A Thinking Reed

  • More from McKibbon

    A while back I blogged a couple of items on the argument Bill McKibbon makes in his new book Deep Economy for rethinking our commitment to growth uber alles. Interested readers may want to check out this article at Mother Jones where McKibbon develops his argument at greater length. In short, the argument is that…

  • Lutheran World Federation – following in the footsteps of the Anglican Communion?

    The Christian Century has a brief article on tensions in the Lutheran World Federation over … suprise! Homosexuality! As in the Anglican Communion, the split is largely along north/south lines. However, I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see the same level of acrimony that the Anglican Communion has experienced. Lutherans, in my admittedly limited experience,…

  • Interview with the blogger

    As part of promoting the Christian Peace Bloggers webring, Michael Westmoreland-White has been conducting e-interviews with the various bloggers involved. Here’s his interview with yours truly.

  • Preemption, prevention, and the Pope

    Michael Novak and Richard John Neuhaus have both offered some critical comments on Pope Benedict’s Easter address where Benedict reiterated (by implication, at least) some of his criticisms of the Iraq war. Novak has consistently remained a steadfast supporter of President Bush, so his comments aren’t particularly novel or surprising; he offers the now-cliched rebuttal…

  • The “hegemonist consensus”

    Good article from Jim Pinkerton about how little evidence there is that Chuck Hagel, despite his criticisms of the Bush administration, would dissent from what Pinkerton calls the “hegemonist consensus” shared by elites of both parties. Only “fringe” candidates like Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich seem willing to question this consensus. That said, Hagel certainly…

  • Cur deus leo

    Elliot has a really cool post on understanding the Atonement through Science Fiction and Fantasy stories. Of course his imagined disputants don’t seem to be any better at reaching consensus than existing theologians…

  • It’s the national security state, stupid

    Andrew Bacevich, reviewing several new books on the presidency, contends that the Imperial Presidency is a symptom, not the cause of our current troubles. The underlying problem is the state of permanent semi-mobilization that the country entered into after World War II and the attendant national security apparatus that it gave rise to. In matters…

  • Respect for life as a communal value

    In yesterday’s Boston Globe, Harvard political philosopher Michael J. Sandel accused President Bush of moral inconsistency with respect to the President’s position on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (ESCR). According to Sandel, if Bush regards the destruction of embryos as tantamount to killing a full-grown person, then he ought logically call for a…

  • Easter!

    Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on…

  • Good Friday

    Psalm 22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.…