• Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Responding to David Gushee

    I mentioned on Monday that David Gushee penned an opinion piece for USA Today in which he criticizes conservative evangelicals who support Sarah Palin’s candidacy. He writes: “It is an uncomfortable fact that many of the theologically conservative Christians who have endorsed Palin’s nomination would not be willing to endorse her or any other woman for service as pastor of their church. Women cannot serve as pastors in groups such as the Churches of Christ, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Presbyterian Church in America, most non-denominational Bible churches, and an influential advocacy group called the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW).” I belong to two of the groups that…

  • Christianity,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    David Gushee Highlights ‘Inconsistency’

    This is a no-frills post. I am writing this from my phone because Hurricane Ike has left me without electricity. So I apologize in advance for the raw links and the pictureless post. David Gushe writes about the so-called “Palin Inconsistency” in today’s USA TODAY: http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/09/the-palin-predi.html We have already discussed on this blog the issues that Gushee raises. Nevertheless, I will try to respond more fully when I have electricity. For now, I will just say that it would really help if Egalitarians like Gushee would take Complementarians on their own terms. For years, Complementarians have been addressing the very questions that he raises. There is a biblical and theological…

  • Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Hell and the Religious Right

    Lisa Miller at Newsweek magazine has this to say about the beliefs of Sarah Palin’s pastor: “The senior pastor of that church, in sermons that circulated online before they were taken down last week, preaches hell for anyone who isn’t saved by Jesus. America does not know enough yet about what Palin personally believes, but her church background—she now worships at a nondenominational Bible church—puts her squarely in the tradition of the old-school religious right.” What is fascinating here is that Miller treats this as a newsworthy item—that Christians believe that there is such thing as hell. It says a lot about where we are as a nation that such…

  • Culture,  Politics

    Anchors Away: Olbermann and Matthews Are Out

    The New York Times is reporting that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews have been relieved of their anchor duties: “MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election. “That experiment appears to be over.

  • Christianity,  Politics

    Balancing Motherhood and Governing?

    Governor Sarah Palin’s candidacy has provoked much discussion about women who try to balance a career with motherhood (the topic of my previous post). In today’s New York Times, there’s a story describing a little bit about how Palin tries to do it: ‘Many high-powered parents separate work and children; Ms. Palin takes a wholly different approach. “She’s the mom and the governor, and they’re not separate,” Ms. Cole said. Around the governor’s offices, it was not uncommon to get on the elevator and discover Piper, smothering her puppy with kisses. ‘”She’ll be with Piper or Trig, then she’s got a press conference or negotiations about the natural gas pipeline…

  • Christianity,  Politics,  Theology/Bible

    Complementarian Hypocrisy?

    In my previous post, we were addressing the question raised by the “On Faith” forum in light of Sarah Palin’s candidacy (a joint venture of The Washington Post and Newsweek): “Women are not allowed to become clergy in many conservative religious groups. Is it hypocritical to think that a woman can lead a nation and not a congregation?” In answer to that question, I noted that the Bible specifically enjoins believers to order their homes and their churches in light of a principle of male headship. There is no complementarian consensus, however, on how these matters apply outside of the home and the church. One other item is related to…

  • Politics

    A Pitbull with Lipstick

    I think Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Governor Sarah Palin delivered the two best speeches of the Republican National Convention. Up until this point, the Republican line-up has been pretty weak compared to the strong showing the Democrats made last week. Palin gave a barn-burner. My favorite line from her speech was an off-the-cuff remark in response to delegates holding signs that said “Hockey Moms 4 McCain.” Palin, a former hockey mom herself, said this: “I love those hockey moms. You know [what] they say the difference [is] between a hockey mom and a pit bull? . . . Lipstick.” Classic.

  • Christianity,  Politics

    A Visit to Palin’s Church

    You will not want to miss Newsweek‘s profile of Sarah Palin’s faith and her church. Among other things, the article says, ‘Palin has said she was baptized in the Roman Catholic church. As a teenager, she began attending the Pentecostal Assemblies of God church in Wasilla and was baptized there by the founding pastor, Paul Riley. Todd Stafford, an associate pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God, says Palin often publicly thanks Riley–now nearly 80 and still working as a prison chaplain–for bringing her to Jesus when she visits the church. She attended that Pentecostal church until she was 38 years old, when she switched to Wasilla Bible Church, saying she…