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POPSMoral regeneraltion, degeneration, confustion There is talk of the need for moral regeneration in our society, and perhaps they are right. It seems that nobody taught this boy "Thou shalt not steal." And nobody taught the driver of the car, "Thou shalt not kill." Or perhaps someone taught them that, but they didn't learn it. As they say in edu-jargon, the learning outcomes were not achieved.
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POPSDorothy Day's diaries published Dorothy Day's diaries are to be published. They were sealed for 25 years after her death in 1980, and should provide an interesting insight into her life and ministry. Dorothy Day was a Catholic anarcho-pacifist, and is a good illustration of the principle that theological conservatism leads to political liberalism, and vice versa.
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POPSThe Archbishop and the Beast There's been a sudden increase of blogging about liberation theology since Barack Obama's pastor hit the headlines. It has brought forth some very strange comments and perceptions, such as that those, who like Archbishop Romero were crushed by the power of the state for opposing the abuse of power actually supported what they opposed.
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POPSLiberation theology I never thought I'd ever see eye-to-eye with a US Southern Baptist. This one's rhetoric almost convinces me, but not quite.
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POPSPeace symbol - 50 years on Jerry Horton's now-famous peace symbol is 50 years old. It's first public appearance was at the Aldermaston March in 1958, organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to protest against nuclear weapons. Later it was widened to a general peace symbol, and not simply against nuclear weapons, and has been used by people protesting against wars in general, such as the Vietnam War and the current Iraqi-American War.
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POPSThe martyrdom of the Iraqi Church Let this be a kind of postscript to the Blogswarm post of the 5th anniversary of the beginning of the Iraqui-American War, to which there is no end in sight. Did the neocons think about this when they unleashed the dogs of war in Iraq? Do they care?
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POPSMikhail Gorbachev as a Christian Several newspapers have reported that Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the USSR, is a Christian. What is surprising, however, is not so much the reports themselves as the source: the reports have come from Italy. It will be interesting to see if there are any follow-ups in the media, saying something about how Gorbachev practises his Christian faith back home in Russia. Does he have a parish and a parish priest? Where are they, and what do they have to say?
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POPSThe unexpected monks We've been talkibng about having a synchroblog on the new monasticism, and suddenly it seems to be popping up all over the place. Hat-tip to Paul Grabill for this link.
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POPSRemoving the state from Dr Rowan Williams Church, State, Law and the Enlightenment: I think that this article is rather condescending, and demeaning of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in suggesting that he did not know what can of worms he was opening in his discussion of Sharia law in Britain. I don't think he is that thick. As the article does point out, however, he has questioned one of the core assumptions of modernity -- that "religion" (itself a "modern" concept) belongs exclusively to the private sphere. In doing so, it seems, he has thought the unthinkable, spoken the unspeakable, and questioned the unquestionable. Nasty man -- a bit like Galileo and Copernicus, perhaps, except that he's questioning the secular authorities rather than the ecclesiastical ones. Though I don't agree with everything in Janet Daley's article, I think it's worth reading because she does put her finger on the main issue raised by the Archbishop.
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POPSSA police arrest 1,500 in church The South African Police now seem to be playing a game of "blame the victim" was we are seeing scenes that we have not seen since aparthneid ended in 1994. The government has watched as Zimbabwe turns into a fascist dictatorship and hundreds of thousands of refugees have poured into South Africa. The SA government has said very little to the government that has driven them out, but instead treasts the refugees almost as badly as they are treated at home. During the South African liberation struggle South African exiles found homes in neighbouring countries, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mocambique, as well as places further away such as Britain, Sweden and other European countries. Yet now when we have our freedom and others flee to us for asylum, we persecute them,
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POPSHoly Fools Frank Schaeffer's book about his evangelical upbringing and his father's legacy.
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POPSPeople brunt to death in Kenya church This incident, one of several in widespread violence reported following Kenya's disputed election, has been reported quite widely, but this report provides details often missing in other reports.
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POPSThe church has a duty and a right to evangelise A Document by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith denies the value of relativistic theories which claim there is no need to announce Christ, as well as those which exalt the pluralism of faiths in leading to salvation. The relationship between the missionary mandate, respect for freedom of conscience and religion has ecumenical implications: respect towards non Catholic Christians must not negate the possibility of conversion, which is not proselytism.
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POPSNigerian Christians join in witchhunts Witch hunting is a very ancient practice in Africa, but in the past it has not generally been something that Christians have engaged in. Western-initiated churches, which have been influenced by modernity, have tended to regard beliefs about witchcraft as superstition, and encouraged people to discard such views. African-initiated churches have taken witchcraft beliefs seriously, but have generally urged witches to repent, and teried to rehabilitate them (whereas in pagan African society witches were often thought to be incorrigible and deserving only death). But now new denominations, which appear to be mainly neopentecostal, seem to be persecuting suspected witches in a manner reminiscent of the Great European Witchhunt of early modern times.
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