Who says civility is dead, or that America is on the fast track to a new Idiocracy-style dark ages?
ELCA wars: An ironic twist
It looks like we are going to need our own Anglican-esque “Lutheran wars” logo for use with future posts about the battles in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America in the wake of its trailblazing stand in favor of the ordination of gays and lesbians living in committed, lifelong, monogamous same-sex relationships.
Capitalism, Catholicism and Mr. Moore
Sunday’s New York Times profile of filmmaker Michael Moore, whose “Capitalism: A Love Story” opens nationwide Oct. 2, asked readers to view Moore as a modern-day embodiment of Charlie Chaplin:
Greening South Los Angeles
About eight years ago I went with a group of congregants in a previous church to partner in work for a week with a West Virginia congregation down near Kentucky in the “hollers”. I don’t eat meat, so I was eager to get to a grocery store and buy some lettuce and other vegetables to supplement the carb-heavy fare at the church.
The Shana Tova redemption
It died down a bit in recent years but remember the so-called War on Christmas? That’s where various elements in the culture try to secularize or otherwise diminish the sacredness of the season leading up to Christmas. I myself like to talk of the War on Advent (the actual season that precedes Christmas Day) as well as the wars on various other liturgical seasons and festivals. And what about the Jewish liturgical calendar? How much do we read in the mainstream media about the meaning and significance of Jewish holy days?
Cain and Abel, Abel and Cain
I’m saving the best (Got News?) for last. But first, let’s cover culture war news from the Values Voter Summit held in D.C. And right off the bat I wanna say (yeah, that’s how we talk in Philly — you gotta problem with that?) that I’m ambivalent about any journalist who uses that term as a descriptor rather than the title of the Family Research Values conference. The term implies that conservative activists are the only ones with values, or that those on the left are value-free, or that voters who fell into the middle of the spectrum don’t take their values to the voting booth. In general, the reporters below tend to be clear that this is a term of choice, not of reality.
Waldman: Why the bishops matter
Eye to eye with an Oath Keeper
At this time, I would like to join MZ Hemingway in doing something that may sound a bit strange at this here weblog. I want to praise the Los Angeles Times for writing a major, A1 story that contains a little bit of religion, but not too much. Yes, there’s a religion ghost in this whole, quote, anti-government, unquote, movement, but the ghost does not appear to be running the show.
Consensual sex after life
Lots of people are good at getting favorable press, but Gunther von Hagens is really good. He’s the guy behind the “Body Worlds” exhibits that show dead, flayed, dissected human beings preserved in plastic. He’s been on the road with this for years and it’s surprising how favorable the press is considering the topic of his show.
