The following is written by AJ aficionado (whatever that means), Matt Morin. My only contribution is the inclusion of The Clash song at the end. You can also locate this post at Profligate Grace. Cheers. ~~~~ Because I am either a charitable hearer of opposing viewpoints, or a glutton for punishment, I try to tune […]
My friend at Elizabethtown College, Michael Long, emailed me a note about an article he recently published for The Huffington Post. It’s a very timely peace that’s all about presidents, politics, and those ‘ambassadors of God’ that love to buttress power. Why is it always so seductive? What I like most about the article is the […]
Hutterites may call it religious persecution, others call it the law of the land, but our theological cousins (“Aw mom, do we really have to claim THEM?!“) are now required to offer workers compensation. Pretty tough thing to do on a communitarian-based salary. [Read article here.] What I find most interesting about the article is […]
In the 5th grade I decided that resolutions were a ‘crutch for the weak’. I think I’d heard someone misquoting Marx or something (the silly kind of Marx, not the Harpo kind). I just remember thinking, ‘Why do adults always need a catalyst for changing their rotten habits?” I doubt I used the word catalyst, […]
For my ‘skyping while drinking whiskey book club’, we’re reading Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt. This is posing a major problem for me. For, you see, whiskey makes me happy. It makes me all huggie, dance-y, and, ‘life is wonderful-ly’ (and, also, a bit sentimental . . . so, no watching The Little Drummer […]
I’m heading out of town for a few days, so no Amish Jihad for you (for at least 6-7 days). In the meantime, here’s a re-post of something I published last year. It still rings true. Rock on, folks! ~~~~ My first substantial brush with ‘atheism/agnosticism/I kinda wish I was a Taoist but I always […]
One of my friends, whom I admire deeply, posted the following quote in light of the Connecticut shootings: “Only a suffering God can help.” (Bonhoeffer) For oh so many reasons, I really, really loathe that quote. It sure sounds potent, and, I guess for some, it’s comforting (I can’t quite figure that out, but hey, […]
To celebrate the publication of the second volume of The Peaceable Kingdom series (A Faith Embracing All Creatures), for the next few weeks I’ll be randomly posting on animals, Christianity, and why, three times a day, most of my nonviolent friends live lives that are the absolute antithesis of nonviolence. Ya’ flesh-eating, ‘bodies consuming other […]
I met Fred Bahnson back in grad school. We’d spend our lunches sitting on the steps of Duke Chapel playing chess. We were fairly even-matched. That is, we were both pretty bad at it. Nevertheless, it got us out of the classroom long enough to talk about Duke basketball–which is a lovely thing when you’ve […]