I really enjoyed David Brooks’ “book report” on Charles Taylor’s “A Secular Age”. So, this morning in Times And Seasons, I blogged about it.
Might you find it interesting? You may, but you won’t know unless you read it.
Religion
Compassion vs. Codependency
The adversarial tone religion vs. atheism comparison is a detriment in this Patheos blog post, and I’m not convinced that “co-dependency” is the right term, but there’s still an insight here worth sharing:
Compassion is intentional and, sometimes, it is hard. Co-dependency is simply an unsophisticated, primal urge that employs pity as a means of self-preservation.
At a minimum, it’s another perspective on an argument that often separates heartless conservatives from bleeding-heart liberals.
Monday Morning Mormon Madness: Cosmology and Free Will
This week’s post for Times And Seasons does double-duty. First of all, I’m trying to put into practice the idea I’ve discussed in the past that theology can be a form of worship. Second, I’m delving into one of my favorite topics, which is the connection between free will and existence as it pertains to the nature of God and the existential roots of objective morality. Sound interesting? Give it a read. If not, the quote above is probably the best part anyway, so your day has already been enlightened (by George MacDonald, if not by me).
Salon’s New Atheism Takedown
I’m pretty much over the New Atheists these days, probably because the one Facebook friend of mine who posted Dawkins and Hitchens quotes most frequently left Facebook. Funny, how our worldview can hinge on such inconsequential matters. Even when we know all about selection bias and problems with small sample sizes, it just takes too much cognitive power to keep a constant watch on unruly intuitions.
In any case, this is a particularly good take-down of New Atheism (specifically: of the late Christopher Hitchens) and, surprisingly enough, it comes from Salon.
Even more surprising? It cites a “The Most Misunderstood Book: Christopher Hitchens on the Bible,” which is an article from the FARMS Review of the Maxwell Institute out of BYU.
Salon quoting Mormons to take down Hitchens? The world is truly upside down.
Monday Morning Mormon Madness: Modesty and Feminism.
Check that alliteration out! That’s a 5 in a row and 5 out of 7. Don’t try this at home!
Anyway, here’s my weekly post for Times And Seasons, in which I jump into the fracas over (former Power Ranger, current swimwear designer) Jessica Rey and her comments about bikinis, modesty, and empowerment.
This one is definitely less heavy on the Mormon terminology and more universal in scope, although it does address more the concerns of religious (not necessarily Mormon) social liberals and social conservatives. I’m going to turn comments off on this thread, so feel free to weigh in over there if you’d like.
Monday Morning Madness: Great Expectations of Mormonism
It seems I’m back on my Monday morning posting schedule at Times And Seasons. Today I posted about potential problems with Mormon expectations for missions and marriage conflicting with society’s emerging idea of prolonged adolescence. Mostly a Mormon-centric piece again (it is on T&S, after all) but I think margon (Mormon jargon) is relatively light.
Also: I talk about Twilight. So there’s that.
New Low for Anti-Mormons: FutureMissionary.com
[This piece might make more sense to Mormons, but I think it should be of interest to anyone.]
Defining anti-Mormonism can be tricky, but here’s one pretty good indicator. When the denizens of the ex-Mormon subReddit are calling you out, you must have really crossed some lines. And yet, when it comes to the newly launched FutureMissionary.com, that’s exactly what’s going on:
T&S Post: Don’t Debate the Trinity
After a little bit of a break from posting at Times And Seasons over the past few weeks, I’m back in my usual Monday morning slot with a post about the futility of debating the Trinity between Mormons and mainline Christians. Check it out, if you are feeling theologically inclined. (There’s also a gratuitous Star Wars reference to help things along.)
The Real Story on Mormon Missions
Betsy VanDenBerghe has an excellent piece on Real Clear Religion giving the real scoop on what Mormon missions are like. VanDenBergh explains that she’s mostly writing in response to the Book of Mormon Musical:
Pardon my complicating what’s proved an entertaining, laughable, lucrative stereotype, but a Mormon mission fundamentally consists of a whopping dose of reality, humility, and soul searching.
Citing movies (which I didn’t find compelling) and her own experiences (which I did, because they mirrored that of myself and my friends and family), VanDenBerghe proceeds to dismantle three major myths about Mormon missions:
- It’s all about converting.
- It’s an insular bubble protected from the world.
- Missions foster intolerance.
I thought the piece was informative and accurate. I’m not going to say that everything about Mormon missions is perfect because I don’t believe that to be the case. Although some of the things that initially irritated me about missions came to make sense over the course of my own mission (served in Hungary between 2000 and 2002), there were definitely changes that I would have liked to have seen and–in fact–there have been important and constructive changes since I went home. I’m sure there are still many ways that the Church could improve, but in terms of just getting a good understanding of what missions are honestly like, this is a good piece to start with, especially if you’re not a Mormon but are interested in our religion and culture.
“Never Once Did I Have to Sacrifice My Intellect for My Faith”
A simple, beautiful recounting of one young woman’s journey from atheism to Catholicism. I loved it.
I also thought how it might be a really great thing for someone to come to Christianity after a life of atheism rather than the other way around. So often the folks who are raised in the faith have a hard time coming to grasp the value of what has always been right in front of them. Does a fish really understand what water is? Because someone wandering through a desert absolutely will.