Links to Your World, Tuesday March 10

Here is media coverage of the “Bible Across America” tour stop at Hillcrest. Recognize any names from your Hillcrest Family?


On Facebook, more than 900 groups use a variation of ‘follower of Jesus’ instead of ‘Christian’ to identify themselves. “It doesn't carry baggage,” Lisa Miller reports for Newsweek.


Flashback to a Nov 2007 “Links to Your World”: Check out the tongue-in-cheek Top 10 Coolest Ways to Avoid Using the Word "Christian" in Your Facebook "Religious Views"


“During 24's run…[Jack] Bauer has killed 201 people in seven days (and a two-hour special)—so far. By way of comparison, Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees murdered just 146 people in the franchise's 29 years.” (“Jack Bauer’s Seven Really Bad Days”)


I have a recommendation for Baylor’s next president.


If David Brooks’ math is right, we’re on track for national deficits of “$1 trillion a year and stretch as far as the eye can see.” Want to know what one TRILLION dollars look like?


The Statesman reports that 1 of every 22 adults in Texas is in prison, on parole or probation. The national average is 1 in 33. Hillcrest is involved in getting people back on track after incarceration.


“When it comes to [what God wills], many display monstrous foolishness. They subject the works of God to their reasoning, presume to know his secret counsels, and pass premature judgment on things that are ultimately a mystery. What can be more preposterous than to insult the hidden judgments of God? It's no wonder that so many today tear at the doctrine of providence with venomed teeth, or assail it with their bark. We Christians are rightly criticized for not being content with obeying God's commands, in which the will of God is more clearly comprehended, and for not simply maintaining that the world is governed by a wise God” (John Calvin, from a bi-monthly CT column running throughout 2009 in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformer’s birth)


“A Texas-sized battle over scrapping a longtime requirement that Lone Star State students be taught weaknesses in the theory of evolution has split politicians, parents, and professors who teach biology at the state's Christian universities” (CT story). This includes professors at Baylor University can also be found on both sides. Some professors at Christian universities have signed a 21st Century Science Coalition petition that supports new curriculum standards for Texas public schools that advocate Darwin’s theory as unassailable. Others have signed a petition titled “A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism.”


“If history and demographics are on the side of same-sex marriage, one wonders why journalists, Hollywood executives, and gay activists didn't just sit tight and wait. Why voluntarily sabotage their cause with a coordinated campaign of bigoted, violent, and hateful reactions to recent public votes on the matter?” (Mollie Ziegler Hemingway at CT)


President Obama will reverse the carefully-crafted compromise on stem cell research that has been in place since 2001. Your federal dollars will go to research that destroys human embryos in an effort to find medical breakthroughs. It’s a step backward for a culture of life. If you are prolife evangelical who voted for him, what are you going to do about it?


Obama aides clear clergy prayers before rallies. Um, on the unlikely chance that I’d ever be asked to lead a prayer for any president’s event, here’s a head’s-up: no one’s vetting my prayers.


“Can't we English-speakers just agree upon a gender-neutral pronoun?” (story) Each reader will have his or her reaction to this story, and s/he will get a chance to reply in the comments section where men and women from around the country can read what she or he has written.


From Today’s Christian Woman: “The Day I Left My Marriage (And the unusual advice that challenged my decision)”


Modern life can allow little time to maintain meaningful relationships, so what's the optimum number of friends? Between six and twelve, according to this BBC article.


Clint Eastwood: "People have lost their sense of humor. In former times we constantly made jokes about different races. You can only tell them today with one hand over your mouth, otherwise you will be insulted as a racist. ... I find that ridiculous. In those earlier days every friendly cliché had a 'Sam the Jew' or 'Jose the Mexican'—but we didn't think anything of it or have a racist thought. It was normal that we made jokes based on our nationality or ethnicity. That was never a problem. I don't want to be politically correct. We're all spending too much time and energy trying to be politically correct about everything." —ain an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel magazine [dailymail.co.uk, 2/26/09] (HT: Culture Clips)