Sheriff Mini Horse and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) Sermon on Why Hope and Vapid Optimism Are Not The Same Thing by Nadia Bolz-Weber
"And when it comes down to it,  I want hope – I just want a hope that doesn’t disappoint. Don’t we want beauty and reconciliation and possibility that comes from something other than our own limitations or the limitations of others. I want a hope that isn’t really just naïve optimism."

2) What About the Guys Who Do Fit the 'Gay Stereotype'? by Maya Dusenbery
"But it's not completely clear that showing that "even the jocks are gay" necessarily makes things better for those guys (gay or straight) who don't so readily conform to traditional masculine norms. Since gayness and femininity are still so linked, it's nearly impossible to determine what homophobia's driving factor is."

3) Privilege is Not Racism, Sexism or Oppression: A Proposal by Bo Sanders
"I am a person of privilege in almost every category. That privilege allows me to benefit from systems that oppress, hurt, and marginalize people. Does that mean that I am an oppressor? In the current binary configuration, I am not oppressed so I must be an oppressor.  We have seen all too well how this line of reasoning goes."

4) Idolizing Diversity by Joseph Randall
"Now, whenever I enter homogenous and/or unreconciled spaces (which is often) and am tempted to respond like I did at the retreat (which is also often), I’m reminded of that powerful moment when God spoke to me through my friend and invited me into the freedom of serving God rather than diversity.  Now, it’s fairly easy to choose freedom."

5) Sleeping Through Storms: Rethinking Theodicy, Natural Disasters and God's Omnipotence by David R. Henson
"God’s power isn’t in the control of creation or of people, but in being in covenant and relationship with them. It isn’t in imposing the divine will or insisting on its own way but in sojourning with us as we fumble around and make our way in the world. God’s power is not in miraculous interventions, pre-emptive strikes in the cosmic war against suffering and evil, but in inviting us to build a kingdom out of love, peace and justice with God."

Honorable Mention

Mad Libs Blogging for Conservative Christians by Lane Severson

'You're a Slacker, McFly': Vice Principal Strickland is Always With Us by Fred Clark

In Which I Know, I'm Sorry, and I Hope I Was Kind by Sarah Bessey

Line of the Week

"And as it is such, so also as such it is unto you." - Arrested Development

On Pop Theology Week in Review

In Memoriam: Reflections After Memorial Day by Sebastian Faust
"And there is a time for blessing the things that make me most uncomfortable.  There is a time to bless my ambivalence."

God Doesn't Want You To Be Happy: Hemlock Grove and Dysfunctional Christianity by Charity Erickson
"I began to believe that it was not within God’s will for me to be happy, and that joy must be something other than what I’d always thought it to be."

Myths and Legends: Jordan, Presidents, and Arrested Development by Ben Howard
"Myths and legends define us, or to be more specific, they serve as our definitions, our benchmarks for what it means to be truly good, truly valuable."

Song of the Week

"Welcome Home" by Radical Face

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. 

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Water Polo With A Trident and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week 

1) All Oppression Shall Cease: A Feminist Theology of Power by Suzannah Paul
"Our world has a jacked up relationship with power. If we're Christians, we might admit that our world has a sinful relationship with power, and as a Church, we are chief among sinners."
 
2) Boys and Dolls: A Father's Response by Micah Murray
"This is why boys, in Sesame Street and in real life, should play with dolls. Not because there’s no difference between boys and girls, but because boys and girls both need to learn to be gentle and caring and compassionate as well as strong and adventurous and brave."

3) How [Not To] Respond to Abuse Allegations: Christians and Sovereign Grace Ministries by Rachel Held Evans
"Yes, we should withhold judgment unless the defendants are proven guilty. But what we can judge, and what we should flatly condemn, is Sovereign Grace Ministry’s repeated efforts to evade any external investigation into these allegations."

4) No Beauty Without Ash: The Paradox of True Christian Art (or, Getting Ready for Easter) by Brandon Ambrosino
"The challenge of creating work that is authentic to a proper Christian aesthetic is one of balancing beauty and ash."


5) Unlikely Allies and Not That Kind of Christian by Bo Sanders
"The reality is that this is Christianity. I don’t mean following the teaching of Christ or something – I mean that Christianity is product, a brand and an institution at some level. It’s no use saying ‘that is not real Christianity’. It is Christianity. It’s what Christianity has become."

Honorable Mention

Metro-Evangelicals and Their Organic Produce by Keith Miller

Erratic Fire, Erratic Passion: Poem Assembled from Metta World Peace (aka Ron Artest) Quotes by Jeff Parker

Michelle Alexander: Jim Crow Still Exists in America by Fresh Air on NPR 

Line of the Week

"ESPN's coverage of the Pope's departure has been disgraceful." - Daniel Fienberg (@HitFixDaniel)

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Bad Music Theology: "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift 
A quixotic quest to turn bad music into mediocre theology.

God is NSFW
Hinduism, Song of Solomon and sex.

Rick Warren Tips and the Darkest Timeline
What happens when I explain #RickWarrenTips alongside my self-critical internal thoughts?

Prayers to a Dark God
A visit to Prague and a conversation with Rainer Maria Rilke

Community and Nostalgic Zombies
The value of remembrance and the danger of nostalgia.

Song of the Week

"I Can't Wait" by Star & Micey

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

A T-Rex Making a Bed and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) Why I Respectfully Decline Feminism by Grace Biskie
"Until Feminism can reconcile a ‘women’s right’ with the fact that 30 million African-American souls have been lost, and that abortions are the #1 way African-Americans are dying (faster than even heart disease) I can’t do it.  Not in a judgemental way,  I’m hurting for my people.  I say this from a place of pain, not of finger pointing judgement."

2) It's Not Mumford, It's the Music Industry: Whiteness by Bo Sanders
"I think a lot about issues of race, gender and class. I read about it and talk it over with people every week. I am working my way through an expensive program in order to write my dissertation about it.  I care about matters of diversity and justice a great deal."

3) Michael Jordan Has Not Left the Building by Wright Thompson
"Smoke curls off the cigar. He wears slacks and a plain white dress shirt, monogrammed on the sleeve in white, understated. An ID badge hangs from one of those zip line cords on his belt, with his name on the bottom: Michael Jordan, just in case anyone didn't recognize the owner of a struggling franchise who in another life was the touchstone for a generation."

4) DJesus Uncrossed: Tarantino, Driscoll, and the Violent Remaking of Jesus in America by David Henson
"We have tried to arm him with our military-industrial complex, drape him with our xenophobia, outfit him with our weapons, and adorn him with our nationalism. We’ve turned the cross into a flagpole for the Stars and Stripes. We have no need for Tarantino to reimagine the story of Jesus into a fantasy of violent revenge. We’ve done it for him. We’ve already uncrossed him, transforming him from a servant into a triumphalist who holds the causes and interests of our country on his back rather than brutal execution."

5) Swords Into Plowshares and Hate Mail Into Origami by Rachel Held Evans
"And I’ve been thinking that this idea of learning a new skill so you can turn something ugly into something beautiful might be a good Lenten practice. Whether it’s turning an AK-47 into a rake, an old tire into a flowerbed, or trash into a work of art, there is something profoundly fitting about struggling through the creative process with the goal of finishing something new by Easter to provide a tangible, hands-on experience in discipline, resurrection, and restoration."

Honorable Mention

Wings, the NBA All-Star Game and Selling Out by Macklemore

Don't Upset Jesus! by Alise Wright

Dear Proverbs 31 Woman by Shane Blackshear

Line of the Week

"Los Angeles Lakers forward Metta World Peace put on his Cookie Monster pajamas and came to the rescue of his nephew and brother who had been detained by police outside his condo complex earlier this week." - via this ESPN story

On Pop Theology Week in Review

On Cynicism (Or, Beware The Ides of March)
Is the world as bad as we sometimes think it is? Or are people trying to do their best?

One Small Step for Benedict
Where does the Catholic Church go now? And does anyone care?

That One Time When Jesus Had a Machine Gun
If Tarantino made a Jesus movie, I'd laugh. I hope you would too.

Theology Trade Deadline
Obviously, you can't trade people from one century to another, but wouldn't it be fun if you could?

The Day I Was Called a Demon
Working with the oppressed can be hard, and sometimes you don't even feel the pain anymore.

Song of the Week

"Find the Light" by David Ramirez

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.

Brad Pitt Sticking His Tongue Out and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

It is what I said it was.

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) God Needs a Hobby by Alex Pappademas
"Don't cry for Dan Harmon. Yes, he's still the most famously unemployed writer in television. Yes, two people who are not Dan Harmon are now running Community, the cult sitcom Harmon created in 2009 and was fired from by NBC three years later. But things are looking up."

2) When There's Always Another Story by Elora Nicole
"Slowly, the questions started. Why did I hate sex? I waited. It was supposed to be amazing, right? We were supposed to have these incredible nights of passion. Friends would make quips about being married and enjoying the “perks” and I would smile, nod and join the conversation knowing I was lying. I didn’t get the perks. I hated the perks. The perks made me cry."

3) On Meditation, or, I Don't Particularly Like Organ Music by Shaney Irene
"I'm sitting here in a Catholic church. It’s not particularly large or particularly ornate. Apparently I got here just in time, as the lady who was watering the flowers when I came in just told me she’s locking the doors and asked me to make sure they close behind me when I leave"

4) Inside the Battle of Hoth: The Empire Strikes Out by Spencer Ackerman
"The war machine built by Emperor Palpatine and run by Darth Vader is a spectacularly bad fighting force, as evidenced by all of the pieces of Death Star littering space. But of all the Empire’s failures, none is a more spectacular military fiasco than the Battle of Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back."

5) There is a Difference Between Liberal and Progressive by Bo Sanders
"So please believe me when I say that there is as big a difference between Liberal and Progressive and there is between Evangelical and Emergent."

Honorable Mention

What Are We Being Saved From? Ourselves by Tony Jones

Christianity, Community and Side Effects by Al Cedeno

The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament Just. Got. Real. by Rembert Browne

Line of the Week

"I really wish Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John were still around so they could sue The "Gospel" Coalition for libel." - Zack Hunt (@TheAmericnJesus)

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Style and Substance: When Church is Like a Dunk Contest
What happens when the church becomes all about flash and flair? It misses the point.

Life Imitates Art Imitates Life: Why Broken is Compelling and Normal is Boring
We wouldn't trade our lives for those of TV characters, so what makes them so fun to watch?

I Remember the Ashes
An Ash Wednesday reflection on my first experience with Lent.

Faith As Measured By Camels
We need to use what we know, to try and understand all the things we don't.

What Oppression Looks Like
A black man between the ages of 18 and 25 is more likely to be in prison than employed. This is what oppression looks like, and I am part of the problem.

Song of the Week

"Holy" by Frightened Rabbit

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.

Hayden Panettiere Making Faces At a Baby and the Best Things You'll Read All Week

by Ben Howard

Reads of the Week

1) Damsel, Arise: A Westboro Scion Leaves Her Church by Jeff Chu
"To some, this story might seem simple—even overly so. But we all have moments of epiphany, when things that are plate-glass clear to others but opaque to us suddenly become apparent. This was, for Megan, one of those moments, and this window led to another and another and another."

2) Beyonce and the Bigger Question by Bo Sanders
"Now you can see why I am not interested in talking about whether Beyoncé should have had more clothes on, should have gyrated less or is a model for taking back one’s physicality in the face of generations of oppression and marginalization."

3) N*ggas at the Grammys (Kanye and Jay-Z) by Paul Scott
"So while some will be proud of the fact that 24 years later, Hip hop can proudly boast that it has produced the first N*gga song that could possibly win a Grammy, other Black folks, like myself, look upon the possibility with utter disgust."

4) End Homophobia in Professional Sports by Brendon Ayanbadejo
"At its best, sports do not discriminate. If you are young or old, tall or short, male or female, gay or straight, all that really matters is how well you play and contribute to your team."

5) A Defiant Dance of Power, Not Sex: Beyonce, the Super Bowl and Durga by David R. Henson
"Because Beyoncé’s performance Sunday night in New Orleans wasn’t about sex. It was about power, and Beyoncé had it in spades. In fact, her show was one of the most compelling, embodied and prophetic statements of female power I have seen on mainstream television."

Honorable Mention

White Evangelical Gatekeeping: A Particularly Ugly Example in Real Time by Fred Clark

The Beautiful by Richard Beck

Lessons from the Seder: The Belief of Memory in the Communion Story by Krista Dalton

Line of the Week

"Drakes new song 'Started From the Bottom' is the best song out about getting your start on a wildly successful Canadian show for tweens." via @johnthorntonjr on Twitter.

On Pop Theology Week in Review

Review: PregMANcy by Christian Piatt
Don't have kids and don't know if I want kids, but I loved this book about being a dad.

Beyonce Is Who We Thought She Was
If you feel like you've heard this conversation before, you have.

Mothers, Don't Let Your Sons Grow Up To Be In A Tarantino Movies
Why do the characters in Reservoir Dogs do bad things? Maybe because their mothers didn't love them. Or maybe not.

The Naked and The Nude: The Super Bowl, Beyonce and Power
A thoughtful exploration of the power dynamics involved in America's favorite corporate event.

An Open Letter and An Invitation
Remember that time I got all earnest and gave everyone a group hug? 'Cause it's happening right now.

Song of the Week

"State Run Radio" by Lupe Fiasco feat. Matt Mahaffey

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.