My dad sent me a link to this film and asked me if think it's valid.  Take a look:

In a word, no, I don't think this is valid.

For two weeks now, the vast majority of media coverage surrounding Barack Obama's pastor, Rev. Wright, has been a straw man of epic proportions.  After combing through countless sermons in order to isolate individual phrases that might be "shocking", the media has successfully constructed a false caricature of Rev. Wright - and we've been beaten over the head with it for the better part of two weeks.

Rev. Wright's comments seemed crazy. ("God damn America!") They seemed indefensible. (Following 9/11: "America's chickens have come home to roost.")

Then, only after the storm started to die down, Rev. Wright's comments actually appeared in context:

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, former senior pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ, has taken a lot of flak for a handful of statements he has made in a few sermons.  Most famously, he has uttered the words you're not supposed to say after 9/11: "God damn America."  Here is the "full" quote (and by "full" I mean "a pathetic, 10 second snippet of what was probably a 45 minute sermon"):

"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no, God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people.  God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

Troubling words.  But Rev. Jeremiah Wright is prophetic - and right.

This is an op-ed I wrote for a class on public theology, taught by Rev. Susan Thistlethwaite.  It is the culmination of much thinking about marriage, specifically with regards to my personal experience and also in broader terms relating to greater society as well.

Far right Christian extremist Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Giuliani, despite ideological differences such as Giuliani's support for gay rights and abortion.  Robertson certainly deserves credit for being willing to break rank from other prominent conservatives who threatened to form a 3rd party if a pro-choice Republican (read: Giuliani) gets the nod.  But why Giuliani?

Having only recently arrived at seminary, I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be follow God's call. Yesterday, I had a story-telling class in which I shared an unconventional perspective of a familiar story about a call from God...

---

It was three in the morning when the LORD called out to me.

Dag Gadowl...

Dag Gadowl...

Dag Gadowl!

Yes?  This is Dag Gadowl...who is this?  What do you want from me?

Dag Gadowl...

Who is this?  Is this the LORD?

Dag Gadowl!

I remembered that when God calls, even when it's late, the best response is:  "Speak LORD, your servant listens."  

But what I actually said was, "It's three in the morning!  Please come back another time."

Today, I’ve been pondering some tough Jesus questions.  Knowing that this may ignite some interesting perspectives here, I pose them to you now...

Gen 1.26:  Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earch, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."

Gen 2.15: The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. (NRSV)

According to the Chicago Tribune, the Kelly Miller Circus is coming to Deerfield, and some of the local residents are pissed.  A group called 'Skip the Circus' has organized in opposition to Kelly Miller, citing a history of cruel treatment towards elephants and other animals in captivity.

While exercising the other day, I caught about 20 minutes of Mike Murdock on TV. Good thing I was at the gym, because I definitely needed a shower after that...

I've been trying to come up with a framework for easily defining the difference between progressive and conservative churches. Here's what I've got so far...

I just began classes for the M-Div program at Chicago Theological Seminary.  CTS is a seminary of the United Church of Christ, and as a life-long UCC-er, I'm very pleased to be here.

One of my classes is taught by Rev. Susan B. Thistlethwaite, the CTS president and frequent contributor to On Faith.  She's teaching an online course on public theological discourse, and one of the requirements is that each student create a blog.  (How terrible!)

Today was Day 1, of Year 1 for me.  I learned something cool right off the bat that I'll discuss below the fold...