On Fundamentalism and Reconciliation

As you know, I am not a big fan of fundamentalism. To me, it's theological school yard bullying. However, sometimes my hatred of fundamentalism makes me do stupid things, like hurt people.

First, let me start with my definition of fundamentalism. To me, a fundamentalist is some one who thinks that their interpretation of the Bible is the infallible word of God. Folks who believe that they're always right and if you don't fit into their cookie-cutter image then you're a bad person. Those judgemental, holier-than-thou, authoritative, pious, "I'm right, you're wrong, get used to it" folks. In the words of Barney Frank, trying to have a conversation with them is like arguing with a dining room table. I'd much rather have a conversation, and rethink a lot of the things Christian culture usually takes for granted.

(Of course when I say "a lot of the things Christian culture usually takes for granted," I am NOT referring to the three biggies that are, to me, the fundamentals and Christianity: the Divinity of Jesus, His atoning death on the Cross, and His resurrection.)

Maybe it's just my rebellious punk rock nature, but I always like to question things. If I don't ask questions, how will I know that what I believe is legit? How can I separate what's really biblical and what's just a man-made doctrine? With fundamentalism, however, there is no room for questions. Either you accept everything they believe and fit into their little mold, or you're not a true Christian.

I'm the first to admit that I am not perfect. I know I'm messed up. I know I haven't gotten it all figured out. I'm still learning, and I'll always be learning until the day I die. Yeah, I make mistakes along the way, but I keep learning. Don't make me feel like a piece of crap just because I haven't gotten it all together.


Having said all that, though, sometimes I falsely accuse people of being fundamentalist nut jobs. Sometimes I get so angry that I say things that are mean, hurtful, and unfair. I'm so defensive that I refuse to let down my guard and really listen to what the other side has to say. Even though I'm always saying both sides should talk to each other, I secretly don't believe it.

I've been hurt by Christians in the past, but that doesn't make it right for me to attack people. It's like the bullied becomes the bully, and then the cycle continues. I need to learn how to stop the cycle, listen to the other side, and make peace with others.

Stuff You Should Check Out: 01/25/10

-If you follow Matthew Paul Turner's blog, you'll know that he likes to post funny pictures of Jesus. Well, I found a rather . . . interesting picture of Jesus on Fail Blog, sent it to Turner, and he put it up.

-Turner's not the only blogger that ended up inspiring this week. One of my sarcastic comments actually inspired Margaret Feinberg to seriously think about the validity of cynicism.

-Over at Reject Apathy (Relevant Magazine's social justice webzine), Morgan Hansow asks if we need to reject apathy from within.

-As you probably heard, a recent pole allegedly found that Fox News is the most trusted news source in America. Well, Stetson Kelly at Progressive Delmarva sees things differently.

-Yesterday you saw my tribute to J.D. Salinger. Here is my friend (and fellow Disturbed Christian) Scott Douglas' tribute. Surprisingly it's the most honest and touching Salinger tribute I've yet to read.

-Scott's wife Diana wrote a beautiful story about grace over at Disturbed Christians.

-And also on Disturbed Christians I try to explain to my seven-year-old sister why God is not the hateful meanie she thinks He is.

Rest in Peace, J.D. Salinger

Catch Some Bands And Help Haiti

In the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake, we’ve all been called to lend a hand anyway we can. For folks here in the mid-shore region, you can help the relief effort while listening to some of the Shore’s best music.

First, my favorite hang out spot NightCat is going to have not one but TWO benefit shows for AmeriCares' Haiti relief effort.



DAY 1--JANUARY 31, 6 PM - 11 PM:
6:00-6:30 BEN AND CORBEN
6:40-7:10 BEN AND ALEX
7:20-7:50 JAYME
8:00-8:45 PERFECTING KATE
9:00-9:45 SHEA SPRINGER
10:00-10:45 INTERNATIONAL JETSET

DAY 2--FEBRUARY 2, 5 PM - 11 PM:
5:00-530 RICK FORREST
5:40-6:10 CUZZIN MARK AND JOE SINGER
6:20-6:50 JORDAN PAGE
7:00-7:45 CHESTER RIVER RUNOFF
8:00-8:45 GUTHRIE MATTHEWS
9:00-9:45 KENTAVIUS JONES
10:00-10:45 ALL TOGETHER SPENT

Admission for both shows is $10. A percentage of all beer and wine sales will go to AmeriCares as well.

And then on February 20 the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center will put on two benefit shows with 100% of all proceeds going to the Brumbley Haiti Relief Fund.



One of the bands performing, Reconcile520, is lead by my fellow Progressive Delmarva writer Rick Prouse.

So if you're in the Delmarva region, stop by, hear some great bands, and help Haiti.

If Not Cynicism, Then What?

Monday's post on Fractured Saints got me to thinking about my own history with being cynical. I'll have to admit that when Conan O'Brian said, "Don't be cynical," my immediate thought was, "Well, if I can't be cynical, what am I supposed to do instead?"

For me cynicism is my way of coping with the b.s. of this world. There's so much craziness going on that if I don't put up a cynical front I'll become overwhelmed. Yet after a while, I end up sounding like a crotchety old grump.

So if not cynicism, then what?

I posed this question (partly in just) on Margaret Feinberg's blog, and in response she wrote this:

What if instead of thinking, “There’s no way he or she will change!”, we began to pray and hope and love and live for something different? What if instead of concluding, “Why bother?”, we began seeing ourselves as the portal to possibility?

I guess it's like what we talked about with snarkiness: don't let it be a lifestyle.

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 01/25/10

Today's Monday Morning Awesomeness is inspired by Matthew Paul Turner, who recently posted a clip of a creepy puppet singing "I'll Be a Sunbeam for Jesus" on his blog. And so for today, here's Nirvana's cover of "Jesus Don't Want Me For A Sunbeam" by the Vaselines.

Stuff You Should Check Out: 01/22/10

Usually I post this up early in the morning, but I've been lazy today, so sorry about that.

-Jim Wallis recently stopped by The Daily Show this week and demonstrated once again why Wallis needs to be heard.

-Pastor Mark Driscoll goes to Haiti and horrifyingly discoveres that, in the wake of the earthquake, several children are being sold into sex slavery.

-Today on Disturbed Christians I talk about those rifles encoded with Bible verses. The article is also on Jesus Manifesto.

-Today, in case you didn't know, is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Amy B of A Chase After Wind explains why, despite being firmly pro-life, she is not participating in March for Life.

Love Harder

You may remember a month ago when I posted Brandy's open letter to pray for her boyfriend, who was recently diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Well, the 20-Something Bloggers community recently got together and started Love Harder.

According to the website, the goal is to raise $1,000 for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. As of this writing, they have raised $755 so far. According to the website:

+ The American Institute of Philanthropy recently named The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation one of the best organizations to give to in terms of their accountability and use of resources.

+ By working closely with researchers, clinicians and partners in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, the MMRF has helped bring multiple myeloma patients four new treatments that are extending lives around the globe.

+ The MMRF has advanced twenty Phase I and Phase II clinical trials. They need your support to advance these clinical research programs and accelerate the development of better, more effective treatments.

+ The MMRF's Multiple Myeloma Genomics Initiative recently became the first to sequence the multiple myeloma whole genome in its entirety.

+ A whopping 98% of your donation to the MMRF will be used immediately to support high-priority multiple myeloma research.

+ With diminishing funding for early stage drug development and the next myeloma treatments not expected to be approved until 2011, the MMRF desperately needs your help.

The folks at 20SB even made this cute little video in support of Brandy and her Hot Awesome Dude (H.A.D.):



I'm sure any donation amount will be well appreciated.

*UPDATE 1:20 P.M.: Wow, they've already raised $1,150!

*UPDATE 9:43 P.M.: Holy crap, they're now at $2,025!

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 01/18/10

In celebration of Martin Luther King day, today on Monday Morning Awesomeness I'm posting the full "I Have a Dream" speech.

Stuff You Should Check Out: 01/15/10

-Ashley Lindley from Real World: DC now blogs at Huffington Post. Her first entry is titled It's Not Just the Motion in the Ocean: Why You Should Take a Test Drive Before Settling Down.

Right.

-Over at Fractured Saints I offer my thoughts on how we, as Christians, should respond to the Haiti earthquake. (Here's a hint: blaming the Haiti ain't one of the options!)

-Speaking of which, Donald Miller shares his reaction to Pat Robertson's latest inane comment. Darn it, why does Miller have to be cool all the time?

-Over at Disturbed Christians I review Nadia Bolz-Weber's book Salvation on the Small Screen?. Anyone that can stomach 24-straight hours of Christian TV already has my respect.

Introducing "Coffee Chats"

I'm pleased to announce that I am starting my own podcast called "Coffee Chats." In each episode I will be interviewing a blogger, writer, or thinker that I think has something to say. Here's a little teaser I made.

Here's the RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/CoffeeChats

To subscribe via iTunes, just open iTunes on your computer, go to "Advanced-->Subscribe to Podcast," and then enter the above link.

Why The '90s Were Better Than the '00s

I'm sure you all are probably sick of all those "Looking back at the Aughts" blogs. But in this one, I shall demonstrate why the '00s sucked in comparison to the '90s. Let's begin:

The '90s: "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
The '00s: "We do not torture."

The '90s: "I Kissed a Girl" by Jill Sobule
The '00s: "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry

The '90s: Grunge
The '00s: Emo

The '90s: My So-Called Life
The '00s: Laguna Beach

The '90s: Weezer was awesome
The '00s: Weezer sucked

The '90s:

The '00s:


Let's hope the '10s will be better than the '00s.

Monday Morning Awesomeness - The Official Launch of Top 3cast

Usually for Monday Morning Awesomeness I post a video, but since today is the official launch of the Top 3cast podcast, I'm going to focus on that instead.

Today's episode features the health care debate, running shoes, and female math nerds.

To subscribe via iTunes, click here.

To subscribe via RSS, click here.

Top 3cast Launches Monday

My friend Tone just announced the launch of a new podcast called Top 3cast. Every week Tone will be joined by two other people (it's a rotating panel, so it'll always be some one different each week), and they'll talk about the week's most interesting stories.

And guess who is going to be part of the rotating panel.

That's right, your humble narrator!

My debut won't be until February 1st, but you should still check Top 3cast. I'll post a link Monday.

Stuff You Should Check Out: 01/08/10

-Over at Relevant Magazine, Heather Zydek tells us how to start a revolution. No, not a Molotov-cocktail-tossing insurrection kind of revolution, but a revolution to feed the poor and clothe the naked.

-Also on Relevant, my boy Jonathan Merritt asks why can't we all just get a long. Given the past week's shenanigans on this blog, no one needs to read this more than I do!

-Glenn Beck may be a bit on the loony side, but at least he's not a birther. (I should point out to readers that this will probably be the ONLY time I link to World Net Daily)

-According to Bible scholar Harold Camping, the Rapture will take place on May 21, 2011. However, before you make any plans, keep in mind that Camping once thought that the September 6, 1994 was going to be the day, and that didn't happen. (To read more biting comments about this new predicted date, go to Disturbed Christians).

Getting To Know My Readers

Most experts will agree that blogging is all about communication. So today I thought I'd take the time to get to know my readers. So here are some questions:

1. The basics: name, age, job, location.

2. What kind of blogs do you like to read?

3. What kind of blogs do you NOT like to read?

4. What do you enjoy most about this blog?

5. What do you enjoy LEAST about this blog?

6. What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

Thanks!

Smack Talking Express

I don't know if other bloggers go through this, but I think there comes a time in every blogger's life that they want to use their blog to completely tear some one apart.

Let's face it, that's what gets the most attention. Go to any political blog and it's all "Look what this dumb person wrote. Look what this idiot did." It's easy to get caught up in that stuff, and recently I got the smack talking itch. At first I wanted to write about a very popular 20-Something Blogger (whose name I want say, but I will say that she "hates so much"), but then I decided not to do it. As Ephesians 4:29 says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what his helpful for building others up, according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." So the smack talking urge died down.

That is, until this week while I was reading You-Know-Who's blog. Oh boy, here's my chance!

The first one I wrote about Miss Blogging Lady, the one about George Tiller, wasn't too bad. It was critical, but didn't stoop too low. Then came today's post. Now here's where I get to name-calling. First I referred to her "just another neocon who worships at the altar of Rush Limbaugh." But after Miss Blogging Lady explained on her Twitter that she's not a neocon (neoconservatives support the welfare system), I did an Andrew Sullivan number and claimed she was a Christianist. Felt pretty good, too.

And then it hit me. Have I gone too far?

James 3:10 tells us, "Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." How true that is! In fact, sometimes praise and a curse comes out in the same sentence. "You know that Miss So-And-So, bless her heart, she's as dumb as a brick." Come on, don't act like you've never done that before!

But seriously, sometimes I go too far with my words and don't even realize it. It's only when all my friends say, "Dude, not cool!" that I realize I went too far.

So let me ask you all this (especially my Christian blogger peers)--how do you keep a close watch over your tongue? How do you remind yourself to use your words for building people up instead of tearing them down? I'm all ears, folks, 'cause I need all the help I can get!

*UPDATE 01/06/10: Okay, so "neocon" and "Christianist" aren't worst things you can say about someone. I know that. My point was that I was starting to drift into that mud-slinging low-level.

*UPDATE #2: I just took the "La Shawn Gets Schooled" post down.

I'VE BEEN HACKED!!!!

If you woke up this morning to find pictures of gay men in my feed, rest assure that I DID NOT POST THOSE PICTURES!!!

(You probably already knew that)

Now here's the funny part: that post is no where to be seen on my Blogger site. And when I click on the actual RSS feed link, I can't find the pictures there either. So here's what I want to know:

1). What the hell is going on?

2). What am I supposed to do now?

UPDATE 8:27 AM Turns out it was my old blog that's been hacked, not this new one. My password has been changed anyway

Repaying Evil with Evil

Recently I came across an interesting politically blogger named La Shawn Barber. Since I try to see things from both sides of the political spectrum, I decided to subscribe to her RSS feed. Some of her posts are brilliant, like her take on Brit Hume's advice to Tiger Woods. But then when Barber starts talking about abortion, things get a little scary.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm as pro-life as the next guy. In fact, one of my major criticisms of Obama (although I rarely talk about my personal political beliefs on this blog) is I feel he hasn't done anything to reduce the number of abortions yet like he promised. But Barber's rhetoric makes Lutherans for Life look like Planned Parenthood. For example, here is what she had to say when George Tiller was tried for allegedly performing illegal partial-birth abortions:

Thank God groups like Operation Rescue are praying for Tiller’s salvation. Because if it were left up to me…

Bad Christian! I need to re-read the Book of Jonah.

Okay, I'll let that one slide. After all, I must confess that I've wished bad things on people I don't like. But then I came across her reaction to Tiller's murder:

Today, Dr. Infanticide was shot and killed while walking into a church. Is “ironic” the right word to describe it?

Who killed Tiller the child killer, cultivator of death?

Now most pro-lifers--like LFL and Sarah Palin--reacted to Tiller's death by saying that while abortion is wrong, killing him was unacceptable. But did we hear anything like that from Barber? Nope!

Now I'm not suggesting that Barber supports Tiller's murder. But for the sake of argument, let me back one thing clear. For a mere mortal to decide when a life should end goes against everything there is to being pro-life. We need to have a peaceful, civil dialogue about abortion. We need to find ways to reduce the number of abortions. As the Bible teaches us, "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9)

Monday Morning Awesomeness: 01/04/10

Today's Monday Morning Awesomeness is brought to you by the Beatles. This is the so-called "bird version" of "Across the Universe," which is one of my favorite Beatles songs. This was originally released on the now-out-of-print compilation No One's Gonna Change Our World, but is currently available on Past Masters Vol. 2.

My Favorite Books of the Decade

Once again inspired by my friends Scott and Diana, here my favorite books of the '00s.

-Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. Blue Like Jazz is the Catcher of the Rye for twenty-something Christians. Let's just hope Don Miller doesn't become a hermit like Salinger.

-What is the What by Dave Eggers. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was fantastic, too. But What is the What grabs you from the first sentence and doesn't let go until the end.

-Anything by Margaret Feinberg. Feinberg reminds me that Christianity is about having a relationship with a real, living God.

-Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. Sure, the short paragraphs get annoying after a while. But once you get past that you'll be amazed by Bell's insight into the Scriptures.

-The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. A beautiful story that puts a human face on Afghanistan. "There is a way to be good again." Gets me every time!

-White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Hilarious! Too bad her follow-up books aren't as brilliant.

-The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I haven't finished it yet, but I'm reading it now. Haunting, but it's far from a pity party.

Stuff You Should Check Out: 01/01/10

Happy New Year! Here are this week's interesting stories/blog entries:

-Andrew Sullivan gives his thoughts on US relations with Iran. Excerpt:

What we have to understand - and what I have come belatedly and painfully to grasp - is that our collective narcissism can be an obstacle to successful statesmanship. In blunter terms: This is not about us. In so far as we have made Iran about us, we have added mountains to the landscape of human misery and pain. This is a struggle for the Iranian people, a long, brutal, bitter struggle. We should do all we can to support them, without the neocon grandstanding that actually helps the regime rather than hurts it. But we have to understand our limits.

-Kyla Roma gives us some tips on how to make the most of 20-Something Bloggers. If I knew all that before this summer's blogging meltdown, I would have stuck around a bit longer.

-According to the East Bay Express, Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students. The proposal seeks to "address Berkeley's dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse." However, critics of the proposal say it isn't fair, since the science classes were seen as "white classes."

-Matthew Paul Turner shares the good, bad, and crazy Christian-related events of 2009.

-Huffington Posts reveals its predictions for 2010. Then I hope comes true: Michelle Bachman turns out to be a grand hoax.

-If you're like me, you thought the '00s were crappy. But Reihan Salam of the Daily Beast sees things differently.

-And finally over at Fractured Saints I share my thoughts about New Year's resolutions.