tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-379036902012-01-25T16:38:04.474-08:00Comments on past and present political, religious and pop cultural events.Jacobnoreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-82556096119602921302007-05-12T11:48:00.000-07:002007-05-15T05:57:14.343-07:00

Recently, a lot of talk has been swirling around a series of debates between atheists and theists (mostly Christians) and between supporters of Intelligent Design (mostly protestant Christians as well) and its detractors?On ABC, the 1990s TV star Kirk Cameron and author and preacher Ray Comfort debated two members of the Rational Response Squad, a group of atheists that try to persuade people to

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-82311976973820821022007-05-10T06:30:00.000-07:002007-05-10T12:36:36.541-07:00

After a game of baseball, three umpires were having a beer.One says, "There's balls and there's strikes and I call 'em the way they are."Another says, "There's balls and there's strikes and I call 'em the way I see 'em."A third says, "There's balls and there's strikes, and they ain't nothin' until I call 'em."Let's look a bit closer at these three different responses for a moment.One might be

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-20524940064491684732007-04-26T19:17:00.000-07:002007-04-26T19:25:30.601-07:00

A fantastic quote from Michel Foucault, "Practicing Criticism."A Critique is not a matter of saying that things are not right as they are. It is a matter of pointing out on what kinds of assumptions, what kinds of familiar, unchallenged, unconsidered modes of thought the practices that we accept rest....Criticism is a matter of flushing out that thought and trying to change it: to show that

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-63507482170957822202007-04-25T05:45:00.000-07:002007-04-30T12:33:48.318-07:00

I'm going to risk making a typology of relations between evangelicals and "postmodernism." It is not meant to represent a fixed and forever stable arrangement, but a way to help us organize our thinking about the topic and more clearly see where people stand. The borders between types are porous and continually under revision, to be sure.I suggest that three relations between evangelicals and

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-87387723930158883142007-04-21T17:55:00.001-07:002007-04-23T06:10:50.014-07:00

John Piper writes an apparently compelling essay on the issue of relativism. The piece is entitled: "The Challenge of Relativism."The essay hinges on a key distinction between two kinds of descriptions.John Piper makes a distinction between two kinds of descriptions, "daily speech" and Absolute Talk. Daily speech deals with issues like height and weight. These are topics that are measured by "

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-40688034045788906592007-04-20T05:13:00.000-07:002007-04-20T06:30:33.575-07:00

Some Headlines from Stories about Gozales' Testimony:Senators Chastise GonzalesOn a Very Hot Seat With Little Cover and Less SupportGonzales Endures Harsh Session With Senate PanelAl, the President's Man:Alberto Gonzales is bloodied by his trip to the Senate.Gonzo-Meter:Al, you're not helping.Will Bush Stand by Gonzales?Dead Man Walking Gonzales?Gonzales' Tremendous Credibility ProblemA

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-12211172930180507202007-04-19T05:18:00.000-07:002007-04-20T06:32:10.617-07:00

As tragic as the Virginia Tech shootings are, let’s face it: 32 dead is a slow day in U.S.-occupied Iraq.Should we not cry for all the dead? Why do we cry for some and not those thousands of others?

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-45352130306132686562007-04-17T11:55:00.000-07:002007-04-17T12:11:59.041-07:00

Woody Guthrie said:I wrote this song looking out of a rooming house window in New York City in the winter of Nineteen and Forty. I thought I had to put down on paper how I felt about the rich folks and the poor ones. This was quoted the liner notes for "Bound For Glory: The Songs and Story of Woody Guthrie," FOLKWAYS , 1956, p. 8.The song goes like this:Jesus Christ was a man who traveled

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-3412706951709870912007-04-16T14:24:00.000-07:002007-04-16T14:32:26.418-07:00

My friend Jesse cued me to this link. President George W Bush's concept of a "war on terror" has given strength to terrorists by making them feel part of something bigger, Hilary Benn has said. The international development secretary told a meeting in New York the phrase gives a shared identity to small groups with widely differing aims. Mr Benn said: "In the UK, we do not use the phrase 'war

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-8155064190876706452007-04-13T08:01:00.000-07:002007-04-13T08:37:26.691-07:00

A while back I picked up The Concept of Dread by Soren Kierkegaard. I would like to share a bit taken from the final chapter. It is entitled: "Dread as a Saving Experience by Means of Faith."To catch you up to pace with Kierkegaard's thinking, dread is not a result of an objective thing out there in the world. Rather, "man himself produces dread." "Dread," he says, "is the possibility of

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-62256641432953227532007-04-09T08:57:00.000-07:002007-04-10T08:47:56.540-07:00

Tom Gilson, over at the Thinking Christian, posted this link to a great discussion (by John Mark Reynolds) of the relationship between science and religion.Much of what Mark writes is agreeable to me. When he says, for instance:If all sides of the religion-science debate admit that they are at best telling “likely stories,” then they can go about their work in peace. Each side can continue to

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-17280806856800214412007-03-31T06:08:00.000-07:002007-03-31T06:17:56.606-07:00

On 27 March I wrote at the end of a post: Don't point to a piece of empirical evidence and say: "look here, my faith in God is proven." Rather, demonstrate to me the validity and trustworthiness of your faith by showing me the fruit that it bears. Show me truth, love and justice in your actions.There are any number of ways that a Christian can act in the name of God. Sometimes the fruit of those

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-6490477816071360232007-03-30T05:50:00.000-07:002007-03-30T05:55:27.596-07:00

"Who and what is next?" Roberta Sklar, spokeswoman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force responded to the President's support of a Constitutional Amendment to ban gay marriage: "If he endorses amendments such as this, which blatantly discriminates against a class of people, you would then have to wonder who and what is next." Ms. Sklar's

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-83289927124302770342007-03-27T12:09:00.000-07:002007-03-27T12:10:31.515-07:00

Many Christians whether they are aware of it or not, view the Bible and their faith through the lens of referential epistemology (or also known as a correspondence theory of truth).What does all that gibberish mean?It means that many proclaim the Words of the Bible to accurately fit or correspond to the world out there. As a result of this epistemological stance, we see books like Josh McDowell's

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-45310699178397006012007-03-26T05:48:00.000-07:002007-03-26T05:57:36.005-07:00

Over the weekend, a Cold Warrior, Zbigniew Brzezinski, wrote a surprisingly good op-ed piece in the Washington Post. He argues that the "war on terrorism" mantra is cultivating a culture of fear in America. I would agree. Check it out.

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-59047060307001295562007-03-21T05:18:00.001-07:002007-03-22T06:16:11.785-07:00

What does this image do? It yokes Jesus, USA, and Saves into a whole. The image ties the secular (USA and corporate produces) together with the sacred. It seems to produce a historically salient nationalistic/patriotic fantasy that the USA is an exceptional state, a state touched by the hand of God and infused by manifest destiny.Or maybe not? What do you think?

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-20135833378567317442007-03-18T10:09:00.000-07:002007-03-18T14:35:11.458-07:00

In part one, I tried to demonstrate that the issue of 'homosexuality' is not a point of discussion in the Bible. It is a contemporary issue tied to the social and political conditions in the United States, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. Moving beyond this argument is the point of this second part.Instead of arguing that those evangelicals that say 'homosexual practice' is mentioned in

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-46255190291542210342007-03-16T12:30:00.000-07:002007-03-18T10:07:50.960-07:00

It is commonplace to hear that "the Bible says clearly that homosexual practice is a sin" or some similar derivation of that.Yet a quick peek into any of the popular translations of the Bible today reveals that 'homosexuality' or 'homosexual practice' are not empirically in the texts themselves. There is no mention of these 'sins,' as is commonly argued.More to the point, 'homosexual' has a

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-87974393687426596832007-03-14T05:40:00.001-07:002007-03-14T05:49:18.646-07:00

A few days ago I made a post about how many evanglicals have sex on the mind. Then today I ran across the Baptist Press News article that only served to fortify my view.In Kentucky, over 700 students gathered at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to talk about God and Sex.As the Dean of the School of Theology, Russel D. Moore said: “Right now in this generation there are a couple of white

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-51673178073598065562007-03-08T09:40:00.000-08:002007-03-08T11:34:23.841-08:00

The short AP article was titled: "Woman in Vegetative State Awakes, Slips." It reads: A woman who went into a vegetative state in November of 2000 awoke this week for three days, spoke with her family and a local television station before slipping back on Wednesday. "I'm fine," Christa Lilly told her mother on Sunday — her first words in eight months. She has awakened four other times for

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-34262386017233396882007-03-08T06:14:00.000-08:002007-03-08T06:15:08.340-08:00

No, it's not enough to follow Jesus of Nazareth. It is not enough to have a burning passion for the poor. It's not enough to strive toward some semblance of social justice. We have to have sex on the mind.Let me illustrate.According to the Baptist News Press, five churches in North Carolina are at odds with the Baptist State Convention over the issue of homosexuality. Last fall, the Convention

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-24452331634228026912007-03-06T05:10:00.000-08:002007-03-06T06:00:55.758-08:00

A series of articles published in the Washington Post on the conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was a trigger. They effectively circulated these stories across mass media outlets and got people moving.But the conditions were there at Walter Reed and around the country before the articles came out. The complaints from wounded soldiers and their families were there too. And at Walter

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-20636433977084057452007-02-23T06:16:00.000-08:002007-02-23T06:36:25.294-08:00

The following is a quote that I read last night. It is from the philosopher/theologian, John D. Caputo, in his book On Religion. For me, it is a very powerful and sensible statement. For others, I'm sure it will smack of heresy. Any given religion is better off without the ideas that it is "the one true religion" and the others are not, as if the several religions were engaged in a zero sum

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-41503186281989829602007-02-23T05:11:00.000-08:002007-02-23T06:12:30.331-08:00

I heard a story about hospitals dumping poor patients on NPR a while back. But this morning I read this article in the NY Times entitled: "‘Dumping’ of Homeless by Hospitals Stirs Debate."The opening paragraph begins with these words: For a year, reports have surfaced that hospitals here have left homeless patients on downtown streets, including a paraplegic man wearing a hospital gown and

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-14690693854881858992007-02-22T04:54:00.000-08:002007-02-22T05:38:13.779-08:00

In "Keeping Current With The Culture," Bill White saysHow many of these terms can you identify? Metrosexual. Bennifer. Blogging. G-Unit. Is it hard to stay on top of the constant stream of culture swirling around you? (Metrosexual: a heterosexual who embraces much of homosexual culture; popularized by the wildly successful TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Bennifer: the movie star couple

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-66838500243736571662007-02-20T05:58:00.000-08:002007-02-20T06:22:10.680-08:00

This morning on the Baptist Press News, Rev. Henry Blackaby opens with these words:Faith, or belief, can only operate in the present. It takes no faith to believe what has been –- that’s settled. Likewise, it takes no faith to believe what God can do, for with God all things are possible. Faith functions in what you believe God is going to do right now.The assertion that "It takes no faith to

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-38728698398601672722007-02-19T15:52:00.000-08:002007-02-19T16:56:32.600-08:00

On the Simpson's this evening....Homer screeches into the church parking lot and the billboard reads: "Rapture Threat Level Orange." Two narratives are tied together here. One is biblical and the second is a national security metaphor. They come together well to illustrate the peculiar relationship between the church and the state, which are two great institutions that give order and meaning to

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-64730384270031654972007-02-19T08:50:00.000-08:002007-02-19T11:38:53.667-08:00

I've heard self-described economic conservatives say to the effect: "yeah, the US educational system has problems, but throwing money at it won't help."Its funny and sad to watch many of the same economic conservatives justify throwing money at Iraq. Iraq has become a money pit.Congress was told at least $10 billion of $57 billion for Iraq reconstruction contracts has been squandered by

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-49572102174444475172007-02-16T15:16:00.000-08:002007-02-18T12:49:58.748-08:00

In chapter one of his book, In Quest of Jesus, W. Barnes Tatum argues that Jesus has been framed by four general narratives.1). Jesus the Dying Savior2). Jesus the Example3). Jesus the Monk or Mystic4). Jesus the TroublemakerIn the part of the United States that I hail from, the frame announced most often is Jesus the Dying Savior. If people are talking of Jesus, then they are usually talking

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-48336764358505626362007-02-15T06:54:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:16:13.108-08:00

Recently much has been written about the practice of extraordinary rendition. This is the extra-judicial procedure which involves the sending of untried criminal suspects deemed 'terrorist' to countries other than the United States for imprisonment and interrogation.Perhaps the most famous of these incidents involve Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen that was detained at Kennedy

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-39791701327194745112007-02-13T05:23:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:24:36.893-08:00

This morning I ran across the blog Out of Ur, a discussion site hosted by the editors of the Leadership Journal. What caught my eye was the article, "Loving the Hell Out of People," a piece originally published in Prism--America's Alternative Evangelical Voice and written by Shane Claiborne. In particular, I'm interested in his interpretation of hell. To quote the end of the article, Shane

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-57869631886261084022007-02-11T10:16:00.000-08:002007-02-10T12:30:34.449-08:00

Ted Haggard is cured. A number of news articles have been published over the past or week or so quoting Mr. Haggard as saying that he is "completely heterosexual." In his words, he was "acting out" and his man-loving and meth-taking was not a "constant" activity. Is Ted's activity a problem in general? Or, is Ted's activity a problem in particular? By this I mean to say that given the

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-47027387924938295302007-02-10T11:56:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:25:57.539-08:00

Today I read a Congressional Quarterly article on the Bush administration's budget plans for the upcoming fiscal year of 2008. The proposed budget is about $2.9 trillion. Where does the money go? Well, lets see.$245 billion are alloted to war-making in Afghanistan and Iraq.$700 billion total for security related spending, which comes to about $2,300 per US resident and has basically doubled

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-4444872887932173092007-01-31T06:10:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:50:25.924-08:00

"What are we to do about Islam?" is a question Mike Licona asked in this morning's Baptist Press News. By 'we', Mike is referring to Christians. His talk presupposes that 'we' are a corporate actor, an agent, with the capacity to 'do' something. It ignores the fact that Christians are divided into many different sects--there are Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Universalists, etc. But this

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-68620430534114167882007-01-28T10:08:00.000-08:002007-01-30T09:39:53.085-08:00

Just who is the "decider" or "decision-maker" is a concrete struggle over meaning that is playing out right before our eyes.President Bush has remarked on a number of occasions that he is the "decider" and more recently, the "decision-maker." And he has been making decisions to back up his claim. A large number of people gathered in Washington, DC, yesterday to protest Bush's decision to send

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-53390800128623780252007-01-25T05:23:00.000-08:002007-01-25T05:53:46.100-08:00

One of the topics that I research and write about is how fear operates in our lives. In a Baptist Press News piece this morning, an article entitled: "Fear and Confidence?" It is a short article that discusses the Biblical verse: “In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence and His children have a refuge” (Proverbs 14:26). The author relates her fear of the lord to her fear of her

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-34294364750768106562007-01-24T05:17:00.000-08:002007-01-24T05:39:06.339-08:00

Religion in a person's life can play out in a number of different ways. Some offer this distinction, a "true Christian" acts differently than a "nominal Christian." People use this distinction to symbolize the difference between those that call themselves "Christian," but then go about living an ungodly life, and those that call themselves "Christian" and go about living Christ-like. The idea

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-28719980169925149302007-01-23T06:12:00.000-08:002007-01-23T06:29:24.300-08:00

An Open Letter to Kansas School BoardI am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-30918491698721774962007-01-18T06:56:00.000-08:002007-01-18T07:31:58.702-08:00

In the recent issue of Christianity Today, perhaps the sharpest theological argument that I've run across was published. It was written by John D. Caputo, a professor of religion and humanities at Syracuse University, and the author of several books. He presents a post-modern, post-structural theology that is "radical" by mainline standards.In this particular piece entitled, "On Being Clear

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-44430788525059564742007-01-17T05:21:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:26:52.451-08:00

Almost 5 years ago, at the outset of the US waged war in Iraq when Dick Cheney was still arguing that US troops would be greeted as "liberators," some policy wonks and elected officials made the case that the cost would run about $50 billion. That almost sounds like a bad joke. But wait, it gets even funnier.Today, some estimate that the war is costing $300 million per day of occupation, which

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-66934161345024804492007-01-15T06:31:00.000-08:002007-01-15T06:47:30.570-08:00

On 4 April 1967, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. made the famous Riverside Church speech in New York City. It was entitled: "Beyond Vietnam--A Time to Break Silence." You can listen and/or read it here. I first heard/read this speech about a year ago. It is powerful and moving. But more than that, the speech demonstrates that since MLK's death, he has been domesticated. By that I mean, MLK

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-47548686589453997252007-01-13T08:38:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:51:11.223-08:00

In a Baptist Press News article, a theologian says that Bush's presidency fairs well on Biblical grounds.Grudem weighed the Bush presidency on 10 major issues that included protection of life, marriage/family and the courts, human dignity, the political process, the environment, economics, the war on terror, communication skills and personal character and faith.......Bush has consistently given

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-83671844109771654562007-01-10T13:11:00.000-08:002007-01-10T13:38:46.839-08:00

The physical bodies of people that traverse borders (cultural, legal, territorial, moral, etc) are subject to the forces of power and domination in a way that someone that safely sits at the 'center' of their community cannot fathom. Those forces that sustain 'commonsense' boundaries inscribe the bodies and mark the flesh of those that dare to trespass them. At one time in the history of

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-18177712566428180642007-01-10T05:46:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:34:00.299-08:00

A Christianity Today article caught my attention. In Dethroned, David P. Gushee talks about the importance of dethroning the "All-Important Self" and making sure that "Jesus is Lord" is regularly affirmed.Mentors and authors have helped to sharpen my understanding of Christ's lordship. They've warned me about idols that threaten to replace him. Jesus Christ is Lord, so mammon cannot be. Jesus

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-4728908538101636252007-01-08T09:59:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:28:27.846-08:00

Over the past year or so, I have spent a considerable amount of time reading the Bible, Christian-oriented literature (e.g. Christianity Today, the Baptist Press News, etc.), and sociological, historical and theological works that relate to evangelical, fundamentalist and emerging church streams of thought and worship. I have benefited and learned much about topics and issues that I was (and

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-74568898304670676392007-01-02T16:37:00.000-08:002007-01-02T17:26:27.060-08:00

Today in the Washington Post, "The Private Arm of the Law" caught my attention. The article discusses the privitization of the police, or the rise of private security firms, which have apparently outnumbered public police forces in the United States since the 1980s. With the sleeve patch on his black shirt, the 9mm gun on his hip and the blue light on his patrol car, he looked like an ordinary

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-14744703409828819892006-12-20T09:36:00.000-08:002006-12-20T09:56:58.127-08:00

I recently finished reading the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. Wow! It is quite the powerful book. One cannot help but respect and admire Douglass.A quote stuck out that I would like to share:This battle with Mr. Covey was the turning-point in my career as a slave. It rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom, and revived within me a sense of my own manhood

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-81973906329803312292006-12-16T15:18:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:27:46.358-08:00

Who is allowed in as a valued member of any community and who is kept out and marginalized is instructive.The other night I saw an interview on ABC, it was with Barbara Walters and Joel Osteen. The conversation hung around the message that he is perhaps most famous for preaching, the "gospel of prosperity and wealth." He has a 35,000 member church and among many evangelical Christians he is a

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-15427902172101103022006-12-13T06:44:00.000-08:002006-12-13T07:24:10.627-08:00

At the Woodly Park/National Zoo metro stop in DC, as you descend into the first sub-level, hung on either side of the tunnel walls are advertisements. A few months back, one advertisement pictured an African-American man and women in an embrace. He was wearing a tuxedo and she had on a wedding dress. Under the picture, words read: "Marriage. It Works." Just below these words, in black marker

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-49355122440960382492006-12-12T06:12:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:29:46.571-08:00

Bill Petti posted 'Blame America Last' on the Duck of Minerva blog spot. It inverts the all too often used, 'Blame America Last' phrase. As Pettie sees it:Those who subscribe to [Blame America Last] this view go to great lengths to deny any responsibility when it comes to American action or inaction. American policy makers are seen as consistently noble and capable, doing what they can in a

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-32156951690571689632006-12-11T06:03:00.000-08:002006-12-12T06:03:34.446-08:00

In "Religion for a Captive Audience, Paid for by Taxes," we learn about taxed-financed Christian evangelism in prisons.Life was different in Unit E at the state prison outside Newton, Iowa.The toilets and sinks — white porcelain ones, like at home — were in a separate bathroom with partitions for privacy. In many Iowa prisons, metal toilet-and-sink combinations squat beside the bunks, to be used

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-42701135220969179142006-12-09T11:01:00.001-08:002006-12-09T14:30:16.000-08:00

A couple of Washington Post articles caught my attention on Saturday morning. In "US Prosecuters Move to Block Padilla's Questioning of Pentagon," the reporter opens with these words:Federal prosecutors asked a judge Thursday to prevent Jose Padilla's defense attorneys from questioning Defense Department officials or obtaining documents about his treatment during 3 1/2 years in military custody

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-1165624996997010822006-12-08T16:29:00.000-08:002006-12-10T11:45:28.935-08:00

Tom Gilson recently drew from David Limbaugh in a blog discussion about the shutting of the Nativity scene in Chicago. I commented on Gilson's blog and wish to follow up here.Much hand wringing goes on over the place of Christmas in America. Over the past few years, the notion of a 'war on Christmas' has been raised by various commentators. There is a war, they suggest, aimed at the holiday

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-1165590437057369092006-12-08T06:13:00.000-08:002007-02-19T09:52:09.973-08:00

Russel D. Moore wrote a pespective piece in the Baptist Press entitled: Nancy Pelosi is my Prayer Partner. The point that I want to comment on is Moore's claim that:The news networks tell us that the new majority in the United States House and Senate is the result of a "wave" of Democratic Party voters. From a human and historical vantage point, that's true. But as those who believe in the

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37903690.post-1165504805509742112006-12-07T07:18:00.000-08:002007-02-19T17:37:05.218-08:00

This is the launching post for this blog. Please feel free to visit and comment as you choose.So this show the "Biggest Loser" was on TV last night. I wasn't watching, but just happend to walk in near the end of this episode. The volume was low, almost inaudible. I saw this man standing there crying. He was in front of a life-sized image of himself that was on a small pedistool. The image

Jacobnoreply@blogger.com1