Joe Carter and George Clooney agree, Sony didn’t balk from North Korea but from Lawsuits

Acton Institute

Sony didn’t pull the movie because they were scared; they pulled the movie because all the theaters said they were not going to run it. And they said they were not going to run it because they talked to their lawyers and those lawyers said if somebody dies in one of these, then you’re going to be responsible.

The Verge on Obama’s Response

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

Harvard to Stop Soda Stream because of Micro Aggression

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/395027/harvard-stop-buying-sodastream-machines-because-theyre-microaggression-katherine

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

Stephen Colbert and Friends Gives us a Wonderful Taste of Advent

Stephen Colbert concluded his series. 

I found great delight in his sing-along. Why? To me it is an image of the age to come.

No I’m not a universalist. Yes, I realize these are all celebrities. What is my point?

A few years ago I wrote about unbelieving artists producing Christmas albums as a proleptic vision of Isaiah 60.  This is in that category.

Enemies, friends, rivals, people with a lot of petty and large things between them can, for a moment, join in celebration. For a moment all the serious stuff that Colbert joked about was laid aside and they could simply celebrate.

When Christ comes again and all wars cease this is how it will feel, but far far more.

So this brings me joy, gives me hope, helps me dismiss stubborn sin and embrace gratitude.

Thank you Stephen Colbert for your work and your finale.

Posted in Devotional Reflection | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Pornographic Double Bind

First Things

Response on Her-meneutics

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

The Good Enough Marriage

First Things

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

On Tolkien, Lewis and Pagan Mythology

The imaginative Conservative

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

The Annunciation by John Collier

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

Is Christ’s Virgin Birth A Pagan Knock-off? Does God Have A Taste For Young Girls?

lrg_prints_annunciation

John Collier’s Annunciation

Using Young Women

Throughout history men with power have used young women to get what they want. This fact has made all the allegations against Bill Cosby easily believable. They also made allegations against Bill Clinton believable along with how many politicians and other powerful men.

It is now common to dismiss the Bible stories of the virgin birth as pagan copying. There are numerous examples of ancient religious texts from around the world of male gods impregnating young women. The Bible too has in the book of Genesis a story of the “sons of God” going to the “daughters of men” to have children with them. There are two levels at which many see the story of of the virgin birth of Christ as discrediting Christianity:

  • The virgin birth is just a pagan knock off attempting to give divine credibility to the man, Jesus of Nazareth
  • This is just another example of reinforcing patriarchy: male deities using women for their own selfish means against their wishes or welfare.

A Pagan Knockoff Continue reading →

Posted in On the way to Sunday's sermon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

No Age of Consent in the Bible

Camels with Hammers

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment

The Dish on Would You Report Your Rape

Posted in Daily Links and Notes | Leave a comment