The Power of Fear

Recently The Seattle P-I published a story about a taxi driver assaulted by a drunk 21 year-old during last year’s Apple Cup. The perpetrator’s motive? The driver, Sukhvir Singh, looked like an “Iraqi terrorist” – he was wearing a turban and had a long beard.
There are numerous holes in the “intellect” used to arbitrarily determine that Singh, [...]

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Hating the sin but not the sinner

Is it possible? 
In the shadows of this rhetoric exists a far more important question: “Can true compassion and judgment co-exist?”
My answer is no, they cannot. 
After graduating high school in 1994, I spent six months volunteering for an organization called Community Service Volunteers in London, England. When I wasn’t working with the four young men with Downs Syndrome to whom I’d been assigned, I [...]

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The True Jesus, by Stuart Delony

I could tell early on that Stuart wasn’t the average Christian blogger. Absent from his site are the worn and tired “fire and brimstone” rants frequently found on other religious blogs. Instead you’ll find the ramblings of an earnest man who follows his heart and genuinely cares about people – one who’s unhappy about how little [...]

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How do you use religion?

Religion exists to unify, to move us toward Love, and to help us remember Who We Really Are.

How do you use yours? To unify, or to divide? To love, or to conquer?

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The Origins of Christmas: Transcending Religious and Cultural Boundaries

I came across a fantastic post on the history of Christmas from pre-Christian Europe to present day.  It’s a great read.
A Brief History of Christmas

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Barbarism yesterday and today

While reading Gods and Myths of Northern Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson, I learned that some early followers of the Northern Gods of War – Odin, Wodan/Woden, and Teiwaz/Tyr – paid homage to their deities in some gruesome ways.  For example, the conquerors would offer thanks to the Gods for their victory by hanging the [...]

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Guest Post at The Ramblings

Stuart Delony, a great guy who works with unchurched youth here in the Pacific Northwest, asked me to write post for his site about why I’ve chosen the Wiccan path. Apparently he’s worked with young people in the past who’ve identified as Wiccan, and wanted some insight as to why the religion may have appealed to them.
Though I’m aware Stuart is [...]

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Silly Fundamentalist Award of the Week

I recently tripped and fell on Blogs4Brownback. I’m having a hard time determining whether or not the site is a parody, given the complete and utter ridiculousness of everything that appears on it.
If it is a parody, I’m apparently not the only one who hasn’t “gotten it.” This comment appeared near the end of the thread on the site’s “About” page:
The [...]

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Silly Fundamentalist Award of the Week

And the Silly Fundamentalist Award of the Week goes to…Rev. Kelvin Franklin of Sword Ministries, author of Understanding Spiritual Warfare 2: Know Your Enemy. Of particular amusement is Section 4 of this well-informed and skillfully-written treatise, Occult Symbols.

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How Unitarianism could save Christianity

 
The walls of Evangelical Christianity are crumbling, and have been for several decades. It’s always astounded me how some Christians blame the queers and unwed mothers for this instead of their own doctrines, which seem completely devoid of the love Jesus lived and taught. Saddling followers with fear, judgement, and guilt is not the way to keep them coming back.
A recent study in The Christian [...]

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