Links to Your World, Tuesday October 8

In a post about toxic online commenting, John Blake for CNN defines several types of religious and atheist commentors. Horrible stuff here. It's one reason I pretty much ignore the comments feature at online sites.

 

Read a Lawyer’s Amazingly Detailed Analysis of Bilbo’s Contract in The Hobbit

 

You Talk Too Much. If you're wondering if I had certain people in mind when I added this to the list, yeah, I was probably thinking of you. :-) As the wise man once said, "It's OK to hold a conversation--just let go of it once in a while.

 

Facebook Version of Marriage Going Great

 

Online atheists love their memes, especially the ones that are “devastating” to religon as well as being humorous. Here are few such Devastating Arguments Against Christianity (Courtesy of the Internet). As it turns out, the arguments are indeed devastating…just not to religion. (HT: Evangelical Outpost)

 

Sermon Illustration Alert: Family Hosts 200 Homeless People for Dinner After Daughter's Wedding Gets Called Off

 

James Taranto says Stan Greenberg is a racist when speaking of white evangelical Republicans. Taranto has a point.

 

I did not know this: "Surprising new research from the University of Texas suggests that people who often say "I" are less powerful and less sure of themselves than those who limit their use of the word."

 

WSJ: Churches Take a Stand on Pews, Replacing Them With Chairs. At Hillcrest I like our decision to go with pews in the big renovation, but this is a trend we'll need to pay attention to.

 

Time: "Once a taboo topic, mental illness is an increasingly prominent plot line on television....Aside from helping those unfamiliar with mental illnesses to have a more realistic and unbiased view of psychiatric disorders, the depictions may help patients struggling with mental illness as well. “Someone with bipolar disorder may identify with a character and say to themselves, ‘if they can get through it, I can get through it.’"