Sami Moubayed's article Unveiling men in the Arab world is one of those rare admissions from a (presumably) Muslim source that things are not quite in the altogether within Islam. It makes me think of the following, in this case relative to the Jews: For, if there was a glory in the religion that involved …
The House of Bishops and the Deadly Meaning of “Until”
In his Anglican Action blog, Ralph Webb, Director of Anglican Action at the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) noted the most significant detail of the "Mind of the House Statement" from the recent Episcopal House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans: I (Webb) asked Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori why the mind of the …
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What Do I Need?
There is something about being human that craves a “comfort zone.” We all just naturally want to be able to say, “I understand this,” or “I can handle that.” To be ablaze with the Holy Spirit brings us very quickly to say, “I can't, Lord, but You can!” This violates our pride, and, while pride …
Yahweh in the Morning: You Will Find Your Life in Mine
This album concludes this week with You Will Find Your Life in Mine. This is an "altar appeal" type of song, and it is one of the best. Emmanuel was capable of being both artistic and conform to the conventions of the genre, and this is in some ways the best example of this. Click …
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The Paradox of GLBT People and the Church
One thing that has buffaloed me from the start of this fiasco over TEC, Gene Robinson and the very strong existence of the GLBT in this and other historically Christian churches is this: why would anyone want to join a church whose Scripture explicitly casts as sinful their defining way of life? It's true that …
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Ahmadinejad: They Can Laugh If They Want. But Then What?
Evidently there's not much funny on the Upper West Side these days, as outrage turned to laughter at Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia. After having had the bad taste to invite him, Columbia's president Lee Bollinger proceeded to trash Ahmadinejad, which was rude to do. That kind of "bait and switch" will not go down well …
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A Semi-Marxist View of the Baptismal Covenant
One recurring issue in Episcopal/Anglican life is the "Baptismal Covenant" that appears in the 1979 BCP. (For a look at it, click here.) This has been Peter Toon's cause célèbre for a long time, and now it's been picked up by Gary L'Hommedieu. Now it seems that Rowan Williams has joined in the chorus. As …
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National extinction and natural law
We observe two great and related phenomena in the global South: the fastest rate of cultural extinction in history, as well as the fastest rate of Christian evangelisation in history. I do not mean to minimize the tragedy of declining cultures, but it is only because of the terrible depth of that tragedy that hundreds …
Transgender community works to gain protections in South Florida
The transgender community works to gain protections in South Florida. Let's see, in "GLBT", "G" and "L" are protected, now we're working on "T," so that leaves "B." And the only reason why B doesn't get much respect is because the existence of B muddies the identity of G and L. Where the animals are …
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Kendall Harmon’s Radical Solution
Kendall Harmon's radical solution for the Episcopal Church, i.e., the bishops absent themselves from Lambeth, is an interesting proposal. But it's unlikely to get much traction where it counts. Let me look at this from a more political standpoint. First, any kind of withdrawal from Lambeth--voluntary and temporary though it might be--would be interpreted as …
Positive Infinity 