// archives

Thoughts on things

This category contains 314 posts

A Rant of Sorts: Grappling with Religious Belief, Belonging, Exclusion and Community

Recently I’ve been having some pretty fascinating conversations about what it means to belong to community. In fact, just this week I sat in room full of colleagues and debated whether or not someone needed to become a member of a local church in order to be considered a full participant. The whole conversation left [...]

New Podcast Up: A Conversation Between Nick & Josh

This week Nick and I sit down at a Starbucks (oh no!) instead of our original haunt, The Java Monkey, to record some thoughts on life and faith.
No interview this week, just some chatting. Hope you enjoy it. And don’t forget to pick up a copy of the hopeful skeptic, now displayed on the left [...]

If Religion Is The New Color Line, What’s Next?

Eboo Patel (podcast) continues to get it right: there is a new line of discrimination in America and it is called religion.
Slowly but surely as more data comes out about religious life in America, it is glaringly obvious that there is a new kind of color line in America (and many would argue the world). [...]

Zizek Quote for Weekend Reflection

“We are thus simultaneously less free and more free than we think: we are thoroughly passive determined by and dependant on the past, but we have the freedom to define the scope of this determination, that is, to (over)determine the past which will determine us.”
Zizek from In Defense of Lost Causes
Send to Facebook

Interesting ‘Avatar’ Article

Here is an interesting piece from the Huffington post on Avatar and Catholicism:
“Over at the LA Times, Jonah Goldberg sets about attempting to decode the quasi-religious aspects of James Cameron’s “Avatar“. I’ve not seen the movie yet, but Goldberg reliably informs me that it’s so ever-present that “even if you haven’t seen it, you’ve seen [...]

Universalism: Should Christians Say Everyone Will Be Saved?

Recently I was asked to justify using Christian sources to justify or deny the possibility of Universalism. Here is brief summary of some of my thoughts on on the topic using the language and instruments of the Christian tradition.
Christians should boldly proclaim that all human beings will ultimately be saved to be in heaven with [...]

Are we really the world?

For New Years eve, Laura, a few freinds and I all went to hear Band of Horses at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. On the whole it was a great night and great show!
What got me though was the closing song the band chose for NYE: We are the world. Why you might ask would this [...]

Environmental Assassinations: Do we care?

Here is a link to an article about another death of a protester. Not just any kind of protester, but one who has been protesting for environmental reasons.
Increasingly the violence against those that are attempting to hold accountable those who are exploiting the earth is on the rise.
Should we care? Or should profitability justify these [...]

Guest Blogger: Lynn Hopkins on the Death Penalty

Homicide, other duties as assigned
On November 10th, a small group of men entered the dwelling place of a man in Virginia, bound him, transported him to another location, and killed him.  It was intentional and premeditated, planned in detail. No one claims that the homicide was self-defense or that this man posed any imminent threat.  [...]

The Legend of Today (Friday 13th)

Here are a couple of links about the evolution of this day in modern folklore. Enjoy the read and have a very lucky day. About, Is Friday the 13th Bad for your Health, National Geographic on the topic, The Huffington Post, and finally, TIME. Enjoy! JC
Send to Facebook

Please visit WP-Admin > Options > Snap Shots and enter the Snap Shots key. How to find your key