Bože! A Grace Catholic Project
OC/IC Theology – Social Justice
Cleansing & Our Sense of Morality?
What a curious article over at Big Think! The gist of it is that there is a psychological component to physical cleanliness. The examples are rather curious. Including one where as part of a study participants were asked to recall a personal immoral experience; as part of the session some were offered a cleansing wipe [...]
The Incarnation & Active Christianity
“Don’t you think that Jesus is the solution to the problems in the Middle East – that it is only through him that peace will come to the region?” This is a question posed to me by a door-to-door evangelist a few years ago. It is a question that irritated me at the time, and [...]
Free Will?
Free will is a core belief in Christianity – that is of course unless you are of the Augustinian bent. Indeed fatalism (or to use a more appropriate contemporary term – determinism) is considered sinful by late antique Christian writers. Recent explorations in to the nature of free will have shown that when you undermine [...]
Japan: The Crisis Is Not Christian Nor Atheist But Human
The other day I saw a retweet of a tweet on twitter that urged people not to donate to Christian charities – for the relief effort in Japan needs “blankets and food, not boxes of bibles & Fundamentalist propaganda”. A little digging revealed that the author was a self-professed Atheist fundamentalist. I had to laugh. [...]
For Captives And For Their Salvation (Liberation) Let Us . . .
The last day of 2011. Hmmm . . . . Well, from a liturgical perspective this is not a big deal really – as the liturgical New Year was back in September. Today we commemorate Nelania the Younger, and tomorrow is the leave-taking of the feast of the Nativity. But never fear Theophany is just [...]
Haves & Have Nots In Glorious Graphic
I’m still trying to find a full attribution, I can’t be sure but it may have been created by cyrenaica – I was lead to it via The Atlantic. Its an image that you simply have to sit with for a bit (a larger, zoomable version is here) I live in one of the top [...]
Desecration: Bibles, Korans, Ikons & More
A few months ago when all the hu-hah ocurred in the American South over a fundamentalist church deciding to burn Korans I wondered – would the same sense of indignation, the same tension, and issues be raised if for example a group were to burn bibles, icons, or smash statues of Mary? At the time [...]
Turn The Coin Over – Body Screening From The Other Side
My two previous posts (here, and here) asking about the theological and ethical implications of the new full body screening used in American airports has lacked a key element – the voice of the TSA staff who have to perform the “enhanced pat down” on an increasingly angry travelling public. It was not that I [...]
Scanning For Your Humanity
The other day I made a brief post wondering out loud about the new body scanners, and the associated “enhanced pat down” in American airports; asking if the process had crossed a line dehumanising travellers. Well, It seems that this is now definitely the case as this article shows. Again I’m wondering why I’m not [...]
Body Scanners: Theology & Ethics?
I’ve been reading, with fascinated horror, the many articles now available about the widespread introduction of full body scanners in American airports. Security experts, including our own Home Office and Department for Transport have stated that these scanners simply don’t improve airport safety. What they have done, however, is created a storm of protest. The [...]
We All Need Friends
There is an interesting article in the Telegraph and in the American USA Today about a study done in the states that suggests that religious people are more friendly than non-religious people. According to the study’s findings: religious people are more likely to be charitable than Athiests. Indeed a surprising finding is that they are [...]
The Fast – What’s It All About Anyway?
It’s finally here – today is “clean monday”, the fast has begun. So here’s the question: what is “the fast” all about anyway? Athanasius writing in the fourth century said that a bit of moderate asceticism was useful for everyone – not just ascetics (read – monks, virgins, nuns and vowed widows). But the age [...]
Hateful “Prayer”?
Faithlab has this interesting snippet about a fundamentalist in California who is openly “praying” for the death of President Obama. They observe (I think correctly) that this is contrary to Jesus’ own example. What is “prayer”? If we accept that it is that dialogue we have with God throughout the day – then is it [...]
Burn Less Incense, Build Green Cred
The Economist has a good article on some recent (and not so recent) moves linking religious communities with addressing ecological issues (not just climate change, I’d say). They report that a recent meeting of religious leaders, Prince Philip and Ban Ki-moon resulted in various action plans according to one’s tradition. The Daoists for example have [...]
Religion & LGBT Youth
Given the referendums in the US, and the rise of violent (even deadly) attacks on LGB folk here in the UK this examination of the relationship between religion and LGBT youth appeared to be rather timely. I was not aware for example, of the high percentage of homeless teens who identify as LGB folk. Moreover, [...]
Getting Involved
Getting involved, being engaged in the wider scope of Christian action is sometimes a bit daunting – where to you begin? What issues/needs are not being given the space they deserve at the table? And more importantly in our OC/IC context – how can our tiny local community, or regional body, contribute in substantive ways [...]
This Is Interesting . . . .
This article by David Gibson of Politics Daily is well worth a read. He explores some of the reasons why Gay men in particular are “more” religiously invovled than their Straight brethren. Some of the conclusions drawn by one of the studies done by sociologist Darren E. Sherkat are laughably funny, but the piece overall [...]
Poverty As Entertainment
I was scanning yesterday’s paper – no, I take that back, Wednesday’s paper – and came across this brief column by Belinda Webb – questioning the value of a new TV program “How The Other Half Lives”, alongside other (earlier) types of this programming such as “Secret Millionare”. The latter show is based on the [...]
It’s All In The Numbers
This morning’s rounds turned up two curious pieces of news. Firstly, FaithLab reports that Daniel Akin, the president of the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary wants Baptists to have more babies – in order to numerically overwhelm the growing Muslim population in the US. Europe – he suggests, will be taken over by “the Muslims” without [...]
Theology UP While Business Is Going Down
I’ve seen a few articles lately (such as this one) on the rise of interest in religious activity, and theological education attributed to the economic downturn. The reasons appear to be varied – one is that people have been forced to stop – look around them, and consider the possibility that their priorities were rather [...]
Fasting – Solidarity With Others
Earlier this week I posted on Feasts – and the converstaion took an interesting and unexpected direction to discuss fasting and the customary fasting periods before Pascha, and other feast days. I’ve been pondering this thread of the conversation ever since, been doing some reading too. It struck me this morning that many (if not [...]
St Paul Points the Way Toward Anti-torture Theology
Using Paul as a beginning – V. Henry T. Nguyen’s follow up on the theology of torture is well worth a read. Earlier posts here on the subject are here, and here. Tweet
Food Glorius Food – Eating As A Sacred Activity
Last month I posted on food sourcing and ethics, asking about the relationship between the seemingly high proportion of OC/IC folk who have become vegetarians and spiritual discipline and theology. You can see the original post by clicking here. This morning, making my rounds I fell into this article over at Religion Dispatches about a [...]
Torture, Atonement – Suffering For the Good of Others?
Last week I posted on the Pew Forum’s recent survey suggesting that a shockingly high proportion of Christians hold that torture is acceptable. In my post – I stated that this figure suggests that our preachers, teachers, and community organisers are not doing enough to convey the central Christian tenet – that suffering, to cause [...]