A pacifist college bans the national anthem from sporting events. “The Goshen College Board of Directors announced today that it has asked President James E. Brenneman to find an alternative to playing the Star-Spangled Banner that fits with sports tradition, that honors country and that resonates with Goshen College’s core values and respects the views of diverse constituencies.” Needless to say, the Armed Forces are not one of those diverse constituencies.
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“God’s Politics? No Such Thing.”
As Christians we will always live in some tension with the way in which our nation navigates history. If we do not have the same sense of tension with the world around us, in fact, we are probably not paying attention to God, the world, or both. We can and should engage political question, but we will often be forced to do the complex work of evaluating secular priorities in light of the tra nscendent claims that God makes on our lives.
God’s politics? No such thing.
In fact, we will also discover that more often than not, it’s not about God-given government—it’s more often about government that acts too much like God. But that shouldn’t trouble us too much. We aren’t called to nation building. We are called to participate in the reign of God.
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“Following court ruling, Texas student prays at graduation.” This seems like a straightforward First Amendment to me. If a student wants to include a prayer in her speech, then if her speech is protected, so is her prayer. The key issue is that the school itself did not mandate the prayer.
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Do you want to make a mainline church more theologically and ethically conservative? Promote ethnic diversity. That’s the lesson of the United Methodist Church, at any rate.
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“No Adam, No Eve, No Gospel”: That’s the title of a Christianity Today editorial. Yesterday, I linked to the CT article on the evangelical debate over the historicity of Adam and Eve. This complements that.
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“Missing faith: Getting religion in the newsroom.” Religion is a huge part of the lives of most Americans, although you wouldn’t know it from the news. This articles explains the disconnect and offers suggestions for reconnection.
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A minister and a rabbi write an op-ed… No, that’s not the beginning of a joke. It’s the background to “What’s right in the Middle East?” Answer: Israel. The answer might’ve been more complex had they added an imam to the conversation.
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From National Geographic: “We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization” (emphasis added). It’s always nice when archaeologists catch on to what the religious have known for years.
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“Where Are the Mainline Protestant Candidates for President?” They’ve done what droves of mainliners have done over the years: decamped for evangelical and Catholic churches, or none at all.
This video has absolutely nothing to do with religion, but this is my blog, so I’m posting it anyway.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Pure bluegrass awesomeness! And from the looks of it, these boys shop at Bass Pro.
GeorgePWood.com 
Interesting note on the banning of the national anthem, there are numerous examples of similar responses among Pentecostals during World War I, when Pentecostals, particularly in the fledgling Assemblies of God, were strongly pacifistic.
I don’t have a problem with a Mennonite college not playing the national anthem before sporting events. I have a problem with their “diverse constituencies” rationale. I’d prefer they just say, “We’re pacifist internationalists. We don’t do national anthems.” talking about “core values” and “diverse constituencies” is just PC gobbeldygook.
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