Blogaround

A child petting a rabbit. Image source.

1. Everyone gather 'round and laugh at Al Mohler, who claims "to be human is to be a parent." (posted August 27) Wow, what on earth? That's so nonsensical it's not even worth responding to.

Hey, anyone remember Mohler's 2016 sermon about how God wants people to marry young, and it's unbiblical to be a single adult? That was so bizarre! In my blog post responding to it, I said, "I'm not even angry about this, it's just so FUNNY how he's totally making shit up and claiming it's what the bible says."

2. This life-threatening pregnancy complication is the next frontier in the abortion debate (posted September 11) "And yet some abortion opponents have started making the argument that terminating an ectopic pregnancy by medication or surgery is not medically necessary. ... In general, though, doctors, including those who identify as pro-life, say the science is clear: ectopic pregnancies are not viable, there’s currently no way to transplant them, and if left alone, they can and do result in a pregnant person’s death. "

3. The Lion King - Circle of Life acapella arrangement! (posted 2015)


4. Legal Immigration: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) (posted September 16) Yes, this is very important. I especially appreciate how Oliver, who is an immigrant, talks about his own experience and how stressful it is worrying about bureaucracy and paperwork and the possibility of being kicked out of the country. I am an immigrant in China and a lot of that is true for me too.

5. Christopher Eccleston Reveals He Was ‘Very Ill’ With Anorexia While Filming ‘Doctor Who’ (posted September 16) It's good that he's talking about it.

6. Evangelicals and the Gay Gene (posted September 17) "Telling evangelicals that there is a 'gay gene' is tantamount to telling them that we have discovered genetic proof of our sin nature."

Blogaround

Rey with a lightsaber. Happy Star Wars Day, everyone, May the Fourth be with you. Image source.

1. Who’s in Charge of Monks Nailing Theses to Church Doors? (posted April 27) Parody of a Christianity Today article.

2. Man 'healed' as child by televangelist Benny Hinn speaks out (posted April 27)

3. Is Anorexia the Latest Treatment for Obesity? (posted April 27) [TRIGGER WARNING: eating disorder, fat hatred] "This paper perpetuates the myth that fat people can’t be anorexic because weight loss is always healthy, even when it results from starvation."

4. Harry Potter Theory: Is the Sorting Hat ALWAYS right? (posted April 28) "Another character I think they sorted wrong, who isn't really developed much in the movies, is Percy Weasley."

5. Harry Potter Theory: The Truth About Felix Felicis (posted April 25) "But if you're still not convinced, take this under consideration: How did Slughorn have it ready so fast?"

6. The Problem with Gay Conversion Anecdotes (posted April 24) "No matter how gentle or kind the tone, the practical effect of these stories is to equip members of a church congregation with tools to further reject, isolate, and condemn LGBTQ people."

7. Captain Kirk, the Green Woman, and the Bible (posted April 18) "We remember it wrong because we see that green woman in the opening credits through the filter of our idea of James T. Kirk, Womanizer and that filter reshapes what we see, reinforcing the mistake." (The article linked to in that post, Freshly Remember'd: Kirk Drift, is required reading for Trekkies.)

And the follow-up post: Money, Hell, and ‘Kirk Drift’

8. Is Every Speed Limit Too Low? (posted April 25) "This “nationally recognized method” of setting the speed limit as the 85th percentile speed is essentially traffic engineering 101."

9. Estimate of autism’s sex ratio reaches new low (posted April 27) "Researchers find more girls with autism when they actively look for them." NO KIDDING

10. In Christianity, Every Day is Opposite Day. (posted April 29) "The more mismatched a person is to a venture, the less intuitively successful and coherent the idea is, and the more obviously doomed to failure the whole proposal is, then the more Christians find themselves drawn to it and rooting for it–and they only remember the successes."

Blogaround

Image source.

1. Examining Adoption Ethics: Part One (posted May 14) "The missionaries and locals are saying something very disturbing: so often vulnerable birth moms are coerced and misled, families are manipulated and deceived, children are flat out bought. International adoption is Big Business. I’ve read emails describing orphanage directors who paid $20 for birth certificates and $75 to take a baby right out of his mother’s hands."

2. A False Gospel of Reconciliation (posted May 17) "The goal toward which the resurrected Jesus is working in the world right now is not some imaginary peace where people 'reconcile' in name only while the abuse is never stopped and the wrong never righted. No, this is instead a total bending of the violent and unjust world back toward God’s shalom, until it is completely put to rights on the final day."

3. a cartoon for the victims of tornadoes (posted May 20)

4. The legacy of silence: Why we ignore the rape of women from Guatemala to Syria (posted May 13) [trigger warning] "I’ve heard multiple stories that detail honor killings after women have been raped in Syria—a survivor is shot by her own brother/husband/whoever in the family."

5. A letter from a former anorexic to the CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch (posted May 24) "Because beauty is not a number. I know, because I got down to size zero. And it wasn't enough."

6. Is Pope Francis a universalist heretic? (posted May 24) "I think we have a much better chance inviting someone to share in the sacred mysteries of Christ when we’ve sat in the trenches with them and fought for causes that we’ve shared than when we come in and say none of what you’re doing is worthwhile because I haven’t yet presented the gospel to you."