A Thinking Reed

  • Priorities

    I like this, from Brandon: Here and there over the past few years I’ve seen a great many Christians who are of the opinion that argument with the so-called New Atheists should be a major priority among Christians, and I recently saw another instance of this. They don’t generally ask my advice, but whenever people…

  • Dear Pandora

    When I’m listening to your (otherwise great) Traditional Country station, I really don’t need to hear Joaquin Phoenix singing Johnny Cash tunes from the Walk the Line soundtrack. Just sayin’.

  • Judicial watch

    No insightful legal analyis from these quarters (I know enough lawyers to know how out of my depth I’d be), but, boy howdy, the nomination of Judge Sotomayor to the SCOTUS sure is bringing out the best in the conservative movement and the GOP, isn’t it?

  • Torture, truth, and the war

    Jonathan Schell connects the dots and makes some observations about the use of torture as a characteristic of declining powers.

  • Friday metal – Tori-fied/Slaytanic edition

    Here’s Tori Amos'(!) nearly unrecognizable version of Slayer’s “Raining Blood”: Here’s the immortal original:

  • 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,…