August 18, 2008 | 5:40 PM
I watched Rick Warren’s forum with Barack Obama and John McCain the other night. I agreed with both on different issues, and found a lot of their responses telling. When Warren asked Obama how he stood on abortion, he said he was pro-choice, but made the following comment. “One of the things that I’ve always said is that on this particular issue, if you believe that life begins at conception, then — and you are consistent in that belief, then I can’t argue with you on that, because that is a core issue of faith for you.” I’m one of those individuals who believes in the sanctity of human life from conception, and I’ve spent the last few years trying to work out in my own belief what that means beyond the singular issue of abortion.
That inner-struggle is played out in the question on evil and responses by both presidential candidates. In this case I find Obama’s response much more founded on Christian beliefs than McCain’s.
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Posted in Christianity, Ethics, Human Dignity Series, Life, Politics, Theology 
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August 12, 2008 | 8:30 AM
Anne Jackson asked her readers about burnout yesterday. She wanted us to offer what we’d like to hear at a conference breakout session on burnout. Church work often leads to burnout, and Anne talks all about it in her book Mad Church Disease, coming out next February.
I responded with two related thoughts:
1. The gospel we preach produces the churches we get. (Scot McKnight)
2. The system in place produces the results we get. (someone else, but I got it from Jack Allen)
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Posted in Christianity, Ethics, Life, NOBTS 1 Comment »
August 11, 2008 | 11:00 PM
It’s been argued that the US invasion of Iraq was all about oil. I can’t say for sure what our motivations were- and I’m not interested in arguing them now. What we do know is that there is an oil crunch these days, and oil is the primary source of energy for our military and economy. I can see a future of wars over energy sources, especially oil. That’s why I am begging for us to find an alternative to oil as a primary fuel source in America. The less we need it, the less likely we’ll be drawn into the war over oil, and the less likely the wars will even begin. Anyway, here are some thoughts on the war between Russia and Georgia:
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Posted in Environment, Ethics, Life, Politics, Technology 1 Comment »
joe kennedy, 2008
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