Clipmarks | Evangelical Clips

What about non-white, non-male evangelicals?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:31:24 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "the media often chronicle the broadening social concerns of white evangelical males such as Rick Warren and Richard Cizik." But much non-white evangelicalism has been politically progressive - and isolated - for a long, long time.

Clip Source: blog.beliefnet.com

Meanwhile, the stories of progressive evangelical minorities and women

remain

invisible

before us lie two roads

One path pursues the common good of white evangelical men, while relying on the common labor of evangelical women and minorities. This path is marked by denominational positions that define minstry by gender and not gifting

theology that clarifies doctrine while obscuring the correlations of race and poverty, and well-intentioned civic disengagement that nevertheless stacks an already tilted deck of cards against the marginalized.

The other road

relies upon the common labor of all evangelicals to pursue the common good of all

This pathway also has signposts: more women serving as bishops and pastors; theology that rhythmically alternates between digesting scripture and dismantling the poverty-race correlation; and wise engagement that represents the broad concerns of the evangelical constituency to the public and private sector.

Christians must toil for

a technicolor justice revival

Tags: theology, religion, evangelical

California churches plan a big push against same-sex marriage

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:07:49 GMT

clipped by: queah

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Early on a late September morning, if all goes according to plan, 1 million Mormons, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, evangelical Christians, Sikhs and Hindus will open their doors, march down their front walks and plant "Yes on Proposition 8" signs in their yards to show they support repealing same-sex marriage in California.

It is a bold idea, one that may be difficult to pull off. But whether or not 1 million lawn signs are planted in unison, the plan underscores what some observers say is one of the most ambitious interfaith political organizing efforts ever attempted in the state. Moreover, political analysts say, the alliances across religious boundaries could herald new ways of building coalitions around political issues in California.

Science Battles Ignorance

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:14:16 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: By ignorance I mean literally ignoring reality and substituting myth and superstition. The solution is simple. If the students insist on replacing reality with dogma on science tests let them be graded accordingly.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash

In February, the Florida Department of Education modified its standards to explicitly require, for the first time, the state’s public schools to teach evolution, calling it “the organizing principle of life science.”

But in a nation where evangelical Protestantism and other religious traditions stress a literal reading of the biblical description of God’s individually creating each species, students often arrive at school fearing that evolution, and perhaps science itself, is hostile to their faith.

Tags: school, evolution, biology, florida

Mob Attacks Force Christian College to Relocate

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:03:07 GMT

clipped by: Smoke TNT

Clip Source: chronicle.com

August 25

Christian College in Indonesia Will Relocate After Violent Attacks

Attacks on their campus have forced students at a Christian college in Indonesia’s capital to take refuge in tents and in the lobby of the parliament building for nearly a month, while the theology school has agreed to relocate out of a predominantly Muslim neighborhood, the Associated Press reported.

The first assaults on the Arastamar Evangelical School of Theology, which is also known as Seta College, took place on July 25, when residents of the neighborhood in Jakarta entered the campus with machetes and Molotov cocktails. Eighteen students were injured in the clashes, and administrators evacuated the five dormitories after a second night of attacks.

Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, has traditionally tolerated minority religions. But recently, radical groups have attacked churches and even mosques that oppose a hard-line doctrine.

Tags: indonesia, muslims, islam, islamofascism, christianity, college

A Teacher On The Front Line

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:19:25 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: For me there is no conflict between science and religion; I don't need scientific proof of the character of God. Perhaps the people who are arguing about all of this need to keep their minds occupied from avoiding justice, poverty, and war.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — David Campbell switched on the overhead projector and wrote “Evolution” in the rectangle of light on the screen.

He scanned the faces of the sophomores in his Biology I class. Many of them, he knew from years of teaching high school in this Jacksonville suburb, had been raised to take the biblical creation story as fact

“If you see something you don’t understand, you have to ask ‘why?’ or ‘how?’ ” Mr. Campbell often admonished his students at Ridgeview High School.

Yet their abiding mistrust in evolution, he feared, jeopardized their belief in the basic power of science to explain the natural world — and their ability to make sense of it themselves.

faith vs science in florida high schools

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:25:14 GMT

clipped by: kroqben

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

in a nation where evangelical Protestantism and other religious traditions stress a literal reading of the biblical description of God’s individually creating each species, students often arrive at school fearing that evolution, and perhaps science itself, is hostile to their faith.

Some come armed with “Ten questions to ask your biology teacher about evolution,” a document circulated on the Internet that highlights supposed weaknesses in evolutionary theory. Others scrawl their opposition on homework assignments. Many just tune out.

With a mandate to teach evolution but little guidance as to how, science teachers are contriving their own ways to turn a culture war into a lesson plan. How they fare may bear on whether a new generation of Americans embraces scientific evidence alongside religious belief.

A Dose of Reality

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 02:13:12 GMT

clipped by: bmeuppls
clipper's remarks: Money meets mouth...

Clip Source: www.laweekly.com

Both were born to Kenyan fathers of the same tribe (the Luo) from the same province (Nyanza), and both as boys came to America aboard the same airplane. Growing up, neither Ochieng nor Obama knew their fathers, who both abandoned their American mothers and left their American-born children behind. Both returned to Africa in the early 1960s and became friends, bonding at Kenyan bars over their favorite drink — Scotch. Both Ochieng's and Obama's mothers contracted ovarian cancer. (Hers survived it; his did not). Both Ochieng and Obama were born in the U.S. in August 1961 — only weeks apart.

But for someone with parallel beginnings, Juliette Akinyi Ochieng is quite different: Evangelical Christian. Working class. Military veteran. Pro-life. Conservative Republican.

Corporal punishment in school

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:25:41 GMT

clipped by: lap322
clipper's remarks: James Dobson needs to STFU and explain how paddling is "useful" for elementary students?

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

(CNN) -- More than 200,000 children were spanked or paddled in U.S. schools during the past school year, human rights groups reported Wednesday.

Evangelical leader James Dobson's influential Focus on the Family group is among those stopping short of calling for a full ban on paddling in schools.

"Corporal punishment is not effective at the junior and senior high school levels, and I do not recommend its application," Dobson said on the organization's Web site.

"It can be useful for elementary students, especially with amateur clowns (as opposed to hard-core troublemakers). For this reason, I am opposed to abolishing spanking in elementary schools because we have systematically eliminated the tools with which teachers have traditionally backed up their word. We're now down to a precious few. Let's not go any further in that direction."

Rick Warren, Obama, And McCain

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:28:22 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: déjà vu

Clip Source: www.boston.com

If anyone had any doubt about the influence of Rick Warren, last night provided a remarkable demonstration of his pull -- Barack Obama and John McCain both agreed to submit, one after the other, to televised questions from the evangelical pastor at his church in Orange County, California.

Warren asked the candidates about marriage, abortion, stem-cell research, and what Christianity means to them

But there is also some critical comment now emerging about Warren's role in the campaign.

And both the candidates deserve criticism for engaging in a competition to be 'holier than thou.

Christianity Today on torture

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:12:54 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: David Gushee for the evangelical Christian magazine Christianity Today on five theological grounds for the unequivocal and universal condemnation of torture by Christians, and why, from a Christian perspective, no exceptional circumstances can ever justify the use of torture. From February 2006.

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

5 Reasons Torture Is Always Wrong

And why there should be no exceptions.

Clip Source: www.christianitytoday.com

Furthermore, while all "cruel, inhuman, or degrading" treatment of detainees has been officially rejected by the administration (under pressure from Sen. John McCain and others), it is not clear who defines when treatment crosses that line. It also remains unclear how much latitude those on the front lines of interrogation have, and if and how they would be held accountable if they were to cross the line. In other words, there remain a number of loopholes for torture to be practiced in the war on terror.

Yet the prohibition on torture in international law admits no exceptions. The U.N. Convention Against Torture puts it this way: "No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for torture."

Tags: torture, religion, christianity, evangelicalism, commentary, opinion, gwot, violence, rels327

The Christian Presidency

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:29:24 GMT

clipped by: boniface

Clip Source: www.wildhunt.org

Any illusion one might have had that the race for America's chief executive is a secular affair was thoroughly shattered yesterday at the Saddleback Civil Forum on The Presidency. Evangelical superstar Rick "Purpose Driven Life" Warren got the two candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to sit down individually in his church, submit to his questions, and expound on concerns most important to evangelical Christians.

"Some of the questions Pastor Warren posed crossed the line and promoted the fiction that the American people are electing a pastor-in-chief, rather than a commander-in-chief. Questions like 'What does it mean to trust in Christ?' create a religious test for public office and should have no place in the political discourse for a secular office. America is the most religiously diverse country in the world, and Christianity is only one of those faith traditions. Millions of voters who tuned in tonight will feel disenfranchised by some of the questions posed in this forum."

McCain, Obama to address 'values voters'

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:10:26 GMT

clipped by: queah

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama plan to appear together Saturday at a minister-moderated forum held in a church as thousands of evangelicals plan to gather in the nation's capital to pressure both men move further to the right on social issues.

TheCall, and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council -- a Christian organization that opposes same-sex marriage and abortion rights -- will hold a press conference in Washington Friday to push McCain and Obama to delve further into issues facing evangelical voters, The Hill newspaper reported Saturday.

While McCain is generally considered a moderate, evangelical leaders say they do not believe he has adopted consistently conservative positions on some social issues. The Republican is against abortion rights and opposes same-sex marriage, but is a supporter of embryonic stem cell research -- a position many religious groups oppose.

Hamas Leader's Son becomes a Christian

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:38:39 GMT

clipped by: DeMaistre

Clip Source: str.typepad.com

Mosab Hassan Yousef is an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary story. He was born the son of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization in the West Bank and grew up in a strict Islamic family.

Now, at 30 years old, he attends an evangelical Christian church, Barabbas Road in San Diego, Calif. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and is seeking asylum in the United States....

Tags: conversion, christianity, islam

Son of Hamas Leader Converts to Christianity

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:08:32 GMT

clipped by: Bob Hayton

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

Hallelujah!

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:58:50 GMT

clipped by: AtlLiberal
clipper's remarks: Finally a ray of hope in the God forsaken science blasphemies. I'll pray that you stay on the earth.

Clip Source: www.theonion.com

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory

KANSAS CITY, KS—As the debate over the teaching of evolution in public schools continues, a new controversy over the science curriculum arose Monday in this embattled Midwestern state. Scientists from the Evangelical Center For Faith-Based Reasoning are now asserting that the long-held "theory of gravity" is flawed, and they have responded to it with a new theory of Intelligent Falling.

"Things fall not because they are acted upon by some gravitational force, but because a higher intelligence, 'God' if you will, is pushing them down," said Gabriel Burdett, who holds degrees in education, applied Scripture, and physics from Oral Roberts University.

"Gravity—which is taught to our children as a law—is founded on great gaps in understanding.

Tags: humor, science, satire