This Side of the Pulpit » Entries tagged with "culture"
Darkness of the Human Heart
Susan Powell went missing on December 7, 2009 after her husband left the home for a sub-zero, spur of the moment camping trip in the middle of the night, only to return later the same day. Joshua Powell was under investigation for her disappearance and presumed murder. He lost custody of his two children in September 2011 after his father was arrested for child pornography and voyeurism charges. He had been living with his son and grandchildren. On February 12, 2012, Joshua separated his children from a social worker during a supervised visit, locked them in his home and then engineered a gas explosion. Later investigation suggests he took a hatchet to his own children before carbon monoxide poisoning killed him and the children. How can such things happen? You can blame demon possession, I suppose. … Read entire article »
Christianity, Culture, and Cult
I wish we could get back to recognizing that a culture has a cult–a worship. Cultus is the worship of a people, and the cult produces a culture. We see this most clearly in the Muslim Countries and in the “Old Countries” of the Mediterranean and Russia. The religion of the people influences their dress, their diet, their music, their art and dancing, architecture and all those expressions which we in the West have isolated … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Violence and our Culture
“The problem of violence isn’t out there in bad music and bloody films. The real problem is in here, in us, and it won’t be fixed by v-chips,” he said. “We’ve created a culture that markets violence in dozens of different ways, seven days a week. … When we build our advertising campaigns on consumer selfishness and greed, and when money becomes the universal measure of value, how can we be surprised when our sense of community erodes? “When we glorify and multiply guns, why are we shocked when kids use them? When we answer murder with more violence in the death penalty, we put the state’s seal of approval on revenge. When the most dangerous place in the country is a mother’s womb, and the unborn child can have his … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Christ in the Crosshairs of Culture
it’s a pretentious title for a simple observation: Why does a Jesus-Zombie-Cyborg-Alien get laughs from folks*, yet a Mohammed-zombie-cyborg not? Why is it that folks can incessantly mock Jesus, yet would never dare to laugh at a cartoonish-Buddah or Vishnu parody? From the outside, I think three things are going on: 1. Many Christians are so hyper-sensitive, hypocritical fuss-budgets that making fun of them is fun. 2. Christians are in the majority. It’s easier and “funnier” to mock the majority view than a minority view. I mean, everyone gets Jesus jokes, but how many people could name the three major gods of Hindus? 3. Christians don’t retaliate with violence or lawsuits. We stink at following Jesus much of the time, but we won’t kill people or take to the streets or courts like some … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Saying “No”, Hook-Ups and Literature
Here is a teaser from an excellent article about the “hook-up” culture and pornography’s destructive nature. The article may be found here. Nevertheless, the advent of the so-called hook-up culture has fostered expectations among young men that encounters with co-eds naturally lead to no-strings-attached sex. Sex is not preceded by an altar, commitment, “I love you”, or even a decent conversation. In a hook-up culture anonymous sex is not a scandal but, it would seem, the ideal, for when sex is depersonalized, it cannot lead to the complications associated with affection, vulnerability, and the desire to sacrifice for the good of the other person. On a related note, the biggest problem I had with the Twilight series was Jacob’s pursuit of Bella even after she … Read entire article »
Filed under: The World, Theology, Writing&Books
We Ain’t The Ones That Are Obsessed » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog
We Ain’t The Ones That Are Obsessed » First Thoughts | A First Things Blog. Read this brief observation about who is talking about homosexuality and abortion all the time. Or, just look at my blog archives and see the point in action. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
…when night comes and no one may work…
Ran across the following video on my favorite Catholic blog, Creative Minority Report. Though I do not agree with everything the commentator says, he says it with great authority and eloquence that I wish I had. His point? We are not just descending into madness, but it has already come. Watch and enjoy, if possible. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Church Music Lives
Hey…you’re still here? After all this time? Don’t you people every go home? On to the blog… I was in a doctor’s office the other day checking out. One of the staff members had music playing from her computer, and as I walked to the window the song changed to something played on a pipe organ. From where I was standing it was too faint to be heard clearly. The woman setting up the next appointment for me clicked at her mouse and squinted at the screen, and then out of nowhere said over her shoulder, “Is that your music playing, Nancy?” “Christmas carols,” she responded. “Sounds like church music. I don’t want to listen to church music. I’m not in church.” I’ve heard the complaint before when working at a music store. On occasion we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
Wasteland, Revisted
Eric Brown has a nice post regarding “getting things out of the service” over at his blog. It relates to what I tell folks on occasion: if you have a problem with church, with worship, with Scripture, you can be sure the problem lies with you, and not with God. Or, if you feel the need to change things, to innovate, to “mix things up,” likewise the problem is with you and not with God or worship or whatever else. We are fickle, picky, distracted, covetous, lust-filled people. We would rather critique and criticize than submit or contribute. We are dreamers who covet something we don’t have and then blame others for our own unhappiness. It’s the wasteland, again. It is here and we did it to ourselves. When Antichrist appears and renders … Read entire article »
Filed under: Theology
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