Dear Reader, I was prepared to write this week about a really bad  Abortion Argument on Salon.com. But it seems that stupid arguments must alas trump bad arguments. Self-proclaimed “thought leader” Steve McSwain decided to vent his frustration with American Christianity by posting “6 Things Christians Should Just Stop Saying” at the mixed-bag that is Huffington Post. This particular post follows his other attempts at criticism such as “I Wish Christian Preachers Would Just Shut Up“  and “Why Christianity is Dying but Spirituality is Thriving.”

As I read through McSwain’s commentary I was struck with what I hope is righteous indignation but I’m humble enough to admit is probably my sin nature bathed in deep and cultivated sense of sarcasm. My friends, there are some things that people say with such thoughtless disregard for both decency and logic, that perhaps the only appropriate response is sarcasm.

Douglas Wilson has defended the use of sarcasm in Christian commentary with his book, A Serrated Edge: A Brief Defense of Biblical Satire and Trinitarian Skylarking. He points out several examples of the use of satire in the Bible. When Elijah taunted the prophets of Baal who were desperately trying to make a altar burn, I smugly imagine he was feeling the way I was when I read McSwain.  Before I launch into my snark, I would like you to know that I have thought and prayed over how to respond to McSwain’s post. I even sought council from several Godly people to make sure I wasn’t simply wallowing in angst or just trying to make a name for myself. After seeking their council, they agreed: Continue reading …

At first some readers will this is another political diatribe but really the examples I will be using are for illustration of a communication problem which is growing in our nation and culture in not only the political but religious arena. It is the problem of undefined words and concepts. Many claims to be spiritual but not religious. What does that mean exactly? Does God or some sort of deity come into play in the spiritual but not religious life and if so what sort of God? If it remains undefined we might simply call it the Fuzz God. Wispy with comforting colors which help to relax but makes no demands. It is the sort of God that fuzzy undefined language would allow. Continue reading …

Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it or so it is said. I think there is a great deal of validity to this thought. The sexual revolution of the 1960s has made fairly big changes in the thinking of culture in the area of accepting sexual behaviors which had been regarded as deviant or at the very least, outside of the norm 50 years ago. Marriage was monogamous between one man and one woman for life. Sure, there were divorces but families in that situation were thought of as “broken” and the children were from “broken homes” signifying a less than ideal home life. Men and women may have “affairs,” sex outside of marriage but these relationships were regarded as wrong and most tried to hide them. These “ideals” are diminishing as the church continues its pursuit of trying to be acceptable to culture rather than speaking to and influencing culture and it is likely this trend will continue. In many ways we live in a book end of time. The time we live in now is more like the 1st Century than any other time in between then and now. The church transformed the way culture thought of themselves, God and their place in the universe. This included the area of sexuality.

The founders of Chic-Fil-A took a pro-traditional marriage position and Chicago Mayor, Rom Emmanuel worked to prevent them from opening a store in Chicago claiming that their traditional view of marriage “were not Chicago’s values.” The disregard for traditional marriage by the mayor surprised a few but passed with barely a ripple. Marriage is now being defined merely as two people, regardless of gender, entering into a legal union being called marriage. Continue reading …

There is a game being played in discussions between Atheists and Christians without most of us realizing it. Let’s call it the Genocide Ante. In order to make out that the other side is worse for the world, both sides start comparing body counts. It starts when someone asserts that religion or atheism is more immoral. Of course both sides are sure its obvious that there is more blood on their opponent’s side than their own. Sometimes its a more subtle version of this game that gets played. The debate may be about which worldview Christian or Atheist is the most consistent morally. Either way, someone starts comparing body counts and atrocities. Usually its the atheists that insist its absolutely obvious that Christianity is as Christopher Hitchens claimed, a violent and evil system responsible for untold deaths and lots of nastiness. Almost always the Crusades are brought up.

Sure that Christianity is responsible Continue reading …

I have to admit, this started out to be a very different blog than it ended up. Like many, I was discouraged at the results of the election. Yes, I know that God is in control and uses even government for His purposes but sometimes those purposes are to punish His people or the nations in which His people dwell and they suffer as well. To be perfectly honest I am not a big fan of suffering.

I know that politics is messy business and corruption abounds in the hallowed halls of Congress and the White House. Special interest groups are working hard to persuade the Federal Government to use the club of legislation to beat down the opposition. But that is how government works in a Democratic Republic. We vote for candidates that most closely align with our worldview and values and trust they will at the very least protect us from those who have a different view. Continue reading …

As we tick off the days to the celebration of the incarnation, the war on Christmas can be distracting. My granddaughter has a Jehovah’s Witness girl in her class who has been busy telling the other kindergartners about the evils of Christmas celebration. Comedian Jon Stewart and FOX News personality Bill O’Reilly have been sparring about the “War on Christmas.” The stories around the nation about governors and businesses raised the profile of the controversy and Mediaite ran the story Bill O’Reilly Does Epic Segment On The ‘War On Christmas™’. The New American joined in the coverage with ”Atheists Continue War on Christmas”. Continue reading …

Many of us are somewhat disconnected from history. The recently released Report: Student don’t know much about U.S. history is but one example.

“Just 13 percent of high school seniors who took the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress, called the Nation’s Report Card, showed a solid grasp of the subject.”

The study revealed that most students couldn’t identify Martin Luther King Jr or Abraham Lincoln and couldn’t say why they are important. Being somewhat a student of history I can say, I am not overly surprised. Since the 1930s Continue reading …