A Guy in the Pew

To me, this is just---well, odd, and very disturbing. Am I alone? Amid cell phones ringing, video cams rolling and ice cream melting under the Florida sun, a blood-spattered Jesus stumbles through the crowd on his way to Golgotha, where nasty Roman soldiers strip him, nail him to the cross and crucify him—while perspiring tourists look on in Bermuda shorts. After the resurrection sequence, visitors applaud and line up for a photo op, not with Mickey or Minnie, but a disciple or bloody-handed yet friendly centurion. Welcome to Orlando's most unusual theme park, the Holy Land Experience. Read it all here .

This map shows which of eight major Christian denominations has a plurality in the United States, county by county. the map obviously does not capture the full story given the rich diversity of Christian denominations in the United States, but it does show much of the regionalization of the major denominations. The map and analysis can be found here . Hat Tip to my friend Jim .

Not surprisingly, it appears that the worldwide Lutheran community is facing the same internal conflicts over same sex relationships as the Anglican Communion. This report suggests that despite the fact that one national church (the Swedish Church) has already announced that it would give blessings to same-sex couples in committed, faithful relationships, it appears that the discussions within the Lutheran World Federation are more civil than those now occurring within the Anglican Communion. Nonetheless, but the danger of schismwithin the Federation--also largely on North/South lines--is still real: Blessings for people living in same-sex relationships triggered heated debate at a meeting last month of the main governing body of the Lutheran World Federation in the southern Swedish city of Lund. Divisions that have torn apart the Anglican Communion and created discord in other Christian denominations received an airing March 22, but no action was taken. As with the divisions among An...

Stephen Prothero, the chairman of Boston University's religion department has just written a new book 'Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know - And Doesn't , that raises serious questions about Americans' knowledge about religion--both about their own religion, and the religion of others. As this article reports: Prothero and others have found a shocking lack of knowledge about the religions to which Americans purport to belong, bested only by their ignorance of religions to which they don't belong. Surveys say only half of America's adults can name any of the four Gospels. Most Americans can't name the first book of the Bible. Only one-third know that Jesus (not Billy Graham) delivered the Sermon on the Mount, and most Americans think Jesus was born in Jerusalem. (It was Bethlehem.) What is especially interesting, however, is Professor Prothero's discussion about the lack of religious knowledge even among the faithful: In this country, Ch...

I am a political junky--I have run for office three times (and won twice), have served as a political appointee in two different federal positions and now am the attorney for a state political party and several candidates and political causes. I happen to think that public life is a high calling, and have deep respect for elected officials on both sides of the aisle. And for that reason I was pleased (but not surprised) when Greg Patterson (a member of a different political party) gave this website a big boost by a post on his website . One of the issues that most fascinates me about politics is the degree to which Americans vote their values, not merely their pocketbook. Thomas Frank made this point in his book What's the Matter With Kansas , which described how low and moderate income conservative religious voters in Kansas were voting for elected leaders who actively supported policies that hurt them economically. At the time, a reviewer suggested that Frank's next book shou...

In an earlier post I noted the fact that it was our personal experiences with gay and lesbians that led us to take a hard look at the theology of same sex relationships. Since I was criticized by Hansoniana (in a kind way) for arguing that theology should be developed by these personal experiences alone, let me be clear: my point was that these personal experience merely lead to the inquiry, they themselves do not answer the theological question. Nonetheless, these experiences offered us important empirical information that can inform the theological exploration in at least two instances. First, these personal experiences confirmed that sexual orientation is innate, and not chosen. Second, these experiences showed that same sex relationships can be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Another example of the call for further inquiry as a result of these personal experiences is that of my own priest, Nicholas Knisely (a self-described--and accurately s0-- theological conservative ...

As we come close to Holy Week, I think it is time to focus on the Cross. Over the course of Lent, I have been doing much reading and thinking about the theological concept of atonement --the fact that Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, and by that death he wipes out our sins and defeats death itself. This is at the center of my faith. This is what I believe. Nonetheless, I think there are difficult issues worth exploring that might help me illuminate this faith. I therefore decided to explore the mystery of the Cross and atonement with the following admonishments in mind from C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity : "We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is Christianity. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: mere plans or diagrams to be left alone if they do not help us, and, ...

As I watch the debate unfold within the Anglican Community about issues of same sex relationships, I am struck by the importance of our own personal story as we each struggle to come to conclusions about these issues. I am no different--I was lead to take a closer look at scriptural references that appeared to condemn homosexual relationships only after I was confronted with the reality of gay and lesbian friends and family. I was confronted with very good people in apparently healthy committed same sex relationships, and with the reality that my gay and lesbian friends and family members had no choice in their sexual orientation. I therefore faced the tough issue--how were these committed relationship sinful? I am finding that my story is the story of many who have concluded that committed, same sex relationships are not sinful. In each instance, before we began to do the tough biblical and theological thinking on this issue, we were confronted with the reality of the lives of real hu...