Today is my last day with Beliefnet, and my last day as the author of this blog. The Text Messages archives will remain live at this location, but posting will cease.
If that sounds gloomy, it's an accurate reflection of my mind this afternoon. I've chosen to pursue new opportunities, but I'm not without pangs of regret. I've loved the conversation on this blog, loved sharing my interests with you, and most importantly, loved my tenure as an editor for Beliefnet. I've worked here for three years, which I'm told is an eternity in online media, but it felt like a spark. (It's also not an eternity for Beliefnet--good people tend to stick around this place, not least because there are so many good people who work here.)
Me? Well, I've a PhD to complete, and (in related news) a book on Christianity, violence, and Hollywood. New projects abound, with fingers crossed.
I can be reached at pattondodd (at) gmail dot com.
Thanks for reading, and thanks especially to Beliefnet.
Steven Waldman and
David Gibson list a bunch of data from a group called Third Way that attempts to prove that lifting the so-called gag rule, which would allow U.S. dollars to go to clinics in developing countries that perform abortions (among a range of health care services),
would actually reduce the number of abortions. The data makes a fascinating and complex argument.
Gibson asks, "Will any of this satisfy pro-lifers?" He answers: "Probably not."
Well, it satisfies this pro-lifer. And I hope others will read closely, and consider carefully. These same facts relate to domestic policies, too--if we're serious about caring for the unborn, then we also have to be serious about caring for women.
Steve Waldman has created an archive of inaugural prayers throughout history. In my first read through
these prayers, which go back to the 1937 prayer at Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration, I was struck by how rarely we see a confessional form of prayer. Lots of other forms are covered: intercession (praying for others), praise (thanking God), remembrance (acknowledging God in the past), dedication (promising to follow God), and so on.
But I count only a handful of confessional prayers--"God, forgive us for"--and acknowledgement that we, as a nation, have somehow led ourselves astray and need to be turned around.
This isn't surprising, of course; it's striking that it happens at all. But it does. Kirbyjon Caldwell is the most recent confessional pray-er at inaugurations. In 2005, he prayed:
God, forgive us for becoming so ensnarled in petty partisan politics that we miss Your glory and block our purpose. Deliver us from the evil one, from evil itself and from the mere appearance of evil.
Give us clean hearts, so that we might have clean agendas, clean priorities and programs and even clean financial statements. [Ed: Ahem, and amen.]
Franklin Graham made a confession of sorts at Bush's 2001 inaugural, though not as starkly as you might expect from Graham: We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown, but we have forgotten God. It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended powers, to confess our national sins and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
His father, Billy Graham, is (not surprisingly) the most consistently confessional in his many inaugural prayers. Even he doesn't make a confession each time--there was no repentance in his 1997 prayer for Bill Clinton's second inauguration. But his 1993 prayer threw the confessional gauntlet down pretty hard:We've sinned against you. We've sown to the wind and are reaping the whirlwind of crime, drug abuse, racism, immorality, and social injustice. We need to repent of our sins and turn by faith to you.
What do you think of these? How do you think they are heard by the nation, if at all? Is confession appropriate at an inaugural prayer? I know many people think any sort of sectarian prayer has no place at a public ceremony. But for those of you who believe it's appropriate for presidents to request a prayer at their inauguration, do you think the minister ought to lead us in reflecting in our wrongs and asking for national redemption?
Movie Mom blogger Neil Minow put together
a list of the top Comfort Movies--flicks that go down just right on those no-good, crummy, sniffling, sneezing days. Not a bad list, and hard to quibble with something as idiosyncratic as this. But what are your favorite movies for days like that?
My five faves, in no particular order:
(Ok, so I like my comfort a little on the morbid side.)
Categories: Bible,
beliefnet
This Beliefnet discussion on the OT and suffering is, of course of course, perennial and ancient and never-ending. But anyone who reads the Bible regularly has to face this question all the time. Is the Old Testament a record of suffering and Israel's attempts to make sense of that suffering? Is it a record of God punishing his people for their sin, and if so, how do we make sense of that story?
Dave Banack is Beliefnet's new Mormon blogger, and this week he's launched a discussion series for a book titled How Wide the Divide: An Evangelical and a Mormon in Conversation. The book is 10 years old, but the subjects in...
So asks Scot McKnight, prompted by a feisty exchange he had with Paul Raushenbush and the commenters at Raushenbush's blog, which was prompted by Steve Waldman's interview with Rick Warren. The "evangelicals vs. fundamentalists" moment was the part of the Warren interview...
Glenn Paauw says that Christmas is but the beginning of the Christian year, and should be treated as such. By all means, immerse yourself in Advent and prepare for Christmas. Begin the cycle. But save yourself for the moment that really...
My favorite stuff from the last week:Scot McKnight on how a Third Way approach rankles liberals and irritates conservatives. Rod Dreher on learning to be still in the face of constant media.Tony Jones on Multi-Issue Evangelicals (ie, the non-single-issue voter). The Best...
This is Josh. He's a student at a small college in Pennsylvania, and I had the pleasure of calling him a couple days ago to tell him he'd won the trip to Africa we sponsored with Children's HopeChest. He'll be...
Join me in welcoming two new blogs to Beliefnet: Jesus Creed, crafted by the careful hands of Scot McKnight, and The New Christians, the brainchild of Tony Jones. Jesus Creed, long one of the web's most popular religion blogs, is that...
Take Beliefnet's Election 2008 survey. ...
This month, Beliefnet has teamed up with Tom Davis and Daniel Clark at Children's HopeChest to raise support for orphans in Africa. You'll see my charity badge on the right, and you can donate directly to CHC from that...
Categories: Bible,
beliefnet
I'm particularly excited about a project we're working on about niche Bibles. Our feature will be a gallery of various Bibles, but it will be supplemented with an essay by Glenn Paauw, a longtime director at the International Bible Society....
The classic debate between Darwinian evolutionism and young-earth creationism is often seen as a moldy conflict between atheism and theism. That's never been quite true--some of the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Christians who articulated "The Fundamentals" of the faith (and...
Check out this fascinating (if I do say so myself) essay we've just published by Frederica Mathewes-Green on suffering and perfection. She writes in response to a host of voices, from James Woods in The New Yorker to Bart Ehrman...
I'm way late to this, but just saw it last night and wanted to weigh in briefly. I had planned to address several of the key problems, as well as acknowledge its (few) pleasures as a movie, but Steve Waldman did...
I still consider Text Message to be in beta form, and it's a good thing, aye? Please forgive the blue background, odd layout, and any other oddities you see here in the coming days. We've just launched a rebuild and...
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