The Oscars are over, but do you know who won the Golden Raspberries?
“Certainly clean films with happy endings and Christian messages are not inherently objectionable; given the alternatives, they may even signal a welcome return to sanity. But superficially happy stories may obfuscate features of the human condition that an unhappy story better illuminates. And we should be wary of labeling as ‘Christian’ a film that does no more than include a few Christian allusions. One recent phenomenon that Christians sometimes overlook is the surge in dark films of spiritual quest….An ongoing dissatisfaction with modern Enlightenment themes of progress through knowledge and power opens a path to a recovery of pre-modern conceptions of human life as a quest. What should Christians make of the preponderance of dark tales in our culture?” (“Dark Knights and Bright Lights” by Thomas Hibbs in Christianity Today. Hibbs is dean of the Honors College at Baylor University and a contributor to National Review)
"‘It's humbling to know that I have the opportunity to contribute one verse that might be read by millions of people,’ said Square, the children, youth and family minister at San Leandro Church of Christ, near Oakland. Especially gratifying, he said, was that his two teenage children would get to see his handiwork. ‘They'll be able to tell their kids that: 'I know someone who wrote that verse, a person who played a role in shaping my own life.’” (The L.A. Times, reporting on the “Bible Across America” national tour as it made a stop in Los Angeles)Hillcrest is hosting the “Bible Across America” Austin stop! Read all about it here.
“A Baby, Please. Blond, Freckles -- Hold the Colic.” The WSJ reports that laboratory techniques that screen for diseases in embryos are now being offered to create designer children. This story made me add the excellent “Gattaca” to my Netflix Roku player so I could watch it again.
The Vatican lists women's seven deadly sins in order of frequency at confession to be pride, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, avarice, and sloth. For men, it's lust, gluttony, sloth, anger, pride, envy, and greed.
Christian Aid is promoting a virtual tour of the Holy Land, Journey to Jerusalem.
“Some Americans are more loyal to their toothpaste or toilet paper than to their religious denomination, making those consumers more choosy about Charmin or Colgate than they are about church, according to a new survey. According to a Phoenix-based research firm, 16% of Protestants say they would consider only one denomination, while 22% of them would use only one brand of toothpaste and 19% would use just one brand of bathroom tissue….’When you actually think about it for more than 10 seconds, none of this is all that surprising and I don't think it's actually bad,’ [Robert] Thompson said [a Syracuse University professor]. He said the statistics demonstrate that some of the age-old rivalries between Protestant denominations have simply dissolved.” (USA Today)
“Poor sleep might actually cause some psychiatric illnesses or lead people to behave in ways that doctors mistake for mental problems.” (New Scientist)
Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks
Students participating in the Simplicity Initiative have been fasting from certain types of technology in four-week increments.
Jesus People: The Evangelical “Spinal Tap”?
Four Reasons Why Media Coverage Isn’t Always Fair
“In meeting the challenges of revitalized urban neighborhoods across the country, urban churches are rethinking the ways they connect with their adjacent communities, combining an eclectic mix of edgy art and ancient Christian traditions.” (Baptist Standard)
Vatican demands closure of tax havens. I’m surprised I haven’t run across reaction from the Cayman Islands yet.
Welcome to college, where the free exchange of ideas is celebrated—whaaa? From the LA Times:
Jonathan Lopez says his professor called him a ‘fascist bastard’ and refused to let him finish his speech against same-sex marriage during a public speaking class.
When Lopez tried to find out his mark for the speech, the professor, John Matteson, allegedly told him to ‘ask God what your grade is,’ the suit says.
Lopez also said the teacher threatened to have him expelled when he complained to higher-ups. (HT: Mollie at GetReligion, which has more on the story.)
“I kind of snicker when I see people on the Youtube video [comment box] saying ‘Oh, her mother forced her to do this’—I'm like, ‘No, I'm on the other end, trying to make her pick another topic!’ But she was just really passionate about it, and she has her research on it.” The mother of the 12-year-old girl behind this video as she prepared for her controversial school speech (HT: The Brody File):
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