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Amnesty International has released a report stating that torture and inhumane treatment are “widespread” under U.S. custody. This goes against the “a few bad apples” line that Washington has pushed. See also this reflection from theologian George Hunsinger. Read more

Lots of well-intentioned folks are urging us to “do something” about the crisis in Darfur. And, heaven knows, there’s a lot of bad stuff going down. Just recently it was reported that the UN had to cut its rations to refugees there due to inadequate funding. That seems like something that could, and should, be Read more

Swedish Lutheran theologian Anders Nygren is best known for his book Agape and Eros, which argued for agape as the essence of divine love in Christianity. But his little book The Essence of Christianity: Two Essays is worth reading too. For my purposes I want to focus on the second essay, “The Atonement as a Read more

Some good reading out there this week. I particularly liked “Dembski and the Cause of Evil” at Siris, “The Case for Abolishing Nuclear Weapons” at Mode for Caleb, and the discussion of The Gospel of Judas at Even the Devils Believe. Read more

We just started watching the short-lived late 90s series Freaks and Geeks on DVD. Very funny and sweet. Especially if you were – ahem – not the most popular kid in high school. In the episode we watched last night, Lindsay, a smart girl who’s testing the waters of rebellion by hanging out with the Read more

There’s been a fair bit of discussion recently about presumed presidential aspirant (and current Massachusetts governor) Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and how that might play with voters. Romney faces two distinct, but not unrelated problems. Evangelical Protestants who make up an influential portion of the GOP base tend to see Mormons, despite their their social conservatism, Read more

The Lutheran Zephyr has asked for reflections on What It Means to Be Lutheran. I’m going to split this into two parts: why did I become Lutheran and why do I stay Lutheran. Embarassing as it sounds, I literally picked the local Lutheran church out of the phone book. My then-fiancée and I were obliged Read more

Lutheran church holds “Worship with the Beatles.”Gag. At least U2 sings about Jesus sometimes. (link via Here We Stand) Read more

Russian comic Yakov Smirnoff, whose popularity peaked in the mid-80s (Moscow on the Hudson, etc.) has reinvented himself as a philosopher-therapist who uses humor and positive thinking to cure folks of what ails them! He’s finishing up his master’s thesis at Penn on “love and laughter” under the tutelage of “positive psychology” guru Martin Seligman. Read more

Thomas at Without Authority writes on the different meanings of “grace” in the Catholic and Lutheran traditions as well as the “Finnish” interpretation of Luther. Let’s make a deal (with Iran), via Unqualified Offerings. A “wager argument” for vegetarianism, via Siris. Caleb McDaniel draws an analogy between nuclear abolitionism and the abolition of slavery. Jonathan Read more