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From Patheos “The Culture Wars Reflect the Polarization of Society”

Really just passing on the quote (isn’t cut and paste nifty!:) )

The question of the tactics of power politics imposing its vision on all others is not an idle one–for the simple reason that cultural conflict is inherently antidemocratic. It is antidemocratic first because the weapons of such warfare are reality definitions that presuppose from the outset the illegitimacy of the opposition and its claims. Sometimes the antidemocratic impulse is conscious and deliberate; this is seen when claims are posited as fundamental rights that transcend democratic process. More often than not, though, the antidemocratic impulse in cultural conflict is implicit in the way in which activists frame their positions on issues…a position so “obviously superior,” so “obviously correct,” and its opposite is so “obviously out of bounds” that they are beyond serious discussion and debate. Indeed, to hold the “wrong” opinion, one must be either mentally imbalanced (phobic–as in homophobic–irrational, codependent, or similarly afflicted) or, more likely, evil. Needless to say, in a culture war, one finds different and opposing understandings of the politically correct few of the world.

From Jesus Creed

Childhood Messages 

1.You are loved.

2. You are unique.

3. You have gifts

4. You are safe.

5. You are valuable.

Adolescent Messages

1. Life is difficult.

2. You are not in control.

3. You are not that important.

4. You are going to die.

5. Your life is not about you.

Peter Leithart on marriage and family. 

In a recent talk at the Wheaton Theology Conference, the Kenyan Anglican Archbishop David Gitari told of a Christian ministry that hired an ambulance to assist employees at a factory where injuries were being reported regularly. Eventually, someone had the bright idea of finding out why so many accidents were happening in the first place. Inside the building, investigators discovered a hall of hazards. What most needed fixing was the factory, not the workers.

For the past half-century, cultural conservatives have been running an ambulance service. Alarmed by the collapse of sexual morals, rising rates of divorce and illegitimacy, and legalized abortion, we’ve devoted energy and resources to shoring up the “traditional family,” conceived of as father-breadwinner, mother-homemaker, and their common children. But the nuclear family is as much problem as solution. An exclusive focus on defending the nuclear family reinforces the social dislocations that created the crisis.

Blog post on 1 Timothy 2.8-15

Fascinating piece from Maclean’s. Thanks Pete VDB

Arose over the hoax regarding a Pentagon ban on evangelizing in the Army. Link

Tebow vs. Collins

There are many reasons for this marginalization of black Christian athletes. Segregation and racism in American churches and media, and widespread ignorance of black religiosity, are partly to blame, but it’s also due to the fact that white evangelicalism is more politicized—or, perhaps more accurately, is differently politicized—than Black Church traditions tend to be. Collins’ faith, like that of many black athletes (even socially conservative ones), doesn’t fit the model of public performance of religiosity, or culture war conflicts the media expects and the religious right demands of its spokespeople.

This is the world as many on the religious right see it: not one in which Tebow is famous precisely because he’s a mediocre white quarterback who is vocal about his faith, nor one in which Collins and other black athletes who are also “avowed Christians” routinely get passed over by the media and the public—and certainly not one in which gay, lesbian, and bisexual people face systemic discrimination. Instead, they live in a world where Tebow, who according to Barna has a 73% favorability rating with the American public when it comes to his discussion of religion, is being vaguely persecuted for being a straight, white, Christian conservative man.