In the World Posts for September, 2011

In the World

Smiley, West and Obama

Sep 30, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

It's been a while since pals Tavis Smiley and Cornel West took up the task of challenging President Obama from his left flank. The talk-show host and the philosopher have taken some heat for their criticism of the president, notably from political scientist Melissa Harris-Perry.

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Christian unity in Germany

Sep 29, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

Pope Benedict to the top Lutheran bishop in Germany (paraphrased): Have you heard about these new "evangelicals"? Scary stuff--and they're growing.

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The wealthy are not self-made

Sep 28, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

This week, a former Google executive asked President Obama to raise his taxes so that more people will have the chance to succeed as he has. It was nice to hear the president defend the idea that individual wealth is built in part by collective investment--even if he didn't state it as forcefully as Elizabeth Warren, and even if he mostly avoided the word "taxes" itself.

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Why appeal to conscience when you can misrepresent the church instead?

Sep 27, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

Candidate John F. Kennedy: If the time should ever come--and I do not concede any conflict to be remotely possible--when my office would require me to either violate my conscience or violate the national interest, then I would resign the office.

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"The All-Organ-Blast-N-Make-Younger-Machine"

Sep 22, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

This video from American Public Media's Marketplace isn't the funniest Dr. Seuss ripoff ever, but it does accomplish the unlikely feat of making the health-care arms race entertaining. If your hometown's plan for prosperity involves becoming the next Pittsburgh--where the iconic U.S. Steel Tower now wears the initials of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center--take note:

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What's a godparent?

Sep 20, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

I didn't refer to my godson as my godson until I heard one of his parents do it first. They asked me to be a baptismal sponsor but didn't use godparenting language at first, so I wasn't sure what name(s) they were giving the relationship. I was glad when, just before the baptism, the baby's mother said to him, "These are your godparents!" It's pretty awkward calling a kid your "baptismal sponsee." Really drains the cute right out of the moment.

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More on Savage and monogamy

Sep 16, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

Our August 23 cover story on monogamy and Dan Savage has gotten a lot of feedback, both positive and negative. Benjamin Dueholm offers a nuanced take on the ways the popular sex columnist is beating pastors at their own game--and the ways Savage's ethical worldview falls short. Some readers seem too stuck on the first point--"the Christian Century believes we should be instructed by an advice columnist," crows Joe Carter at First Things--to hear Dueholm out on the second.

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Reverse discrimination vs. the regular kind

Sep 15, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

The new diversity and tolerance survey numbers from the Public Religion Research Institute were released last week for the 9/11 anniversary, and many of the findings are about religious freedom, pluralism and Islamophobia. But the one I found most sobering was this:

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What kind of "growing movement"?

Sep 14, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

The LA Times has an interesting article about evangelical pastors' involvement in political mobilization. Tom Hamburger and Matea Gold don't do enough to prove their now-more-than-ever hook--that pastors whipping votes in Iowa and elsewhere are "part of a growing movement of evangelical pastors who are jumping into the electoral fray as never before"--but it's still an important story to follow as we slog through yet another election season in which the religious right is still not dead.

In the World

Will our 15 percent poor country get a jobs bill?

Sep 13, 2011 by Steve Thorngate

The new poverty numbers came out today, and they aren't pretty. The Census Bureau reports that more than 15 percent of Americans are living in poverty--a number that's gone up for three consecutive years and is the highest it's been since 1959.