This week, the United Methodist Church held a special conference to address the issue of what to do about same-sex marriage and gay clergy. And, after not dealing with these issues, exactly as they’ve done at the past several (quadrennial?) General Conferences, the UMC has decided, once again, to do nothing. Same-sex couples cannot beContinue reading “The Looming Schism in Methodism”
Tag Archives: religion
Link Round-Up: December 18
Last night, after work, I saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens with my coworkers thanks for an end-of-year work function. Here are my non-spoilery thoughts, posted on social media last night and this morning. First, Facebook: My non-spoilery reaction to the new Star Wars movie — I was entertained, but it’s best to have temperedContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 18”
Link Round-Up: December 17
We start today’s link round-up with something I wrote on Facebook this morning. It relates to two of today’s links, and I’ll link a third article in this: Christians and Muslims worship the same god. This isn’t and shouldn’t be a controversial statement. As a matter of history, it’s as much of a fact asContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 17”
Link Round-Up: December 15
Our second link round-up! These are things I read today that interested me, with some commentary on what I read and what I thought. BBC World Service: Space – The BBC World Service has begun an occasional podcast series of podcasts on an astronomy/space exploration theme. As of right now, there are four episodes, rangingContinue reading “Link Round-Up: December 15”
Taking Action and the Limitations of Prayer
When I was young, I never prayed. I never understood what prayer was for. If god were omniscient, he should have already known what I was thinking and doing. Plus, he should already have known whether I was repentant or not. There was nothing I could have expressed through prayer that god wouldn’t already haveContinue reading “Taking Action and the Limitations of Prayer”
Syrian Refugees, Meme Wars, and Ethical Imperatives
I tried to steer clear of the Meme Wars over Syrian refugees on Facebook last week. I saw things on both sides that irritated me; from friends on the right I saw things that were occasionally racist, and from friends on the left I saw things that mocked both religion and culture. I learned aContinue reading “Syrian Refugees, Meme Wars, and Ethical Imperatives”
America’s Increasing Secularism and Its Personal Aspect
This morning, on my way into work, I heard a segment on NPR’s Morning Edition about how a new Pew survey indicates that Americans are becoming less religious, and this decline in religious belief has happened over a short frame of time. The share of Americans who say they are “absolutely certain” that God existsContinue reading “America’s Increasing Secularism and Its Personal Aspect”
On the Architecture I Appreciate
Yesterday evening, I discovered a BBC program I’d not heard of — In Our Time, hosted by Melvyn Bragg. It’s a history program, and the host, Bragg, talks with a few experts about a given subject for forty minutes. I went and pulled a few episodes off the podcast feed, especially when I saw thatContinue reading “On the Architecture I Appreciate”
On Constitutional Worship and Historical Trends
I have a friend — he and I go back over a decade — who, in the past two years, has turned into a rabid right-winger. He’s always been out there on the right, but ever since Obama was elected, he’s gone off the deep end. Obama is a socialist, a Marxist, a totalitarian fascist,Continue reading “On Constitutional Worship and Historical Trends”
On What I (Don’t) Believe
I read today on Talking Points Memo that a Louisiana Congressman, John Fleming, said: We have two competing world views here and there is no way that we can reach across the aisle — one is going to have to win. We are either going to go down the socialist road and become like westernContinue reading “On What I (Don’t) Believe”