Category: Society

'Tis the season (no, not that one yet), to be politic. At my church we did just that a couple weeks ago, with a lecture and discussion on political engagement (click on the link for audio). My part of the event was to talk...

I've been reading about US political history a bit lately and enjoying the dialog. I like so much of what the founding fathers believed and incorporated into our nation's DNA.  Freedom of religion and speech are two great ones....

Here are three related books that have fallen into the same pile by my easy chair for two reasons: (1) They are roughly about church and politics/society. (2) I happen to already own them. (3) I'm embarking on a bit of an...

Why is the whole "I'm into Jesus not into religion" approach generating so much controversy? I thought we evangelicals had been saying this since about 1960.  Why is anyone upset about it? I don't get it. It's just an old...

News item today got me thinking: a ten year old girl was disturbed because she observed a man a the Seattle public library watching pornography the a library computer. The librarian was apparently sympathetic when the parent...

From what little I've seen of the Occupy Wall Street movement  and it's humble little brother, Occupy Bellingham, I'm not terribly impressed.  I don't disagree with the stated goal of addressing corporate greed and its...

George Gallup died on November 21 at the age of 84. He was well known for is polling of American Christians, particularly in ways that challenged the rosy picture painted in the middle of the 20th century.  Quote he: "We...

Here are some different things Christian say about Halloween, not all of which I necessarily agree with. I've added some of my takes to the mix as well: Some say it's evil because it glorifies gore and horror. Having...

Natural Guitar Tuning The other day I was at a group guitar lesson with my daughter, Autumn, and I was showing her how to tune her guitar. No, I wasn't showing her how to line up the meter up on an electronic tuner. I was...

It's a beautiful fourth of July here in the Pacific Northwest. What better than to sit at my computer, staring occasionally out into my lush yard for inspiration, and write a blog post about the USA. I'm going to click the like...