June 2009 Archives

Right Wing News polled us "right-of-center" bloggers to see what we thought of various topics including Sanford (whether he should resign, I said no but I was in the minority), voting for an atheist for president (I said yes and I was in the majority! Evidently, 62% of us would vote for an atheist for president) and whether we thought conservatives were more moral (I said no but was again in the minority. I guess the rest need a few more Republican scandals before they lose their faith in the goodness of Republican politicians, fortunately I'm Reformed so I never had any faith in anyone's goodness :-)

See, atheists! We really do trust one of you to run our country, as long as he/she was pro-life, anti-big government, pro-gun rights, and could handle national defense. Know anyone like that?

Not surprising that he'd use it. What other Bible story fits as perfectly as David does the situation that he's in? Though, he could have used the woman caught in adultery, it would have been the perfect time to remind his detectors of their own sin when he got to the, "Let those without sin cast the first stone" part.

I have been doing a lot of soul searching on that front. What I find interesting is the story of David, and the way in which he fell mightily, he fell in very very significant ways. But then picked up the pieces and built from there.

[...]

I remain committed to rebuilding the trust that has been committed to me over the next 18 months, and it is my hope that I am able to follow the example set by David in the Bible - who after his fall from grace humbly refocused on the work at hand. By doing so, I will ultimately better serve in every area of my life, and I am committed to doing so.

BTW, I saw this yesterday and thought it said a lot about these "marriage boot camps" that an adulterer like Sanford could go through them with "flying colors." It didn't do him any good and didn't bring about repentance or a recommitment to his marriage. Maybe it would have been more profitable for him to contemplate what his adultery was saying about his faith:

ESV 1 Corinthians 6:9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

In an interview with The Associated Press this weekend at his Columbia office, just blocks from the State House, Culbertson said he believed his friend when he said that this was his only marital transgression. He thinks Sanford was simply caught off guard by "the power of darkness."

Microsoft desperately needs a new ad agency, their new commercials reek. This is one of the better ones:

You can see the rest here but be warned one of them has projectile vomiting. Yech! (Yeah, something I'd like to see while I'm watching TV at dinner.)

I would love to see this type of reality show here in America but I'd add a Protestant minister to the mix (preferably a Calvinist :-). This is definitely something Mark Burnett should think about doing. I'd watch it:

A new show set to grace Turkish television screens will see a Muslim imam, a Christian priest, a Jewish rabbi and a Buddhist monk competing to turn 10 unbelievers into devotees of their own faith each week.

[...]

Each week, a different group of atheists will appear in front of the religious leaders. The producers of the show are well aware that there is a chance none of the atheists will be convinced by the arguments presented to them. Yet if an ex-atheist is "persuaded" to start following one of the religions, he or she will have the chance to travel to that religion's center, whether Jerusalem for Christians and Jews or Mecca for Muslims or Tibet for Buddhists.

Hakkı Devrim, a television commentator and columnist for daily Radikal called the idea absurd and said such a show insults religion.

"Religion is not a science, and it is not open to discussion," Devrim said, adding that the program offers atheists a chance to voice their own thoughts.

"If I had to describe it with a word, it would be 'unsuitable,'" said the columnist, who advised Kanal T not to take the risk of airing such a show in Turkey.

But I think it could be an opportunity to share the tenets of your faith with a wider audience who do not understand Christianity, Buddhism, etc. It's not the perfect environment to do it, it would necessarily be superficial but you could get enough out to get the point across.

The one problem I see is that it would get repetitive after awhile if everyone made the same arguments week after week. Maybe they could make it more interesting by letting the religious leaders argue with each other. If they picked a different tenet of their faith to discuss each week, that might solve the problem.

(via and @denyreligion)

Updated: Ugh!!!! I had to change the title because I even though I know how to spell "conversion" I didn't spell it that why when I wrote this post (I have no idea why, age? drugs? whatever).

He doesn't want to disrupt DC churches with gawkers displacing the members of the church and he doesn't want to choice between the many black churches that were vying for his attendance. He'll be going to the same church that Bush attended and will be able to worship in peace.

The chaplain is the grand-nephew of Johnny Cash:

Camp David's current chaplain, Lieut. Carey Cash, leads the services at Evergreen. If the White House had custom-ordered a pastor to be the polar opposite of Jeremiah Wright, they could not have come as close as Cash. (As it is, the White House had no hand in selecting Cash. The Navy rotates chaplains through Camp David every three years; Cash began his tour this past January.) The 38-year-old Memphis native is a graduate of the Citadel and the great-nephew of Johnny Cash. He served a tour as chaplain with a Marine battalion in Iraq and baptized nearly 60 Marines during that time. Cash earned his theology degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth -- and, yes, that means Obama's new pastor is a Southern Baptist.

Obama has a small group of pastors he contacts for prayer and spiritual support (including two men who played the same role at times for Bush).

Those two, Kirbyjon Caldwell and T.D. Jakes, are both African-American ministers from Texas. Caldwell offered a prayer at Bush's first inauguration and in 2008 he officiated at Jenna Bush's wedding.

Though, from a Christian perspective it's a shame that one of his advisers is a heretic (T.D. James is a Oneness Pentecostal and denies the Trinity and the unique personhood of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit).