As my church's Finance Committee chairman, the article about The Backlash Against Tithing (also here) certainly hits home. It's something I deal with all the time, especially at budget season. At one time in evangelical churches, people tithed first and then gave offerings on top of that. Today people are more likely to mentally allocate …
The Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Marty Haugen and David Haas Has Finally Won
One of the more hilarious sites on the Web relating to Roman Catholicism is the Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Marty Haugen and David Haas, or SMMMHDH for short. When it started, the Society made the following claim: The Society is awaiting pontifical approval from the Holy See as a pious sodality. …
A Special Thanksgiving Verse
Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. (Proverbs 3:9, 10) The special opening sentence for Thanksgiving from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.
Next Time, Try SSH of an ISO
Chances are, most of you have no idea what the title of this posting means. But a few people in the United Kingdom (may not be united for much longer) need to learn that meaning quickly when moving their CD-ROM's around, as now they have lost two of them with the confidential data of half …
Some Things Look Great on Paper. And Then…
Zack has an interesting response to my posting More on the Fairness of God, both on this blog and on his own Mutantcheez. Let me respond in turn to a couple of his comments. Paul goes on to talk in the letter about how Abraham is considered righteous based on his faith in God, and …
Continue reading "Some Things Look Great on Paper. And Then…"
Goats Get Grade Of A-Plus
The city of Chattanooga, TN, has engaged the services of goats to clean up kudzu, and the goats get a grade of A-Plus. Too bad the politicians can't manage the same thing... The problem here is that the goats are doing what they do best: eating everything that's in front of them. When the politicians …
If They Can’t Speak English, It’s the Employer’s Call
John Fund's piece on the efforts by some House Democrats to force organisations like the Salvation Army to hire people who can't speak English (or won't do so all the time on the job) is a good reason why I have lost faith in the whole "anti-discrimination" portion of our laws. Having run a business, …
Continue reading "If They Can’t Speak English, It’s the Employer’s Call"
Falling off the fence
One of my father's consistent gripes about the Episcopal Church--a gripe usually made specifically about our Rector at Bethesda--is that its ministers rode the fence too hard, never took a stand on anything, etc. That "strategy" (if it can be dignified by that name) lost TEC many members, but it also won it a few …
Going Back to the Ones That I Know…
Pope Benedict XVI is certainly shaking things up in his "new" approaches to the Mass, Anglicans and Orthodox. It has more profound implications that many people realise. To start with, he's being more proactive to Anglo-Catholicism than many anticipated. In Think Before You Convert, I figured that the Roman Catholic Church would simply pick up …
America’s disappearing middle class
The declining share of low and moderate income workers in the American pie is undeniable; the relative share of such workers peaked as long ago as 1973. For those with only high school qualifications or less, their absolute earnings peaked in 1973 and have declined substantially since then. From 1973 to 1995, this appeared to …
Positive Infinity 