Art for the Sabbath

Mother ~ Ted Kooser Mid April already, and the wild plums bloom at the roadside, a lacy white against the exuberant, jubilant green of new grass and the dusty, fading black of burned-out ditches. No leaves, not yet, only the delicate, star-petaled blossoms, sweet with their timeless perfume. You have been gone a month today [...]

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Lessons from the melancholy Dane and a quiet midwesterner

19th Century philosophy Soren Kierkegaard once said, “Purity of heart is to will one thing.” Though the melancholy Dane, as Kierkegaard was nicknamed, exists today as little more than a headache for freshmen philosophy students, his words have never been more relevant to American pop culture. Though we live in a world of countless sub-cultures, [...]

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Crushing the myth of American exceptionalism for Black History Month

There’s a funny thing about seeing yourself as superior to everyone else. Since you’re not perfect, you’re going to make mistakes. And when you do, you have two choices: Admit that you’re not as great as you think and deal with the issue in all its messiness and brokenness. Or attempt a surface-level quick fix [...]

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Invisible Gods and Safety Valves

Note: This is part of my ongoing series working through Brian McLaren’s new book, A New Kind of Christianity. This post is responding to his section on the Christian narrative. Also, be warned up front: This is going to read more like a newspaper column than a book review. I’ve been a columnist for four [...]

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Libraries, Constitutions, and False Dilemmas

Note: This is technically speaking Part 4 of the McLaren response, but I’m posting them out of order. My response to the narrative section comes a lot harder than this one does so I’m giving it a bit more time to sit before I publish it. As I read the section on the Bible and [...]

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Away from “the public” and toward membership

A further word about post-colonialism: Like feminism, queer theory, and critical race theory, post-colonialism is often assailed by a seemingly-logical but seriously flawed line of argument. It normally runs something like this: “Sure, blacks/women/gays and lesbians/colonized people have been oppressed historically, but by extending special privileges or building critical theories of understanding the world around [...]

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Art for the Sabbath

I’m going to make these Sabbath posts a regular feature here, so expect a poem or song (or both) every Sunday from now on. Another bit of gold for you from Edna St. Vincent Millay. This one is titled Assault. Assault I had forgotten how the frogs must sound after a year of silence, else [...]

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Libertarians and Socialists Talking About Dubya

Because I have no impulse control and Mike Morrell was kind enough to link to yesterday’s post on his Facebook, I decided to get started on A New Kind of Christianity a bit sooner than I had planned. So I’m currently sitting at Barnes & Noble with a store copy of the book, leeching their [...]

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Lessons in Poking a Hornet’s Nest

If you’re a reader of the Christian blogosphere, you’re no doubt aware of the most recent edition in the ongoing series of histrionics that happens whenever Brian McLaren publishes a new book. On the invitation of a good brother, I’m jumping into the fray and will be reading the book and blogging through it in [...]

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Reaching for your revolver when you hear “quirky”

In the early 1960s a British band called The Who broke onto the scene, making their name as an out-of-control high energy band that tore through concerts, complete with windmilling guitar work by Pete Townshend, frenetic drumming from Keith Moon, all anchored by the steady bass of John Entwistle and fronted by charismatic showman Roger [...]

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