* Temporarily renamed in honor of the Nativity Fast, about which Mystagogy has some more information.
National Geographic puts in a good word or two for the King James Bible.
I guess they don’t know about the Nativity Fast, or maybe there just aren’t enough people who observe it to be worth baiting. They’re probably saving their next “Archeology confirms that Jesus was a dead rabbi with a girlfriend” article for Lent next year.
A self-styled defender of “Scientism” argues, in a blog that reads like a scholarly article awaiting peer review, that Nazi racial ideology was religious, creationist and opposed to Darwinism. It looks worth reading, and the comments so far have been surprisingly civil (maybe the blog is moderated).
One comment caught my critical eye, though:
There weren’t really any atheist players in WWII. The Allies were basically Christian, the Nazis were, too, even if their stripe of Christianity didn’t sit well with the Allies, the USSR replaced supernatural gods and dogmas with ideological ones, certainly not with freethought.
So Soviet atheism wasn’t really atheist because it had ideological Gods? That may be freethought, but it’s not clearthought.
There is a human tendency, related to “confirmation bias,” to view all things good about one’s faith or ideology as proof of its merit, all things bad about one’s faith or ideology as proof of infiltration as enemies.
I do it, too. So my prominent evangelical Facebook friend (whose job, be it noted in his defense, includes being a bit of a cheerleader/pep-talker/motivator) exults:
Tim Tebow is a classic example that “God honors those who honor Him”! What a terrific final drive for the Bronco win tonight!
I’ll view something like that and say “Harumph! Krustianity! This is the fruit of Evangelicalism!” But maybe it’s not. It’s certainly not the best of Evangelicalism, if “best” is measured by sobriety and literal truth, and the best of Evangelicalism, however rare, is better than the worst of Orthodoxy, however rare. It also may be an Evangelical version of what I’ve referred to as “speaking doxologically, not logically,” though I’m not sure people who so value the “literal” are allowed to do that.
Yes, Christianity corrupted by racism could lead to holocaust. Yes, Christian history includes lots of condemnation of “the Jews,” which transposed downward into a literalist political theory could be very dangerous.
But I’ll gladly compare the Christian average to the atheist average. And then I’ll say “so what?” and try to get back to “Lord have mercy!”
Speaking of Evangelicalism at less than its best, has anyone heard from its latest neuralgic point, Harold Camping, lately?
Writer’s Almanac seems to be on a nostaligic, if not morose, streak. I love it.
More poetry. I’ll bet nobody feels neutral about the sentiments there expressed.
Did you know that kiddie porn is constitutionally protected free speech — provided preturnaturally young-looking 18 year-olds are used, or they do the porno version of Pixar with virtual children?
Are you happy about that? Do you feel freer as a result of the Supreme Court opinion?
In the wake of Penn State, Carson Holloway’s column seems timely.
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Bon appetit!
Having become tedious even to myself, I’m Tweeting more, blogging less. View this in a browser instead of an RSS feeder to see Tweets at upper right.
I also have some succinct standing advice on recurring themes. Maybe if I link to it, I’ll blog less obsessively about it.
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 