Circuit Writer

This article comes from Christian ethicist, Dr. David P. Gushee, the Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University.  It is an eye-opening and insightful response to Glenn Beck’s biblically illiterate attack on social justice oriented Christian communities.

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Speaking as a Christian ethicist, I can say with certainty that in flippantly attacking the concept of social justice, Glenn Beck inadvertently poked a finger in the eye of every person who takes the Bible as God’s revealed Word and (according to Scripture) poured contempt on a central concern of God Himself:

“For I the Lord love justice.” (Isaiah 61:8)

“You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue.” (Deuteronomy 16:19-20)

“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)

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I’m posting a link to this article not only because it takes an incisive look at Baptist (meaning all brands, not just Southern) polity and what that means for the future of the Baptist tradition given the general tightening of the theological fist, but because I know the author and am privileged to acknowledge him as a peer and a friend.  Enjoy!

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Opinion: Church-autonomy inquiries from a naïve Baptist

By Cody Sanders

… There is certainly historical precedent for Baptist churches dividing over theological issues and congregations leaving or being expelled from associational bodies. Nonetheless, it causes me to question what we lose when we put extreme limits on how far we are willing to take our commitments to soul competency and local-church autonomy.

Moreover, when we hastily decide that a certain person or a certain church has stepped too far beyond the boundaries of friendly cooperation, do we risk expelling the prophets from among us? If so, I suppose this action should come as no surprise. For just as a prophet is without honor in her or his own hometown, so too a prophetic congregation may find no welcome within its historic denominational home …

Click here for the rest of the article.

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Cody J. Sanders, a graduate of Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, is a doctoral student in pastoral theology and counseling at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth.

CWS is helping to meet emergency needs in the aftermath of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.  Within 24 hours after the quake, CWS and its partners began providing basic supplies, prepositioned in the Dominican Republic.  It is working with partners to provide water, food, temporary shelter and health assistance.  Having worked in partnership in Haiti since 1954, CWS will also help to support communities in the long struggle to rebuild.

Click here to read the full article or click here to make a donation to Church World Service.

A new poll from Gallup shows the state of church participation in the U.S. on a state-by-state basis:

PRINCETON, NJ — Mississippians were the most frequent churchgoers in the nation in 2009, as was the case in 2008, with 63% of residents attending weekly or almost every week. Nine of the top 10 states in church attendance are in the South; the only non-Southern state is Utah, with 56% frequent attendance. At the other end of the spectrum, 23% of Vermont residents attend church frequently, putting it at the bottom of the list of churchgoing states. Other states at the bottom of the church attendance list are in either New England or the West.

Read all about it in the Gallup article, “Mississippians Go to Church the Most; Vermonters, Least.”

Tip of the hat the Matthew Yglesias.

A friend of mine put me on to this blog post through Facebook and I’ve deemed it important enough to share – and it’s unbelievable well written to boot!  It engages the question of white privilege and spells out what it means in accessible terms.  I’m posting a teaser here and a link to the rest of the blog.

One of the frustrating things about living in Iowa City – a cozy, liberal-for-the-Midwest sort of town – is that I’ll make friends with intelligent people, considerate people, well-spoken, literate people, who nevertheless will pull out phrases like “I don’t believe in white privilege” when I have discussions with them.

To them, I dedicate this. (Originally posted on my own blog, http://magistrate.dreamwidth.org/.)

Click here to read the rest.

While Obama used his Nobel Peace Prize speech to legitimize Afghanistan using just war principles, soldiers are currently unable to invoke these principles in refusing to serve. When we punish soldiers who heed their moral compasses, we deny them religious freedom, and our democracy is threatened. It’s time to allow those who oppose the war on ethical grounds the option of ‘Selective Conscientious Objection.’

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This excellent article by Dr. Muqtedar Khan, the Director of Islamic Studies at the University of Delaware and a fellow of the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, explores the promise of Muhammad to establish friendly relationships with Christians.  I’m posting an excerpt and a link to Khan’s original publication at the Washington Post website as food for thought.

Muslims and Christians together constitute over 50 percent of the world. If they lived in peace, we would be half way to world peace. One small step we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonization.

In this article I propose to remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent of their Prophet and try to practice it in their lives.

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This is an intriguing read from the God’s Politics blog at the Sojourners website.  I throw it out here as food for thought.

It’s wild how easily we get sidetracked from Holy days by holidays, and how quickly we can smother our central identity in Christ with other identities such as our national identity.  The Fourth of July is one of those holidays that is a little tricky for those of us who are Christian, these peculiar people of God whose kingdom is “not of this world.”  While we want to celebrate the many freedoms and opportunities we have in these United States, we also want to be people that are honest about history, who lament the places where our country and government and founding fathers have fallen short of God’s Dream. .. so without being a real prude or “anti-American” stick-in-the-mud, we want to try to remember the history of this country well on July 4 (and every day) — the good and the bad.  That doesn’t mean we can’t have some serious fun on July 4.  We might as well take advantage of the chance to be with neighbors and family, to have work off and play in fire hydrants (at least on my block).  But above all, we want to remember that our deepest allegiance and identity run deeper than nation.  And that may take some creativity to remember with all the fireworks popping and national anthems playing.

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“God’s Politics: a blog by Jim Wallace and friends” is a ministry of Sojourners, publishers of Sojourners magazine and other resources for the Christian walk.

Congress is hard at work on historic energy and climate change legislation. The House of Representatives plans to vote on a bill in the next few weeks, with the Senate to follow in early fall.

The bill is full of worthwhile provisions: investment in green jobs, modernizing our energy systems, and new pollution regulations. It also contains some less than desirable pieces like plans to give away the majority of pollution credits to industry in the initial years instead of auctioning them to create revenue for clean technology and assisting low-income consumers.

In my five years in Washington I’ve learned that supporting large pieces of legislation can be tricky. At Sojourners, we try to filter all of our policy work through the lens of caring for the most vulnerable, both in our country and around the world…

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