SoMA Review

God's Frauds

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

In the last few weeks, the term "spiritual advisor" has cropped up in the news with increasing frequency, specifically in regard to two famous figures: Michael Jackson and Senator Mark Sanford.

Mark Sanford's Morality Lessons

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 EDT

God knows things are tough these days down here in South Carolina.

Liberty University Bans Democratic Club. But Is There a Silver Lining?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 24 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

Some may view the university's censorship as fascistic--yet another instance of the school making a mockery of its name, Liberty. But let's hope it's a sign of positive changes to come.

Swine Flu Fever

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 02 May 2009 00:00:00 EDT

What's worse--a possible swine flu plague, or the choas that fear of it may create?

Kafka Airport: World's Most Alienating

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 EDT

The Onion's satirical clip about Prague's Franz Kafka International Airport.

Random Notes

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EDT

"25 Random Things About Me" is the latest craze at Facebook.

Where Do You Turn When You're Down on Christmas Eve?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It's Christmas Eve and I'm feeling homicidal.

What the Cratchit Family Can Teach Us About Christmas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The other night I watched "A Christmas Carol" on TV for the zillionth time. And, as usual, I discovered something new to think about.

Reasons to Be Grateful

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The true meaning of Thanksgiving.

Reflections from a Red State After Obama's Win

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Obama's presidential victory is a huge step forward for our nation. But in the Carolinas, it's still North versus South.

A Halloween Treat

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

I've always been intrigued by the paranormal, which, along with an interest in the Civil War, made me jump at the chance to author a book about haunted battlefields.

When Church Campaigns Go Negative

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It's easy to scapegoat in terms of faith, to think that congregations are dying because of preying missionaries and assaulting doctrines. But where does that leave you spiritually? In treating religion like a battlefield, petrified congregations become their own illusory enemies. And in combat, no army is without casualties.

Pascal's Wager: Don't Bet on It

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

British novelist Julian Barnes' "Nothing to Be Frightened Of."

The Troopergate Effect?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

How will "Troopergate" affect Palin's image? To the intelligent, thoughtful sector of the population, it will merely confirm what they knew already--that she's an egomaniacal opportunistic little demagogue who lies through her grinning teeth and mistakes might for right.

Sarah Palin--Darn Tootin' Good Debater

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Let's just call a spade a spade. Sarah Palin was, and will always be, woefully superficial and totally unqualified to run this country were that chilling eventuality ever to arise.

Sarah Palin: Village Idiot or Imbecile?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It's true Palin is about as ignorant as they come. It's also true that she's stupid and foolish. But I think she has a higher IQ than 70. Therefore, I would classify her as an imbecile.

From the Creator of "Showgirls" and "Basic Instinct"--a Faith Memoir?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The creator of "Showgirls" and "Basic Instinct" seeks redemption in this purpose-driven pitch.

Palin's "Troopergate"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Sarah Palin has so much in common with George W. Bush that one could argue that she's certainly ready to be Commander-in-Chief. That kind of Commander-in-Chief, anyway.

Nailin' Palin

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Because I feel it's of urgent importance, in this short, volatile time period before Election 2008, to keep an eye on the underhanded Republican ticket, and in particular Sarah Palin, I'm taking time off my duties as SOMA's Official Vatican Watchdog to go on Palin Watch. So, in the coming days and weeks, I'll be providing you with up-to-date assessments of the latest Palin activities.

Sarah Palin, Hockey Mom: Who Gives a Puck?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

What everyone seems to have lost sight of is that Palin's ability to pander to the right-wing masses with brash self-confidence does not in any way mean that she has anything meaningful to say, let alone that she's ready to ascend to the second most important political position in the country, and some might argue the world.

Announcing SoMA's "Miss Sister Beauty Pageant" 2008

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 EDT

We proudly present "The SoMA Miss Sister 2008" contest. If you know a nun worthy of global admiration, please email a brief description extolling her virtues, inner and outer, as well as a photo, to: editor@somareview.com.

John McCain's Newfound Faith

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Last Saturday night, at Rick Warrenýs Civil Forum on the Presidency, we did not see the John McCain who has been reluctant to speak about his personal faith. Instead, we saw a George W. Bush-style evangelicalýconfident, strong, and determined to let nothing stand in the way of political expediency. In fact, when it comes to moral issues, McCain and Bush now have few major differences. Both men are adamantly pro-life, both describe their faith in terms of being ýsaved,ý both are more comfortable talking about their Christianity with personal anecdotes rather than theological reflection, both defend traditional marriage, both support ýfaith based-initiatives,ý and both believe that the role of American foreign policy is to combat ýevil.ý

Slipping Through the Cracks

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Jerusalem seminary student who snatched the private prayer Barack Obama inserted in a crack in that holiest of holy sites in Jerusalem, the Western, or "Wailing" Wall, might have had a prayer--until he sold it to the Israeli daily Ma'ariv and then had to confess and apologize for his unscrupulous action.

Pass the Verbal Immodium--to Jesse Jackson

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Jackson takes his place in the lengthening line of pseudo-religious blowhards who seem to have no sense of decorum, propriety or discretion, let alone humility.

The Wedding Watcher

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:00:00 EDT

I appreciate the less tangible benefits of being an in-the-wings wedding watcher. These passing glimpses of major milestones in the lives of people I do not know become magical touch points in my own.

Mommy Nature Dearest

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Sometimes Nature is the most beautiful of gifts. The comforting warmth of summer. The first crispness of fall. The fragrance of lilacs.

Ed McMahon: TV Icon or Hardworking, Debt-Burdened American in Need of Your Prayers?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:00:00 EDT

After a foreclosure, venerable TV icon Ed McMahon and his wife look to the Almighty for help.

Jesus on Porn Patrol

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Check out this clip, which apparently originated at GodTube. Too much. Particularly the fiftysomething guy playing Jesus.

Where's the Coverage of Rev. John Hagee's McCain Endorsement?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 04 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. has certainly done the Barack Obama campaign few favors in recent days. But is the message here that politicians should distance themselves as far as possible from loose cannon clergy for fear of intense media scrutiny? Not necessarily.

He's All Wright

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

As Wright took center stage at the Press Club, the haranguing, pontificating, insulting stance of the night before was replaced by a calm, articulate, very nearly brilliant discourse on the history of the black church in America...

Vatican Dreams

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Every time I watch Benedict XVI on TV, I--may God forgive me--jealous. He doesn't have to lift a finger to do anything for himself. Attendants hover around him, anticipating his every need. There's always somebody on hand to place the proper hat on his head, give him his scepter, his holy reading, his glasses, and whatever else the situation requires.

A Rapturous Adventure

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Daniel Radosh's "Rapture Ready!" is much more than a witty cultural critic's Christian pop odyssey. It's the best kind of travel narrative, the kind in which the storyteller comes back changed.

Postcard from Honduras

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Writer Stephanie Hunt reports on her church's mission trip to Tegucigalpa.

Quote of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

"Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn."

Blast from the Past: Woody Allen's Interview with Billy Graham

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Woody Allen has never concealed his lack of faith, having once famously pronounced that "Not only is there no God, but you try getting a plumber on weekends." Billy Graham, of course, is the most prominent evangelical Christian of the past century.

Buddhism: Going to the Dogs?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Attendance at a Zen Buddhist temple in Japan has jumped 30% since a dog started praying there.

No ExtenZe Necessary: How the World's Largest Church Organ Measures Up

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Check out those pipes! A Los Angeles church hosts an "Organ Crawl of the Great Organs."

Want to Experience Purgatory? Hit Your High School Reunion.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A Review of TV Land's "High School Reunion."

Garry Wills on "What the Gospels Meant"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Garry Wills' new book examines how to read the Gospels.

"Dude, Thou Shalt Not, Uh, Whoa..." Was Moses High on Mt. Sinai?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Moses was high on drugs, says an Israeli professor.

Seeking God (and a Great Bargain) at IKEA

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:00:00 EDT

To those of us with visions of everything from stunningly remodeled kitchens to Swedish meatballs, IKEA is holy ground.

It's "The End of the Word as We Know It"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

SoMA proudly welcomes a new voice--Timothy Beal, who'll be writing a regular column called "The End of the Word as We Know It."

Sure, Ralph Nader Cares About Corporate Greed. But What About Celebrities and Shark Attacks?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

My campaign advice to Nader: if he wants the ear of the nation he has to forget about consumer rights and start discussing Britney Spears' visitation rights.

Bart Ehrman on Why We Suffer

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

The question is as old as the Bible itself: If there's an all-powerful and loving God, why do human beings suffer? And it's a question for which the Bible has lots of answers, says Bart Ehrman, most of which are unsatisfying.

When Religious Leaders Lose Their Faith

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Public identity and private belief are never more at odds than when a preacher loses his faith.

Babes in Bible Land

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Caesarea Maritima--Herod built it, Pilate lived in its palace, and Paul was jailed in its prison. Now, in S.I.'s 2008 swimsuit issue, see the ruins of the ancient city as you've never seen them before.

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Did you hear that the Vatican has developed a new fat-free Host? It's called "I Can't Believe It's Not Jesus."

Biblical Figures--the More Flawed, the Better

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

NPR host Krista Tippett's favorite characters in the Bible are also the most human and flawed.

Kosher Chinese Food

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Chinese Exporters Seek Kosher Seal of Approval.

Religious Satire, or Unintentional Self-Parody?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A review of Becky Garrison's "The Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail."

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 00:00:00 EDT

668--the neighbor of the beast.

From Lemurs to Limos

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It seems that SoMA contributing editor Billy Frolick is now a bona fide superstar--in Ukraine, at least. In late October, as the WGA strike was heating up, Billy accepted an offer to write the former Soviet nation's first computer-animated film.

Campaign 2008: What's to Laugh At?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

There's precious little wit in American politics today. Instead, the candidates are preoccupied with deadly serious platitudes. Oh for the days of those hilarious John Kennedy bon mots, or the cleverness of Abe Lincoln.

And Jesus said, "It's Fun to Stay at the..."

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Circulating the Web: A photo of three guys, a la the Village People, spelling out M-C-A to the right of a painting of Jesus hanging from the cross, arms outstretched like a Y.

Is PETA Playing Chicken Little Over a Benedictine Monastery's Egg Farm?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Selling fresh, hand-gathered eggs has been the bread and butter of South Carolina's Mepkin Abbey for years, and folks throughout the greater Charleston region have gone out of their way to buy them.

SoMA Stand Up

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Or, stuff I thought up in the shower.

Yes, Mr. Sulu, There Is a Church for Trekkies. Maybe.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Eager to explore strange new churches? To boldly worship where no non-Trekkies have worshipped before? Then put on your best Sunday Vulcan ears and beam over to "The Spock"--"the world's only Church of 'Star Trek'."

New Jedi Church Uses the Force; Followers of Lord Vader Not Welcome.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Two UK brothers are founding a Jedi church in Wales that will feature sermons on "the Force," light saber training, and meditation techniques.

Circus Maximus: Presidential Campaign 2008

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

It's often been said that there's not much difference between politics and theater, and indeed, the current race for the presidency has all the earmarks of bad theater.

The Tom Cruise Scientology Video

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Tom Cruise's 2004 fundamentalist, er, Scientology testimonial video is so full of memorable statements, I'm having trouble selecting 10 favorites.

The Contemplative Life

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Most of us think of prayer as asking God for something: Let the surgery go okay, keep the kids safe, let Matsui get on for Posada. We're praying for peace of mind; it's a means to an end. But what if we prayed until we couldn't think of anything else to ask for--and then prayed some more?

New Year's Resolutions--Or Just Good Intentions?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

As I write this, 2008 is already 15 days old and I have yet to tackle even one of my New Year's resolutions.

Healthcare Gone to the Dogs?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Is a doggie wheelchair really the best use of $350? Forget about dog furýhow about Darfur? Greenpeace? A Laptop for Every Child? AIDS research? For that matter, how about the dog-ladyýs 88 year-old mother? Has anyone asked if she needs a wheelchair?

What Happens in Canaan, Stays in Canaan

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

As President Bush pressed for more intensive Middle East peace talks and dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region to propose boundaries for a possible settlement, 27 additional nationalities asserted land claims in what is traditionally known as Palestine.

New Feature Coming Soon to SoMA

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

I'm thrilled to report that SoMA will soon have a new feature--a Contributors page, where you can retrieve articles by author.

Want to Improve the World? Bake Some Humble Pie

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

At a time when more and more people seem to be motivated by entitlement and narcissism--and even seem to admire those qualities in others--we need an antidote to the social problems that come with isolation and arrogance.

Let's Play "Between Your Legs"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:00:00 EDT

A Jesuit friend told me about this game circulating at Facebook. The rules are simple: Just think of a movie title, and add "Between Your Legs" to it. Here's a list I came up with; feel free to add your own titles in the comments section.

David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons' "unChristian"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

...Part of the problem with "unChristian" is the authors' penchant for equating "Christian" with "conservative evangelical." While they observe that only 9 percent of Americans are evangelical, no other position is recognized as legitimate.

Born in the Back of a Cab

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Since it's almost Christmas, the celebration of the world's most humble and spectacular birth, I'd like to take this opportunity to reveal the story of my own rather amazing entrance into the world.

Ebenezer Scrooge: How a Miser's Redemption Spells Hope for Us All

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Long before Freud, Charles Dickens understood psychology and the effect of childhood trauma on the adult psyche. And he knew that, sadly, most of us will never undergo a full inside-out overhaul as Scrooge does. So in "A Christmas Carol" he created a great parable of hope.

The Excesses of the Holidays Got You Down? Watch Charles Schulz's 1965 classic, "A Charlie Brown Christmas."

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Most people respond to the approach of Christmas with a happy blizzard of activity. They lick stamps and fix them to final flurries of Christmas cards. They bake. They bounce between the malls until their cars are caked white with salt. Me--I gripe. I raise holy hell about 24/7 Christmas programming on the radio, or holiday sales unfurled before teenagers have time to vandalize my Halloween decorations.

Interview: John Dominic Crossan on Christmas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

In "The First Christmas," Crossan and Borg argue that the nativity story is far richer and more challenging than familiar sentimentalized versions allow. Not simply tidings of comfort and joy, the gospel stories of Jesus' birth are also edgy visions of another way of life, confronting the status quo and demanding personal and political transformation.

Tired of Playground Cussing, Nun Puts Her %$&*@#! Foot Down

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Sister Kathy Avery has no tolerance for cussing. So when she learned there was swearing on the playground at St. Clare of Montefalco Catholic School, in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., where she is the school's new principal, she decided to make it clear, in no uncertain terms, which words were unacceptable.

No, Really. I Actually Did Buy the Jan. Vanity Fair Last Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

What's up with Vanity Fair's distribution? Though I live in the boonies on the Connecticut shoreline, I picked up the January issue at my local general store last Thursday, and I've got friends in New York and L.A. who still, even today, insist they can't find it on their newsstands yet.

At New Life, a Second Victim Is Dead; Shooter ID'ed

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

A second shooting victim at New Life Church is confirmed dead, making the number of fatalities there three, including the shooter.

Four Shot at Church Founded by Ted Haggard

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

A gunman opened fire today at New Life Church, in Colorado Springs, striking four people, KOAA-TV reports. An area hospital said one victim was in critical condition, one in fair condition, and another in good condition.

New Life Church Shooting Update

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Five people were shot, and two are dead, at New Life Church, including the gunmen, KOAA reports

What's the Story Behind Nancy Jo Sales' VF Article?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

When I was making calls yesterday about Nancy Jo Sales' Vanity Fair piece on Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan, some confusion arose about who wrote it. "Are you sure it was a female reporter?" said a friend who knows a priest tied into the small world of lower Manhattan Episcopalianism...

This Chanukah, Know Your Latke Etiquette

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

What's the big deal about latkes? They're just potato pancakes, right? You don't have to be Jewish, and it doesn't have to be Chanukah, to indulge in them. You can get them anywhere, any day of the week. Like at IHOP...

Last Rites for the Dead? A Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan Update

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It's been five months since Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan, the art world's most glamorous couple, committed suicide, but the story, which I've blogged about several times, has lost none of its hold on me. Every few weeks I Google the pair to see if there are any developments. Except for a September article in the British Independent that didn't offer anything new, there's been little to report. Until now.

Rupert Murdoch Buys Beliefnet

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It's official: Beliefnet, with its three million unique visitors each month and 11 million daily newsletter subscribers, has been acquired by Fox Entertainment Group, which is part of News Corp.

When Doctors Doubled as Preachers

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

John Harvey Kellogg was both a witch hunter and a certified sadist. A self-styled expert at smoking out a masturbator, he lists some telltale signs, beginning with "bashfulness"...

How to Witness to Gays

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Remember Ray Comfort? He's the evangelical preacher with the Ned Flanders mustache who teamed up with Kirk Cameron of "Growing Pains" to demonstrate the existence of God by sticking a banana in his mouth.

Randy Bonifield's "Left Behind (The Rapture Song)"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Were you traumatized at age eight by visions of the rapture? Then you'll get a kick out of this clip I found over at Pastor Bob's site.

Peter Bebergal and Scott Korb's "Faith Between Us"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Most women suffer from an abiding curiosity about just what guys talk about in private. According to "The Faith Between Us," a dual memoir by Peter Bebergal and Scott Korb, it's definitely not what we assume. Peter and Scott's friendship developed around their shared belief in God, and the 10 essays in this book, which explore how they live that faith out in the world, touch on topics ranging from monogamy, marriage, prayer, food, children, playing musical instruments, and bird watching.

God's Sophomore Year at Harvard

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It might strike anyone as odd that someone who gets his paycheck from a secular humanist think tank would defend Harvard's controversial general education requirement, passed last year, making religion a core subject for undergrads at America's premier university to study.

You're a Loving, Christian Family That Wants to Adopt a Child? Hold on. Don't Believe in Evolution, Do Ya?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The orphanage, which is run by a Southern Baptist missionary couple from a church in El Paso, Texas, wanted to know more about our spiritual beliefs, and sent us a list of questions.

A.J. Jacobs Interview

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Countless believers pride themselves on leading Bible-based lives, but let's face it: there's a big difference between donating to the Christian Children's Fund and downloading Jars of Clay onto your iPod, and diving headlong into the ancient world of Moses and King David--swearing off clothing made of mixed fibers, stoning adulterers, and growing a beard that makes you resemble the Unabomber.

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Did you hear about the Zen master who ordered a hot dog? He asked for one with everything.

Richard Russo Interview

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

There's a strange pact parents have with their kids. Though they want them to become educated and more affluent than they were, parents also want their kids to stay the same and remain true to the values they were raised by.

Should Abortion Even Be a Religious Issue?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Evangelicals are adamant, but religion really has nothing to say about abortion.

A Christian Response to Muslim Leaders' "Common Word" Letter

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

A Christian response to the 138 Muslim clerics' open letter to Christian leaders.

The Christian and the Pharisee

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Can an evangelical pastor and a rabbi ever become real friends? I mean, the pastor will eventually either tell the rabbi he thinks his Hebraic brother or sister will burn in hell because he or she doesn't know Jesus, at which suggestion the rabbi might understandably take offense, or the pastor will remain mum about his conviction, turning the whole matter into the elephant in the corner no one is talking about. What kind of friendship is that?

The Tortured Question of Torture

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Three weeks ago, The New York Times vented a secret Department of Justice memo approving the use of torture as a means of interrogation. President Bush shrugged the memo off, insisting, "This government does not torture people."

DIY Church Signs

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

For a good time, visit churchsigngenerator.com:

Priest "Only Pretending to be Gay" in a "Mysterious and Faraway World"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

A Catholic priest caught on camera making a pass at a young man said in an interview yesterday that he was not gay and that he was simply pretending to be gay as part of his work.

Not Your Father's Eastern Nazarene College

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Humping a poster of George Clooney on the ceiling--at ENC? I thought they only did that sort of thing at Olivet and Trevecca Nazarene. Wheaton, maybe.

A Believer and a Skeptic, Nobel Winners

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Al Gore--Nobel laureate. Good for him. He deserves the peace prize. A true believer, he's been championing the environment and warning about climate change since long before global warming became cool, so to speak.

Orhan Pamuk's Nobel Lecture

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Two years before his death, my father gave me a small suitcase filled with his writings, manuscripts and notebooks.

Religion Song of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Australian "comedy guerrillas" The Fake McCoys' rousing version of "(Smile) Don't You Know God Loves You."

Derrida Lives

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The founder of deconstructionism may have died this week three years ago, but he's alive and qualifying away at Youtube.

Dressing Down "The Naked Archeologist"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Biblical archeology is too important to leave to crackpots and ideologues. It's time to fight back.

Confessions of a Non-Coffee-Drinking Christian

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

My surreptitious life "in the closet" as a non-coffee drinker became more difficult to maintain in adulthood, however, when I discovered that my aversion to the holy bean was putting my spiritual life in jeopardy.

Idaho Hall of Fame Inductees Deserve More Privacy

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Senator Larry Craig will be inducted into the Idaho Hall of Fame at a ceremony later this week, despite his June arrest and guilty plea in an airport bathroom sex sting.

Owe Big for Pedophile Priests? Boot Some Nuns

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Ever since the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to pay sex abuse victims $660 million in July, I've been waiting with bated breath to learn what the Church would liquidate first.

Kerouac's "On the Road" Turns 50

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

This month marks 50 years since the publication of Jack Kerouac's "On the Road," a classic meditation on restlessness and questing that sparked the baby boom generation's diehard notion that if they embraced the freedom of the open road and navel-gazed long enough, they'd discover the Meaning of Life.

Religion Bumper Sticker of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Reader AT saw this in Northampton, MA:

Why James Dobson Should Donate His Balls to Science

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Religious conservatives from James Dobson to Tony Perkins have opposed embryonic stem-cell research on the grounds that it is destroys human life, likening the research to Nazi experiments.

The Most Famous Man in America

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

On the vociferous stage of Victorian American opinion flinging, there was no more flamboyant figure than the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. Preacher, social/political activist and orator extraordinaire, Beecher's charm, wit and intensity captivated audiences here and abroad.

Bishop Spong's Open Letter to Archbishop Rowan Williams

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"Today Scripture is quoted to continue the oppression and rejection of homosexual people. The Bible has [always lost such] battles. It will lose the present battle and you, my friend, will end up on the wrong side of history, the wrong side of morality and the wrong side of truth.

Church Sign of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Reader Brett Hendrickson spotted this one at a little church in East Texas: "Give Satan an inch, and he'll become a ruler."

Is Spong Wrong?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Bishop Spong, pushed to the margin even by his own colleagues, probably for reasons that have little to do with theology, should relax.

The Secret Symbols of the Men's Room

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If there's one thing Sen. Larry Craig's arrest has demonstrated, it's that there's a secret symbolic world of the men's room unknown to most of us. So to help us "decipher what is going on in this murky subculture of hookups, trysts, danger, and extremely agile older men slithering under toilet stalls," Sarasota Magazine columnist Robert Plunket has prepared a "handy-dandy guide to 'demystify' the situation."

Rosh Hashanah Girl

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

No doubt you're familiar with Obama Girl, the fictitious political hottie who's Got a Crush on Obama. Well now, in time for the Jewish New Year, there's Rosh Hashanah Girl, who welcomes in 5768 on Youtube.com, blowing her shofar and belting out I Gotta Love You Rosh Hashanah. Thanks to Lara Starr for the link.

For Christ's Sake, Don't Censor Kathy Griffin

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Kathy Griffin received a creative arts Emmy last weekend for her reality show, "My Life on the D-List," and in her acceptance speech she said that "a lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

Ah, Fall--Turning Leaves, Football, and Another Damn School Fundraiser

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

So, finally, it's back to school--which means one thing, at least in my neighborhood: Sally Foster.

Church Sign of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It was a particularly sweltering summer in Iowa this year, so I had to chuckle when I passed this sign at a Disciples of Christ church north of Des Moines:

The Future of Religion Journalism?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

For decades, critics have decried journalism's coverage of religion. The press, they've said, either dismisses the vital role of faith and spirituality in American life, or simply doesn't understand it. Well, defenders of the faith, take heart. "Faces of Faith in America," an initiative of the Carnegie and Knight Foundations, equipped 41 journalism grad students from five leading universities to produce, in a variety of forms, dozens of carefully researched, in-depth religion stories.

Laurel Snyder Cleans Up Nice

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Say you're a longtime blogger who's freely dropped the F-bomb and is now writing children's books. Suddenly that online marketing tool you've been developing all these years is too hot to link to from your new author site. What do you do?

Jiminy God!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Watch hardcore hetero Larry Craig call Bill Clinton a "nasty, bad, naughty boy" on Meet the Press in "Meet the Press" back in 1999.

Gods and Goddesses Be Praised

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Christians who pray for lucky lottery tickets but never win might consider switching over to Wicca.

His Own Private Idaho: Spin Suggestions for Sen. Larry Craig

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Granted, Slate's video re-enactment of Larry Craig's shenanigans at the Minneapolis airport bathroom, based on the arresting officer's report, makes it hard to believe the Idaho senator was doing anything in the loo except prowling for some unlawful man love. I mean, peeking in the stall, foot tapping, foot touching, running his fingers under the partition. You can't construe such behavior as, say, the senator doing his part to tidy up the place.

Divine Architecture

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Cram sought to make an enduring contribution to modern life, but without severing connection to past Christian culture. In this he succeeded.

Church Sign of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I spotted this one at the Bethel Assembly of God in Guilford, Conn.:

Could a Giuliani Election Lead to Christian Jihad?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Dateline Washington, 2009--The first year of Rudy Giuliani's presidency has ushered in an era of unprecedented social strife, as the once-formidable evangelical Christian voting block.

Mother Teresa's Godlessness

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"Jesus has a very special love for you," Mother Teresa wrote to a spiritual confidant in 1979, the year she won the Nobel peace prize. "[But] as for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great, that I look and do not see,--Listen and do not hear -- the tongue moves [in prayer] but does not speak ... I want you to pray for me -- that I let Him have [a] free hand."

Bad News for Books

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Twenty five percent of adults say they read no books at all--zero, zip--in the past year, according to a new AP-Ipsos poll.

Cleanliness and Godliness

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

In line with the prevailing Judeo-Christian tradition, life in 1900 followed the biblical directive of "For six days shall ye labor, and on the seventh shall ye rest."

A Sentimental Education

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Hey, guys. It's OK to cry. In fact, like it or not, we men tend to find ourselves choking up inexplicably more and more as we age. But are these emotional squalls really such a mystery?

Hitchens' Tour Report

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Christopher Hitchens' tour for "God Is Not Great" included enough surprises and miraculous turns in the author's favor that he jokingly concluded that "maybe someone up there does love me after all."

The Centenary Edition of Walter Rauschenbusch's Classic

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

One hundred years ago, shortly after publishing his first book, "Christianity and the Social Crisis," theologian and Baptist minister Walter Rauschenbusch left for Germany on sabbatical from his post at the Rochester Theological Seminary.

Tofu Madness

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

To healthy-minded souls, tofu is a godsend--a heart-healthy alternative to high-fat animal protein. In fact, at this coming weekend's 12th Annual LA Tofu Festival, Aug. 18-9, the soy substitute for hamburger is billed as the 2,000-year-old health food miracle.

Serenity Now

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The back of a T-shirt I saw someone wearing yesterday read:

Protest Ideas for Fred Phelps

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The Rev. Fred Phelps and members of his Westboro Baptist Church have announced they will protest funerals of victims of Minnesota's 35W bridge collapse. As you probably guessed, they believe God destroyed the bridge to punish the "Land of 10,000 lakes" for tolerating gays.

The Biggest Xenophobe in Europe

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Victorian children's writer Mrs. Favell Lee Mortimer was a woman of deep piety--and of even more profound prejudices.

Contacting SoMA

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Have you tried emailing SoMA and not heard back? Did you submit a story, or sign up for updates, and not get a reply?

Did Blake and Duncan Get Religion?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

When the blogosphere started buzzing over Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan's double suicide last month, who guessed that their tragic story would take such a religious turn? Sure, from the gitgo there was that business about the Church of Scientology--how Blake and Duncan were convinced the church was conspiring against them.

Theresa Duncan Update

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

In the latest LA Weekly, Kate Coe sheds some serious light on the Theresa Duncan tragedy.

A Mysterious Double Suicide and Talk of Scientologists

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Because I'm supposed to be writing--I mean, because I AM writing--a book this summer, I don't have on my bedstand the stack of mysteries I usually plow through this time of year. Which must explain why I'm totally engrossed in the recent double suicide of the art world's "It" couple, Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan.

Remembering Roger

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 00:00:00 EDT

He was always doing something, writing something or planning to write something, but his joy was more in the thinking and planning than in the finishing.

Catching Up With Schmelvis

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

When Mary Beth Crain and I discussed her latest piece, "A Jewish Tale of Woe," in which she explains how difficult she's finding life in rural Michigan without a good Jewish deli around, I suggested she drive over to Montreal for a corned-beef fix at Schwartz's. I went to Schwartz's five years ago, when I was in town to interview Schmelvis, the world's only Orthodox Jewish Elvis impersonator.

Personal Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

On Monday night I was back on "The Busted Halo Show with Father Dave Dwyer," on Sirius satellite radio, this time to discuss my article Jane Austen Meets Jesus. Father Dave was interested in the piece because it touches on how we often perceive Jesus more in our cultural terms than in his.

S.F.'s Cab No. 666

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The devil got a big hearing at San Francisco's City Hall yesterday as the taxi commission debated whether to retire cab medallion number 666 because of its association with the Prince of Darkness.

Slouching Toward Jerusalem...in Michigan

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

As I've mentioned in a few previous articles, after 30 years in Los Angeles, I recently moved to the little town of Hart, Mich., to be near family and take care of my aging mother. I soon discovered that being a Jew in Hart is a far different experience from being a Jew in L.A., or New York, or Flatbush.

Finding God at the Tour de France

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Though it's done in the most subliminal way, the Tour's got religion.

Jesus of Siberia

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

In a remote corner of Siberia, thousands of people have dropped everything to build an entire town deep in the forest--all for a man who claims to have been Jesus in a former life.

Don't Listen to Pope Benny

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Writes CNN contributor and Chicago radio host Roland S. Martin: "For him to even suggest that only the Catholic Church can provide true salvation to believers in Christ shows that he is wholly ignorant of the Scriptures that I have known all my life. "Sorry, let me take that back. I've really only known the Bible for the last 13 of my 38 years. That's because those first 25 years were spent as a die-hard Catholic." Thanks to Puck Purnell for sending me this link.

SoMA Honored

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The Times of London has named SoMA one of the "most influential religion blogs."

Jane Austen Goes to Galilee

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Yesterday I was stalked by Jane Austen. Every corner I turned at my local bookstore, there she was--her name emblazoned across titles in the New Fiction and New Non-Fiction sections, even over in Cooking, Food & Wine, where I bumped into "The Jane Austen Cookbook."

The Latin Mass: A Modest Proposal

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Pope Benedict revived the old Latin Mass on Saturday, delighting traditional, conservative Catholics and angering liberal Catholics, who fear the move threatens Second Vatican Council reforms, and Jews, who are concerned because the Mass includes a prayer calling for the conversion of Jews, fixing their "blindness" to Jesus as the Messiah.

Dawkins/Krauss Debate

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Oh, if you're tired of watching the paint dry, check out the debate between Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss on how scientists ought to approach religion--you know, the kind of mindless religion that attacks science, not the kind that accepts that the universe began before the Stone Age. It's in the July issue of Scientific American.

Seth MacFarlane Update

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Well, I never did hear from "The Family Guy" guy about reading from Christopher Hitchens for us in the voice of Stewie. But while I was waiting for the phone to ring, I found these fun "Family Guy" clips that all deal with religion. Teaser: Jesus turns water into funk and performs fake finger magic tricks. Yes--it has been a slow week, hasn't it?

Farewell, Mr. Wizard

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If you're somewhere between 45 and 60, chances are you remember Mr. Wizard. Right, that friendly guy on TV who, from 1951 to 1965, revealed the mysteries of science to enthralled children, in the simplest, most down-to-earth terms.

Meet the New Chastity. Same as the Old Chastity?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The first day of the week isn't usually the best bar night in New York, so I was surprised to walk into Midtown's Metro 53 one Monday in April to find it packed to the rafters. Even more surprising, everyone was there to discuss...chastity.

Dawn Eden Interview: "The Thrill of the Chaste"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"The interesting thing is that ['Sex in the City'] really simply recycled ideas that were 25 years old, or older.

An Open Letter to Seth MacFarlane, Creator of "Family Guy"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Dear Seth: I'm writing to offer you a unique voice-over opportunity. You may be aware of the NYT bestselling book, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Spoils Everything," by Christopher Hitchens.

The Vatican's "Ten Commandments" for Drivers

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The Vatican's office for migrants and itinerant people issued an unusual document today--a set of "Ten Commandments" for drivers, countering everything from road rage to drunk driving. Amen. And some people say the Church never does anything constructive.

Newton on the Apocalypse

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Seems Isaac Newton plumbed the Book of Daniel to calculate the Final Days: 2060--at the earliest.

Ruth Graham: Lived Slow, Died Old... But Still Left a Beautiful Corpse

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"I wish you could look in that casket because she's so beautiful," said Billy Graham, of his wife, Ruth, at her funeral yesterday. "She was a wonderful woman." Graham also reported that his wife "had a great reception in heaven."

Hitch, in His Own Words

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"You can't cure mental illness by driving devils into pigs. I'm sorry; it's primitive and revolting. Nor, by the way, would I be impressed if a virgin gave birth. Not in the smallest degree. I imagine that freak parthenogenesis is just possible.

Hitchens' "God Is Not Great"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Whether you admire Hitchens, as I do, or spend much of your time disagreeing with him, as I also do, "God Is Not Great" is a disappointing read, because its argument is littered with second-grade level ironies about religion... Read Paul O'Donnell's review, How Great Thou Aren't

P.S.: More Byassee

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Jason recently wrote an in-depth Christian Century cover story about Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Barack Obama's congregation. Hoping to bring Obama down, right-wing critics have targeted Trinity, characterizing its Africentric Christianity as separatist and racist.

"The Sopranos" Season Finale: A Big Fat Cop-Out

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

..."I can't believe it," my cousin moaned about 'The Sopranos' finale. "I waited so long for...THIS?"

Taxi Cab Sermons

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"You're a Christian, a journalist, and you're going to the Holy Land? Can you believe what the Jews are doing to the land of Jesus?"

Adam--Kicked Out of Creation Museum's Eden

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The guy who played Adam in videos featured at the Creation Museum "has led a different life outside the Garden of Eden, flaunting his sexual exploits online and modeling for a clothing line that promotes free love," the AP reported Thursday.

Richard Rorty, RIP

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Today's NYT confirms it--Richard Rorty died Friday in Palo Alto, Calif., at 75.

Richard Rorty, 1931-2007?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Has America's leading philosopher passed away? Telos Press announced yesterday that Richard Rorty died on Friday, June 8, but as of this moment, 10:23 AM, EST, no other news source is reporting it. Wikipedia says he died at home of pancreatic cancer.

God Warriors

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

God Warriors In response to Stephanie Hunt's piece on Christian yoga, reader Erica commented: "Can someone explain why certain Christians get so spooked out over Hinuduism and New Age practices? Aren't they like songs on the radio--if you don't like the tune, just change the station?" Excellent question, Erica.

Dinosaurs in the Bible?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Last night I was reading Zondervan's "Beginner's Bible: Timeless Children's Stories" to my four-year-old twins when I came to a disturbing realization. Though the children's Bible includes hundreds of illustrations depicting all sorts of animals--snakes, camels, sheep, fish, doves, lions, donkeys, whales--I couldn't find a single dinosaur anywhere.

Deb in Newsweek

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

My wife doesn't want me to write about her recent academic achievement--she insists it's no big deal--but that didn't stop her from telling Newsweek all about it when they called last week.

Christian Yoga

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Could there be such a thing as Christian yoga? C'mon, now. Do you really need to ask? Everything in mainstream culture eventually gets copied by Christians and Jesusified--given a Christian patina that assures believers of their sanctity whether they're listening to pop music, reading trashy novels, or hunting animals. Why would yoga be any different?

Michael Lerner's Global Marshall Plan

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

From the Network of Spiritual Progressives

One-Third in U.S. Think Bible is Literal Word of God

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 31 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

So says a new Gallup poll. It also says that belief in the literal Bible is strongest in the South. Go figure. Equally interesting: belief is also strongest "among those whose schooling stopped with high school and declines steadily with educational level, with only 20% of college graduates holding that view and 11% of those with an advanced degree."

The Prodigal Son?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 25 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

You don't have to be a fundamentalist to know how God punishes sin. Anyone who's seen "Caddyshack," for instance, understands that if you curse God for ruining the best golf game of your life, He'll zap you dead, even if you're a vicar, and even if your curse is as benign as "Ratfarts!"

Not-So-Joyful Noises

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 24 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

In his review of Alain de Botton's "The Consolations of Philosophy" several years ago, the Irish novelist John Banville lamented the many ways our bodies let us down:

How Funny Is Fred Phelps

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 22 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Jerry Falwell was never harsh enough in his denunciation of homosexuality--who knew? Well, Fred Phelps and the nuts at Westboro Baptist Church knew, that's who. Last week, the hate-filled church announced it was going to skip...

Charleston Church Goes Green

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 21 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

One of Charleston's oldest churches, Circular Congregational, leads the way for the newest technology in sustainable architecture.

Thought I Was Harsh?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Check out what Christopher Hitchens had to say about Falwell on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360."

Jerry Falwell, 1933-2007

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 15 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The Rev. Jerry Falwell--founder of the Moral Majority and the leader of the religious right in the '80s--died Tuesday after he was discovered unconscious in his office.

Going Bananas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Over the past couple weeks, I received several press releases announcing an ABC "Nightline" debate about the existence of God.

Deathclock.com

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Here's a cheery little question for you: How would you like to find out the exact day you're going to die?

Herod and "The Busted Halo Show"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Want to learn more about King Herod's recently discovered tomb--and how I unwittingly stumbled onto it, video camera rolling, when I visited the West Bank three weeks ago? I'll be discussing my Herodian adventure on "The Busted Halo Show with Father Dave Dwyer," this coming Monday, May 14, at 7:40 PM, on Sirius Satellite Radio.

Stumbling Upon Herod's Tomb

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 10 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The key to archaeological discovery, they say, is a lot of research, hard work, and luck--being in the right place at the right time. And though it was by sheer dumb luck that I stumbled onto Herod the Great's tomb at Herodium in the West Bank three weeks ago, it was more a matter of being in the wrong place at the right time.

A Labor of Love

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

As one of very few private gardeners in America to cultivate a neem tree in her backyard, Ruhan Kainth keeps alive the legacy of its sacred place in her native culture.

Earth-Like Planet Discovered

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 03 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Scientists have discovered a planet a lot like Earth 20 light-years away. The Onion's "American Voices" poll asked folks their opinion. Two "responses":

A Healing Garden

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

How complex, the negotiation of so many boundaries in the garden. Questions of who plants, what is planted, and where it is planted make plain a host of unspoken rules about the decorum of how one ought to present oneself in the garden.

A Sacred Garden

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 01 May 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Some who know me realize I've become an aspiring gardener in recent years. Which means I've spent the past few summers toiling in the dirt in my backyard, trying to show more for my effort than worn elbows and knees.

George Bush's Calvinism

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The Republican party has become the Calvinist party, says Garrison Keillor in his latest Salon column. For one thing, in the Republican party, as in the Reformed church, "fear is the fuel that runs the car." Noting Calvinism's five points of doctrine--a.k.a. TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints--Keillor writes:

Questions in the Wake of a Massacre

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Another rampage massacre, this time the worst ever. Which means another fake attempt at trying to understand this uniquely American crim--these interminable rage killing sprees in our workplaces and our schoolyards.

Virginia Tech Receives Scripture Relief

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It's been five days since tragedy struck Virginia Tech, and if you're worried that the grief-stricken Hokie community doesn't have enough Christian devotional literature on hand as it mourns, then worry no more.

Pastor Ted's Miraculous Recovery

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

In the April issue of Details, Augusten Burroughs offers his take on Ted Haggard's ability to alter his sexual orientation in three weeks or, as Burroughs notes, "less time than it takes for Prozac to kick in."

The Mambo King of the N.Y. Diocese

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I am passionate about salsa. I can't give a very good answer as to why. It could be because salsa has introduced me an eclectic group of people--editors, executives, students, bodybuilders. Maybe I love dancing salsa because I meet rumberas from throughout the world. I've danced with lovely women of every age and size from Norway to Malaysia to Korea to the Dominican Republic. Or, perhaps it's the rhythm, the contagious beat of the clave and timbales, and the fact that, in an age of computerized music, salsa relies on real musicians.....

Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

By now I'm sure you've all heard about "The Secret," the mega-bestseller by Rhonda Byrne that's putting the whole world in positive thinking mode and tells you how to have everything youýve ever wanted, and everything you never thought you could ever get.

Your "Ten Commandments" Fix

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Everyone's favorite biblical camp classic airs on ABC this Saturday from 7 to 11:44 PM, ET.

India's Newest Goddess: A Dude from London

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Here's a UPI lead that's hard to ignore: "A former unemployed London man who resembles the ancient Indian goddess of eunuchs is now living in India as a fertility goddess."

More on the Chocolate Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Is there are connection between the Resurrection and eating chocolate rabbits? Are chocolate bunnies a gateway drug to chocolate Jesuses? Hartford Courant columnist Colin McEnroe explores these and other questions in today's column, With Jesus, Do You Eat the Ears First?

Sweet Jesus!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

When I saw that idiot Bill Donohue, head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights (translation: the Joe McCarthy of the Catholic Church), on "Anderson Cooper 360," ranting about artist Cosimo Cavallaro's chocolate sculpture of Christ...

Alexandra Pelosi's "Friends of God"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Pelosi's quirky journey through evangelical America reveals just how far the Christian subculture extends. Today's evangelicals have come a long way, baby. They encompass everything from the straight and narrows to young rebels sporting long hair, tattoos, body-piercings, and couture jeans complete with un-buttoned and un-tucked shirts.

Randall Balmer's "Thy Kingdom Come"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

A century ago, Fundamentalists and religious conservatives stood on the margins of political society, while socially progressive Mainline Protestants took center stage.

Robert Ingersoll on Lent

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

What possible good did it do the world for Christ to go without food for forty days? Why should we follow such an example?

Chris Hedges' "American Fascists"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"Ur-Fascism (Eternal Fascism) can come back under the most innocent of disguises," writes Umberto Eco in a 1995 New York Review of Books essay. "Our duty is to uncover it and to point our finger at any of its instances--every day, in every part of the world." So begins "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America," Chris Hedgesý extended exercise in finger-pointing. Hedges rips the innocuous family-values masks right off the dominionists of the Robertson-Falwell-Dobson ilk who, he claims, are conniving to turn America into a Christian empire. As if we couldn't see through their disguises already.

The British Invasion

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

We love our British brothers and sisters across the pond, so why are the bunch who've colonized New York so goddamned annoying? In the April issue of Vanity Fair, Englishman A.A. Gill explains his fellow expats.

The Bird Lady

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I have the odd distinction of having been chosen for impromptu visitations from the winged species.

Hooters Heads to the Holy Land

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If you've ever asked yourself what's missing from Israel's cultural landscape and thought, "A Hooter's restaurant," then you may be a bit odd, but you're not alone. "I strongly believe that the Hooters concept is something that Israelis are looking for," says businessman Ofer Ahiraz. "Hooters can suit the Israeli entertainment culture."

Harper San Francisco's New Name

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Publishers Weekly reports that Harper San Francisco has changed its name to Harper One. The reason? To "completely dispel the idea that it is a regional publisher," PW says. I don't get it.

Supreme Court Hears Bong Hits Case

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If a teenager displays a banner that offends a school principal, can the principal tear it down and suspend the student--even if the banner doesn't make sense and isn't on school property?

Jesus Christ Ass Kicker

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If you look hard enough in the Gospels, you'll find a Jesus that any red-blooded, pick-up truck and football lovin' American he-man can relate to. Just skip all the parts where Jesus heals the sick and hangs out with widows and children, or where he talks about turning the other cheek and the meek inheriting the Earth...

The Heebie-Jeebies at CBGB's

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Every time I hear the first line on "Horses," "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine," I smile, and the hair stands up on the back of my neck. I'm not even a Patti Smith fan. But from time to time I've wondered if Jews feel that line differently...

Bush's "Evil Spirits"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

President Bush is in the midst of a five-nation tour to inform the people of Latin America that the U.S. "cares deeply about the human condition" and that we're all for helpin' poor people down there to "realize their God-given potential."

Conversations With God

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I must admit, I do not talk with God, at least not the way some people claim to. Oh, I pray and meditate (mostly in the form of reading and writing), and I think about God as I wrestle with life's Big Questions.

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

This Jewish guy died, and he was so awful, so hideous, that no one liked him. And at the funeral, the rabbi finally asks, "Doesn't anyone have anything nice to say?" And this little old guy in the back raises his hand and shouts, "Yes."

Masada to Fall, Again?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Some 2,000 years ago, Masada, Herod the Great's hilltop fortress-palace complex overlooking the Dead Sea, was the final holdout in the first Jewish revolt against Roman rule.

Jesus Drinks and Smokes

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"Jesus drank wine because he didn't have Dewar's." Or so says a 60-year-old Texas man who drinks, smokes, and is named Jesus. Ha, ha. Corny name play, right? Not exactly.

Dobson v. Cizik

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

James Dobson has asked the National Association of Evangelicals to "silence or fire" the Rev. Richard Cizik, the NAE official who has urged evangelicals to take global warming seriously, the Washington Post reports.

Dig Jewish Dirt? Now You Can Buy It by the Bag

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 EDT

For only about twice the price of a one-pound bag of Starbucks' Sumatran extra bold, you can now own a bag of "100% genuine Israeli Soil," thanks to a company called Holy Land Earth.

The Look of Death

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Sick to death of your old furniture? Bored stiff with standard decor? Ready for a new look to die for? Just visit Casketfurniture.com.

Cardinal Egan: Landlord from Hell?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Cardinal Egan summoned a New York priest to his Madison Avenue office yesterday morning, and told him the archdiocese was closing his church for reasons that included dwindling attendance and a bad roof.

Goose Bumps Over Jesus' Lost Tomb

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

James Cameron claims that a tomb discovered 27 years ago contained the remains of Jesus and the family he and Mary Magdalene had together, and I, for one, haven't felt this excited since Geraldo Rivera opened Al Capone's secret vault on primetime TV back in the mid-'80s.

Holy Fast Food

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

KFC has launched a new fish food, uhm, product...thing, and they're hoping Pope Benedict XVI will endorse it for Lent, the 40-day period before Easter Sunday during which Catholics traditionally don't eat meat.

Bruce M. Metzger, 93

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

As language evolves, words in classic texts change their meaning and require updating. Even--sorry, you King James purists--words in the Bible.

Defensive Driving?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

As much as I am entirely against the United States' war for oil--er, I mean--mission to bring peace and democracy to Iraq, I support to a degree the notion of "supporting the troops." Having said that, doesn't your heart just sink when you see this kind of thing?

A Day at the Races

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

One of the great joys of parenting is getting to see the world through your young kids' eyes. This afternoon I watched "Ben-Hur," and when the famous chariot race scene came on, my almost-four-year-old twin boys put down their toys and sat riveted to the screen.

A New Saint on Valentine's Day

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Move over, St. Valentine, and prepare to share the honors of this day with the "beatified beauty,"

Religion Wrestling Match

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

There's an interesting exchange between Jeff Sharlet and Alan Jacobs at the "Books & Culture" website.

Why Protestants Need Saints, Too

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It was clear to me as a kid that the deck was stacked against us. One glance out the kitchen window at our neighbor's driveway, where kids, adults, and umpteen cousins were constantly coming and going in new model cars, and I knew that my family could never "keep up with the Joneses."

Irritable Clergy Syndrome

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

"A 2006 Church of England report warned that disagreeable congregants, together with the pressures of the church's 'feudal system' bureaucracy, were turning priests harshly negative and creating an 'irritable clergy syndrome.' One of the report's authors told The Times of London in December that priests are bothered by 'having to be nice all the time to everyone, even when confronted with extremes of nastiness,' such as aggressive and neurotic parishioners.'"

Evolution Sunday

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Today, at the height of scientific knowledge, we ironically face a skepticism of science that in many ways is rooted in religious challenges.

Anna Nicole Smith Is Dead. So What?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

She rose from poor white trash to rich white trash. She was the typical misguided non-entity with an unstoppable appetite for fame and recognition, an appetite that took her to the heights and depths of notoriety.

Friday's Low

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

And thus our week of negativity ends, on a low note.

Thursday's Downer

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

This week, SoMA's offering a negative thought each day from John S. Hall's Daily Negations.

Wednesday's Downer

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

This week, SoMA's offering a negative thought each day from John S. Hall's Daily Negations.

Ted Haggard: Totally Not Gay

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

After three-weeks of intensive counseling, Ted Haggard has emerged convinced he is "completely heterosexual," according to an AP report.

Tuesday's Downer

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

This week, SoMA's offering a negative thought each day from John S. Hall's Daily Negations.

A Week of Daily Negations

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Thanks to a new book from Soft Skull Press, I've been jump-starting my mornings lately with a chuckle . "Daily Negations"--a "collection of negative thoughts, one for each day of the year"--is so down, and so dark, it's actually, oddly, affirming.

"Dear Lord Baby Jesus"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I can't recall the review now, but a critic I read (or heard) last summer turned me off to Will Ferrell's stock-car spoof, "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

A.V. Must-Sees

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Count 'em, not one, but three clips to brighten your day:

Welcome, Theolog

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

The Christian Century enters the blogosphere with Theolog, the purpose of which is to provide a "space for the Century to reply to blog chatter about stuff we publish, and occasionally start some of our own," says Century editor Jason Byassee,

The 2007 Emergent Theological Conversation

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Every year, Emergent holds an informal three-day "theological conversation" with a heavy like Stanley Hauerwas, Dallas Willard, Walter Bruegemann, and Nancey Murphy. Last year's event was held at Yale Divinity School and featured theologian Miroslav Volf (read my report here).

Rob Bell's "Sex God"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Bell seems smart (albeit a little unfocused), earnest, at times humorous, and, as the evangelicals would say, it's obvious that his "heart's in the right place."

Mmm, Squirrel Stew!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Mary Beth Crain fancies herself a "lover of all God's creatures," who can't fathom killing anything, "with the exception of mosquitoes and terrorists."

Great Ideas for Lent--If You Don't Mind Daily Text Messages from the Church

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

British worshippers who can't decide what to give up for Lent can try a different approach this year. The Church of England has come up with a list of good deeds they will text message churchgoers for a fee of 10p per suggestion,

Richard Dawkins: His Way or the Highway?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If you like indulging in guilty pleasures, then by all means drop in at Richard Dawkins' website and take a glance at the YouTube videos of his speech in Lynchburg, Virginia.

"Armed & Famous": Not Exactly Famous. But Armed? Definitely.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I've said it before. We at SoMA love to hate reality shows. We've gleefully suffered through "God or the Girl," "Clean House," and "House of Tiny Terrors," which has a bizarre debate that is still raging, more than a month after the review appeared, in the piece's comments section here. Talk about Surreal Life.

MLK and the 40-Years-in-the-Making Sleepover

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It was a minor milestone, unheralded and unnoticed, really, by all but me. And truly, it was no big deal. But since it's my motherly duty to catalog "firsts"--the first tooth, first steps, first words--I couldn't help but quietly make a mental note as my daughter packed her same-old PJs, hairbrush, jeans and Old Navy T-shirt in her same-old overnight bag for yet another sleepover.

Meet Stephanie

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

It's a great pleasure for me to welcome a new contributing editor to our fold--Stephanie Hunt.

Amy-Jill Levine on What to Do with the "Old Testament"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

This may seem like an odd issue to some. But back in college, I took biblical studies courses in which we discussed the "Old Testament." Then I went to divinity school, where we were strongly urged to call the "Old Testament" the "Hebrew Scriptures" instead.

Sharlet's Web(log)

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Jeff Sharlet has free time? Huh? The guy is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and Harper's, and he runs The Revealer and teaches at NYU. He's awaiting the publication of one book ("Power in the Blood," about American fundamentalism) and writing another ("The Hammer Song," about American protest music).

The Power of Food

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

Today, cooking is the trendiest activity since the power workout. In fact, in this era of 30-minute meals, Food Challenges and mega-chefs, the kitchen seems to have transplanted the gym as the site of our primary exercise routines.

Food and God: Cooking as a Spiritual Calling|By Mary Beth Crain

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

With the holiday feeding frenzy behind us, our senior editor reflects upon the power of food to lift the human spirit and bring joy to the world.

Absorbing Osteen

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

I realize that talking about things 2006 is sooo last week, but did you catch Barbara Walter's list of the "10 Most Fascinating People" of the year? No? Goody. Guess who she included.

God, Inc.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 07 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

There's so much tragedy and suffering in the world it's tempting to think some kind of sadistic deity is running the show.

The Buddha's Views on Women

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 EDT

If there was a Buddhist instructor today who taught that men are superior to women, and that women are slaves to their bodies and thus incapable of transcending the bonds of the physical world, odds are he wouldn't get invited to speak at, say, Spirit Rock or the New York Open Center.

Think You're the Buddha?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

How can you tell if you're the incarnation of Guatama Siddhartha? Slate's "Explainer" explains.

A Muslim in Congress

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Congress is supposed to represent us Americans in government. This is especially true of the House of Representatives, which has become increasingly diverse.

Religious Fun and Games

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Do you still have people left on your Christmas shopping list? If so, don't worry. I'm not going to stress you out by reminding you that you have only two days left and that all the good gifts are probably gone from the mall. Rather, I'm here to help with ideas--new religion-themed games and toys I read about in a recent Boston Globe article by Douglas Belkin.

The Lucrative "Christmas Wars"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

"I imagine in some circles, the 'controversy' is still a fairly big deal, but my sense is that this year's 'war on Christmas' is largely a bust...

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

There are three religious truths: 1) Jews do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. 2) Protestants do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian faith. 3) Baptists do not recognize each other in the liquor store or at Hooters.

CNN's "After Jesus: The First Christians"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Tonight CNN airs "After Jesus," a two-hour documentary (7 to 9 p.m.) on the early years of Christianity--from the crucifixion of Jesus to the conversion of Constantine...

Bart Ehrman on the Historical Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Every holiday season, we can count on at least three things: a flood of yuletide TV specials, mayhem at the malls, and more skirmishes in the Christmas culture wars, as Christian groups try to stem the tide of secularism and "put Christ back in Christmas."

Stallone's Latest: a Knockout. No, Really. It Is.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Let me get the boxing metaphors out of the way immediately. "Rocky Balboa" beats the odds and goes the distance.

A Sly Feat|By Billy Frolick

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Our reviewer expected to hate Stallone's "Rocky Balboa." So he was shocked to find it holds up to the 1976 original.

Evil Seeds

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

TLC, home of bottom-of-the-barrel reality TV, has really hit the jackpotty this time with their newest show, "House of Tiny Terrors." It's "Nanny 911," "Shalom in the Home," and "ER" all rolled into one, as three sets of desperate parents and their unbelievable brats check in to a rehab home for, well, desperate parents and unbelievable brats, run by child psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron.

Punk Schmunk

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Thank goodness I have plans tomorrow night to watch season one of "The Office" on DVD. Because this means I wonýt be able to catch the series premiere of Jay Bakker's show, "One Punk Under God: The Prodigal Son of Jim and Tammy Faye," on the Sundance Channel.

Sylvester Stallone: God's Vessel

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

If you've ever thought "Sylvester Stallone," and immediately thought "God," then you're not alone. Sylvester Stallone makes the exact same connection.

Sacrificial Lambs

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Scene: The White House. The President and Mrs. Bush relax in their private quarters. He opens mail at his desk. She reads on a chaise.

Bill McGarvey & the Good Thieves

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Our pal over at Bustedhalo.com, editor Bill McGarvey, is a talented singer-songwriter and a Catholic whose tunes have a spiritual dimension, but don't call him a Christian musician.

Holiday Candles

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 04 Dec 2006 00:00:00 EDT

On my sister's mantel, above where the stockings are hung and the fire is laid, in the space reserved for displaying family finery, sits a modest tin candle mold. She inherited it from my grandparents' hearth, where it stood tall and proud for as long as I can remember...

O.J., John Wilkes Booth, and the Trash Heap of Our Culture

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

On July 7, 1865, barely three months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, four of the eight conspirators convicted in the plot to murder him were hung by the neck until dead, in a speedy prison yard execution. Outrage over the Presidentýs murder was so intense that the overwhelming desire of the American public was for the accused to be tried, convicted and dispensed with as quickly as possible.

Just in Time for Christmas: "Left Behind," the Video Game!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Do you believe if your child has been a good little Christian all year that, come Christmas, he or she has earned the right to kick some serious unsaved ass? If so, then here's just the stocking stuffer for your household: "Left Behind: Eternal Forces," a war video game by Tyndale House based on the end-times bestselling "Left Behind" series by biblical literalists Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins.

Ted Haggard's Lesson

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Are we really surprised anymore by reports that religious leaders have been charged with sexual or financial misconduct? From the good old days of Jim and Tammy Faye to the ongoing scandals in the Roman Catholic Church, such shenanigans have become so commonplace that news about clerics who live by what they preach is actually far more startling.

Party Girl

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

You can find any excuse to entertain. This past summer, for example, my husband and I threw a party to celebrate my becoming unemployed. But the official entertaining season is upon us now, and it's far less fun than a barrel of pink slips. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's--that time of the year when people start tramping through your house, eating your food, scaring the cat, sitting on the dog, and vomiting in undesirable placesý

What to Do With 4,000 Talking Jesus Dolls? I Have an Idea...

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Did you notice that, practically the day after Halloween, all the spooky crap was gone from the stores and all the Christmas crap was in? Maybe I just never paid attention in years past, but I walked into my local Walgreens and was stunned to see miles of snowmen and stockings and tinsel and candy canes and fake snow--all before Thanksgiving. And thatýs when it hit me: ýOh great. Pretty soon weýre going to start hearing about nothing but the stupid ýwar on Christmasý all over again.ý

Breeding for Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Fundamentalist Christianity has added a new weapon to its arsenal--children. Or "arrows," as members of Quiverfull, a pro-patriarchy fundie movement, call their offspring. Quiverfull families, and there are thousands of them, believe in bearing as many children "as God gives them" in order to wage a more effective spiritual war for Jesus by out-breeding the sinful opposition.

A Bit of Borat

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Alas, I've not yet been to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit of Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," but I did get a Sacha Baron Cohen fix this weekend over at You Tube. The site features several favorite Borat bits from "Da Ali G Show," like the episodes in which the clueless Kazakhstan television reporter checks out American dating services, visits a hunting ranch in Texas, and tries to buy a slave at a plantation museum in the South.

Diane Arbus in "Fur"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Could there be a more heavily anticipated movie for the cultural elite than "Fur"? Mired in the all-too-common creative and logistical struggles of the film business, Diane (that's Dee-An, people) Arbus' story has taken two decades to be realized.

AAR/SBL

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Thanksgiving is just two weeks away, which means one thing in the world of American religious studies -- that the annual AAR/SBL meeting starts next Saturday.

Hussein Faces Death By Hanging in this Life...

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 06 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

...But what punishment awaits him in the next? In an updated version of her classic SoMA parable, Mary Beth Crain imagines the big surprise the tyrant has got coming in the Great Beyond. Click here to read Saddam in Heaven.

Church Board: Haggard guilty of "Sexually Immoral Conduct"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Just posted at MSNBC: The Rev. Ted Haggard agreed to resign Saturday from his New Life Church after its independent investigative board recommended removal, saying he was guilty "of sexually immoral conduct."

Ted Haggard and the Truth

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Ted Haggard, one of Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential Evangelicals,” admitted yesterday that he bought crystal methamphetamine and received a massage from a gay prostitute. Haggard was less forthcoming on Wednesday, however, when 49-year-old Mick Jones announced he’d been having paid sex and snorting meth with Haggard in Denver nearly every month for three years.

Gospel of the Living Dead

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In George Romeroýs 1968 film, ýNight of the Living Dead,ý a wave of zombies attacks seven people barricaded in a farmhouse. The zombies are slow but determined. Previously dead, these human creatures, or at least their brain stems, have somehow been revived, and they stagger around blank-eyed, searching clumsily for human flesh to eat. The only way to stop them is to destroy their brains.

Haunted by Halloween

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

This year, I went on the most embarrassing spending spree of my life. I haunted—excuse the expression—Halloween U.S.A., Target, K-Mart, and all the dollar stores in town. I filled carts full of the weirdest, rudest, kitschiest crap you can imagine. The damage came to over $400, but I didn’t care. I was determined to live it up.

Blogger Wanted

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Jewcy Media—“a soon-to-launch online magazine covering religion and culture through a Jewish lens”—is looking for a paid religion blogger who can post 2-3 times a day.

Women of Faith

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 27 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Though I was not raised to believe in God, I never questioned that God existed, only how I should relate to him. My immediate family's religious life was non-existent, save for the occasional attendance at a nearby evangelical church when my father's parents were visiting and the annual “Christmas-Hanukkah” and "East-over" festivities populated by my Jewish mother's extended family.

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

A CNN journalist in Jerusalem heard about an old Jewish man who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray, twice a day, everyday, for a long, long time.

Religion Blogging

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In late 1999, Beliefnet.com, a then-soon-to-launch religion and spirituality site, approached me to write a humor column. The offer was, in many respects, a freelance religion writer's dream job.

Humanity: Evolving, Yes. But Improving?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Given that we humans were once apes, itýs fun to speculate what weýre evolving into. My own theory is that within a dozen or so generations the average human, thanks to fast food, will weigh 900 pounds and have developed the power of telepathy for the sole purpose of changing television channels, thus rendering the remote control extinct.

A Sisterhood of Faith

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Meet the Faith Club. We’re three mothers from three faiths—Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—who got together to write a picture book for our children that would highlight the connections between our religions. But no sooner had we started talking about our beliefs and how to explain them to our children than our differences led to misunderstandings. Our project nearly fell apart.

Piety & Politics

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I had been working for Americans United for Separation of Church and State for just a few days and was still packing up things from a job in Hanover, N.H., when my wife handed me an ad from USA Today that nearly made me spill my coffee.

SoMA Goes to Church!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

If youýre in the Hartford, CT, area this Sunday morning and youýre looking for a good time, stop by Old Saint Andrewýs Episcopal Church in Bloomfield, where Iýll be giving a talk entitled ýScience, Religion and the Media.ý

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

What's the difference between a Methodist and a Jesuit? The Methodist knows he's not Catholic.

Hebrew Illuminations

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I knew I’d be getting a book called “Hebrew Illuminations” in the mail. I knew it would be a book of Jewish art, and I thought, “Ah. Illuminated art—Jews—gonna probably be something like Arthur Szyk, probably minus the politics. Or maybe more like the old medieval things. Maybe a post-modern interpretation of the Sarajevo Haggadah.”

The Day of Atonement

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Today, of course, is Yom Kippur, and for those of you who are fasting, here’s something from our archives you can fill up on: “Yum—Kippers!”

And Speaking of Saints…

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In today’s New York Times, A.O. Scott reviews Dito Montiel’s “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints,” starring Robert Downey Jr. as a successful writer...

Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Why don’t Baptists make love standing up? Because people might think they were dancing.

Bad, Baaad Saints

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Even the most devout Catholic might be forgiven for not knowing that, before her conversion, St. Mary of Egypt had a wild hare that would make even Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan blush.

The Body—Temple of the Holy Spirit, or Fetish of the Holy Spirit?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 24 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

A few days ago, I posted a blog describing journalist turned author Jennifer Skiff’s request for “God Stories” for a book she’s working on.

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Did you hear about the cannibal who ate a Jesuit for breakfast, a Baptist for lunch, and a Mormon missionary for dinner?

Wanted: God Stories

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Got a God story—a religious experience that shook your foundations and forever shaped your belief system? If so, journalist turned author Jennifer Skiff would like to hear about it for her upcoming book, “God Stories: Modern Day Encounters with the Divine"...

Pope Benedict Under Fire

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Poor Pope Benny. The little old ex-professor of theology and Vatican dogma expert has spent his life buried in books and encased in an academic environment firmly founded on the precepts of reason and empirical defense of one's intellectual position.

Reading Mark’s Gospel Again for the First Time

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

If you’re interested in discovering the historical Jesus—the man behind the myth—then Mark is the Gospel for you. Mark is the oldest of the canonical and non-canonical Gospels and, except for the writings of Paul, it provides the first-known narrative of Jesus’ life

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

How do you drive a Unitarian family out of town?

Want to See the Lord?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

If you’re like most people, you’ve never been fortunate enough to have had a holy vision—seen, say, Jesus smiling on a slice of toast, the Virgin Mary weeping on a tree trunk, or St. Paul, pre-conversion, flogging Early Christians in a dental X-ray.

Priests for Hire

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Say you’re a lapsed Catholic and you suddenly find yourself on your deathbed in need of last rites. Ringing up the local parish priest is not an option. Who you gonna call? Well, never fear, because Rent-a-Priest is here!

A “South Park” Tribute to Steve Irwin

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

“I was shocked when I heard the news that the Crocodile Hunter died in a ‘freak stingray accident,’” wrote “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams, at his blog. “I had ten dollars bet on ‘misjudged the speed of a crocodile.’”

Steve Irwin's Final Lesson

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Steve Irwin, the guy who did all those wild and crazy things with crocodiles and lived to tell about it, met an unexpected end yesterday when he was killed by, of all things, a stingray.

Religion Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

On Yom Kippur, the rabbi stops in the middle of the service, prostrates himself beside the bema, and cries out, "Oh, God. Before You, I am nothing!"

SoMA Exclusive: John Mark Karr's Open Letter to Nancy Grace!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I received today the following unexpected email from none other than John Mark Karr.

Part III of SoMA’s "Summer Soul Series"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

On the surface, tranquility seems easy indeed to define. It’s the same thing as peacefulness, or serenity, or calmness, right?

Sweet Revenge

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

“In my view, criticizing something for being passive-aggressive is like faulting a tactic for being discreet. Just as there are times when subtlety is the worst approach, there are also times when passive aggression is the best.

Joke of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

What goes: “Clip, clop, bang. Clip, clop, bang”?

Can You Scam a Nigerian Scam Artist? Apparently

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

We’ve all received our share of Nigerian scam emails over the years. You know the appeal: You, and you alone, have been chosen to help a Nigerian get his (or his company’s or his family’s) tens of millions of dollars out of his country. In return, you’ll get 10 percent of the loot.

Hell Hole 911

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

So, how many of you out there have seen “Clean House”? This “reality” show focuses on families for whom the term “dysfunctional” is no longer even remotely adequate.

Bugging Out

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Like many travelers, the Rev. Bill Whitehead spent most of his summer vacation swatting mosquitoes, which were worse in number this season, he says, than in any recent year he can recall. Part of it is that the Good Reverend camps in northeast Pennsylvania, which received more rainfall this year than the area had seen in the past 30.

How to Reach Us

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

For the next week, we’ll be using a new temporary email address. To contact SoMA for everything from editorial submissions and mailing list additions to requests that we add your website to our links, please email us at somareview (at) gmail.com.

Send Us Your Links!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

There are so many religion blogs and spirituality magazines out there, I just can’t keep up. So, if you have a God blog or online magazine, shoot us a url. If you add SoMA Review to your links, I’ll add you to ours. Unless, of course, your site is messed up or inappropriate.

DWM (Driving While Mel)

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:00:00 EDT

We all know the ugly turn fate recently handed Mel Gibson. He got pulled over by the police in Malibu, exploded in an expletive-laden “barrage of anti-Semitic remarks,” and was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Part II of SoMA’s "Summer Soul Series"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 29 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In our efforts to keep afloat on life’s rough waters, most of us are like the proverbial cork bobbing to and fro on the stormy sea. We are buffeted by the emotions, tossed about by circumstance.

Hey, Laaady!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 28 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

M. Night Shyamalan has been hailed as a brilliant filmmaker who grapples with lifeýs Big Questions: Why are we here?; Is there a God?; What happens after we die? Shyamalan, itýs been said, is one deep guy.

Happy Feast Day, St. James

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

As SoMA readers no doubt know, today is St. James’ feast day. Now, there are many ways to commemorate the life and death of the patron saint of hat makers and arthritis sufferers. You could make a hat or rub your joints, of course, or you could pay your respects at Josh Gosfield’s “Saint of the Month Club.” You could also check out some cool pictures of the pilgrimage route devoted to St. James here.

Seminarians Who Love Too Much

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In his latest SoMA piece, pastor Bill Whitehead recalls a few hard lessons he learned early in his ministry about setting limits on how much he could, or should, give of himself to others. It’s an old story, really—a young pastor, eager to help those in need, gets taken by someone who spots him as an easy mark.

SoMA’s “Summer Soul Series”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Several weeks ago, contributing editor Mary Beth Crain sent me, out of the blue, a lengthy, in-depth exploration of what the spiritual disciplines from Taoism and Buddhism to Jewish mysticism and ancient Christian asceticism have to say about tranquility...

Ken Lay and Jesus Christ—the Similarities Are Spooky

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 13 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Remember the Gospel story in which Jesus heads a major corporation built on fraud and mismanagement? In this account, Jesus gets a little greedy and is convicted on 10 counts of conspiracy, fraud, and misusing personal bank loans in the biggest corporate scandal ever.

My Amish Adventure

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Lately I’ve been wondering semi-seriously if the Dutch Amish would let me join their “Old Order.” According to “20 Most Asked Questions about the Amish and Mennonites,” by Merle and Phyllis Good, the Amish do accept outsiders. The hitch is, the authors write, “most Americans (and many Mennonites) probably aren’t willing to submit themselves to the demands of the true Christian way.”

Mark Twain on Patriotism

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Mark Twain famously defined a patriot as “the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what his is hollering about.” And around 1900, Twain elaborated on his concerns about patriotism in an aptly titled essay, “As Regards Patriotism.” Here, Twain took a dim view of America’s nationalistic fervor, describing it as “merely a religion—love of country, worship of country, devotion to the country's flag and honor and welfare.”

Mark Twain’s Beef With the Fourth of July

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I once took a trip down Mark Twain’s beloved Mississippi River. It was The Mark Twain Vacation, the Delta Queen’s most popular “Steamboatin’ Theme Vacation” and a salute to what is widely considered Twain’s greatest legacy: his evocation of a simpler world of youth and innocence, of corncob pipes and Aunt Polly’s jam, of pirate games and hidden treasure, of river rafts and, of course, steamboats.

Death Be Not Tacky

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Need a gift for that special baseball fan in your life who already has every conceivable bit of memorabilia, from a pair of Randy Johnson’s dirty underwear to a bobblehead doll of Tatum O’Neal in “The Bad News Bears”? How about a casket embossed with the logo of his favorite team!

Jewishy Irishy Comes to the Elm City

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Laurel Snyder will be in New Haven tonight to read from her new book, Half-Life: Jew-ish Tales From Interfaith Homes. So if you’re in the area and want to soak up some wit and wisdom...

“The Sopranos’” Religious Bling

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Mary Beth Crain’s essay on mob Catholicism in “The Sopranos” prompted one thoughtful reader to send me the following note. A mental health clinician in Southern California, Sharon writes:

Bishop Jefferts Schori: "Radical"?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Is it just me, or is there a slant in this Reuters wire report about Katharine Jefferts Schori’s election as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church? “Anglicans faced stark divisions on Monday after a woman radical took over the U.S. branch,” the piece begins.

God and the Billboard Charts

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

If you want to hear folk singing praises to God these days, no need to go to church. Just turn on your local corporate hit music station. Or the Grammys. It makes you wonder: When did spirituality become cool again in pop?

What “The Da Vinci Code” Gets Right and Wrong

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

“Da Vinci Code” fans and foes will want to tune into the Hallmark Channel this Sunday morning. From the press release:

The Saint of Magical Thinking

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 08 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Don’t miss Pufff, brilliant Josh Gosfield’s latest Saint of the Month.

“The Sopranos” Finale: “Plenty for Everybody”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Well, the season didn’t end with an all-out Peckinpah bloodbath between Brooklyn and New Jersey, but who really thought it would?

Like We Need Another Reason to Hate Ann Coulter...

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

“Witches”—that’s what Ann Coulter calls the four New Jersey widows who lost their husbands on 9/11 and demanded to know why, criticizing the Bush administration and calling attention to the failures that led to the attacks.

The Day of the Beast

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Today is June 6, 2006—6-6-6—the day when the Antichrist, the very incarnation of Evil, will rise up, bringing death, destruction, and decay to all the world. That’s right, I’m talking about Ann Coulter.

Goodfellas for God

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

While there are countless progressive Catholics around the world with a true sense of compassion and moral integrity, the mob Catholics of “The Sopranos” are the product of an outdated, suffocatingly traditional Catholicism that prefers ritual to reflection, obedience to individual discernment, routine confession to genuine atonement.

Other Voices, Other Worlds

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

When Terry Brown, Bishop of Malaita and Senior Bishop of the Church of the Province of Melanesia, felt “the shock of the 1998 Lambeth Conference plenary debate and resolution unambiguously declaring any homosexual practice incompatible with Scripture and, therefore, a sin,” he decided to canvass the globe in order to understand the extent to which homosexual practice actually occurs in indigenous cultures.

Gays in the Church|By Puck Purnell

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 00:00:00 EDT

A book examining homosexuality in the global church offers new perspectives on familiar debates.

Not on Bended Knee

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 30 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

There are certain things I won’t do at the Episcopal church I attend. For instance, I rarely recite the Nicene Creed, and if I do I usually replace “God,” “Jesus,” and the “Holy spirit” with words like “Santa Claus,” the “Easter bunny,” and the “abominable snowman.”

My Dominick Dunne Impression

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 25 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

The other day I read the June issue of Vanity Fair cover-to-cover, almost. That is, I read everything except ýDominick Dunneýs Diary.ý I got a couple hundred words into the thing, and tossed the magazine on the floor.

Simon Cowell's Contribution to Culture

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 22 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Highbrows widely regard the singing competition "American Idol"—and the contest's mascot, its tart English judge, Simon Cowell—as an omen of impending cultural apocalypse...

Hef's Spiritual Journey

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 16 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Did you know that Hugh Hefner worships regularly as he strolls the grounds of the Playboy mansion? Or that, early in its history, Playboy offered a special discount subscription rate for ministers? Call it “outreach ministry,” Hef-style.

Margaret Atwood on the Afterlife

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 11 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Our cat was raptured up to heaven. He’d never liked heights, so he tried to sink his claws into whatever invisible snake, giant hand, or eagle was causing him to rise in this manner, but he had no luck.

Can an Old Church Learn New Music?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 10 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

One of the older ladies in church said she didn’t like the band. She said it was too loud. I said, “What? I can’t hear you.”

Half/Life

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I grew up the second child and first daughter of two Jewish parents in a small city where there were lots of other Jews around. No one ever made any fuss about the religious backgrounds of the people I dated, and I never heard my parents complain about Jews who married Gentiles.

Margaret Atwood at SoMA

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 04 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

The celebrated author recasts the story of the girl who asked for John the Baptist’s head.

The Challenge in Jewish Intermarriage

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 03 May 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Intermarriage is either the biggest hurdle the Jewish community has ever faced, or the biggest scapegoat.

A Saint Slut

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 28 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Chances are, even those most devoted to the saints haven’t heard of Saint Dirty Martini, the “fairy godmother & patron saint of wish granting.” Unless, that is, they also happen to be fans of Josh Gosfield’s very cool Saint of the Month Club...

Finally, Good News About Gas Prices!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Could gas prices soon drop to $2.50, or even $2.25 per gallon? Well, I’ll go out on a limb here and predict gas will fall below $2 per gallon—by the weekend.

Our “God or the Girl” Windup

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 26 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

How much do we at SoMA love to hate A&E’s reality series “God or the Girl”? So much that we couldn’t resist bashing it not one but two more times.

Maxim at 100...Issues

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I wasn't always the editor of a respectable magazine of religion and culture. Once upon a time, when I fretted about things like paying the bills, I was a regular contributor to Maxim, the magazine that calls itself "the best thing to happen to men since women."

Laurel Snyder: Human Dynamo

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

My pal Laurel Snyder gets so much done in a day that I swear she has cloned herself. Or at least I hope she has, otherwise I’d be ashamed of my own meager accomplishments, and I live with enough shame as it is.

A Religious Sex Shop

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

For the Love of Agape Sex Shop, co-owned and operated by The Sons of Solomon’s Sales and the Daughters of Mary Magdalene Mercantile, provides Agape-approved accessories for exclusive use by religious couples who...

Mary Beth's Haute Dog Easter Parade Report

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I’ve always had a secret desire to judge a dog show. I watch the Eukanuba Contest of Champions, and the Oscars of dogdom, Westminster, and marvel at how anyone could choose the best from among those breathtakingly gorgeous canines.

"God or the Girl"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 17 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Alas, I missed the premiere of “God or the Girl,” A&E’s new reality series about four aspiring priests who are “about to make the most difficult decision of their lives”—whether or not to sacrifice their sexuality and enter the Catholic priesthood—which sounds absolutely, deliriously, horrible.

The Story of Holy Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Untold millions know the story of Holy Week—from Jesus' arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to his resurrection on Easter. And yet, since the dawn of Christianity, people have disagreed about the events of Jesus' last days and what they mean...

Cross Examination

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 13 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

We get all kinds of catalogs in the mail at the church where I serve, but one of the oddest was the Christian toy catalog that came during last year’s Lent.

CCM: Thumbs Down

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I am about to make a big confession. I am a Christian. I am a rock lover. And I hate Christian rock!

CCM: Thumbs Up

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I never thought I’d give another dime to the purveyor of many a WWJD bracelet, the source for Max Lucado greeting cards, the haven for lovers of all things Thomas Kincaid.

Contemporary Christian Music: “Praise Jesus” or “Jesus H. Christ!”?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I learned much of what I know about Christian rock by osmosis. Literally. In my senior year at college, I lived next door to two members of a fledgling Christian rock group that wanted very badly to be the next Stryper.

Gifts That Keep on Giving

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

"Jesus taught that it is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35), and part of growing up is learning the art of giving, as well as that of receiving."

Oh, to Be a Megachurch

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Apr 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Not long ago I was at a party talking with another husband about religion. ýThe thing about these megachurches,ý he said, tossing a peanut in his mouth, ýis, like ýem or not, theyýre great businesses.ý He went on about the marketing genius required to draw tens of thousands of worshippers a week.

Flick Me? Flick You!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 29 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

It’s no secret that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has a temper and a mouth. But who among us expected this UPI headline on Monday: “Justice Scalia flips the finger in church”? Losing his cool on the highest bench, sure. But in church, just minutes after receiving communion? Not this man of faith!

Evangelicals for Separation of Church and State?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In his book "The Myth of Separation," Christian conservative David Barton argues that the Founders didn’t support separation of church and state.

Free of Charge

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 21 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

There are good books, there are great books, and then there are books that make you want to send copies to all your friends and pass them out to strangers. Miroslav Volf's book is one of the few members of that last category.

My Weird Science

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

I was 10 when I discovered I had the power of telepathy. I found if I concentrated hard enough, I could make my pastor pick his nose during his sermon...

Isaac Hayes Quits “South Park”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Isaac Hayes—the voice of Chef—has quit “South Park,” saying he can no longer take its satirical treatment of religion.

The Crusades, Then and Now

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

While in Brazil for the World Council of Churches, I did what I always do in foreign countries—visited as many churches as possible.

Caring for Creation

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

A group of Christians has issued “Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action,” a statement signed by 86 church leaders, including Rick Warren, author of “The Purpose-Driven Life,” Duane Litfin, President of Wheaton College, and Todd Bassett, National Commander of the Salvation Army.

The Message of "Brokeback Mountain"?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

My husband and I finally saw “Brokeback Mountain” last weekend. I had been avoiding it primarily because I knew it would make me terribly sad. I am quite susceptible to tragic romances...

Out of the Closet (Sort of) in Time for the Oscars

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In the past, I have not been open with my friends about watching the Oscars. After all, they already know I don’t watch the Super Bowl, and well, liking the Oscars—and especially those outfits parading down the red carpet!... Well, let’s just say I didn’t want anyone to draw any unnecessary conclusions about my lifestyle.

A Jew for Jesus?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Last Sunday an event occurred that will surely go down in history, at least in the history of Temple Emanuel, Rochester, New York, and the Jewish People...

Emergent Kisses and Andy Crouch Disses

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

It’s been more than a week since I attended the three-day Emergent Theological Conversation at Yale Divinity School, but I still feel the love. The bonhomie. I can’t think of when I’ve been among a large gathering of Christians...

A Slut for Faith

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Why God’s girl eloped to Vegas.

Are Marriages Made in Heaven, or Hell?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Those who pray for a “biblically based” marriage might want to take a closer look at Scripture.

Furry Valentines

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

This may just be the most cornball piece I’ve ever written, but even a sophisticated, witty—and, oh yes, humble—writer like myself is entitled to one lapse of cynicism in her lifetime.

SoMA Gets All Sappy for Valentine’s Day

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

You might not have guessed it, but we here at SoMA are hopeless romantics. We cry every time we re-watch “Ghost.” We send each other heart-shaped cards even when it’s not Valentine’s Day.

Are Marriages Made in Heaven, or Hell?|By John D. Spalding and Kristina Robb-Dover

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Those who pray for a ýbiblically basedý marriage might want to take a closer look at Scripture.

Whose Taboo?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

In the Feb. 13 issue of Time, Andrew Sullivan offers a powerful defense of the Danish paper that commissioned the cartoons of Muhammad. He notes that the Egyptian ambassador to Denmark insisted the government prevent further reprinting.

Don’t Kowtow to Muslim Outrage!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Every religion and philosophy should be open to criticism and skeptical examination. Ideas must stand or fall on their own merits in an open marketplace. We are all free to choose among them.

Parents Insist “Faust” Promotes the Devil

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

A Colorado music teacher showed her students a puppet version of the opera “Faust,” and, if some parents have their way, she’ll have hell to pay for it.

God as Dr. Frankenstein

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Why is Intelligent Design bad theology, as well as bad science? Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, sums it up in a NYTBR letter responding to Judith Shulevitz’s essay “When Cosmologies Collide.”

Evangelicals Give a Gay Actor the Thumbs Down

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EDT

There are days I’m embarrassed to think that, up until college, I actually considered myself an evangelical Christian. Like today.

Street Preachers to Protest Super Bowl as “Heathen Anathema”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 31 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Calling themselves “Citizens Against Super Bowl Idolatry,” a group of street preachers will gather this coming Sunday outside Ford Field, home of Super Bowl XL, to remind attendees that Detroiters, like many Americans, don’t really have a hell of a lot in their lives to celebrate.

Kansas’ Christian Crusader

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

Republican presidential candidates may not find it as easy to win the evangelical vote in 2008 as George Bush did in 2000, describing himself as born again and proclaiming Jesus to be his favorite philosopher.

Jim Wallis’ “Call to Conversion”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

One of the perks of becoming a national bestselling author is that publishers are suddenly interested in your previous work—the manuscript that was rejected, the book that never found the audience it deserved.

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Spammed

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

SoMA’s Mary Beth Crain is always throwing a fit about the junk that fills her inbox, but this week she decided to channel her negative energy in a more constructive way: to vent about it in print.

Her Shit Don't Stink

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

On a related note: Did you know that people who are holy smell heavenly, and that people who are possessed by the devil stink like hell, so to speak?

Clarification (and More Questions) About Ministering to the BTK Killer

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

The BTK killer’s pastor did not, as yesterday’s blog reported, request permission to perform a jailhouse exorcism on Dennis Rader. Rather, Wichita pastor Michael Clark asked if he could give the serial killer communion.

The Devil Made Him Do It

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

BTK killer Dennis Rader apparently didn’t act alone when he murdered 10 people over a 13-year-period. It seems he had a little help from none other than, yup, Satan.

The Book of Daniel

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

At first, I loved the idea for this show: A pill-popping Episcopal priest gets regular visits from Jesus, who’s got nothing better to do than hang out in a salacious, upscale suburban parish and fire off one-liners like, “Boy, you never know, do you,” as when the priest’s sister-in-law admits to a lesbian affair with the sexpot secretary of her dead husband...

What’s in a Name, Indeed?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

To disarm bigotry in the past, Jews customarily changed their names to sound more Gentile, perhaps most famously in the entertainment industry.

Sex and the Church

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EDT

As a leader, Jesus gave lots of instructions. Pay your taxes. Turn the other cheek. Don't judge others, lest ye be judged. Go out and teach all nations, but take nothing more with you than a staff, sandals and one tunic. Yet for all his concern about how his followers comported themselves, Jesus said little about how they should behave sexually.

Who Says There Isn’t a Jewish Santa Claus?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

"Listen. The goys might have Santa Claus. But we have Santa Cohen!"

Jesus Christ, Deployed to Iraq?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

“Remote Iraqi Village Disappointed in Omen,” read a recent headline, sounding as much like an Onion parody as the article that followed it did. But no. This was a UPI wire story that ran yesterday. The piece began:

The Vatican May Kill Limbo

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

There are some who hold out hope that Pope Benedict XVI will significantly change certain backward church traditions. For example, theologian and SoMA contributor Uta Ranke-Heinemann, who was a fellow student and friend of the pope at the University of Munich in the ‘50s, is crossing her fingers that he’ll allow priests to marry.

The Real War on Christmas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

There is a war on Christmas, says Rabbi Michael Lerner, but it has nothing to do with a “liberal plot to ban the sacred Christian holiday,” to quote the subtitle of John Gibson’s new book.

The Perfect Gift for that Special Christian with a Persecution Complex

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Are liberals stealing our sacred holiday, or do John Gibson and conservative Christians need to lay off the eggnog? A review of “The War on Christmas.”

Saddam's Immortal Soul

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 13 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The Saddam proceedings have gone from trial to travesty so quickly that it makes one question the entire notion of justice.

President Bush’s (Will Ferrell’s) Special Announcement on Global Warming

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 11 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

“…When you think back to biblical times, when Adam and Eve talked to that snake 6,000 years ago when the world was created, it was hot back then, too. Why do you think Adam and Eve were naked?"

Holy Mischief

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The folks at Geez have now released their first print issue, and it looks damn good, with its striking four-color cover and image-rich, 90-plus pages printed on post-consumer recycled paper.

A Winter in the Mountains

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Reflecting on a summit experience in the Swiss Alps, an early 20th century mountaineer named Emile Javelle described the sensation of an "emptiness, terrifying in its vastness," that opened out around him.

Book Note

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Here’s a holiday gift suggestion for the book lover(s) in your life: Welcome to the Fallen Paradise, by SoMA friend and contributor Dayne Sherman.

Bush: A Beleaguered Disciple?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EDT

After 9/11 and leading up to war in Iraq, there was a change in George Bush’s God-talk.

The Pope Wears Prada, Too

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

After Pope John Paul II died last April, U2 singer Bono remembered the pontiff as a “street fighter and wily campaigner on behalf of the world’s poor.” He also said that the late pope “had mischief in his eyes as well as godliness.”

It's Not Okay to Say It's Not Okay

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

“The night my spouse and I first met, another couple in the room made bets on how long it would be before we were married. For me, it was one of those love-at-first-sight moments. He walked up to me at a Metropolitan Community Church event, smiled, and said, ‘Hi, my name's Rob,’ and I fell head over heels.

SoMA’s Sex Issue

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

I was tempted to call today’s four-article “package” SoMA’s “Family Values Issue,” because, really, each of these pieces has just as much to do with family—and how we define it, construct it, and what the church does to muck it up—as it does sex. But sex, the spiritual connection of two people through physical intimacy and what the church does to muck it up, certainly lies at the heart of these essays. And, as they say, sex sells.

SoMA's Book of the Year Award

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Starting in 2005, SoMA will pick the best books of each year, and we’d like your help.

Searching for Peace at Dai Bosatsu

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

In the late ‘70s, SoMA contributor Roger Cox’s mother received a death sentence from her physician, and as her other children quickly retreated, Roger alone stepped forward to help her to the end. But first he sought the strength and peace he’d need by attending a Buddhist retreat at Dai Bosatsu Zen Monastery in the Catskills.

The Problem with I.D.? God... And Pat Robertson's No Help.

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Pity the poor intelligent design folks! They’ve got a tough case to make: that creation science isn’t religion, but is good science, at least as good as evolution—if not better, because evolution doesn’t posit a really, really smart “designer” (a.k.a. God) as responsible for the complex natural order.

Happy Birthday, SoMA!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 09 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

November marks SoMA’s first birthday, and after 12 months of love and nurturing, we’re like most one-year-olds: We can walk holding on to furniture, indicate our wants in ways other than crying, and respond to simple commands without needing gestures. And, yes, we’re still breast-feeding.

Soul Searching at a Psychic College

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 07 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

In her new book “Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife,” Mary Roach puts her finger on what’s so fishy about medium-channeled messages from the beyond: “Dead people never seem to address the obvious—the things you’d think they’d be bursting to talk about, and the things all of us not-yet-dead are madly curious about. Such as: Hey, where are you now? What do you do all day? Can you see me? Even when I’m on the toilet? Would you cut that out?”

Catch SoMA on the Radio

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

If you’re in Canada this weekend (specifically, the Winnipeg area) tune into superstation CJOB 68 on Sunday night, from 9 to 9:30, central time.

Did Bush Deliberately Mislead Us into War? Let's Find Out!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 03 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Jim Wallis (see yesterday’s entry) and Sojourners, a “nationwide network of progressive Christians working for peace and justice,” have dispatched the following “action alert,” petitioning Congress for an independent investigation to determine if and how the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify war in Iraq:

Call to Conversion

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Reading Jim Wallis’ powerful new book, “The Call to Conversion,” one can’t help but wonder if it’s possible for any American, except perhaps the most countercultural, to rightly consider himself or herself a Christian.

The New Jesus: Seducer of Washington, Hollywood, Starbucks, and Anne Rice

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Back when Jesus ran the ministry that later adopted his name, the call to faith was demanding—and a little nuts. You had to give everything you owned to the poor.

Dying Well

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

A hospice chaplain reflects on the similarities between dying well and living well.

Barbershop God-Talk

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The old-fashioned barbershop, it seems, is becoming a thing of the past, unable to compete with chains like Supercuts. Fading into memory are the twirling red-and-white pole and big leather chairs, the clouds of talc powder and the smell of Vitalis and Aqua Velva. It’s a fate that the Nobel prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda perhaps envisioned when, in 1948, he wrote, “The smell of barbershops makes me break out sobbing.” Or maybe he’d been molested by a barber.

Cell-Phone Spirituality

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Instant communication may make us feel more connected. But it’s actually separating us—from each other and ourselves.

The Day of the Kipper

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 07 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As the "Day of Atonement” approaches, reflections on a holiday spent with God, sin, and an empty stomach.

Harriet Miers: Too Much Faith?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

No wonder Pat Robertson is falling all over Bush’s Supreme Court nominee.

Judgment Day

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Oct 2005 00:00:00 EDT

For decades, Roger Cox wondered what he would do if he ever ran into the priest who’d abused him. Then, one day, he did...

Ashley Smith: The Full Story

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

You remember Ashley Smith. She was the 27-year-old Atlanta woman who persuaded suspected murderer Brian Nichols to release her by discussing her faith in God and reading to him from Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life.”

Slumming for God

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 28 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As a Jesuit novice, David Nantais decided to test his trust in God by living homeless for a couple weeks.

Of Zombies and Intelligent Design

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 27 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

I believe physical objects have souls—in some cases the souls of our dead relatives; e.g., my great-great-great grandmother lives in my Eames lounge chair—and that there are hundreds of spirits that control our health, wealth, and happiness, not to mention the weather.

Why God Prefers Processed Food

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 21 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

George Bush, God’s man in the White House, cares deeply about preserving the Good Lord’s creation. He’s against abortion and is uncomfortable with all of that stem-cell research and whatnot. Now, some say burning fossil fuels is bad for the heavens and the earth. But if it’s good for business—oil business—and thus is good for God, how bad could fossil fuels really be for God’s created order, right?

Will Our SUVs Cause More Katrinas?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

An “eco-evangelical” author issues a Christian call to action.

John Bunyan: Christian Hipster

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Quick: What do Lauren F. Winner’s “Girl Meets God,” Patton Dodd’s “My Faith So Far,” and Rodney Clapp’s “Tortured Wonders” have in common? Yes—they’re all marketed to hip, young Christians.

Stuff That Matters

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Katrina’s survivors lost more than homes and jobs. They lost the ordinary, everyday objects that defined their lives.

Mike Brown: No Brownie

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

If Mike Brown really was a Girl Scout in training, FEMA would have been prepared.

Robert Funk, 79

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Biblical scholar Robert W. Funk, founder of the controversial Jesus Seminar, has died at age 79.

The Faithful Respond to Katrina

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 07 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Hurricane Katrina has brought out the best and the worst in people, from great acts of bravery and self-sacrifice to looting and profiteering. And it’s revealed, for those who may have been in doubt, where many of our leaders’ heads and hearts really are.

In the Wake of Katrina

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Writing in exile, a Louisiana novelist reflects on one of our nation's worst natural disasters.

Fred Phelps, Anti-Christ, Strikes Again

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 05 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The hateful Rev. Phelps is now disrupting the funerals of dead American soldiers in the name of God.

Spiritual Discipline...for Dogs?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:00:00 EDT

It isn't easy, raising a spiritual Chihuahua. In fact, it would be easier to raise the dead.

Pastors Have Fun, Too

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Ever ask a minister his or her favorite pastime, and get this as a reply: “Sex”? Didn’t think so. But if they happen to keep a blog, and you happen to stumble into it, you just might discover they get their biggest kicks in the sack.

The Salty Vicar

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Be sure to treat yourself regularly with a visit to the Salty Vicar—the blog of an Episcopal priest “in contemporary suburban Babylon” who “reflects upon politics, theology and salsa.”

Dissing Darwin

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 26 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

True, a startling proportion of Americans don’t believe in evolution, one of the foundations of modern science—including perhaps our president, who says it’s “an open question.”

Expecting an Email You Never Received?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Marcia Thompson Eldreth, creator of the U.S. Christian National Flag, has sent me an email, but I can’t figure out for whom it’s intended. The subject line reads “you still do not ‘get it.’” Sound like it may be for you or someone you know?

Spirituality in America

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 24 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Beliefnet is running an interesting series of articles this week on spirituality in America—the subject of Newsweek’s current cover story.

The Therapeutic Gospel

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

“Once upon a time,” writes SoMA contributor Kristina Robb-Dover, “I was a Gospel-inspired idealist who naively assumed that if you wanted to become a minister, your church would naturally be right there beside you, with the wisest, most effective guidance possible to help you reach your goal…. Ha!”

MILFs—"Ministers I'd Like to Frisk"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Despite a growing celibacy trend among lay people, it seems the clergy may be a lot more randy than I thought.

Moron—I Mean, More on—Tithing

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 15 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Remember the Gospel story in which Jesus boots out followers who fail to tithe? Me neither. But it must be in the Bible used at the Living Word Tabernacle in Waverly, OH, which revoked the membership of Loretta Davis last month after her tithing tree stopped bearing fruit.

On Tithing and Writhing

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 12 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

A former Assemblies of God pastor explains how "giving till it hurts" really can hurt.

The Most Famous Christian of the 20th Century?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Hint: He was born in Austria, tried to take over the world, and no, heýs not the Governor of California.

Bret Easton Ellis, Doing Penance?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 06 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Literary bad boy Bret Easton Ellis says he recently read the entire Bible, 5 to 15 pages a day. Asked which version he’d read, Ellis told the Sunday New York Times he wasn’t sure.

Christian Goat Breeders

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Say you’re a Christian and you want to breed your dairy goat. You go to your local breeder, but something’s not quite right about him. He has that certain je ne sais quoi—maybe it’s the look in his eye, the way he stands, or the pentagram tattooed on his forehead—that tells you he may not be saved.

The SoMA Idolatry Quiz

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Is your faith honest and genuine, or do you worship a golden calf? Answer these 10 questions to find out.

Bill Maher's "New Rules" for Religion

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The world of faith has always been nuts. Now, comedian Bill Maher tries to provide some order.

A “Christian Nation,” Maybe. But Without Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 27 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Tom DeLay is the Antichrist; or rather, he’s one of many Anti-Christs who are taking our nation to hell in a handbasket. I know, we at SoMA keep saying this. But thank God we’re hardly alone in our thinking.

The Power of Prayer?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

When I was a kid, my pastor often said the key to effective prayer was to ask for things “in Jesus’ name.” Dear Lord, please help me find a ride to the mall. I ask this, IN JESUS’ NAME, amen.

The New Christian Flag

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Can the U.S. really be a theocracy without a high-flyin' national Christian flag? Well, now it has one.

The Much-Anticipated Conclusion to "The Deborah Trilogy"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 15 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Relics, relics everywhere. What would you do with a chip off the old saint's vertebra?

It's Lights Out for Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 13 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

I don’t mock people who go nuts over images that resemble religious figures like the Jesus tortilla, the Virgin Mary grilled cheese, or the John-the-Baptist meatloaf. (Or was it the John Madden meatloaf?) That’s because if I ever found, say, the Apostle Paul floating in my cereal bowl, I know I could sell him for a fortune at eBay.

Putting the 'Fun' Back in Funerals

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

When a 55-year-old Pittsburgh man died earlier this month, his widow requested that he not be placed in a casket, but in a recliner holding a remote and facing a TV playing highlights of his favorite football team, the Steelers. His body was dressed in black and gold—the Steelers’ colors—and a pack of cigarettes and a beer sat on the table next to him.

Jews for Moroni?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Could a nice Jewish girl possibly enjoy the annual Mormon Pageant at Hill Cumorah? “Of course!” says SoMA contributing editor Mary Beth Crain, recalling her (perhaps not-so-kosher) childhood visits to the summer event in Palmyra, NY, which kicks off this weekend, July 8-16.

Stop, Look, Listen|By Matthew Moran

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 07 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

An evangelical Christian says there's a time to quit preaching and start hearing what God has to say.

Hip Christian Virgins

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 01 Jul 2005 00:00:00 EDT

While visiting a friend studying at Union Theological Seminary many years ago, I learned how uneasy the topic of masturbation makes the phone counselors at “The 700 Club.”

Sean Hannity and the Confederacy of Dunces

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Schiavo's autopsy has made fools of Sean Hannity and those who argued Terri was lucid and treatable. Their response? Attack her husband, with Mark Fuhrman leading the charge.

Nesting Habits|By Timothy K. Beal

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 27 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As the end of the world draws near, an Alabama man takes shelter in a nest of crosses.

The Five People You Meet in Hell

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

If Mitch Albom’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” didn’t exactly leave you pining for eternity, then Rich Pablum’s “The Five People You Meet in Hell” may be your kind of book.

Love Is in the Air at SoMA—Again

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Contributor Steve Healey responds to Mary Beth Crain’s essay on agape.

Divine Plan, or Divine Comedy?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 17 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

It’s Friday, and I’ve got Rick Warren on the brain again. But not because for three Fridays, ending last week, SoMA ran its “Anti-Purpose-Driven Life” series of essays by Lincoln Swain and now I'm suffering withdrawl. No, it’s because this morning someone posted an interesting comment on the blog entry that accompanied the first essay.

Harry Potter Meets Jesus|By Scott La Counte

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 16 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Hogwarts’ famous pupil may be anathema to conservative Christians. But with a simple conversion, he could be the next evangelical bestseller.

Part III of “The Anti-Purpose-Driven Life”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

“Death is the king of fears. There’s nowhere to hide or to run when it comes. And as a popular song puts it, death is the “one dance you’ll do alone.”

The King of Fears|By Lincoln Swain

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 10 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Sure, we all dread the Grim Reaper. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't get to know him better.

Postmodern Evangelicals?|By Patton Dodd

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 07 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

If Brian McLaren’s new book reflects the “emerging church” in evangelicalism, then the movement may be all form and little content.

Part II of “The Anti-Purpose-Driven Life”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 04 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The Rev. Dr. Swain argues that care of the body is as important as care of the soul.

Agape: Far More Than a Smile|By Mary Beth Crain

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 02 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Divine love is such a complex and demanding ideal that it can’t be reduced to an easy-listening sound bite.

Introducing the "SoMA Poll"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 01 Jun 2005 00:00:00 EDT

I love online polls, especially religion and spirituality polls. I vote in every Beliefnet survey I find. “Do you believe Jesus was literally raised from the dead?” No. “How do you experience the Holy Spirit most deeply?” I struggle to understand/feel the Holy Spirit.

The Anti-Purpose-Driven Life: SoMA’s New Series of Essays

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 27 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

God gave us free will to chart our own destiny

The Anti-Purpose-Driven Life|By Lincoln Swain

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 27 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

God gave us free will to chart our own destiny.

What Would Jesus Eat?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 25 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Though he was born in a barn, Jesus didn’t eat like he’d been raised in one. A look at the Jesus diet.

DeLay-ed Reaction|By Mary Beth Crain

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 24 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As accusations of ethics violations mount, Tom DeLay, the darling of the Christian Right, responds by invoking God and ducking the truth.

A Birthday Party for Whores|By Lincoln Swain

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 23 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Agape is the love that can can conquer hate, fear, and isolation—anywhere. First, we have to cultivate it.

Holy Spirit Gives Benny Hinn a Bum Steer

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 18 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Earlier this year, televangelist Benny Hinn’s website announced that the president of Nigeria had sent two official representatives to ask the mega-rich faith healer to hold a three-day televised crusade in Nigeria, to heal their nation.

Lauren Winner's "Real Sex"

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 14 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

In her new book on sex, the onetime "evangelical whore" morphs into her old nemesis, the Church Lady.

Springtime for Dobson

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 11 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

When you hear the name “James Dobson,” do you think “antichrist”? When you read about “Justice Sunday,” the conservative Christian telecast that shamelessly portrayed Democrats as “against people of faith” for opposing President Bush’s judicial nominees, did the political tactics of a certain German party that rose to power shortly before World War II come to mind?

Religious Persecution: Jesus Christ, Denied a Driver’s License!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 10 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

A man born as Peter Robert Phillips Jr. changed his name to Jesus Christ more than 15 years ago...

And Then Jesus Said, “Vote for Bush, or Rot in Hell!”

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 07 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Pastor Chan Chandler of the East Waynesville Baptist Church apparently confuses devotion to the GOP with devotion to GOD.

To Creed, or Not to Creed

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 06 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

An Episcopal priest wrestles with the ancient words he recites Sunday after Sunday.

A Tale of Religious Masochism

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 04 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

In Part II of SoMA’s “The Deborah Trilogy,” Deborah goes to Italy in search of holy affliction.

Update from Colorado Springs

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 02 May 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Dobson refuses to let LGBT families in for public tour by shutting down.

Gay Rally at Focus on the Family

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 29 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Don't expect James Dobson to show up at this "family picnic and protest" in Colorado Springs.

Bishop Spong on Ecology

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

“It will be impossible to save our world from human destruction unless we abandon the traditional understanding of God,” writes John Shelby Spong in his latest book, "The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love."

The Scent of Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 26 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Mother's Day's just around the corner, and here's the perfect gift--a candle that smells like Jesus.

Yah, Mon!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Last week was a good week for Rastafarianism, as a new study revealed that checking email hurts a person’s IQ more than smoking pot does.

Pope in Africa

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Bad enough that the Catholic Church prides itself on being the world’s oldest top-down institution. The new pope’s reputation for being the Nurse Ratchet of doctrine and dogma could give him added trouble in Africa, where Catholicism is a relatively new, grassroots phenomenon.

Liberty U. Not to Get Jesus as Graduation Speaker

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University has announced that Sean Hannity of Fox News will deliver the keynote address at the Christian college’s commencement on May 14.

Uta Ranke-Heinemann on Benedict XVI

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

In this SoMA interview, the controversial German theologian explains why she's glad her former classmate is the new pope.

"A Humble Intellect"|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 20 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Controversial German theologian Uta Ranke-Heinemann explains why she's glad her former classmate has been made pope.

Holy War

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 18 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

If you were being scrutinized for alleged ethics violations, wouldn’t you like to know your supporters are packin’ heat? On Saturday night, Tom DeLay gave a keynote address at the NRA’s annual convention, thanking those gathered for their support, noting: "When a man is in trouble or in a good fight, you want to have your friends around, preferably armed. So I feel really good."

Bill Frist: Against People of Faith

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

There’s a group of people who consistently attack my deeply held Christian beliefs and values, and I think we all know who they are—anti-Christian conservative Christians.

"Revelations": God-Awful TV

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Before I watched “Revelations” last night, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to clear my mind of all preconceptions. I said a prayer. “Lord,” I said, “maybe this six-part television ‘event’ won’t be so bad...

The Antichrist Is Coming, the Antichrist Is Coming! To NBC, That Is.|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Could the new series "Revelations" possibly be as bad as it sounds? The evidence suggests it'll be even worse.

It Only Takes a Spark

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Bonfires in the development office and other reasons I love my Christian college's alumni paper.

Wrestling with the God of Love|By Teresa Blythe

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Parishioners raised to fear God often have trouble accepting grace. This writer says progressive clergy could do more to help them.

Nuns Saved Me from Nuts|By Jemima Lewis

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As religious fanatics start to come out of the woodwork in England, a British columnist argues that education is the best defense.

Critique of Pure Hokum|By Jennifer Michael Hecht

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 06 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

A philosopher's book-length essay on the differences between lying and bullshitting.

SoMA: A Pope-Free Zone, All Week!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 04 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As the media bombards us with stories related to the death of Pope John Paul II, SoMA is the only religion site you can trust not to offer a single new papal tidbit.

One Man's Living Will

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Robert Friedman on the Schiavo Circus.

Terri Schiavo: Observations & Lessons

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:00:00 EDT

What have we learned?

My So-Called Bedouin Life|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 28 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

What if evolution is just a theory? SoMA's editor bravely followed the implications of this possibility wherever they led— and wound up living in a tent.

Grady Closes Shop

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 24 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Agent Tom Grady goes to Ave Maria Press.

"Father, Forgive Them"|By Stanley Hauerwas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 23 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

A leading theologian explores the mystery of one of Jesus' last sayings.

Satan’s Face on a Turtle's Shell

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Pet store owner sees the devil's face on a turtle's shell.

Boob Tube Nation|By David Dark

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Our popular media culture is turning us into ignorant narcissists. Why should we care? For one thing, it's threatening our national security.

Village Idiots

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

From India: a cautionary tale about superstition and ignorance.

The Zany Zen of Parenting

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Today's parenting memoirs are more rough guides than how-to manuals—full of humor, shared wisdom, and heartbreak.

Baby Talk|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 15 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Today's parenting books are more rough guides than how-to manuals—full of humor, shared wisdom, and heartbreak.

Evangelicals Are Turning Green

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Evangelical leaders back effort to fight global warming. But James Dobson will have no part of it.

Hear L. Ron Hubbard Sing!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Hubbard intended this "craptacular" album to be a “musical statement of what Scientology is really all about!”

Ah, the Wisdom of HST

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The sound of one hand clapping? Smack!

Housekeeping Notes

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

New features at SoMA review.

An Onion Must-Read

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

This week’s Onion: "I Support the Occupation of Iraq, But I Don't Support Our Troops."

Of Troop Ribbons and Bumper Stickers

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 04 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

It is possible to support our troops and oppose Bush's war. Best part: You don't need to put an annoying ribbon on your car to do it!

Hunter S. Thompson—Road Man for the Lords of Karma

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The Good Doctor muses on his karma.

The Founding Evangelicals?|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 28 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

David Barton wants to put God back in American history. But whose God—history's or his?

Support Our Peacemakers|By Daniel J. Webster

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

We publicly honor teens who decide to join the Army. Why don't we pay similar tributes to young people who choose a life of nonviolence?

Vatican to Train Exorcists

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The Vatican's new two-month course on exorcism will teach Catholic priests how to cast out evil spirits.

Psychology’s Top Misguided Ideas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Do you subject your infant to hours of Mozart each day hoping he or she will grow up to be Mensa material?

Congrats to JMH!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 14 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Jennifer Michael Hecht's book, The End of the Soul, won the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s 2004 Ralph Waldo Emerson Award.

Jesus at the National Prayer Breakfast

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

It's no surprise that in a God-fearin’, red-state Christian nation such as ours the National Prayer Breakfast would serve a little Jesus along with the bacon.

Jesus' Hair

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

How did Jesus keep his hair so supple, shiny, and easy-to-comb?

Dobson's Agenda

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

A reader's response to “The Dobson Way,” a recent US News & World Report profile of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family.

Bringing Out the Dead|By Timothy Taylor

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

An archaeologist explains what his field can tell us about death and the human soul.

The Problem of Evil

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

What to make of Miroslav Volf's recent attempt to grapple with the problem of evil in light of the tsunami disaster?

Super Bowl Thoughts

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 02 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Our midwinter pagan festival?

God's Politics?|By Katha Pollitt

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Jim Wallis’ latest book calls for a Christianized progressive politics. But WWFFD—What Would the Founding Fathers Do?

God's Plan for America

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 26 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

If you believe that God constructed the earth geologically so that Christianity would spread west toward America, rather than south or east to less divinely favored nations, then here’s a book right up your alley.

Seeing Satan at the Inauguration

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 24 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The ancient sign of the devil that’s been domesticated into utter silliness.

Did Conservative Christians Goof in Gay Warning Over SpongeBob Video?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The video's creator says that Dobson responded to the wrong website.

Faith-Based Fitness|By Denali Dasgupta

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Religion is used to market everything from books to politicians. But diets and exercise programs? Of course.

Christian Whipping Tool Off the Market—For Now

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

"The Rod" was marketed to Christian parents who want to discipline their children according to Scripture.

Poppers in the Pentagon?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

"It seems the idea was to instigate a massive gay orgy behind enemy lines, or at least to instill a widespread desire to get one started."

Gay Leaders in the Church|By Puck Purnell

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

What do slavery and circumcision have to do with the debate over ordaining homosexuals? An Episcopal priest explains.

The Sin of Consumerism

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Accompanied by members of his Church of Stop Shopping, Talen preaches against the evils of consumerism and chain stores.

Shopper, Repent!|By Bill Talen, a.k.a. Reverend Billy

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

The leader of the Church of Stop Shopping explains how consumerism corrupts us—and how “not-buying” is our salvation.

The Retail Church|By Chris Thron

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 11 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

As American churches become more like retail stores, they're ruining communities and distorting the Gospel.

God and the Disaster

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Richard Dawkin: "Let's get off our knees, stop cringing before bogeymen and virtual fathers, face reality, and help science to do something constructive about human suffering."

Wild Animals Escaped the Tsunami

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 01 Jan 2005 00:00:00 EDT

Somehow they all headed for the hills before ocean water surged inland.

Legislating Religion and Morality

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 30 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

New Yorker humor: “Expected Legislation from the President.”

Italian Police Produce a Mug Shot of Baby Jesus

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

"It came to us as an illumination, maybe it was inspiration."

Paul—Christianity's Unlikely Champion|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 24 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed examine one of Christianity's enigmatic founders.

A John Waters Christmas

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The key to enjoying the holidays is to lower your expectations so you won’t be disappointed.

Golden Pennies

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The Daughters of St. Paul distributed the slide show to Catholic schools and bookstores around the world.

Alabama Judge's Ten Commandments Robe

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The good news is that Alabama judges really love the Ten Commandments, and I don’t mean the Charlton Heston movie.

I'm Dreaming of a Blue Christmas|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Christmas is insufferable because we expect too much. A few depressing tales would provide some balance.

Ole's Take on the Scarborough Debacle

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Ole Anthony sent me an email explaining how the “Scarborough Country” segment on televangelism last Tuesday turned into a disaster.

In Defense of Ole

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Anthony, the only guest willing to question televangelism, was forced to defend himself for finding fault in those who sell God.

TV Preachers|By Gordon Atkinson

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

This Real Live Preacher explains why the guys on TV make him feel like a "jack-booted, lock-step, weak-minded Jesus Nazi."

Bill O'Reilly's Holiday Spirit

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Few give so much to so many as does merry old soul Bill O’Reilly.

A List of Screwy Christian Stuff|By Patton Dodd

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Seeking an authentic faith and a solid education, this writer enrolled at Oral Roberts University. Soon, he was questioning his choice of schools—and keeping a list.

Ghost for Sale

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

An Indiana woman is selling her father’s ghost on eBay to prevent his spirit from returning to her home.

For Crying Out Loud

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 03 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Anyone who knows about my Socrates knows that I have a soft spot for emotional statuary.

Liberal Media Rejects Church Ad Welcoming Gays

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 02 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

It’s true that Jesus didn’t turn people away, but then Jesus wasn’t an executive at CBS, ABC, or NBC.

That New-Time Religion|By Tony Hendra

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 01 Dec 2004 00:00:00 EDT

A top-secret memo from DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe to party chiefs has just been circulated. Somehow it landed in our inbox.

Evangelical Spam

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The emails are legal because they’re not commercial. The only thing they hawk is heaven.

Roll Over for the Religious Right?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

If Martin Luther thought like that...

Roll Over for the Christian Right?|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 29 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

That's not what Jesus would do.

Horrors of War

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 23 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The effects of the depleted uranium.

Mixed Moral Messages

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

When middle America isn’t fighting for moral values and rejecting social chaos, it’s apparently home watching sex- and murder-drenched TV dramas.

The Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The sandwich seller notes that the item has no mold despite its age—a miracle, she says.

Put Away Your Checkbook. The Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese Sandwich Has Been Sold!

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 22 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

To those who bid, and lost, don’t lose heart.

The George W. Bush Presidential Bookshelf?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Imagine you’re visiting Bush’s future library, and you walk into his trophy head room.

God's Math Textbook

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

There are many fundamental theorems: of arithmetic, calculus, and so on.

Bored Out of Our Minds

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sun, 14 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Some psychiatrists say we're in the midst of a boredom epidemic.

Ah, Boredom!|By John D. Spalding

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Sat, 13 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Don't dread the "noontide demon." Boredom can teach us a lot about human nature, freedom, and—just maybe—God.

Religious Insight of the Week

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

‘Bobble! Bobble!’

A Priest-Ridden People

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Thu, 11 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Bush’s slim victories in key states and elsewhere, Blumenthal said, were the result of the direct involvement of churches mobilized by the White House and religious leaders.

Trappist Caskets

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Mon, 08 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

There’s a spiritual as well as a financial aspect to the monk’s casket venture.

So, What in God’s Name Happened on Tuesday?

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

The divine dynamic in the 2004 election.

Faith-Based Voting

editor@somareview.com (John D. Spalding) — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Unfortunately, election exit poll results don’t tell us much about God’s personal role in Bush’s victory yesterday.

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