Reads of the Week
1) Theology (and the Theological Academy) & Rape (and Rape Culture): A Miniature Memoir of Sorts by Brandy Daniels
"I’m not sure if this truth will be healing, for me or for anyone else… I hope that it will. Regardless, I’m speaking about my experiences as a survivor because, for me, this is a way that I feel like I can continually bear witness to the truth even when it might threaten a few things that this world holds most dear: my reputation, potential academic possibilities, etc."
2) Life in the After by Becca Rose
"There’s not a pretty or easy way to talk about my life before now, so I usually don’t. After all I have fought for and been through, I’m finally living in the life After, the hope that I had for years of a life free of abuse come to fruition. Some people would say it’s better for me to just put the past behind me, lock it all in a box and never look at it again. But that would be denying those years of abuse and the struggle I had to leave that situation."
3) I'm Terrified of Death by Zack Hunt
"It’s a lot easier to look past death when it’s nice and neat and lying all dressed up in a casket, but when a body is lying on a cold metal table in a morgue with nothing but a thin sheet to cover it you’re forced to literally come face to face with the stark reality of death. You’re forced to accept the finality of death and the fragility of life."
4) The Theology of Government Shutdown: Christian Dominionism by Morgan Guyton
"I couldn’t find any substantive theological statements from Ted, but his father Pastor Rafael Cruz has been a keynote speaker and ideological catalyst whom Heritage Action has been flying around the country in its campaign to defund Obamacare over the last several months. The elder Cruz has a distinct theological vision for what America is supposed to look like: Christian dominionism."
5) I'm Christian and I Swear...Occasionally by Grace Biskie
"Maybe I’m not going to be a very good christian girl in your opinion. Maybe I’m okay with that. Maybe it’s not me, maybe it’s you. Maybe you never seen a different version of what A Good Christian Girl is. Maybe you’ve never seen ‘A Good Christian Girl’ face the worst version of herself and win. Maybe you don’t know what it’s like to go into a war and make it out alive. What war does to people is violent, is angry. My childhood was war. You don’t get to tell me how to manage my PTSD. I’m sorry, y’all but you don’t. My trusted, invited inner circle does. No one else."
6) Thomas, a Modern Day Desert Father by Micha Boyett
"And I look at him and think of the Desert Fathers. Maybe Thomas is a modern day Desert Father, waiting for miraculous bread, living by prayer alone. Instead of a cave, he dwells with his shopping cart along this road packed with people. Of course, the Desert Fathers chose their lives. I don’t know Thomas’ story, but I imagine he didn’t want this."
7) Heaven and Matchbox Cars by Leanne Penny
"On my darker days? I feel jilted and harbor jealous resentment toward my friends for simply having parents. For posting grandpa pictures on Facebook and sending their kids to 'grandma camp.' This sucks twice because it leaves me feeling like an orphan AND a bad friend."
8) Satan Is Real, Just Ask Jesse Pinkman by Tony Jones
"Walt has indeed abandoned all inherent and socialized standards of morality. By the end, it’s clear that he is not troubled by anything he’s done. The only thing that troubles him is that others, like his wife and his brother-in-law, don’t love him for it. He is, in my opinion, the logical outcome of Nietzsche’s Übermensch — he’s abandoned all metaphysics, he is completely this-worldly, he has no moral compass, no fear of God, no worry about any eschatological comeuppance."
9) Would Jesus Be Cool With Keeping Poor Kids In Orphanages? by Kelsey Nielsen
"With limited resources and the hospital an hour away, the family did not know what to do. They loved their granddaughter and wanted to find her help so they approached the leaders in their community about the situation. The leaders contacted some missionaries in town and told them about this family. And just like that, this little girl was brought to an orphanage, where she would be separated from her family for the next 3 years."
10) Doctor Who's Doctrine, Part 3: Exterminating Evil by Jason Morehead
"But what has been part of the revival’s brilliance is its revelations that the Doctor, for all his brilliance and derring-do, is a shell of an alien. All his eccentricities actually conceal a demi-god who verges on breakdown, and he’s certainly more than the benevolent-yet-eccentric savior we may think. He’s a 'mad man with a box' — and the emphasis is on mad."
Honorable Mention
Charity's Dirty Little Secret by Joy Bennett
What I Blogged, What I Preached, and Why They Differ by David Henson
I Am Your Enemy (A Poem) by Morgan Guyton
Tweets of the Week
"Maybe kids aren't even small and they're all just really far away." - Ashley Feinberg (@ashfein)
"We're not ganging up on you, America, I just see a bunch of people in this room who love you and want you to get better." - Chris Jones (@MySecondEmpire)
"I can sympathize with House Republicans because once my mom wouldn’t let me get candy at the store, and then I burned down the whole city." - Zomb BrainTaker (@RobDenBlyker)
On Pop Theology Week in Review
On Pop Theology Podcast: Episode 42 - Stuffed Animals, Grace, and Being a Pastor in the City w/ Jes Kast-Keat by Ben Howard
"This week on the show Ben spends some time with Jes Kast-Keat, the associate minister of West End Collegiate Church in New York City."
The Deluge and the Disillusion by Amanda Taylor
"It’s official; I’m quitting the interwebs."
We Have Been To Gray Places: A Review of Addie Zierman's When We Were On Fire by Charity Erickson
"I cannot tell a lie. Because, as we all know, liars go to hell (Revelation 21:8)."
Chicago Area Man Watches Breaking Bad Finale To See What All The Fuss Is About by Lane Severson
"Last Sunday night, a Chicago area man chose to watch the series finale of the critically acclaimed AMC show Breaking Bad."
Song of the Week
"Headphones" by Jars of Clay
Peace,
Ben
You can follow On Pop Theology on Twitter @OnPopTheology or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OnPopTheology.
Contact us at onpoptheology [at] gmail.com.
You might also like:
No comments:
Post a Comment