Month: January 2012

They Were Right (And Wrong) About The Slippery Slope

They Were Right (And Wrong) About The Slippery Slope

Rachel Held Evans:

It was easier before, when the path was wide and straight.

But, truth be told, I was faking it. I was pretending that things that
didn’t make sense made sense, that things that didn’t feel right felt
right. To others, I appeared confident and in control, but faith felt
as far away as a friend who has grown distant and cold.

Now every day is a risk … but the view is better, and, for the first
time in a long time, I am fully engaged in my faith.

When asked which command was the greatest, Jesus said:

‘You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all
your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first
commandment.

[Matthew 22:37-38][1],
New Revised Standard Version

I take this to mean that God does not want us to check our brains in at
the door. He demands our whole mind. That includes the part that asks
questions, the part that thinks rationally. He wants our whole heart.
That includes the part that hurts when people suffer and cries when he
realizes he was part of the problem. We must ask the hard questions, use
the brains he gave us to make sense of this world, and use the talents
he gave us to change the parts of the world that make no sense.

Pressing For Decisions

Pressing For Decisions

Scot McKnight:

…twelve ways revivalism’s theories of conversion have shaped and
permeated evangelicalism:

  1. Conversion is equated with salvation
  2. There is an emphasis on human choice and decision. It’s all about
    the will.
  3. Conversion is seen as punctiliar, something that happens all at
    once, can be dated and marked and known.
  4. Revivalism is ambivalent about the intellect and is often
    anti-intellectual.
  5. Conversion becomes an individual transaction with God, apart from
    the faith community/church.
  6. Revivalism is ambivalent about or even anti-sacramental. (Including
    baptism.)
  7. For revivalism, conversion is easy and painless and certainly not
    costly. “Just accept Christ today.”
  8. Among revivalists, evangelism is reduced to techniques.
  9. Revivalism pushes that God has no grandchildren, but is ambivalent
    about second-generation Christian nurturance into conversion and
    faith.
  10. Revivalism has at times struggled with connections between
    conversion, baptism and the Holy Spirit.
  11. The church’s mission is to obtain conversions.
  12. Revivalism focuses on the after-life with minimal reference and
    orientation to this world.

Dallas ISD Trustees Closed 11 Schools Last Night

Dallas ISD Trustees Closed 11 Schools Last Night

Greg Howard (no relation):

The vote to close schools felt predetermined. Once the human element
was removed, it was the most rational thing to do. Of the eight voting
trustees, the first five voted to pass the proposal. Upon hearing the
fifth, there was an audible groan in the main chamber. Fighting back
tears, parents began to pick up their weeping children and exit the
room … parents, teachers and children left 3700 Ross either in
silence, deflated or in the same tears they’ve been shedding for
months.

One “L” or or Two?

One “L” or or Two?

The question just came up at work, do you use one “l” or two when you
spell the past tense of cancel (canceled or cancelled)? It turns out
both are valid, but which one is preferred?

Maeve Maddox at DailyWritingTips says:

The double l in cancelled is British usage; the single l is American
usage… In American usage, the final l is doubled only when the
stress falls on a syllable other than the first.

Where British usage calls for levelled, libelled,
quarrelled, and travelled, American usage has leveled,
libeled, quarreled, and traveled.

American usage agrees with British on annulled, controlled,
patrolled, and extolled because the stress falls on the second
syllable of these words.

Confused yet?

J.C. Penney to Reinvent Itself

J.C. Penney to Reinvent Itself

Maria Halkias:

Gone are the dollar and percent-off coupons, morning only sales,
additional markdowns at the register and all the “gimmicks,” Johnson
said. It will get rid of signs with promotional prices above the racks
telling shoppers how much of the artificially inflated “full” prices
they’re getting. To make things even more simple, prices will no
longer end in 99 cents.

Now that sounds refreshing.

The Story of Henry Texas Howard

The Story of Henry Texas Howard

Megan Howard:

Henry has adjusted quite well to life on this earth — it’s his
parents who are having difficulty adjusting to life with him. We love
this little guy to bits, but we’re not always sure what to do with
him. Henry is healthy, eating well, pooping up a storm, and only cries
when he needs a diaper change or something to munch on.

I didn’t believe at love at first sight until January 10 at 2:25am when
I first set eyes on my son.
Continue reading “The Story of Henry Texas Howard” →

Is SOPA Perfect for OWS?

Is SOPA Perfect for OWS?

Dave Winer:

It was all about corporations. On the one side is Hollywood and on the
other side is Silicon Valley. That’s how news people think. They look
for big rich entities that are facing off and make it an epic battle.

Spot on analysis. News has become entertainment. It’s almost like
writing historical fiction where you take some facts and build a story
around them. In order to sell the ads, you need to attract the people,
so you create something that will get the people to watch. Find the
facts and build a story around them.

The fact is that new legislation will give the federal government the
power to take over your website at the first complaint of a copyright
holder. No investigation, no due process, no proof. Just a compliant.

This isn’t tech startups vs movie studios, it’s the federal government
vs our right to free speech. But that’s not the story news people want
to tell.