I am so pleased to see a theologian of “Radical Orthodoxy” ilk (many of whom may sound very standoffish toward much of U.S. politics) articulate what I feel has been much of the theme I have sounded since opening Occupy Theology in November. They are a new kind of political phenomenon because it is not possible to say that they are emerging from Continue Reading
Stephen Colbert at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington in April 2006: “Let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell-check and go home. Get to know your Continue Reading
I was reading a short story (one of my son’s college English assignments), and the theme for the paper was how the story refelected the experience of exile. It ended up making me reflect on how my own theological place to which I have come seems like an exile. It has distanced me from much of the political arrogance of Continue Reading
I had not checked the blogs in my RSS list since yesterday early afternoon, but I found nothing new this morning. Yesterday, I mentioned that I would be heading over the bookstore to see about getting a copy of “How Not To Speak of God” by Peter Rollins. I found the book at Borders, but in perusing it for a Continue Reading
Bill Moyers articulates the base reaction I have to the death of Jerry Falwell. His “legacy” if you will, was the sowing of intolerance. It’s what Moyers describes as Falwell’s “theology of fear and loathing”. That about sums it up. Falwell fueled the fires of religious bigotry. The first two minutes of Moyer’s spot on Bruce Bawer, who has Continue Reading
Rather than cohere directly to one another, we relate to each other through the state by the formal mechanism of contract. Paul’s image of the Body — internally differentiated yet suffering and rejoicing a as one — is supplanted by a formal interchangeability of each individual with any other. –p. 193, William Cavanaugh, The City: Beyond Secular Parodies” inRadical Orthodoxy, Continue Reading
The article to which Eric points us has me quite studious this morning. The only proper sense of “theocracy†is the simple recognition that God rules the world. Of course, the matter is not “simple” when one considers the radical re-ordering of the very questions that get asked when one begins here. The wrestling with the powers like the state and “the city” (Cavanaugh Continue Reading
Carrying on with the thoughts of the previous post, the participation by Christians in the “lexicon” of the patriotic piety, whether it be from the left or the right, is increasingly disturbing to me. I have been noticing more and more of that as I read Hauerwas and the RO writers (JKA Smith, William Cavanaugh, Daniel Bell, John Milbank, Graham Continue Reading
More from the Riverside speech, and “head-on” with the policies and practices of the United States (which was in its “Overthrow” mode before then, during then, and since then….Stephen Kinzer’s book, Overthrow, which I read back in the summer gives historical detail, and James Carroll’s House Of War chronicles the history of the Pentagon and its constant hosting of the Continue Reading
A most excellent and MEATY theological manifesto from the Ancient/Future folks (Robert Webber at Northern Seminary). It seems very much to be something that would garner approval from the Radical Orthodoxy stream. (I know it sounds good to me). A visit to their website reveals an item on their recommended reading list that also indicates a deep stream of ancient-future, Continue Reading
Is the Reformation Over? This event in KC is tempting. I’d love to get over there. I’m mulling it over. If I can land a reasonable place to stay, I may take the plunge. I just got Hauerwas’ Brazos Press Press Commentary on Matthew yesterday. It would be fun to finally meet face to face with my friend Eric, Continue Reading
Something that occurred to me just now. If Obama runs and wins in ’08 , would that make the United States an “Obama-nation”? Heh heh. Maybe James K.A. Smith would think so ? (see Link to Fors Clavigera: Barak Obama: Another Reason to Leave the Christian Left ) Just kidding. But I was trying to explain to my wife about how Continue Reading
There he goes again, and I mean James K.A. Smith. I wish I didn’t like so much of what he says and writes, so I could dismiss him and chalk this up to something degrading, like some sort of condescending intellectual arrogance, because that’s how it has often struck me. And heck, I’m smart enough to freakin’ understand much of Continue Reading
A couple of posts back I was responding to some of the discussion Steve Bush’s post (the church and postmodern culture: conversation: Applied Radical Orthodoxy), and there I delved back into some stuff concerning some initial problems I had been having with some criticism of Wallis by Jamie Smith. In responding to Steve’s post, I wanted to express how I Continue Reading
I read this in one of the replies Steve gives, and have some desire to go further on this: the church and postmodern culture: conversation: Applied Radical Orthodoxy To say that others are rationally entitled to their beliefs is not to say that their beliefs are correct, and, when we see that entitlement and truth are different concepts, we see Continue Reading