UK is ready for? It probably will prove to be only one of the first.

A year ago I might have said "so-called liberalism," but to anyone paying attention, this type of outrage against decency has become so commonplace that this strain seems to be the only one worth discussing any longer.

See Xnmp for September 29 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Liberal rehearsal

2006-09-28T23:51:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 29 2006 | Charges dismissed against Welsh evangelist arrested for distributing Bible's teachings on homosexuality

So the arrest and charges were a trial balloon to determine how much liberalism the UK is ready for? It probably will prove to be only one of the first.

A year ago I might have said "so-called liberalism," but to anyone paying attention, this type of outrage against decency has become so commonplace that this strain seems to be the only one worth discussing any longer.

See Xnmp for September 29 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Weasel words

2006-09-27T23:48:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 28 2006 | Canadian legislators say Vatican Council II taught them to vote for gay marriage

Surely this tack (this "interpretation," if you will) will inspire more Catholics to weasel out of taking responsibility for their disobedience to their church's clearly enunciated teaching, from most of the societies taken-in by "Enlightenment" precepts, like Europe and Canada and....

See Xnmp for September 28 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Papal lemonade

2006-09-26T23:15:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, September 27 2006 | American RC Archbishop sees positive outcomes in controversy over the Pope's Islamic references

I find it interesting that the Archbishop has a positive spin, and is able to thank the media, for what has been, by most of the evidence, a media-created global controversy.

See Xnmp for September 27 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Universalist wannabe

2006-09-26T02:08:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 26 2006 | Wannabe Blair replacement touts his Christian roots but assures voters he's no believer

Of course such candor in most U.S. political jurisdictions would lead to much controversy and most likely defeat in the polls, as most candor by Democratic candidates on topics touching on religious principles have shown in the races of the past decade. Apparently, Americans are a more believing people on the whole (which statistical studies amply proves) and they are recently becoming aware of the implications of their religious professions for a greater extent than ever before.

See Xnmp for September 26 for link to original article, comments, and background.

NBCCBSABCFOXCW et al.

2006-09-25T01:30:00.000-04:00

Monday, September 25 2006 | NBC censors cutting out God references in 'Veggie Tales' Saturday morning kids' show

NBCCBSABCFOXCW et al. wouldn't want the kiddies--or their parents--getting seriously interested in God. That would undercut the audience potential for the great majority of the networks' shows. More importantly, it would lead to independent thinking, the last thing the mass media want.

See Xnmp for September 25 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Red Letter Christians

2006-09-24T01:19:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 24 2006 | Columnist says both sides in midterm elections are making pitches to ‘Values Voters’

The self-proclaimed "Red Letter Christians" want to drive wedges between Jesus and His Apostles and, by extension, His Church, so that they can say "Jesus never said word one about homosexuals, gay marriage, or abortion." Even though on its surface this reading of His teaching is absurd, it ignores the fact that all of His "words" have been preserved by His Apostles and companions of Apostles like Mark and Luke, when they compiled the Gospels decades after He uttered them. How can these apostolic teachers be relied upon to remember Jesus' words faithfully if they are missing the mark in their teachings like "homosexuals shall not inherit the kingdom of God"?

Another current article gets at some of the fallacies underlying the "liberal Christians'" main platform planks. It can be read here.

And here is linked an article reporting on the Values Voters Conference in Washington on Saturday.

See Xnmp for September 24 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Praying for peace

2006-09-23T01:53:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 23 2006 | Muslims, Evangelical Christians will keep Ramaden in different ways

How would one pray for the conversion of the members of a whole religion? Is there biblical warrant for such prayers? ("Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" seems the closest I can recall. "Pray for those who persecute you" also has some overlap.) Praying for mass conversion has to be better than mass "coversions" at gunpoint. But is it what God wants us to pray for?

See Xnmp for September 23 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Blind injustice

2006-09-22T00:25:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 22 2006 | Court: Democrats, Sierra Clubbers, but not Christians protected by First Amendment

I hope the church group appeals this ruling to the Supreme Court which, I'd predict, will surely reverse it.

See Xnmp for September 22 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Illegals

2006-09-21T02:00:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 21 2006 | Evangelical Hispanic leader wonders why 'Anglo' Christians are not kinder to those sharing their values

Though I basically side with Samuel Rodriguez, lest we be too swept away by his logic, the same issue of Christianity Today has this balancing piece: "Seeking Biblical Principles to Inform Immigration Policy." Definitely worth a read.

See Xnmp for September 21 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Bad company

2006-09-20T00:02:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, September 20 2006 | Turkish political leader calls the Pope both a 'Hitler'. . . and a Zionist

As is their usual way, liberals (like the Guardian editorialist quoted here on Monday) are urging acquiescing to staunch criticism and violence, rather than standing for truth. In this, it seems to me they are taking the Islamofascists' side by assuming themselves above the fray or by making snide and hateful retorts without logical engagement and logically supported replies.

I have seen thus far only one rational argument critical of Pope Benedict's point, which is by David Van Biema in Time Magazine. He quotes an expert in Muslim theology as arguing that the Pope's source in 14th century Islamic theology is not followed by any current thread of Islamic thinking, including that of Al-Qaeda.

This seems a valid point, except for one mitigating fact: why are Muslims then reacting to the Pope's request for dialog with violence, killing, and calling for a death sentence against the most noticeable leader of Christianity? Maybe that's a question beneath the consideration of Time's correspondent. "No one interprets these passages this way in modern Islam" is, if true, a valid retort, but why are the rank and file of the "most religious" Muslims not using that, rather than rioting and terrorizing the streets of cities from London to Lahore?

See Xnmp for September 20 for link to original article, comments, and background.

That they may all be one

2006-09-19T02:17:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 19 2006 | Delegates of Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches discuss reunion in Belgrade

Of course my skepticism may be more related to the fact that I'd never be involved in any top-down discussions involving churches than the practicality of the approach.

What's your take?

See Xnmp for September 19 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Takes two

2006-09-18T01:18:00.000-04:00

Monday, September 18 2006 | Britain's two leading newspapers at odds over the rightness of Pope's remarks

Having read recently about Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus' arguments against the logic of Mohammed's teachings in the Koran in a book by an Eastern Orthodox author, the biggest irony is that at the time the "medieval" statements were made, Muslim leaders were calmly and reasonably debating them rather than "going ballistic" about them as they are in this modern totally rational time. My take is that the Pope was hoping to encourage this kind of debate again, possibly with the President of Iran.

Best laid plans. But at least one Muslim leader in yesterday's headlines did offer to debate the Pope. That's a start.

It's also ironic that Muslims are calling Palaeologus' statements "medieval" when the Emperor was Orthodox, Eastern, and the Christian East never had a middle ages or "medieval" period.

See Xnmp for September 18 for link to original article, comments, and background.

That 'L' word

2006-09-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 17 2006 | IRS investigating liberal Calif. church; CBS News discovers the 'L' word

The "L" word, of course, is "liberal." Does anyone remember CBS News ever using it before? Of course, like Friday's example, it could be a case of a headline writer going bad. Or of using an AP feed unedited.

And does it count if it's referring to a church? Probably not, in CBS's purview.

See Xnmp for September 17 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Apologies accepted

2006-09-16T02:24:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 16 2006 | University of Virginia cartoonist removes cartoons from web, apologizes for offending

Photos of "outraged Muslims protesting the Pope's blasphemy against Mohammed" suggest that yesterday's top religion-angle story will follow in the footsteps of the Danish cartoons controversy of a few months earlier. I'm going to put on my prophet cap and say it's going to turn out to be more about media misreporting of the Pope's remarks than what he said. But can we expect "the media" to clear that up?

See Xnmp for September 16 for link to original article, comments, and background.

Unfair and biased coverage

2006-09-15T00:57:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 15 2006 | Washington Post calls bleshemous cartoons in student newspaper 'Christian themed'

I'm not sure this is much advance on the days when the Post was referring to evangelicals as uneducated yahoos.

I realize, of course, that reporters don't usually write their own headlines. But editors usually do have the final sign-off on them.

See Xnmp for September 15 for link to original article and background.

Ooops

2006-09-14T00:38:00.000-04:00

Will I ever get used to this blog rigup? Forgot the link to today's source:

See Xnmp for September 14 for link to original article and background.

Hot or cold

2006-09-14T00:13:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 14 2006 | Rosie O’Donnell: ‘Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam’

It seems fitting that Rosie O'Donnell's definition of "faith" is faith in humanity, the arm of flesh, and in "equality," which she doesn't define here but which she has given some clues about in other contexts. But if O'Donnell is over the top, she's moderate compared with an erstwhile "conservative" author and Republican strategist, Kevin Phillips, whose current book, American Theocracy, says: "The Rapture, end-times, and Armageddon hucksters in the United States rank with any Shiite ayatollahs, and the last two presidential elections mark the transformation of the gop into the first religious party in U.S. history." (Gop, in case it's a new word to you, is usually rendered GOP, as a nickname for the Republican Party.) The Phillips quote showed up in Wednesday's Christianity Today update.

Some time before Rosie O'Donnell attacked "radical Christianity," Jesus was quoted as saying it was the only kind He's interested in. See Revelation 3:14-22.

And of course it goes without saying for anyone who visits here often that Orthodox Christians like yours truly are not into the rapture theory promoted by some evangelicals, end-times speculations, or Armageddon. We even suspect these preoccupations may be heresies, but they are Christian heresies, based on well-meaning misinterpretations of New Testatment scriptures. And far closer to what we believe and Who we believe in than the secular humanism that wants to divide and conqueror us.

And the winner is....

2006-09-13T00:09:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, September 13 2006 | Despite conventional wisdom. new studies say that God is winning in America's culture war

Is this an illustration of the New Testament principle, "where sin abounds, grace does much more abound"? (See Romans 5:20.) Just as "the times make the man," is it always the case that the times, and the tribulations, of the church are the seed of its renewal?

Maybe so.

See Xnmp for September 13 for link to original article and background.

Leftists' witch-hunt targets Christians

2006-09-11T22:43:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 12 2006 | Gasp! Producer of ABC-TV miniseries on 9/11 outed as an evangelical Christian!

Incidentally, the original Hollywood blacklistings, generally blamed on conservatives in Congress and especially Senator Joseph McCarthy, during the Cold War, were never imposed by anyone in government. McCarthy documented certain leftwing (i.e., Communist Party) affiliations of some writers, production figures, and actors, and their colleagues in the film industry did any black listing (or boycotting of those writers/producers/actors) that occurred.

See Xnmp for September 12 for link to original article and background.

Lest we forget

2006-09-11T02:25:00.000-04:00

Monday, September 11 2006 | Eulogy for priest who died while ministering to victims of 9/11 attacks indicative of trend

The day the world changed....

Five years ago I wrote: "Things will never be the same. In some ways that may not be all bad." It still seems true, though most days in the past four years, it has seemed that nothing has really changed at all. How easily we forget. How easily we want to forget.

See Xnmp for September 11 for link to original article and background.

As the worm turns

2006-09-10T00:58:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 10 2006 | British police accused of persecuting Christian critics of gay lifestyle and agenda

Do you remember the laboratory experiments often cited in which ordinary people are asked to torture subjects separated with them only by a window? Many such everyday people reportedly don't hesitate to follow instructions from the "experimenting scientist" to apply torture in the form of electrical shock to the subjects they can clearly see reacting in pain and (pretended) mortal peril. We are told about these experiments in social studies classes so that we will find them revolting and will ask what kind of people would participate in such torturous experiments on strangers behind a window.

So it is that we must ask what kind of police officers will persecute Christian ministers distributing Bible passages on a city street in Wales. I've been to Wales a few times and found it a wonderful place to visit. But I had no idea of the depth of its social corruption, depravity, which produces such results in a cruel social experiment.

See Xnmp for September 10 for link to original article and background.

Catholic and Evangelical?

2006-09-09T01:30:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 9 2006 | Pope Benedict's message: the faithful must know Jesus as a friend

My old friends, if they're reading, must wonder why I'm always promoting the Catholic Church and suspecting that their predilection to think Eastern Orthodoxy is just another Catholic denomination is true.

It isn't. I've never had the slightest inclination toward Catholicism and consider its view of the Papacy the biggest obstacle to Christian unity. Rather, this line of reporting and commenting is about the fact that we need as many friends as we can get in this war between cultures. (Proposition: the church has been from its beginning God's own prototypical counter-culture.) It's about the fact that despite the seeming impossibility of any breakthroughs, Jesus prayed that His children would be "one." And we're not.

See Xnmp for September 9 for link to original article and background.

Faith of Our Fathers

2006-09-08T00:53:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 8 2006 | LA Times essay explores Calvary Chapel fundamentalist / evangelical parting of ways

It's apparent that the Smiths Sr. and Jr. love and respect each other and are not demonizing each other, even though some of their "partisans" may be doing so. I agree with virtually everything attributed to the junior Chuck Smith, and I think Orthodox (Eastern Orthodox) thought is generally in agreement as well, at least in the controversial social issues. (Obviously, we Orthodox are far beyond Smith Jr. on our appreciation of icons and some of his other deviations on fundamentalist Pentecostal theology; Orthodox fathers generally also discourage "entertaining" depression.)

This father-son parting of ways is reminiscent of a similar parting between Francis Schaeffer (who was my indirect mentor during my campus ministry days) and Frank Schaeffer (published in his evangelical days as Franky Schaeffer V), though so far as I know, the elder Schaeffer had passed away before his son left evangelicalism for Orthodoxy. And of course it's similar to my own break with my mother, though like the elder Schaeffer, she had passed before I became Orthodox and unlike Smith Jr. and Frank Schaeffer my writing has been less widely noticed and less controversial.

A favorite magazine of mine is Touchstone, "A magazine of mere Christianity," which is edited jointly by knowledgeable Evangelical, Orthodox, and Catholic editors and is known for articles that appeal in the main to all three "flavors" or Christians. I try to keep that approach here, and did that in my soon-to-be-released Everything Jesus book, honoring my roots while encouraging the only kind of ecumenism I think has a meaningful chance of working.

See Xnmp for September 8 for link to original article and background.

Rock-and-Roll Ministry

2006-09-07T00:23:00.000-04:00

Thursday, September 7 2006 | 'Extreme convert' Stephen Baldwin plans 'hardcore' faith-based reality show on VH1

It seems fitting that this actor in some 60 movies is approaching Christian faith as counter-culture. It is, of course, though most in the culture--or even in the church--don't realize it.

See Xnmp for September 7 for link to original article and background.

Decline of Human Civility

2006-09-06T00:27:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, September 6 2006 | California LBGT no longer interested in 'live and let live'

Apparently, in California at least, things are going to get considerably worse before they start getting better again. And "the governator," Arnold Schwarzenegger, who didn't hesitate to sign Ms. Kuehl's anti-Christian bill, is one of the sparkplugs for this debauched decline from human civility.

See Xnmp for September 6 for link to original article and background.

Catholics versus Evangelical Protestants?

2006-09-05T02:09:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, September 5 2006 | Column: After accepting evangelical students, Georgetown University demotes them to second class

If it's a matter of getting faculty sponsors for groups like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Campus Crusade for Christ, surely in a university as large as Georgetown there must be some faculty member who can see the injustice in this and will be willing to sponsor the groups on principle. And isn't it surprising that in such a campus with many evangelical students there is not a single devoted evangelical faculty member?

On the other hand, when I went to Stanford there was only one such faculty member, and he sponsored all (I believe) of the evangelical ministries there, including mine. He has long since retired, so I wonder how evangelical ministries are faring now at Stanford, a "secular" university not related to any religious group, though historically favoring Protestantism as Mrs. Stanford established a non- or interdenominational "chapel" (one of the West Coast's major cathedrals, in architecture) on the campus which, at last I heard is always headed by a university-paid minister from a mainline denomination who doubles as the head of "religion at Stanford."

See Xnmp for September 5 for link to original article and background.

Like - but not quite - ethnic cleansing?

2006-09-04T02:18:00.000-04:00

Monday, September 4 2006 | Christian population in Middle East has fallen to two percent, and still declining

What's the difference between what is happening to the Christian populations in the Muslim middle east, most of which represent ancient ethnic groups, and ethnic cleansing?

See Xnmp for September 4 for link to original article and background.

Changing religions

2006-09-03T00:44:00.000-04:00

Sunday, September 3 2006 | Article surveys members of clergy who change religions or denominations

The reporter made two serious errors in her coverage of the Orthodox church. It's John Chrysostom, not John "of" Chrysostom. Chrysostom is Greek for "golden mouth," a way of describing this leading preacher's oratorical skills. And Orthodox churches do not baptize by sprinkling. Infants are immersed in ornate baptistries (resembline raised vats) in the front of most Orthodox churches. Adults being baptized are immersed in larger tubs brought into the church (in most cases; I have heard of some Orthodox baptisms at creeks or rivers) just for that occasion.

See Xnmp for September 3 for link to original article and background.

Ancient and modern cultures of death

2006-09-02T02:03:00.000-04:00

Saturday, September 2 2006 | How Christians overcame the Greco-Roman culture of death

Dr. Tran's essay (excerpted from his book) is both the most comprehensive and most concise presentation of the ancient roots of Christian opposition to abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide, I have found. I would also cite (and would guess that his book also cites) the teaching against these practices in The Didache, a summary of apostolic teaching that dates from the century after the apostles lived and missionized throughout the Roman world and even beyond. The Didache is more ancient than Augustine, appearing between the New Testament writings and those of the Bishop of Hippo.

See Xnmp for September 2 for link to original article and background.

Violence and terror

2006-09-01T00:16:00.000-04:00

Friday, September 1 2006 | Church of England chaplain compares biblical figures, even Jesus, with Islamofascist terorists

I don't accept the argument I read in a recent Christianity Today article that war on terrorism is a meaningless phrase, because we cannot make war on an abstraction ("terrorism") but it must be against flesh and blood enemies. Wars of ideas are legitimate and are always part of a more widely fought war that includes violence.

But I also think that the President's recent turning toward more specific terminology like "Islamofascism" and comparisons between that ideology's underground supporters in this country and around the world with Communists and Nazis is an important step in the right direction. It's less abstract.

See Xnmp for September 1 for link to original article and background.

Can you say 'dark force'?

2006-08-31T00:04:00.000-04:00

Thursday, August 31 2006 | View from the left: 'Christianity is a dark force of ignorance seeking to halt the advances of science'

Is there a pattern here?

See Xnmp for August 31 for link to original article and background.

A publishing plethora

2006-08-30T00:26:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, August 30 2006 | A plethora of books opposing religion in the public square coming for fall

And yes, this is a correct use of "plethora," which should always be used to denote a bad or negative thing.

Note the use of "the ban on stem cell research." There is no "ban" on stem cell research, only a restriction on the use of federal funding, which would come mostly through taxes taken from people who don't believe in sacrificing their children to humanists' pie-in-the-sky hopes for increasing their own longevity. And that restriction applies to only embryonic stem cell research. Two qualifications conveniently, untruthfully, omitted by Dolan and not corrected by his Associated Press quoters who, I'm sure, are just as devoted to fair and balanced coverage as the next news source.

See Xnmp for August 30 for link to original article and background.

European and American comparisons

2006-08-29T00:52:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, August 29 2006 | When people give up religious faith, they turn to 'science' to explain their origins

My observations are that the science establishment loves playing religion, supplanting any tradition, even playing god, to those who'll bow down before it.

How much do you believe in evolution? In science?

See Xnmp for August 29 for link to original article and background.

Now it's a Jewish flap over a cartoon

2006-08-28T00:43:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 28 2006 | Jackie Mason sues Jews for Jesus for using his 'likeness'

However, Mason's lawyers will probably try to prove his likeness
had "commercial" cachet. JFJ used it to get attention for their tract, and that could win a judge's opinion, too. So this may have to go through several courts before resolution.

If both parties are sincere in their professed faith principles, they will resolve this out of court. Surely, the claim that Jews for Jesus represented Mason as becoming a Christian will get nowhere.

See Xnmp for August 28 for link to original article and background.

'Meathead' vs. you and Mel

2006-08-27T01:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday, August 27 2006 | Rob Reiner appoints himself Mel Gibson's moral judge, and probably yours, as well

If you thought the Passion of the Christ was a fair depiction of events portrayed in the Gospels, and by all accounts many millions of people did so think, Reiner's rant is also meant for you.

See Xnmp for August 27 for link to original article and background.

Those wonderful people who gave us the Third Reich

2006-08-26T01:48:00.000-04:00

Saturday, August 26 2006 | Christian TV documentary links Darwin with Hitler, other atrocities

I wrote almost a year ago: Despite the fact that the twentieth century could be called the first century of modern science, the record of scientism in the century is abysmal. Consider Maoist China, where the naturalistic scientists are preferred by government above any historic religion, and university students are mowed down by tanks in the nation's sacred square. Consider Hitler's Reich, where in the name of science and proving evolutionary genetic hypotheses, six million Jews were subjected to human engineering experiments, and then exterminated. Consider the USSR's Stalin, who liquidated tens of thousands of clergymen and millions of lay Christians in the name of scientific necessity and experimentation, and turned the churches and monasteries into scientific research centers and museums, which in the end only proved that the human soul could not so easily be quenched. (Check here for the complete article.)

I've never met nor even watched any of the documentary works by the people in today's linked article; I'm surprised that others have came to such similar conclusions. But it's just simple logic and a simple look at historical fact for the past century.

See Xnmp for August 26 for link to original article and background.

Conservative belief and non

2006-08-25T01:31:00.000-04:00

Friday, August 25 2006 | Conservative Catholic scholar M. Novak debates conservative 'nonbeliever' H. Mac Donald

On a day with a choice of several articles to link, another reason I chose this one was discovering that Michael Novak, a conservative scholar I've been hearing of for years, is a native of my own home city, Johnstown, Pa., where he was born in 1933, the son of Michael J. Novak and Irene Sakmar.

Heather Mac Donald's defense of unbelief among conservatives is also worth reading, but I'll let you find it on your own, along with Novak's curriculum vitae.

See Xnmp for August 25 for link to original article and background.

Christianity and Darwinism

2006-08-24T00:41:00.000-04:00

Thursday, August 24 2006 | Newspaper says the Vatican astronomer was replaced for advocating Darwinist doctrines

If the linked article is accurate, we can be thankful that Pope Benedict has a better grasp of Darwinian implications for Christian dogma than his former official astronomer. But I'm hoping that "if" is not a spoiler. It has seemed for years that the Catholic Church has danced around this issue, and I doubt that this article has ended that dance. What do you think?

See Xnmp for August 24 for link to original article and background.

Campaign questionnaire

2006-08-23T00:34:00.000-04:00

Wednesday, August 23 2006 | Christian Coalition survey questions to candidates get down to basics

Liberals might prefer that the survey include questions about how candidates would vote on welfare programs, AIDS programs, and public schools. Maybe that's why Some Democratic legislators took issue to the Alabama Christian Coalition survey, one even commenting, we "believe the purpose is to use their answers against them."

You think?

See Xnmp for August 23 for link to original article and background.

Red-letter Christians

2006-08-22T00:08:00.000-04:00

Tuesday, August 22 2006 | 'Red letter Christians' adopted as favorite nickname of the 'Christian left'

We converts to Eastern Orthodoxy from evangelical backgrounds often kid our evangelical friends by saying, "Orthodoxy recognizes and follows those passages in the New Testament that we didn't have highlighted when we were evangelicals." Red-letter Christians would have an even more condensed or truncated version of God's revelation.

See Xnmp for August 22 for link to original article and background.

Condoms vs. abstinence

2006-08-21T00:03:00.000-04:00

Monday, August 21 2006 | Leftwing aid agency opposes sexual abstinence programs to curb African AIDS

I'm not advocating that condoms be disallowed for those who want to make them available and to those who want to use them, but I am opposed to the totalitarians who insist that AIDS prevention be via condoms or nothing, or that condoms are better than abstinence, or that somehow abstinence is to blame for the spread of the disease. The humanists' fear that anyone so devoted to God that he or she will even abstain from casual sex will be against their agenda for life is what drives this extremist position. They must bring everyone down to their secularist, humanist, hopeless condition with regard to all things eternal.
See Xnmp for August 21 for link to original article and background.

Useful Idiots

2006-08-20T01:03:00.000-04:00

Sunday, August 20 2006 | 'Useful Idiots' described as the 'best soldiers' of the current brand of totalitarians

"Assyrians," by the way, are an ethnic and broadly Christian minority in Iraq. So their news service picking up this article from FrontPage.com is commendably courageous.
See Xnmp for August 20 for link to original article and background.

The academic pull to the left

2006-08-19T01:44:00.000-04:00

Saturday, August 19 2006 | Colleges usually turn incoming students to the left, and they're often unable to stand up to it

Ms. Grace pushes the vital historic truth that the left-liberalism of today's universities has become radical secular (as in "worldly," "of the world") humanism (man-centered, as opposed to God-centered). This is why the academic left has become virulently opposed to Christianity and any conception of Christian culture, even banishing most studies in "Western Civilization" in the curriculum because it is not possible to study the West without reference to Christ and Christian foundations of the European and American world. This critique is basic to any Christian stand within the post-modern university and, by extension, in the arts, humanities, and science. Though greatly simplified here, of course, a great body of credible scholarship is available from Christian sources for those willing to seek, find, and apply it.
See Xnmp for August 19 for link to original article and background.