Let me, a Muslim feminist, confuse you. Facebook. The David Epstein incest case: If homosexuality is OK, why is incest wrong? - By William Saletan. Incest is for hicks.
That's the stereotype among educated liberals: Homosexuality is urbane, polygamy is for Mormons, and incest is for hayseeds. So when David Epstein, a Columbia University political scientist, was charged last week with third-degree incest for allegedly shagging his adult daughter, the blogosphere erupted. Way Beyond Atheism: God Does Not (Not) Exist. Prop 8 Myths. Writes Dan Walters of the Sacramento Bee: Last week, however, 10 percent of voters were African American while 18 percent were Latino, and applying exit poll data to that extra turnout reveals that the pro-Obama surge among those two groups gave Proposition 8 an extra 500,000-plus votes, slightly more than the measure’s margin of victory.
To put it another way, had Obama not been so popular and had voter turnout been more traditional – meaning the proportion of white voters had been higher – chances are fairly strong that Proposition 8 would have failed. Certainly, the No on 8 folks might have done a better job of outreach to California’s black and Latino communities. But the notion that Prop 8 passed because of the Obama turnout surge is silly. Exit polls suggest that first-time voters — the vast majority of whom were driven to turn out by Obama (he won 83 percent [!] Homebrewed Christianity » thinking » I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 2. I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 2 Beware of Bible Abuse With some notable exceptions, most evangelicals I know primarily read the Bible devotionally, meaning they read it in a superficial way without regard to the conditions of history, culture, genre, or its own literary context.
They also believe it is the infallible Word of God and expect God to speak to them personally through its message. I read the Bible this way for years. But I gradually learned a valuable lesson. Homebrewed Christianity » thinking » I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home. Stuff Fundies Like. How the Christians stole Christmas. By Steve Kellmeyer 'Tis the season for complaining.
Specifically, 'tis the season for Christians to chatter and moan about America's secular culture. How Christians Stole Christmas. Conservative Christians complain about secularists, atheists, and leftists trying to undermine Christmas, but there is little historical understanding and awareness in these complaints.
An examination of Christian history indicates that religion has been slowly stripped from Christmas, as well as other Christian holidays, for a long time now - and by Christians themselves. The Manhattan Declaration: Why didn’t you sign it, R.C.? by R.C. Sproul. On November 20, 2009, a document called the Manhattan Declaration was presented to the public by a coalition of cobelligerents.
The document is concerned primarily with three very important biblical and cultural issues: the sanctity of life, the meaning of marriage, and the nature of religious liberty. Without question, these issues are up for grabs in our nation. As anyone familiar with my ministry will know, I share the document’s concern for defending the unborn, defining heterosexual marriage biblically, and preserving a proper relationship between church and state. However, when the document was sent to me and my signature was requested a few weeks ago, I declined to sign it. Everything You Wanted to Know About Magic Underwear But Were Too Afraid to Ask, and Other Mormon Policies Now Public on Official Church Site. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has published its handbook online, for all to see.
Handbook 2, Administering the Church comes with a search engine so that Mormons and the curious can discover what the church teaches about a variety of subjects. Teachings on 'Temple Garments.' Temple garments include what laypeople call magic underwear and there are other garments for ceremonies. There's a huge section governing these garments in the Selected Church Policies, at 21.1.42: Endowed members are encouraged to purchase their own temple clothing for use when performing temple ordinances. God. Life. Progressive Culture. Confessions of a Former Worship Leader. Growing up as the oldest son of a pastor, as well as a trained musician, the use of music as an expression of worship has been an integral piece of my church experience.
I can vividly remember, as an eager fifth-grader, my excitement and anticipation over the opportunity to play bass guitar in a worship band for the first time. From that point on, as I became competent on instruments such as guitar and piano, my life would become dominated by musical, corporate worship. Whether it was at summer youth camps, university chapel services, informal gatherings around a campfire or meetings at newly planted churches, I happily assumed the title of “worship leader.” For many years I felt no need to carefully examine how I approached corporate worship in the church. After all, I loved playing music, I seemed to be an effective leader and I was happily giving my talents back to God. Dealing with Crazy Christians. Tell me if this has happened to you: you're going along, trying your best to live a Christian life, reading the Bible regularly and going to church, when you come upon a person (or group of people) who share your beliefs.
John Mark Ministries. November 20, 2010 Going Against the Grain.
An Examination of 1 Timothy 2:8-15. Adapted with permission from Dr. Daniel Crabtree’s doctoral project, “Let Them Preach: A Class on Women in Ministry,” copyright 2006. Daniel Crabtree is an associate professor at Central Bible College, Springfield, Missouri. He served for 12 years as senior pastor of churches in Cleveland and Dayton, Ohio. During those years he served on various district committees and was involved in sectional leadership.
First Timothy 2:8-15 is often used as the foundational biblical argument of those who deny women the right to teach or exercise authority over a man. Paul demonstrates that he is not in favor of restricting the role of women in the church on the basis of gender, but instead that he upholds the sanctity of marriage and family. What Happens to Infants and Children Who Die? Do Babies Go To Heaven? Introduction Do all babies who die go to heaven? Or has God predestined some for heaven, while the rest go to hell? Anti-Gnostic Measures against Women. The Pastoral Letters, I and II Timothy and Titus, are now generally accepted by biblical scholarship as having been composed by a disciple of Paul who wrote in the apostle's name to indicate that he stood in the same tradition. Date: around 100 AD.
Place: possibly Asia Minor or Greece. The main concern of I Timothy is to counteract the influence of Gnostic teachers. The Gnostic teachings were of a mixed hellenistic and Jewish origin. Is the Bible inerrant. Christianity Menu Sponsored link. Heaven and Hell in the Afterlife. The idea that God is an angry figure who sends those He condemns to a place called Hell, where they spend eternity in torment separated from His presence, is missing from the Bible and unknown in the early church.