A Thinking Reed

  • Obama, Niebuhr, and progressive realism

    A good essay by theologian-historian Gary Dorrien at “The Immanent Frame”: today Niebuhr is back in public discussion because he symbolizes, notably to Barack Obama, the possibility of a progressive realism that defends America’s interests more prudently and advances the cause of social justice. Niebuhr, like Obama, blends liberal internationalist and realist motifs, contending that…

  • Religious liberty and SSM

    Not sure I agree with all the conclusions, but this article from The Christian Century provides a lucid overview of potential conflicts between religious liberty and same-sex marriage, and how a reasonable balance might be struck. I do agree that treating people with religious objections to SSM as bigots pure and simple misses the mark;…

  • Wrestling with the Bible

    Via Lynn, a post written from a Jewish perspective on interpreting the Torah/Bible: Those of us who study seriously, and those of us who do not reject the plain facts of history, are forced to acknowledge that the Bible as we know it is a complicated amalgamation of texts, edited and organized by imperfect human…

  • Anvil!

    Went and saw Anvil! The Story of Anvil with some friends tonight (including Camassia). It’s a documentary about a b-list (c-list?) 80s power metal band from Canada that never quite made it big, but never quit either. The movie was terrific and surprisingly affecting. After the movie I consulted Ian Christe’s magisterial history of heavy…

  • Thought for the day

    “I proceed to analyze Marx’s theory from the animals’ point of view. To them it was clear that the concept of a class struggle between humans was pure illusion, since whenever it was necessary to exploit animals, all humans united against them: the true struggle is between animals and humans.” — George Orwell, Animal Farm,…

  • Eagleton on Jesus and “sprituality”

    I haven’t read literary critic Terry Eagleton’s new book on the “new atheists,” and I’m frankly not that interested in the whole new atheist phenomenon period (I haven’t seen much to indicate that one wouldn’t be much better off reading, say, David Hume for razor-sharp critiques of religion). But Kim at “Connexions” has some provocative…

  • Distinctivism in practice

    I spent the weekend in Boston attending the wedding of some good friends. The ceremony itself was a Hindu-Christian fusion, certainly a first for me–Hindu and Christian prayers, blessings, readings, and rituals were interspersed throughout. There was also a joyfulness in parts of the service that seems all too absent from much mainstream Christian worship,…

  • Friday metal – shippin’ up to Boston edition

    Heading to Boston for a wedding this weekend. To get in the spirit, here’s one of Beantown’s finest:

  • The lizard people cometh

    This could be incredibly cool, or incredibly lame, but ABC is re-making the 80s science fiction series V, which, if you’re of a certain age, you probably remember as being awesome/terrifying. As a bonus, it will star Morena Baccarin, who played Inara on Firefly/Serenity and Elizabeth Mitchell (a.k.a. Juliet) from Lost. I’m sure I’ll be…

  • This is your brain on God

    Marvin hits the nail on the head here: just because an experience can be artificially reproduced doesn’t mean it isn’t genuine or veridical when it occurs under other circumstances. Why would we expect that religious or mystical experiences, if genuine, would bypass the brain anyway? In fact, why would we even think that’s possible?