While I Was Out

I got caught up on a couple of things at my internship and the instructor for the only class I am taking cancelled one of our major assignments, so here I am. What’s more, hundreds many a handful a couple of my beloved readers have written to ask when I plan to return, so here I find myself. What did I miss? Well: This twitter thing has caught on something fierce, a development which I absolutely did not expect. I won’t be taking this up, however. I can’t imagine that my life is that interesting minute by minute, even to me. I’m sure that I missed blogging on some other things, but for the life of me I can’t think of them right now. Consider this an invitation to do an open thread in the comments.

Books

I recently finished Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse by Victor Gischler. I think whether or not this book is for you will depend on your response to the title, because it delivers exactly what the title promises: an action-packed post-apocalyptic satire set in a future US where the most powerful business, bordering on a fiefdom, is a strip bar franchise. The humor is dark but the characters are endearing. Right now I am reading L.A. Outlaws by T. Jefferson Parker. So far, it is a good read with an interesting plot and believable characters. More after I finish it (maybe).

 TV

Battlestar Galactica came to its eagerly anticipated ending, and the results were interesting: neither the GREATEST ENDING OF ALL TIME as some critics have trumpeted nor a complete failure as other critics insist. Spoilers below:

Filed under: Books, Faith and Religion, Geek Stuff, Movies, Music, Politics, School, Uncategorized, America, Appaloosa, Arc Angels, Barack Obama, Battlestar Galactica, blogging, Christianity, churches of Christ, Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse, Grace Conversation, Jackie Earle Haley, L.A. Outlaws, progressive, T. Jefferson Parker, traditionalist, Twitter, Victor Gischler, Watchmen

This is what I was talking about all along

On more than one occasion I have taken issue with Christians in the U.S. whining about perceived “persecution” that they experience (here, here, here, and here) and have pointed out that our brothers and sisters around the world would rightly laugh at what we consider suffering for the faith.

If you want to know what modern persecution really looks like, consider recent events in India. In response to the murder of a Hindu leader by Maoist rebels (and no these are not those elusive Christian Maoists), Hindus have begun burning Christian meeting places, assaulting priests, and gang-raping nuns.

I tend to roll my eyes when people on the right or left complain about the big, bad media. In my experience, the criteria that most Americans use to distinguish good, objective reporting from biased reporting is whether or not the story in question supports or threatens their already-held assumptions. However, it is hard to not conclude that American media has completely dropped the ball on this. Consider this headline: Faiths Clash, Displacing Thousands in East India. The first line of the story states:

NEW DELHI — At least 3,000 people, most of them Christians, are living in government-run relief camps after days of Christian-versus-Hindu violence in eastern India, government officials said.

This doesn’t really sound like a clash to me; more like a religious rumble between Christians and Hindus. As Get Religion observes:

Now, if you read that this was “Christian-versus-Hindu violence” and then you read that the riots began with the death of a Hindu leader, what would you assume? Let’s see, that would be Christians attacking Hindus and a Hindu leader was killed, thus leading to violence in which Hindus responded to the violence against them.

Draw your own conclusions on this.

Filed under: Faith and Religion, Politics, bias, Christianity, Christians, Hindus, media, persecution, spin, violence

Unleavened atheists

A student at the University of Central Florida apparently violated Catholic doctrine by smuggling a piece of Eucharist out of a Mass. For those not in the know, our Roman friends believe that after a priest blesses the wafer and it is consumed by the parishioner, it somehow transmogrifies, literally, into the body of Christ (likewise, the same thing happens to the wine, which becomes Christ’s blood of course). 

Filed under: Faith and Religion, Atheism, Bill Donahue, Catholic League, Catholicism, Christianity, cowardice, Eucharist, God, Jesus, PZ Myers, University of Central Florida

Does he quote Exodus 34:17*?

Yes, it’s true folks. Now your kids can have a talking Jesus to play with along side of their Transformers and Pokemon toys. Be sure and check out the site for the commercial; it’s priceless. I really like that they made sure his robe is pure white (like his skin) and that his hair is neatly combed and conditioned along with his beard, and that he speaks English with an American accent – it shows that high regard for historical accuracy.

 

Why do I feel like this is representative of everything that is wrong with modern Christianity?

*”Do not make cast idols.” (NIV)

Filed under: Faith and Religion, Christianity, things that shouldn't exist, toys

Open for discussion

I have recently begun studying the Bible and discussing apologetics with a very likable person who is struggling with her faith. She wants to believe, but she has some barriers that are impeding the development and threatening the foundation of her faith. Her questions are legitimate and none of them lends itself to an easy answer. I prepare for our discussions between meetings, but have never been too proud to ask for help. So I put it to you Christian readers, how would you respond to these questions? Any constructive feedback is welcome.

Filed under: Faith and Religion, apologetics, behavior, Christianity, doubt, faith, God, killing, New Testament, Old Testament