Saturday, January 25, 2014

An Accurate Graduation Gift and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) The Bible Was 'Clear'... by Rachel Held Evans

"But these quotes should serve as a humbling reminder that rhetorical claims to the Bible’s clarity on a subject do not automatically make it so. One need not discount the inspiration and authority of Scripture to hold one’s interpretations of Scripture with an open hand."

2) What Are Biblical Values? by Zack Hunt

"In our attempt to discern what biblical values are, we need to begin by keeping in mind that if we are able to establish biblical values, that does not necessarily establish that they are good values. In other words, just because the Bible says it, doesn’t actually make it good."

3) Moving Downward, In Spite of the Safety Net by Annie 

"Maybe these examples are extreme, but they just begin to describe how I sometimes I feel like I am just playing dress-up. I put on a costume and play the part of friend to the poor, friend to the sick, and friend to the orphan, but remain so far above them (much to my dismay) that it seems a laughable feat to really live in solidarity with them."

4) Dreams Not Drones #MLKDay2014 by H00DIE_R

"We should stop looking at how Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world; let us ponder what changes he fought for, and how this world has remained stubbornly the same. What we should do, on this day, and maybe every day, is look at the values he embodied, and the places where he placed his body."

5) Religious Meteorology Needs More Rigorous Science by Fred Clark

"Let’s stop wasting money on weather satellites and meteorological studies and put that funding to good use. Form a joint commission of top religious scholars and top property reinsurance actuaries and set them to work at the task of identifying the specific kinds of sin that produce specific kinds of severe weather events."

Honorable Mention

Social Media as Sacrament: A Thought For Rachel by Richard Beck

#Instagrown: In an Age of Instantaneous Everything, What Happens to Adolescent Yearning? by Amanda Wortham

Of Embarrassing Prayers and Naked Talks with God by Natalie Trust

Tweets of the Week

"Every time someone lets you merge in front of them, and you don't wave, the terrorists win." - @Jesse_Baker

"Before you rush to judge Justin Bieber, take a minute to laugh very hard." - @TheTweetOfGod

"I was born in the wrong decade, I should have been born in the dystopian future." - @7amkickoff


On Pop Theology Week in Review

On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 47 - Genesis w/ Robert Alter

"This week on the podcast we're starting a new series on the Bible. Once every month Sebastian Faust will be interviewing a different prominent thinker and scholar on a different book of the Bible."

Looking for the Kingdom Coming Down: The Alternative Reality of the Poet-Prophet

"I was driving full-speed on an empty desert freeway, tumbling words & melodies over & backwards in my head and over my tongue like so many gathered crystals."

Chaos and Conspiracy Theories

"4% of your fellow citizens believe the United States government is run by 'lizard people.'"

Facial Hair & Christian Resentment

"We were a group of seventh-graders on the bus, making our way to the first basketball game of the season. “I think facial hair is gross; it’s so itchy,” I said with a look of disgust."

Song of the Week

"Dirty Floors" by Andy Suzuki



Peace,
Ben

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