JOLLYBLOGGER: Tim Bednar's Paper - "We Know More Than Our Pastors."

Here's an interesting article written last year by David Wayne (a.k.a. JollyBlogger) in response to Tim Bednar's very interesting paper: "We Know More Than Our Pastors."

"Awhile back I listened to a message by Tim Keller where he said that there are still enough traditional people in America that traditional methods of doing church and outreach can work to build a church. But those pools of traditionally minded people are shrinking more and more. Keller advocates listening to those who minister in places like New York City and LA and other major population centers where all of the postmodern, 'cutting edge' stuff is happening. He says that what you see in these places will begin to dominate more and more of the American cultural landscape and so, if we are to get ahead of the curve, we need to pay attention to how the church is ministering in those places."

I agree -- there is still a place for church as we know it, but that place is getting smaller and smaller...

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Pope Benedict XVI on Vigil of Pentecost

Many thanks to Oswald Sobrino for posting the entire address given by Pope Benedict XVI on the Feast of Pentecost on his Catholic Analysis blog. Here is a small clip from that address:

"The Son who speaks to the Father exists and they are both one in the Spirit, who constitutes, so to speak, the atmosphere of giving and loving which makes them one God. This unity of love which is God, is a unity far more sublime than the unity of a last indivisible particle could be. The Triune God himself is the one and only God. Through Jesus let us as it were cast a glance at God in his intimacy. John, in his Gospel, expressed it like this: 'No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known' (Jn 1: 18).

Yet Jesus did not only let us see into God's intimacy; with him, God also emerged, as it were, from his intimacy and came to meet us. This happened especially in his life, passion, death and Resurrection; in his words.

Jesus, however is not content with coming to meet us. He wants more. He wants unification. This is the meaning of the images of the banquet and the wedding.

Not only must we know something about him, but through him we must be drawn to God. For this reason he had to die and be raised, since he is now no longer to be found in any specific place, but his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, emanates from him and enters our hearts, thereby uniting us with Jesus himself and with the Father, the Triune God. "

For the entire address, click here: Pope Benedict XVI on Vigil of Pentecost

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Reluctant Pastor Describes 'Long Spiritual Struggle'

While checking out the North Park Theological Seminary web site, I found this really interesing article in their news section: "Reluctant Pastor Describes 'Long Spiritual Struggle.'"

Becky Erickson felt called to go to seminary, but didn't want to. After a long battle with God over the matter, she decides to go, and it turned out to be a blessing for all involved.

There's a couple of interesting points in this article:

1. A women pays attention to the call God has put on her life, and it turns out to be a great blessing.

2. Yes, God calls people to go to seminary, even (horror of horrors!) conservative, Bible-believing women.

In the emerging church movement, there is a luke-warm attitude towards seminaries, and I think for good reason. However, there are still some wonderful, conservative, Bible-believeing semenaries out there, like North Park, that take their training and equipping ministry very seriouisly.

A point that some in the emerging movement take great pains to mention is that the emerging church is not meant to take the place of previous movements, but compliment them, and expand upon them. There will always be a need for the traditional local church with pastor, choir, Sunday School and so forth, and there is a whole group of people who need that type of structure. Certainly the Catholic Church didn't fold-up and go out-of-business simply because Martin Luther & Co. had that little reformation thing back in the 16th century. Not only are the Catholics still around, amazingly it seems they are doing better than ever, while the Reformers are tyring to deal with diminished market share.

From my viewpoint, it seems that the emerging church has a very particular, yet very important niche to fill. It doesn't seem God is calling the emerging church to replace all that's gone before it, but to go to those for whom the more formal, traditional church is unable to reach or deal with.

In a way, the emerging church is called to be God's trash collectors. All those considered to be "trash" or "losers" by traditional religious institutions should be able to find a place in the more liquid, organic structure of the emerging church, and even prosper in that sort of environment. I know I'm certainly one of them.

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From Speed to Thomas

In my quest to get a bit more serious about blogging, I've changed my blog avatar from the fictional Speed Racer to the actual Thomas Merton. I'm trading in my Mach-5 for the habbit and the solitude of a Trappist monk. Talk about transformation!

Now does Thomas Merton have anything to teach us about the emerging church? To be honest, I don't know, but his father was from New Zealand, so that must count for something...

One thing for sure, Merton does have a lot to teach us about prayer, work, and life in general through his numerous writings. He's not someone we can ignore, and I think that there are some lessons there about simplicity that can be most useful.

Perhaps the best five days of my life were spent on a spiritual retreat at the Abbey of Gethsemani where Thomas Merton ("Father Louis") worked and prayed. Most of that retreat was spent in silence, which was exactly what I needed.

I had an interesting revelation about Christianity and 12-step groups (like Alcoholic's Anonymous) while I was there, a connection that never occured to me before. Someday I'll need to write a little blog about what I learned and the impact it had on me.

There's just not enough time in the day...

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Iris Ministries -- an excellent guide for the emerging church

Hiedi Baker and her kids

Of all the ministries on earth, NONE have done more to challenge, insipire and delight me than Rolland and Hiedi Baker's Iris Ministries. For those interested in what the emergining church looks like, I encourage you to go to their web site, and read of all the incredible happenings that occur as long as you keep things simple and centered on Jesus.

The emerging church is often criticized for being overly concerned with "experiences." Why that's a bad thing in the eyes of the critics is difficult to explain, but a short, blunt answer is that they fear emotionalism. And "experiences" lead to emotionalism.

One look at the picture posted here, and you can certainly see the emotionalism displayed on the faces of Heidi and her kids! Why, it kind of looks like joy...

Looking at the different web sites of the various "leaders" of the emerging church, I sometimes notice a sort of elitiest, intellectual bent. There is a lot of concern about post-modernism, engaging the culture, networking, and all that sort of nonsense.

While all that is good and fine, and makes for interesting press copy, the simple truth is that the emerging church had best keep things very simple, and very authentic. Iris Ministires and their work in Africa is an excellent example of what I'm getting at.

When I first started reading the gospel for myself, I did not need a theological dictionary and a history of philosophy to know what Jesus was communicating. He used incredibly plain language, and used it very powerfully to create simple images that even people 2,000 years later can relate to in a very personal way. Not one iota of theological mumble-jumble in Jesus' approach....some riddles yes, but even those are not difficult to decipher as long as you have the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Again, the emerging church needs to learn the lessons that Iris Ministries demonstrates so well in their work in Africa: keep it simple, and keep it real. What more could you want?

(Check out the Iris Ministries BLOG!)

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Where did all the men go (again)?

Just found an excellent post on the GetReligion blog concerning the feminization of Christianity: Where did all the men go (again)?

A growing trend which more than just a few people have noticed is the disappearance of men from various Christian denominations. Not surprisingly, the very feminine left-liberal leaning churches have the greatest discrepancy between men and women attendees, while the more fundamentalist type churches are about 50/50.

However, even in the more fundamentalist leaning chruches, this ratio is not stable, and more and more men seem to be dropping out.

Being a man, and having been very disappointed by many churches in the little corner of the USA where I live, allow me to put my $0.02 in...

Most of the men I've met in leadership positions in their respective churches don't really have any idea as to what they are doing. Not all the men I've met, but quite a few. They don't seem to understand what Christianity is all about, nor do they really seem to care.

On the other hand, the women I've met in the various churches I've gone to are quite exceptional, and seem to really understand the "big picture" when it comes to the ministry and influence of Jesus.

Of course the unintended consequences is that you have women who are doing the real heavy lifting of spiritual formation and prayer, while the guys might do well to have an occasional "prayer" breakfast...where surprisingly little praying is done.

Yes, it's really just that simple, at least from my perspective...

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TallSkinnyKiwi: Are We a Movement?

Last year, tall, skinny, kiwi Andrew Jones posted this interesting article on his blog: TallSkinnyKiwi: Are We a Movement?

Of course what he's referring to is the "emerging church" and the question "is the emerging church a movement?" To some of you this might seem like a silly question, but for me personally it is a very important one. It's important, because there is far too much Orwellian double-speak as it is in this horribly politically-correct world of ours, and I don't wish to dismiss a term simply because some theologian sitting in his cubicle at Righteous Almighty Seminary might take offense that the church is still in need of reform. (Probably more so now than ever before!)

One of the "leaders" of the emerging church what-ever decided that is should be labeled a "conversation" rather than a movement. To be honest, I think the word "conversation" is an excellent term for describing the emerging church what-ever, however I think it is a false dichotomy to have to put "conversation" up against "movement" Both are simply descriptive terms, and being one does not mean the other is negated.

For me personally, the emerging church what-ever is definitely, absolutely, no-doubt-about-it, a MOVEMENT. And what a movement it is! And it's also a conversation, one that is only just beginning.

While the THEODICY blog has always been rather general in terms of the articles posted, in the near future there will be a definite MOVEMENT towards emgering church content. Also, the sister site, www.theodicy.org will now focus mainly on articles about the emerging church/house church movement.

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Test of the capabilities of Blogger

This posting was generated via e-mail.  Blogger gives one the ability to covert an e-mail into a blog posting by simply sending an e-mail to a special blogger address.   If this works, I might have to try this method more often.   It will be interesting to see if I can post pictures via e-mail as well!   Blogger is so cool....

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The specter of command cowardice

The following is a commentary that appeared in the Chicago Tribune. There are some very important lessons hear for leaders of all type, not just those in the military...

The specter of command cowardice

By Gregory D. Foster, a West Point graduate, was a decorated infantry company commander in the Vietnam War, serving in the 11th Brigade of the Americal Division, the unit responsible for the My Lai massacre

June 9, 2006

As further details emerge about the alleged massacre by U.S. troops of some two dozen civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha, the largely unacknowledged crisis that afflicts U.S. civil-military relations today assumes growing proportions.

To anyone who rightly expects the military to be a model of propriety answerable to the public it serves, it would be a mistake to dismiss this episode as a mere aberration brought on by combat stress or to write it off as the fault of something so nebulous as the fog of war.

It would be no less a mistake to blame the press for unpatriotically reporting the story or "liberal" critics for blowing it out of proportion and overzealously rushing to judgment.

It would even be a mistake simply to blame the troops who perpetrated the massacre--if that is what it was--even though they clearly must be held accountable and brought to justice for their actions.

In the final analysis, blame ultimately belongs on the shoulders of those who wear stars: the generals who, consistent with the supreme canon of their profession, bear final responsibility for all that does or doesn't happen under their command.

Military officers crave command--especially combat command. It is the most deeply ingrained aspirational imperative of their culture. It is what gets them promoted, brings them rewards and decorations, affords them recognition and adulation, gives them tentative hope of someday entering the pantheon of Great Captains, empowers them to dispense unassailable orders to dutifully obedient subordinates, feeds their sense of self-importance and accomplishment, distinguishes successful from unsuccessful careers. But privilege, prestige and prerogative isn't what command is--or ought to be--about. Command is about what justifies conflating it with leadership in the first place: the willingness to assume responsibility.

Recall the movie depiction of Gen. George Patton's rousing World War II speech to his Third Army, when he says: "The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them. Spill their blood. Shoot them in the belly. When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do."

That was then--when knowing what to do, even under extreme duress, was relatively straightforward; when enemies were whom they appeared to be; when Marquis of Queensberry rules tended to govern war's conduct.

This is now--when knowing what to do, even under routine conditions, isn't always obvious; when formally prescribed rules of engagement leave ample room for confusion and interpretation; when it is frequently unclear who is friend or foe, combatant or non-combatant. Yet mistaking the one for the other, under the microscope of media-age transparency, all too often produces instantaneous, strategically deleterious consequences. Precisely for this reason, military troops today must be more disciplined, mature, emotionally stable, morally sound and intellectually astute than ever before.

Unfortunately, these are traits the military fails to nurture or reward adequately. Instead, an unsettlingly pervasive drumbeat of Pattonesque, chest-thumping, rabble-rousing rhetoric about the virtues of "warfighting," "warfighters" and "warriors" fosters a climate far more conducive to intolerant aggression than to the stoic self-discipline that urban warfare in hostile foreign lands demands. This testosterone-laced climate provides tacit, subliminal license for troops to choose the undisciplined moral low road in the face of stress, fear and fatigue. For this, commanders who otherwise could claim to have neither ordered nor condoned heinous acts must assume responsibility.

It is long past time to test whether the military's self-image of the heroic commander is myth or reality.

First, we must confront our own sadly diminished standards of moral courage, exemplified by the half dozen retired generals who, their pensions secure, recently called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation. While on active duty, they said nothing publicly, much less tendered their resignations, over the strategic and operational shortcomings of our Iraq folly.

More to the point in reflecting our diminished standards of moral courage is the military's long-standing practice of scapegoating--especially lower ranking enlisted personnel and junior officers--in response to all manner of transgressions and catastrophes. Consider My Lai and Abu Ghraib.

The American public is itself morally suspect if we continue such scapegoating in the Haditha case. What we must demand, and have a right to expect, is that senior general officers stand up to be counted. Here is their script: "I take full responsibility for this execrable act of indiscipline, illegality and immorality; for failing to ensure that the troops under my command were adequately prepared; for creating a climate that inadvertently encouraged such behavior. Accordingly, I hereby relinquish my command and stand ready to face the consequences for my subordinates' actions."

Nothing less should suffice if the military is to be worthy of the public trust reposed in it.

Click here to see the article at the Tribune web site. (login required)
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In Memory of D-Day...

While the esoteric types were getting their knickers in a twist about the unfortunate date of 06/06/06 and the coming of the Anti-Christ, we here at Theodicy would like for people to remember the greater significance of the date of June 6th: the anniversary of the invasion of France during WW2, otherwise simply known as "D-Day."

In memory of all those who fought in the Great Second World War, I dedicate this posting of a famous poem originally written by a Candadian serving in France during the First World War:

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

(Text of poem from http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/flanders.htm)
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Domino's pizza vs armor plate

Which do you think would be more resistant to burn-through by an acetylene cutting torch:
A). 1/4" thick armor plate
B). A Domino's Pizza

Well, according to studies done by "Crash" -- the Domino's Pizza is far more difficult to cut through! It is far more heat resistant than standard 1/4" armor plate. Maybe this study needs to be forwarded to our troops in Iraq.
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Poetry Corner: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Welcome to the Theodicy blog "Poetry Corner" -- a touch of class in an otherwise unremarkable blog.

For our first Poetry Corner feater, we have Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

PART I

An ancient Mariner meeteth three Gallants bidden to a wedding-feast, and detaineth one.

It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
`By thy long beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me ?

The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin ;
The guests are met, the feast is set :
May'st hear the merry din.'

He holds him with his skinny hand,
`There was a ship,' quoth he.
`Hold off ! unhand me, grey-beard loon !'
Eftsoons his hand dropt he."

For the rest of the poem, click here: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"We were tired of being beaten"

If you were to believe the American mainstream press (shame on those of you who do) one would think that the Middle East has gone to hell in a handbasket ever since George W. Bush sent the troops over...not qute....

Here's an interesting article I found by James Robbins concerning what the people of Afghansitan really think about American military intevention...this is a MUST read...James S. Robbins: Set Your "Setback" Aside.

The Shepherd of Hermas

One of the most interesting and useful resources on the internet is the Catholic Encyclopedia. Here is a wonderful article from the anceint book "Shepherd of Hermas" about spotting the difference between a false and true prophet of God:

The Shepherd of Hermas (Book II, Commandment 11)

"He pointed out to me some men sitting on a seat, and one man sitting on a chair. And he says to me, "Do you see the persons sitting on the seat?"

"I do, sir," said I.

"These," says he, "are the faithful, and he who sits on the chair is a false prophet, ruining the minds of the servants of God. It is the doubters, not the faithful, that he ruins. These doubters then go to him as to a soothsayer, and inquire of him what will happen to them; and he, the false prophet, not having the power of a Divine Spirit in him, answers them according to their inquiries, and according to their wicked desires, and fills their souls with expectations, according to their own wishes. For being himself empty, he gives empty answers to empty inquirers; for every answer is made to the emptiness of man.

"Some true words he does occasionally utter; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, in the hope that he may be able to overcome some of the righteous. As many, then, as are strong in the faith of the Lord, and are clothed with truth, have no connection with such spirits, but keep away from them; but as many as are of doubtful minds and frequently repent, betake themselves to soothsaying, even as the heathen, and bring greater sin upon themselves by their idolatry. For he who inquires of a false prophet in regard to any action is an idolater, and devoid of the truth, and foolish.

"For no spirit given by God requires to be asked; but such a spirit having the power of Divinity speaks all things of itself, for it proceeds from above from the power of the Divine Spirit. But the spirit which is asked and speaks according to the desires of men is earthly, light, and powerless, and it is altogether silent if it is not questioned."

"How then, sir," say I, "will a man know which of them is the prophet, and which the false prophet?"

"I will tell you," says he, "about both the prophets, and then you can try the true and the false prophet according to my directions.

"Try the man who has the Divine Spirit by his life. First, he who has the Divine Spirit proceeding from above is meek, and peaceable, and humble, and refrains from, all iniquity and the vain desire of this world, and contents himself with fewer wants than those of other men, and when asked he makes no reply; nor does he speak privately, nor when man wishes the spirit to speak does the Holy Spirit speak, but it speaks only when God wishes it to speak.

"When, then, a man having the Divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous men who have faith in the Divine Spirit, and this assembly of men offers up prayer to God, then the angel of the prophetic Spirit, who is destined for him, fills the man; and the man being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude as the Lord wishes. Thus, then, will the Spirit of Divinity become manifest. Whatever power therefore comes from the Spirit of Divinity belongs to the Lord.

"Hear, then," says he, "in regard to the spirit which is earthly, and empty, and powerless, and foolish.

"First, the man who seems to have the Spirit exalts himself, and wishes to have the first seat, and is bold, and impudent, and talkative, and lives in the midst of many luxuries and many other delusions, and takes rewards for his prophecy; and if he does not receive rewards, he does not prophesy. Can, then, the Divine Spirit take rewards and prophesy? It is not possible that the prophet of God should do this, but prophets of this character are possessed by an earthly spirit.

"Then it never approaches an assembly of righteous men, but shuns them. And it associates with doubters and the vain, and prophesies to them in a comer, and deceives them, speaking to them, according to their desires, mere empty words: for they are empty to whom it gives its answers. For the empty vessel, when placed along with the empty, is not Crashed, but they correspond to each other. When, therefore, it comes into an assembly of righteous men who have a Spirit of Divinity, and they offer up prayer, that man is made empty, and the earthly spirit flees from him through fear, and that man is made dumb, and is entirely crashed, being unable to speak.

"For if you pack closely a storehouse with wine or oil, and put an empty jar in the midst of the vessels of wine or oil, you will find that jar empty as when you placed it, if you should wish to clear the storehouse. So also the empty prophets, when they come to the spirits of the righteous, are found [on leaving] to be such as they were when they came.

"This, then, is the mode of life of both prophets. Try by his deeds and his life the man who says that he is inspired. But as for you, trust the Spirit which comes from God, and has power; but the spirit which is earthly and empty trust not at all, for there is no power in it: it comes from the devil.

"Hear, then, the parable which I am to tell you. Take a stone, and throw it to the sky, and see if you can touch it. Or again, take a squirt of water and squirt into the sky, and see if you can penetrate the sky."

"How, sir," say I, "can these things take place? for both of them are impossible."

"As these things," says he, "are impossible, so also are the earthly spirits powerless and pithless. But look, on the other hand, at the power which comes from above. Hail is of the size of a very small grain, yet when it falls on a man's head how much annoyance it gives him! Or, again, take the drop which falls from a pitcher to the ground, and yet it hollows a stone. You see, then, that the smallest things coming from above have great power when they fall upon the earth. Thus also is the Divine Spirit, which comes from above, powerful. Trust, then, that Spirit, but have nothing to do with the other."

US prepares military blitz against Iran's nuclear sites

An old, but interesting article from the UK Telegraph (12/02/06):

US prepares military blitz against Iran's nuclear sites:

"Strategists at the Pentagon are drawing up plans for devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites as a 'last resort' to block Teheran's efforts to develop an atomic bomb."

Don Knotts Dies at 81

 
Just found out that Don Knotts, best known for his role as "Barney Fife" on the Andy Griffith Show, has just passed away at age 81.

Of all the television commedies I've seen, never have a laughed so much and so hard as watching Knotts playing Barney Fife. He nailed that role so well, and so effectively, it made that show a great pleasure to watch.

He's one Hollywood star who will be greatly missed. 

Sith Apprentice

Sith Apprentice

George Lucas got it all wrong; we have the actual documentary film--just released from the Republic archives--of how Darth Vader really became the apprentice of Senator Palpatine...

Click here to watch Sith Apprentice

Americans work more, seem to accomplish less

It's official: we are, in fact, accomplishing less with technology...at least it seems that way to a lot of us.

An interesting quote from a Reuter's article:

"Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically,' said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement consultants Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc."

Read more here: Americans work more, seem to accomplish less.

Prehistoric Beaver Discovered in Mongolia

Dino Beaver, a.k.a.: Castorocauda lutrasimilis

A prehistoric beaver was recently unearthed in Mongolia. Scientists believe this may be the oldest aquatic mammal ever discovered, but it is NOT a precursor to modern day beavers and otters.

From the article on the FOX web site:

Although Castorocauda bears many similarities to beavers, otters, and platypuses, it's not an ancestor of any of them. It is what scientists sometimes call a "dead-end species."

But then, aren't they all?

Read more about the ancient beaver here: A Mammal Swam With the Dinosaurs

Dissent from Darwinism

It's no secret that there are many Americans, especially Christians, who do not view the neo-Darwinian model of "evolution" as being a valid representation of the "origin of species."

The problem is simply this: the classical evolutionary model with its twin pillars of random mutation and natural selection is simply incapable of producing the variety of very specialized life-forms that we find all around us. There is simply no evidence that slow, unguided mutations can generate anything more than variations, certainly not entirely new species with radically different body forms and morphology.

However, this does not mean that dissenters hold to a book of Genesis, "God created everything in six days" worldview either.

The problem with Darwinian evolution is that it has been used as a big stick by militant atheists to bang the heads of those poor, dim-witted, Bible-thumping Fundamentalists. To be blunt: Darwinian evolution became the atheist's creation myth. Since science was so enamored with the theory, it became a very big, powerful stick indeed, especially with bogus claims that it was a religiously "neutral" theory, a claim that can be easily disproven.

Now, after 150 years, it seems that science is no closer to proving Darwinian evolution than when evolutionary theory first originated. The same problem reamains today as was first noted by Darwin: species do NOT form by a nearly infinite series of tiny gradual changes, but if they change into anything at all, it must be through HUGE, GIANT STEPS that have never, ever been observed, nor could they possibly occur given our present knowledge of cellular biology.

There is a growing list of PhD's who are publically announcing their dissastisfaction with the neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory. For more about this movement, check out this website: "Dissent From Darwinism"

Midwest Explodes Over Cartoons

The cartoon that began all the rage...

It is with great sadness that Theodicy reports the horid defamation of one of the greatest legends in football: Vince Lombardi (May the Lord be praised.) Some very warped minded Texan published a cartoon with a picture of the most Revered One with a block of cheese on his head. As you might imagine, this has ignited the fierce passions of the people of Wisconsin, who have been holding violent demonstrations demanding the death and dismemberment of the Texas infadel.

For more on this sad act of a wicked, evil mind, read the full story at the IowaHawk blog: Seething Midwest Explodes Over Lombardi Cartoons

A Theory of Human Motivation

In order to fully understand what it is to be human, one needs to understand the appetites that motivate us throughout life. These appetites are universal, in that all humans have them, and they are neither evil nor good, but can lead to evil or good depending on their level of satisfaction. For those who wish to learn more about this, I recommend the following paper by A.H. Maslow:A Theory of Human Motivation

Roberts sworn in as chief justice

Chief Justice John Roberts

A rare event in American history happened yesterday: we have a new Supreme Court Chief Justice: John Roberts.

Justice Roberts made a very strong, positive impression on my during his confirmation hearings. I feel very confident that he will be an excellent Chief Justice.

Random Acts of Poetry

Now here is an interesting idea: reading poetry to complete strangers:

The second annual Random Acts of Poetry week is a Canadian initiative that promotes poetry, poets and literacy in a fresh way to everyday people in their everyday lives. This year, 27 poets from across Canada will be joined by 10 poets from England, Scotland and Ireland, making the event truly international after only one year. Watch for local poets from your community reading poems to people on the street, at bus stops, schools, libraries, hair salons and in local schools.

I'd love to here the after-action report from those involved...

Vatican set to ban gay men joining priesthood

Looks like the pope is finally going to shut the door on gay men joining the priesthood. Unlike some of it's protestant counterparts, the church has never recognized homosexuality as being normal, though it has allowed many homosexuals to become priests.

From the article:

HOMOSEXUALS, even those who are celibate, will be barred from becoming Roman Catholic priests under stricter rules soon to be released, according to reports yesterday.

A Church official "with authoritative knowledge of the new rules" was quoted as saying the question was not "if it will be published, but when", referring to the new ruling about homosexuality in Catholic seminaries.