Jeff Bridges

"Effective rebellion isn’t just expressing your personal feelings. It means replacing one set of..."

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:02:02 -0500

“Effective rebellion isn’t just expressing your personal feelings. It means replacing one set of authorities and institutions with a better set of authorities and institutions. Authorities and institutions don’t repress the passions of the heart, the way some young people now suppose. They give them focus and a means to turn passion into change.”

- David Brooks, “How to Fight the Man,” New York Times, 2/2/2012. (via anotherwasteoftime)

“Speaking Christian” is not, actually, what you...

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:02:31 -0500

“Speaking Christian” is not, actually, what you think it is:

In his book “Speaking Christian,” Marcus Borg argues that some of Christianity’s most important terms have acquired meanings vastly different from their original intent. For many Christians, the word “believe” now means believing the statements in the Bible to be literally true. This can generate some exhausting mental gymnastics because you have to account for seas parting, walking on water, Jonah surviving inside a fish’s belly for three days, and the earth being six thousand years old. But the original meaning of believe was more like “belove,” as in beloved, to hold dear. Belief was about commitment, loyalty, and allegiance—not to a set of statements, but to God. This allows believers to draw less literal meaning from the Bible.

"The story of Job is that one day God and Satan are having a conversation, and they’re saying,..."

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 10:04:02 -0500

“The story of Job is that one day God and Satan are having a conversation, and they’re saying, “Have you checked out Job? I’m really proud of Job. He believes in me and he trusts me so much, and he has such great faith in me.” And Satan is like, “I bet I can change his mind.” And so Satan systematically destroys Job’s life. Takes away his wife his children, all his material possessions. What follows is this ongoing conversation between Job and his friends about, why does this happen? Why does God allow this to happen? Only then does God speak up and say, “You’re going to question me?! Who are you?” My point is, sometimes when we ask the why in the face of profound evil, I kind of wonder if what we’re doing is that we’re daring God to show himself. And I think what we want out of the why is meaning to life, to reveal itself in a way that restores order and gives us hope that all of this isn’t just meaningless chaos.”

- Jeff Jensen, “Why are bad guys bad?”, RadioLab, January 9, 2012.

Duke professor wants to replace term papers with blog posts.

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 09:28:00 -0500

Duke professor wants to replace term papers with blog posts.:

Having written both myself, this is totally absurd. The academy exists to teach people how to think critically and express those thoughts in a clear, nuanced way. Blogs exist to persuade and convince through rhetorical force. Clear and nuanced arguments can contribute to this end, but rarely constitute the core of a post. From the article:

Because, say defenders of rigorous writing, the brief, sometimes personally expressive blog post fails sorely to teach key aspects of thinking and writing. They argue that the old format was less about how Sherman got to the sea and more about how the writer organized the points, fashioned an argument, showed grasp of substance and proof of its origin. Its rigidity wasn’t punishment but pedagogy.

Exactly right (aside from the strange reference to Sherman, which doesn’t make sense even in the full context of the article). But there’s no reason blogs and papers can’t coexist. From a professor at Standford:

Professor Lunsford is playing to student passions. Her writing class for second-year students, a requirement at Stanford, used to revolve around a paper constructed over the entire term. Now, the students start by writing a 15-page paper on a particular subject in the first few weeks. Once that’s done, they use the ideas in it to build blogs, Web sites, and PowerPoint and audio and oral presentations. The students often find their ideas much more crystallized after expressing them with new media, she says, and then, most startling, they plead to revise their essays.

I like this approach, which helps to ensure that the arguments being made in those blogs and tweets are well-considered. But, then, I didn’t compose a 5-page paper before writing this post, so I could be wrong…

A "Strongly Worded Letter" to Bank of America

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:22:03 -0500

From maryschmidt, written to BofA the day before the auction of a house her parents had owned for 23 years. It was taken by the bank after her father suffered a stroke, and they couldn’t refinance the mortgage:

When you enter the house, you will notice the colorful walls and vibrant tiles. We call that my mom’s “mid-life fiesta.” Enjoy that. It was a labor of love. Each colorful tile was made by mom and laid by my dad. Those bookshelves, that mantel, the fence in the front yard…my dad built those. You are welcome.

Meanwhile, banks got a trillion dollars in bailout money from the government. How is this just? Full letter on Mary’s site.

"Wherever the early Christians appeared, spreading Christ’s doctrine of love, the resident power..."

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:01:04 -0500

“Wherever the early Christians appeared, spreading Christ’s doctrine of love, the resident power structure accused them of being “disturbers of the peace” and “outside agitators.” But the small Christian band continued to teach and exemplify love, convinced that they were “a colony of heaven” on this earth who were missioned to obey not man but God.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr. (via azspot)

Good idea: Democracy doesn’t stop on election day. We need...

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 01:13:10 -0500

Good idea: Democracy doesn’t stop on election day. We need to #occupy the agenda.

"The officer repeatedly punched the left side of my face for long enough that I had time to pray that..."

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 08:57:36 -0500

“The officer repeatedly punched the left side of my face for long enough that I had time to pray that the crunching sounds I heard were not damaging my brain.”

- Rev. John Helmiere, on his encounter with Seattle Police at an Occupy protest earlier this week.

Photo

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:47:37 -0500

From an interview this afternoon with my friend Dave Woessner,...

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:25:01 -0500

From an interview this afternoon with my friend Dave Woessner, one of the founders of the Occupy movement’s Protest Chaplains:

“What do you think it looked like when Jesus was roaming the Judean countryside with a couple hundred people—a ragtag bunch? Who refused to identify himself, “Who do you say I am?” People are like, “What’s this occupy movement about?” This is exactly the same conversation they were having about Jesus of Nazareth. I don’t know why it’s so difficult for people to see, but I suppose it is.”

Isn’t he, though?

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:17:26 -0400

Isn’t he, though?

"Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make..."

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:38:00 -0400

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart…. Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

- Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech, 2005. Godspeed.

If you’re not disturbed, you aren’t paying...

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 09:41:00 -0400

If you’re not disturbed, you aren’t paying attention. The only thing that should be too big to fail in this country is the middle class. Where’s Teddy Roosevelt when we need him? (Banking Bracket via Michael Bowman)

Photo

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:33:53 -0400

Well that’s something. Would it have made any difference...

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:53:05 -0400

Well that’s something. Would it have made any difference if the second option were, “Sticks to his or her principles, no matter what, even if it means another recession”?

(via tarakims:ilovecharts:whatilearnedinschool)

"When people say, “the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001,” we have to say “No, the..."

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:00:00 -0400

“When people say, “the world changed on Sept. 11, 2001,” we have to say “No, the world changed on 33 A.D.” The question is how to narrate what happened on Sept. 11 in light of what happened in 33 A.D.”

- —Stanley Hauerwas

While I have a great deal of respect for Stanley Hauerwas, there are many different ways to interpret the crucifixion, and not all of them require some sort of ontological change in the universe. The third-century Christian theologian Origen, for example, saw the incarnation as leading to a crucial change in how we as humans understand our relationship to God, but not as something that fundamentally altered the reality of our existence.

Plus, if you actually say that, you kinda sound like a jerk.

My 9/11

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:22:00 -0400

Ten years ago I was on a plane from Denver to Columbus, connecting through Chicago. After landing in Chicago, our pilot got on the intercom and told us, “Ladies and gentlemen, there’s been an incident. The president has been notified. Two planes have flown into the World Trade Center.” Then he walked up and down the aisle comforting passengers. I learned that he used to work with the flight crew on one of the planes that hit the towers—yet he was comforting us. I left my suitcase at the airport and made my way by Greyhound back to college. I didn’t see any TV coverage until well after midnight. It was all surreal.

Prayers for those whose lives were changed that day, and by all that has happened since.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world:
grant us peace.

Now that’s some good Jesus.

Sat, 03 Sep 2011 11:27:09 -0400

Now that’s some good Jesus.

Who is worship for?

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:28:43 -0400

A couple of weeks ago I went for high tea at the National Cathedral here in Washington. My girlfriend made me do it, and while I’d like to say I hated every minute of it, those tiny sandwiches were actually quite good.

After our tour of the world’s sixth largest cathedral (and the first place I ever felt closer to God after a worship service), we stopped into the gift shop and I picked up this great little book called The Episcopal Handbook. In the chapter titled, “Why some Episcopalians bow and cross themselves (and why some don’t),” it says:

Some [Episcopalians] believe [crossing yourself] is ostentatious and superfluous. Acts of worship are not primarily for ourselves, they’re for God, so goes the argument, and the participation in outward signs of piety such as this should be avoided. [emphasis added]

Now it’s entirely possible that my wonderful Calvinist girlfriend has just completely brainwashed me here, but I don’t think that acts of worship are primarily—or even secondarily—for God. God doesn’t need anything from us. The guy’s God, after all. Our acts of worship are for ourselves, and not in some “they get me stuff when I die” sort of way. Rather, worship reminds us of our place in relation to the divine, and the relationship we share with the divine.

God does not demand that I cross myself, but I have come to appreciate the practice. Other people may have very good reasons for not doing it. In either case, the devotion we express to God, whatever form that takes, benefits us, changes us, and acts on us—not on God.

One very damning infographic on what’s protected—and...

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:19:15 -0400

One very damning infographic on what’s protected—and what’s not—in the upcoming debt negotiations.