There was a lot of discussion last week of the Presbyterian Church’s (USA) decision to allow for the ordination of homosexual clergy. Christopher Cocca has an article at The Huffington Post, however, that pulls a thread that many have not picked up on. Cocca’s article is essentially about hermeneutics and the way that the Bible should inform our moral evaluation of homosexuality. But he comes at the issue from a different angle and argues that there is a connection between the ordination of homosexuals and the ordination of women.
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Richard Dawkins Accused of “Cowardice”
Renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has been accused of “cowardice” for ducking a debate with William Lane Craig. The Telegraph reports that Dawkins does not want to lower himself by debating a person like Craig. According to the article, “Prof Dawkins maintains that Prof Craig is not a figure worthy of his attention and has reportedly said that such a contest would ‘look good’ on his opponent’s CV but not on his own.” I have to agree with Dawkins on this one. Losing a debate with William Lane Craig probably would not look very good on his CV.
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Presbyterians Vote to Ordain Gay Clergy
Last night, the Presbyterian Church (USA) amended its constitution to allow practicing homosexuals to be ordained as ministers. Before the amendment, the constitution required clergy to live “in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.” The amendment instead requires ministers to “submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life.”
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N.T. Wright and Rowan Williams Criticize Bin Laden Killing
Rowan Williams and N.T. Wright have some strong words criticizing the recent execution of Osama Bin Laden. I do not agree with either of them, but here they are nonetheless. First, Rowan Williams:
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OwenStrachan.com
One of my favorite bloggers has ended his year-long hiatus from the blogosphere. Owen Strachan has just turned the lights back on at OwenStrachan.com. Be sure to add this one to your reader if it’s not already there. Owen is a great writer and thinker, and you won’t want to miss his posts. Owen, if you’re reading this, here’s your theme song for the day: (In other Owen news, check out Dustin Neely’s interview with Owen about Jonathan Edwards on the doctrine of hell.)
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Intel Used To Find Bin Laden Came from Waterboarding
It looks like the debate over so-called “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” will be reinvigorated by the death of Osama Bin Laden. Brian Williams of NBC News interviewed the Director of the CIA yesterday, and “Leon Panetta confirms that the intelligence needed to find Osama bin Laden was gained, in part, by interrogation techniques that included water-boarding.” Here’s a transcript of the relevant portion of the interview.
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Some Thoughts on the Death of Bin Laden
On Sunday, we all learned that U.S. special forces killed Osama Bin Laden as he was hiding out in a mansion in Pakistan. The reaction to the news across the U.S. has been remarkable. I cannot remember another instance in my lifetime when throngs of people gathered spontaneously in the streets of our major cities to celebrate, but that is indeed what happened. How should we as Christians react to the news? Here are a few thoughts:
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Reformed Freebirds and Larry Birds
Here are two videos of Young, Restless, and Reformed leaders showing us what they like to do with their free time. The T4G guys try to get their Larry Bird on, and Doug Wilson and crew their Freebird. I’m impressed by both of these but also encouraged that there are no plans for anyone to quit their day jobs.
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Sojourn Sings Hymns of Isaac Watts
The new album from Sojourn Music has just released today. You can download the music now and/or buy the vinyl next month. See the trailer above for a sample of the music. It sounds like this will be another great album from Sojourn.
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Gender-bending News Report
Sign of the times alert. Here’s the opening paragraph from a recent news report: Woman charged in transgender beating at McDonald’s ROSEDALE, Md. — An 18-year-old woman has been charged in an attack on a transgender woman over using a McDonald’s restroom in a Baltimore suburb —an incident captured on video by a McDonald’s employee. This is a sad story, and we should be outraged at the crime reported here. Nevertheless, the events in the report aren’t what I want to focus on. Instead, I want to highlight a subtlety in how the story is written that may go unnoticed. Notice that the victim is designated as a “transgender woman,” and…