The Marginal Christian's Handbook.

Richard Dawkins: "The universe is queerer than we can possibly image..."

2008-01-10T11:50:35-05:00

...but there's nowt so queer as folk. My favorite "village atheist" on the limits of human perception...an argument which some people might well assert against some of his own theories. At any rate,...

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Blogcombing: "What Have the Faithful Done?"

2008-01-03T16:05:48-05:00

At her excellent (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED) blog, Writing in Faith: Thoughts, Sandy Carlson has posted a beautiful, thought-provoking and very balanced note on how churches as institutions have shown that...

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Gallup Poll: Over 80% of Americans Identify as Christian

2007-12-26T00:06:06-05:00

A Gallup poll about religious beliefs in America doesn't reveal any earth-shaking information. Still, I thought it was worth a comment. About 82% of Americans in 2007 told Gallup interviewers that...

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Torture: An Issue for People of Faith

2007-12-24T07:03:53-05:00

[Cross-posted at Versus & Buck Naked Politics] At Slacktivist, Fred Clark wrote a searing response to Mona Charen's distressing recent column on torture. Thanks, Slacktivist, for doing this---so...

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The Passing Show: the Uses of Prayer, the British Spongebob, Sideshow, and the Church of Christ without Christ

2007-12-21T17:41:38-05:00

by Damozel | I've had a long day of praying and waiting, waiting and praying. Being a certain sort of Christian, I assume that God knows what he is doing all the time and always knows what everyone...

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Ricky Gervais, the Archbishop of Canterbury & The Nativity Story

2007-12-21T05:31:29-05:00

Get Sol Invictus (The Unvanquishable Sun) by Damozel | This conversation between Ricky Gervais and the Archbishop of Canterbury has rattled a few cages and why? Because the archbishop acknowledged...

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Still Here, Still Working Full-Time on the Political Blog

2007-12-03T09:59:57-05:00

I really DO intend to begin blogging about my own life again. But getting Buck Naked Politics up and running (and with a 200+ technorati ranking) and still working full-time has absorbed all my...

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Elaine Pagels talks to Salon about the Gospel of Judas.

2007-04-02T12:33:53-04:00

I was so excited to see this interview. I love Elaine Pagels. I read her book on the gnostic gospels at least once a year to remind myself not to accept with qualification the received wisdom...

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Can I Hear You say Hallelujah? Evangelicals Step Up.

2007-03-17T00:01:00-04:00

The word "evangelical" gets thrown around a lot these days concerning various Christian groups. Some of the groups mentioned are honest-to-Jesus Bible-thumping hellfire-spouting missionary types, but...

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Sara Miles at Salon.com: When Christ-consciousness gets a hook in you, it hurts like hell.

2007-02-18T20:06:32-05:00

I am always happy to find confirmation anywhere that other thinking women with brains, a leftward-tilting sensibility, and a devotion to progressive goals have struggled as I did and do with the...

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Lessons on Christian Life and True Charity: Annie Lamott and Oprah.

2007-01-14T17:37:00-05:00

I posted this note as an entry to my journal blog ("The Flatland Chronicles") and then realized that it is almost entirely about matters of faith and the meaning of the Christianity that Christ...

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Sloth and Other Deadly Sins.

2007-01-09T16:06:00-05:00

JUMP BACK TO INTRODUCTION TO THIS NOTE (IN THE FLATLAND ALMANACK). SEVEN: COUNT 'EM! As previously noted, I come from a religious background that didn't focus overmuch on sin. I first learned about...

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"Franny and Zooey" as a Manual on Prayer.

2006-12-11T02:41:44-05:00

I learned to pray from my parents. They told me to bow my head and say certain words before eating and they taught me to say "Now I lay me down to sleep" before I went to bed. I am...

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How the Democrats could win back Christian voters.

2006-10-27T12:27:57-04:00

From Salon: [quote begins from Salon article by Michael Scherer, "How Would Jesus Vote?"] Pastor Chris Stephens runs his church services like a rock show. Colored strobes dance across the stage,...

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"That About Wraps it Up for God, Then."

2006-10-23T23:13:03-04:00

SEE RELATED ENTRY AT THE FLATLAND ALMANACK. In one of the five volumes of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy, a prominent philosopher (I forget his name) writes books proving the...

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Out of the mouths of babes.

2006-09-18T02:47:09-04:00

Get this: JESUS CAMP. It's the sheer frivolousness of this that gets me down----the light, unanalytical handling of sacred things and sacred text----and the complete disregard of the need to approach...

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God, Death, and Judgment: A heretic's view.

2006-09-06T22:33:22-04:00

I was talking recently to a young friend who is going through a crisis of faith. He can't continue to believe in God, he said, because he simply can't accept the notion of a supposedly just God whose...

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A note on two excellent essays by "Real Live Preacher."

2006-09-02T01:03:12-04:00

In my newest blog, I've created a category of blogs about blogs. My first such entry was a rather lengthy note on two essays published at my favorite Christian site, "Real Live Preacher." In his...

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Christianity, Christ, and Mel Gibson

2006-08-04T02:43:00-04:00

[published on August 4, 2006] I was furious when I first heard about Mel Gibson's anti-Jewish diatribe; and I said so. For one thing, everything he said made it crystal clear that the charge of some...

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Jesus IS "the Christian Left."

2006-07-30T02:50:00-04:00

According to this Washington Post article\, progressive Christians are starting to mobilize to push back against the religious right. There are plenty of people as sick as I am at their hijacking of...

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Was Jesus Married to Mary Magdalene (or anyone)? Why this Heretic Prefers to Think Not.

2006-07-14T02:20:00-04:00

[published on July 14, 2006] 1. That visceral assent. I read---nay, devoured---Holy Blood Holy Grail----years ago. In other words, years before The Da Vinci Code essentially incorporated a sizable...

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A Marginal Christian Looks at Corporal Punishment, Sexual Assault, Transvestitism, Divorce, & Crushed Testicles in the Old Testament.

2006-07-13T02:10:00-04:00

[published on July 13, 2005 in "The Flatland Oracles", my previous blog] A Marginal Christian Looks at Corporal Punishment, Sexual Assault, Transvestitism, Divorce, and Crushed Testicles in the Old...

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First take that plank out of your OWN eye.

2006-07-12T02:00:00-04:00

A Marginal Christian looks at Leviticus on Sexual Sin Generally*; Matthew on adultery specifically; and what we can learn from Christ's encounters with two adulteresses. * CAVEAT: I have only a rough...

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The Jesus Papers, The Jesus Dynasty, The Gnostic Gospels, and what I learned from them.

2006-07-10T01:50:00-04:00

[published on July 10, 2005] I am not a stupid or a credulous person. I hold certain beliefs that those (like my husband and my friend Rumcove) who are invested in their own skepticism would reject...

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Reflections on Contemporary Christianity by a progressive Christian.

2006-01-14T02:30:00-05:00

A progressive Christian versus the Church of Christ without Christ. This blog is one "sub-weblog" of our main blog, The Flatland Almanack. Please do visit us there! I will try to post a note on this...

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The Greatest of These is Empathy

2005-09-18T01:33:00-04:00

[published on September 18 2005 in "The Flatland Oracles" blog, my previous blog] Getting angry at the sight of another’s pain is the most natural response in the world. Why are we being forced to...

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There by the Grace of God Go Those Others: The Hardest Part of Christian Charity

2005-09-17T01:45:00-04:00

[published on September 17, 2005] What is a Christian's first duty to people who have suffered unimaginably and lost ? PICK ONE-- The greatest of these is: A voluntary donation to a recipient who...

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Christianity, 'Christianity,' and Ann Coulter

2005-09-09T01:40:00-04:00

[published on September 9, 2005 in my "Flatland Oracles" blog] An Ann Coulter speech? Thanks but no thanks. A Christian college revokes its invitation. [Salon.com] In addition to the Tim Grieve note,...

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Measure for Measure: How Much Charity Can I Afford?

2005-09-05T01:36:00-04:00

When you're a bystander, far from affluent, and one of nature's misanthropes, how do you make yourself reach out? I'm having the same trouble as the rest of the people I know balancing grace against...

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Fighting Back Against the Church of Christ Without Christ: Why Secular Humanists Need Left-Leaning God Botherers Like Me.

2005-09-02T01:25:00-04:00

I found the perfect name for the "Christianity" practiced by the 'religious' 'Right' from a book by Flannery O’Connor (who was talking about something else entirely. Though I like all her work, I am...

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