Happy Thanks-giving!!

I've not written much of anything in a while, so if you're reading this, please take a minute to thank God for all the good things you experience! :)

Quote of the Month

"There is not a religious mandate or God-ordained system of health care or insurance. No amount of biblical exegesis or study will lead you to a policy conclusion on health care savings accounts, personal versus employer provided insurance, single payer public systems, or private insurance plans. Luke might have been a physician, but he still never commented on whether or not computerizing medical records should be a national priority." -Jim Wallis of the lefty Sojourners organization

This pleasantly surprising expression of restraint and humble acknowledgment of the fundamentally open-to-question nature of Christian political engagements overlaps to a large extent with my personal contribution to the UMC's 2008 Book of Resolutions (aka the Book of Resolutions Nobody Reads).

"Theology of the Body" for United Methodists

I just wanted to plug a cool event for United Methodists and others coming up on May 21. UMC pastors can get Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credit for this.

Earlier his papal career, the last pope, John Paul II, gave a multi-year series of landmark lectures promoting what one promoter describes as an "integrated vision of the human person - body, soul, and spirit."

What can United Methodists and other Christians who do not accept key points of Roman Catholic doctrine learn from the late Pope's Theology of the Body: Human Love in the Divine Plan? What helpful or at least provocative theological insights might have to offer us on such questions as:

• What is the real dignity of the created human person?
• Why were we created male and female, and what does that teach us about God?
• What is the deepest meaning of human sexuality, and how does spousal love reflect divine love?
• How does this "Theology of the Body" specifically address secular Western culture's popular notion "that our bodies are nothing more than material objects to be used (or abused) for personal pleasure of convenience"?
  

These and other intriguing questions will be addressed at this event on Thursday, May 21 from 9:30am - 5:00pm at the Sheridan Hotel in New Bern, North Carolina. The "official" information on the gathering can be found here. The key speaker will be Dr. Paul J. Griffiths, a professor at Duke Divinity School.

The event is sponsored by the New Bern District of the United Methodist Church, Lifewatch, and Transforming Congregations.

Another Theological Profile Quiz

Well, looks like I may have been in the right church/denomination after all.

So I took this quiz - which is online, and therefore scientific and therefore infallible - and it told me:

"You Scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly [sic] by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan

82%

Classical Liberal

61%

Roman Catholic

57%

Reformed Evangelical

57%

Neo orthodox

54%

Emergent/Postmodern

46%

Charismatic/Pentecostal

39%

Fundamentalist

36%

Modern Liberal

7%

Not quite sure why I scored as high as I did for "Classical Liberal" or how exactly that's defined as different from "Modern Liberal."

Some of my score is probably skewed by my really not liking the way some of the questions were worded.

All the same, such quizzes are always fun.

Which raises the $60,000 question: What's in your theological wallet??


(point of clarification: the scope of this quiz is limited to Christian traditions)

Bigfoot Must Die for Man to Live!

A friend just sent me an interesting Wall Street Journal article entitled "Look Who's Irrational Now."

Basically, it notes the recent books and screeds by the militant "New Atheists" about how crazy and untrustworthy all religious believers are, but reports on a recent survey showing how those involved in more than weekly religious worship, especially members of conservative Protestant denominations, are much less likely than the non-religious to believe in such "paranormal" things as Bigfoot, Nessie, Atlantis, and haunted houses. Apparently, this demographic discrepancy has been noted at various times in previous years.

It also reports that Bill Maher, whose new movie coming out next week promotes his message that "The plain fact is religion must die for man to live," has himself recently boasted of not believing in Western medicine.