The Political

A collection of 55 posts

Featured

McCain: “I know how to heal the wounds of war”

I just finished watching the debate and it left me feeling like our country and economy will be safer and better off with Obama at the helm. What caught me off guard about the debate came at the very end in a line McCain gave. While I’ve noted that

The Political

John Steinbeck on the Current Economic Crisis

I came across this Steinbeck quote today while looking through Wink’s book “Engaging the Powers,” it seemed to me to be getting at the nature of the struggle we face today. Especially when it comes to the bank being an uncontrollable monster, a power, that is beyond our control:

The Political

Dress Down Friday | Political Irony and the Messianic

With Sarah Palin being picked the VP last week things in the political news world have gone to another level of seriousness, but fortunately there are plenty of people also having a little fun with the whole thing as well: * The Fake Sarah Palin Twitter * Sarah Palin’s Video Blog

Church in Mission

Dreams and the Kingdom of God

My August Barclay Press essay is now online. It’s a little late for August, but time has been pretty tight lately. The essay looks at Stephen Duncombe’s recent book on progressive politics, “Dream Re-Imagining” and applies some of the findings to a theological perspective on living out the

The Political

Anthony Smith on Not Voting as Violence?

Anthony Smith also known as for his blog “Musings of a Postmodern Negro” has written a great and thought-provoking post on voting from the perspective of black history and theology. He says: Voting, as it is oftentimes seen by historically marginalized groups, is a precious gift. It is not seen,

The Political

Advise Everyone… Endorse No One (by Shane Claiborne)

Shane Claiborne has a great post on the difference between “endorsing” and “advising” candidates. While I’ve already made my vote clear, I completely agree with Claibornes approach and points. One thing he said that really stands out is: Our central allegience is to God’s Kingdom, and we invite

Featured

Peace Church Colleges Debate Having Armed Guards

The other day in a Washington Times article there is a discussion about peace church colleges working through questions about whether to employ armed guards for student protection. Two Church of the Brethren schools have recently decided to authorize their guards to carry firearms. Given the catastrophic campus shootings of

The Political

Radiohead’s “All I Need” For MTV’s EXIT

Jarrod McKenna posted this video on his blog yesterday. It is a music video of Radiohead’s “All I Need,” juxtaposing children on opposite sides of the world: one group rich, one very poor. They video is held together through a pair of shoes.  The point of the video? “Some

Featured

Quaker Teacher Fired For Not Taking an Oath

This may be old news for some of you but last week Quaker Wendy Gonaver, an American Studies professor at Cal State Fullerton here in LA, was fired for refusing to sign the loyalty oath. The LA Times reports: As a Quaker from Pennsylvania and a lifelong pacifist, Gonaver objected

The Political

Evangelical Politics: Three Generations From Speaking of Faith

Today we listened to Krista Tippett’s discussion with Chuck Colson, Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne on the role of Christians in politics. It’s well worth the listen: A passionate discussion is unfolding in public and in private among Evangelical leaders and communities. Should Christians be involved in politics

The Political

Comments on Obama and Wright

There’s been a slew of comments and posts concerning Obama’s recent speech on the Pastor Wright issue, if you haven’t heard it you can watch the video here. It’s worth watching because I think Obama actually addresses some of the key issues that we still face

The Political

Bob Dylan for President?

I’ve been enjoying some recent reading about the elections (here, here and here) and am finding the varying perspectives stimulating. Then tonight, as I was reading the book Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews aloud to the family, we came across a quote from Dylan talking about what he’d

Church in Mission

GOOD Magazine | On Skid Row: Introduction

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS6ar1aJIYM&rel=1&w=500&h=430] Good Magazine, a site I really like, cover all kinds of topics, from culture to politics and the environment. This week they’ve begun a video series looking at LA’s homeless district,

The Political

Bread For the World: Looking for Young Leaders

My friend Holly, who writes at Bread Blog and will be posting this week’s Dress Down Friday, works for a non-profit organization called Bread for the World. They do a lot of lobby work and other types of political activism to help raise awareness for hunger issues around the

The Political

Reader Poll: How Would Non-USA Voters Vote?

Last week I announced who I’m supporting in the presidential race, and while my endorsement obviously didn’t help California, it felt good to bring politics into the subject here. And in keeping with the idea of “gathering” together for common discourse on this site I have question for

The Political

The Obama Poster From Obey Giant

(From OBAMA – Obey Giant) I’ve been debating whether to announce my choice for the presidential race, partly because I know we don’t all agree on who’s the best person for the job (and some more strongly than others), and partly because I hadn’t found an opportune

Featured

FAQ: Are There Modern Day Prophets?

Frequently Asked Questions (of a theologian) is a series I do from time to time as a means of answering good questions that come across my desk.  Sometimes I answer the questions, sometimes others do, if you’re interested in seeing some other Q & A’s check it out

Blog Entries

Ted Haggard and Jim Wallis: A Couple Brief Thoughts

I found this post over at God’s Politics – Jim Wallis’ blog it was a statement about Ted Haggard and the issues that were raised in the last couple weeks, and I think it’s really good to read. My impression of this whole thing is that like everything else,

Blog Entries

America’s Overbearing Appetite

Emily pointed this political cartoon out to me the other day. It’s more true than we’d like to admit.

Featured

Alasdair Macintyre On Rights and Protest: Are We Just Talking To Ourselves?

In keeping with the   conversation   at bay, MacIntyre’s words on protest are fitting.  In his seminal   work   “After   Virtue” he focuses on arguing how and why the “Enlightenment project”   failed.   Essentially it is because the modern period has stripped   away from humanity any social context in which to couch

Blog Entries

An Iraq Exit Strategy Some Ideas On How to Leave From Jim Wallis

While at the politics and spirituality conference we got to hear Wallis, Richard Rohr and Anne Lamott speak. They were also given time after their talks to answer questions from them audience.  This gave a bit of a chance for the rest of us to interact a little with the

Featured

An Ordinary Revolution You Probably Shouldn’t Miss

I just finished Shane Claiborne’s “Irresistible Revolution,” which is the first assignment for the class I am teacher’s aid for and I thought it was a fantastic read.  In fact, if you’ve got nothing better to do in the next thirty minuets go out and pick up

Featured

Moving Our Conversations Beyond Just Talk: Affirming Practices in Others

My last post about Jim Wallis’ new blog has generated an important discussion that’s got me thinking not only about the leaders we support but also what things about those leaders we support and where we draw the line (this post may not make a lot of sense unless

Blog Entries

(Untitled)

I’ve liked the stuff that Sojourners has been putting out as long as I have known about them, they focus on many issues that face the church from a position that tries to bring together conservative and liberal Christianity.  This has been something Jim Wallis has focused on repeatedly,

Featured

Do Not Be Afraid…

I spent this past weekend at the Politics and Spirituality conference with the Beatitudes Society both of which I have much to write about and will do so over the next week or two.  But in this moment I continue to think of this day as the anniversary of September