In John 19:38 Pilate responds to Jesus when he quips, “What is truth?” It was more of a commentary on the problem of language in that day than on the claims of Jesus. The very definition of “truth” in Greco-Roman culture was elusive and contradictory. For the common people, all truth claims were regarded as equally true. For philosophers, all truth claims were equally false. For politicians, all truth claims were equally useful. When Jesus … Continue reading
Category Archives: Tolerance
The first time I recall being aware of the devastating power of Black Lies was probably in the 2000 election battle between George Bush and Al Gore. I was running my daily errands, and while at the Post Office, I witnessed the woman ahead of me having a near emotional breakdown. She was pleading with the postal clerk to not vote for Bush, and finally made the hysterical assertion, “Bush wants to kill women!” Now, … Continue reading
(Originally printed in the Winter 2005 Issue of the MCOI Journal) The morning of November 3, 2004, which dawned darkly upon liberals, offered a ray of hope to conservatives. George W. Bush was re-elected as the President of the United States. With his re-election a new psychological disorder was born— dubbed PEST (Post Election Selection Trauma): More shocked John Kerry supporters on Wednesday sought psychological help with “post-election selection trauma” in South Florida, prompting the … Continue reading
(Originally printed in the Winter/Spring 2016 Issue of the MCOI Journal ) Though I no longer consider myself a Christian, I’m still keeping a space for God in my heart. I didn’t lose my religion. Instead, I’m creating my own. I don’t believe that we humans can live and function happily without any belief or faith in something outside of the physical world we live in. 1 These words from Keay Nigel near the end … Continue reading
In a previous blog post, I wrote about sociologists finally recognizing that evangelicalism is viable ideology to study seriously. Well now two sociologists are studying another aspect of life that most evangelicals have experienced at one time or another. I’m talking about the prejudice that dare not speak its name lest we get shinned kicked by the knee-jerk reactions. Some people have a genuine, palpable, and uniformed opinion of Christians and this leads them to … Continue reading
(This originally appeared in the Winter 2000 edition of the MCOI Journal) By Sarah Flashing & Joy A. Veinot Many people faced the new Millennium with a sense of dread and apprehension. What would happen to the world in our new century? War? Famine? Economic collapse? Armageddon? We have now survived Y2K, so perhaps millennial fever will cool down for a time. Perhaps the rosy optimists will have the upper hand for a time—at … Continue reading