News Muse

Musings from the editors of DisciplesWorld magazine on news, religion and whatever else we feel like writing about.

July 23, 2005

A moment of discord in Portland

I've been in Portland, Oregon since yesterday, preparing for the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Today we launched our special General Assembly home page and I've been madly writing stories to populate it.

I was covering a pre-Assembly event on postmodern worship and had been attending some of the workshops and talking with organizers about it and really enjoying it. The highlight today was a multi-sensory, experiential worship service led by Bob Rognlien, who just wrote a book on the subject.

Well, the first time Bob (a Lutheran pastor) referred to God, he used "He." I tried to just ignore it, but then it was "He" again, and then "Father," etc.

Now why do all that rethinking of worship and then not even bother to use inclusive language for God? I had to get up and leave, it just bothered me. Some may call that immature. I feel like at age 40, life is too short to put up with crap.

But it left me with a nagging question for all those who can spend thousands re-doing their worship but not address their pronoun issues: Are you just lazy, or do you actually believe God is a man?

Speaking of that, I took a walk to Portland's Chinatown and saw a Chinese restaurant called "Hung Far Low." No kidding. I want to go back and take a picture of the sign tomorrow.

DisciplesWorld : General Assembly News

July 19, 2005

Happy Birthday Dan Woods


Sometimes in life we get lucky, or as we churchfolk say, we are blessed. Although he looks ticked off in this picture, my husband Dan is usually patient, kind, handsome and puts up with the likes of me.

Today is his birthday, so if you read this posting, email him at woods.da@pg.com to wish him a happy one!

Rape sparks anti-Hispanic violence in Ohio city

Racism against African Americans in the U.S. is, unfortunately, still alive and well. But while it is no longer acceptable to use the n-word (for whites, anyway), or to otherwise appear to be prejudiced or discriminatory against Blacks, we seem to have a hard time recognizing racism against Hispanics and Latinos. Everywhere, from vigilante efforts to crack down on illegal immigrants to kids making fun of a child who speaks primarily Spanish, it's fairly out in the open. And waiting to erupt, as has been happening in Hamilton, Ohio this summer.
DisciplesWorld : North American News

July 18, 2005

Zimbabwe Christian journalists fight Mugabe from exile

Wilf Mbanga once considered Robert Mugabe a friend. Now in exile in England, he is a bitter opponent of the Zimbabwean leader and together with his wife Trish, edits a newspaper criticizing the Mugabe government’s actions.

DisciplesWorld: Zimbabwe Christian journalists fight Mugabe from exile

July 15, 2005

The world according to JEEEBUS!

OK, the first time I saw the 62 foot Jesus statue in front of the Solid Rock Church just off I-75 north of Cincinnati, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone poked fun. My bro Dave put a link to some of these photos on his weblog a while back. Here is a complete slideshow including some I had not seen.The world according to JEEEBUS!

Some might say, "You're just jealous that your little ol' Disciples of Christ church doesn't have a 62 foot Jeeebus out front. Uh, that would be "Jeebus envy," right?

July 12, 2005

The devil made me do it....

Every now and then, a story mentioning exorcism, usually one gone bad, surfaces in the mainstream press. Take a look at this search I pulled up search on DisciplesWorld's web site for just a few recent ones. Evil, the devil and the demonic have always been a theological problem...in my mind, THE theological problem. About a week ago, I started reading Michael Cuneo's book, American Exorcism: Expelling Demons in the Land of Plenty . Cuneo, a professor of sociology and anthropology at Fordham U., spent months researching actual exorcisms happening in America. Many are not Catholic - they are Protestant "deliverance" ministries, some of a rather freelance sort. Cuneo's book is fascinating and scary.
A few days ago, I saw where the BTK killer has attributed his actions to a demon that entered him at some point. Now, there was a time when I would have said b-s as fast as you can blink, but now I'm not so sure. The demonic is as good an explanation as anything else for why someone could become a serial killer.
Then today I came across a story on ReligionLink - a resource site for reporters - about a Columbia College psychiatrist who is actually coming up with a 22-level heirarchy of evil (link at bottom of post).
What do others think about evil? Is it a tangible force? Is there a cause behind it (the devil, or God?) Are there demons? Is it like that line in the movie, The Usual Suspects - "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."
ReligionLink - A hierarchy of heinousness: new views on evil

July 06, 2005

Too Much of a Good Thing: Choking on Aid Money in Africa

I've been watching the run up to both Live8 and the G8 with skepticism. Maybe I've had my fill of sanctimonious celebrities and emotional appeals, but I was relieved to see this article from Germany's Der Spiegel, which casts a sober eye on the development aid situation and asks a few much-needed questions. Yes, poverty in Africa is a huge problem. I don't agree with everything the authors say, but I think they make some good points. Too Much of a Good Thing: Choking on Aid Money in Africa - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

July 03, 2005

Churches and the July 4th holiday

Here's an article that outlines pretty well, through various interviews with pastors in the Pasadena, Calif. area, the different stances among clergy when it comes to July 4 and patriotic celebrations in the church. The article leads off with comment from Troy Sybrant, pastor of a Disciples of Christ congregation.

July 01, 2005

ABC's "Neighborhood" not welcome after all

When I saw a promo for the ABC reality show "Welcome to the Neighborhood," I thought, "uh...okay...."
On one hand, there's the sheer elitism of the show's concept: three upper-middle class white families get to pick from among 7 (wink-wink, nudge-nudge) "less desirable" families - Hispanic, black, a gay couple, a Wiccan, poor white...you get the picture. Each week one prospective family would be eliminated from contention. On the other hand, it might be interesting, even valuable, to get beyond public political correctness and see how prejudices thrive in private realms.
Anyway, ABC, after investing all that time and money, 'realized' that the show could upset some people, not to mention being the target of the Fair Housing folks as illegal. So they canned it.
Here's an idea. Take seven upper-class white conservative 'christian' families, and let them battle each other not to live in a housing project in the 'hood, or a rural trailer park, or an urban gay enclave. Better yet, a freeway underpass. Each week, one of them gets 'excused'. Kind of a reverse-Survivor deal. Now that I'd watch.
HoustonChronicle.com - No welcome for this Neighborhood