Sean R. Reid

One of the more frustrating aspects of my journey of faith, both before and after coming to Christianity, was the seeming divide between what could only be considered “fundamentalists” in both the science and religion camps. I think Stewart nails that point to the wall here. It’s one in which I’ve made myself. At some point there is a layer of “faith” to all scientific exploration despite it lacking a deity. The scientific method is the best means for acquiring answers to many of the questions of the “how” of the world but even it has it’s limitations. Particularly when it comes to the “why” of the world, a question which religious faith is more adept at answering.  To these ends I think Stewart’s comparison of anti-matter and God, albeit a humorous simplification,  is spot on.

h/t: Huffington Post via Pete Enns

More important is the statement made by Robinson regarding the nature of this debate, “The gladiators for both sides are inferior representatives of these sides.”  I couldn’t agree more.  The longer this shallow, arguably spurious, debate continues the less quality we get from the worlds of science and religion.  It becomes folks like Dawkins and Hitchens trying to out-yell the Southern Baptist Convention and Kenn Hamm. It is a futile and stupid exercise that advances nothing aside from egos or a few more book sales.*

Thankfully there are organizations like BioLogos which bring a measure of sanity and intelligence to the table. It’s a refreshing change from the rampant stupidity.  Sadly, both sides seem to be threatened by the idea that they should be challenged to think which places BioLogos, and like-minded individuals, squarely in the cross-hairs of the aforementioned screaming hordes. I think Chaplain Mike from InternetMonk.com said it best when he referred to it as “trench warfare.”

I’m also thankful for folks like Marilynne Robinson who seem unafraid to call “bollocks” on this debate. I’ve not heard of her before watching the video but now I’m very intrigued about picking up her new book.

Hmm…did product promotion just work on me?? 

*Which I argue might be the actual reason for the debate the first place. Nothing sells quite as well as controversy, even a manufactured one.

Aside from the Nikki & Kat post (which is STILL the #1 post by a LARGE margin) my post from yesterday has been getting quite a bit of attention.  As I was going through my stats I noticed that this post: “I’m a Rebel so I rebel” had picked up a few new hits.  That particular post was written a little over a year ago and I really had forgotten a lot of what was said. So I went back and took a look and MANY things stuck out to me. Notably:

So, maybe it’s okay to be me. Actually, it’s more than okay to be me.  Jesus loved sinners. As a matter of fact –and I loved this part of the Rebel series– Jesus was a FRIEND TO SINNERS.  It dawned on me, Jesus isn’t asking me to change my clothes, my music or my hairstyle.  He’s asking me to change my HEART.  More importantly I don’t have to change my friends.  I have to change MYSELF.

and,

So I’m going to keep being me and loving my friends for who they are.  I’m not going to sink into the safety of the “Christian ghetto.”  I’m going to be an honest and loving follower of Christ.  I won’t judge, but I will do my best to pray for and love others.  I won’t hide, I’ll go madly into the night and challenge sin where it rests. But I don’t think I need Christian Karate lessons or a “Jesus Saves” t-shirt before I do. I’m going to continue to work to be an honest and authentic Christian.  Most of all, I’m going to be a friend. Afterall, THAT is what Jesus would do.

I’m inclined to say “oh what a difference a year makes.” However, I would encourage you to go and read the whole thing. At their core both entries are essentially saying the same thing. Granted, yesterday’s post was significantly more angst-ridden and anger fueled.  At the moment I’m still feeling rather rejected and abandoned so it should come as no surprise that is the tone that came through.  Obviously in the earlier post things were still rather fresh and new and I was obviously pretty high on the whole experience and very “yay Northpoint!”  So, I think understandably, in light of my that particular experiences that one year makes a HUGE difference. Also, it’s pretty obvious that I have a long way to go on that whole “I won’t judge” part.

(more after the jump)

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I’m trying to get back into the swing of regular updates.  I’ve got a few irons in the fire as of late, including the work I’m doing on the GotSpirit Network.  If you haven’t been following my Twitter feed the you should click the link and see what I’ve been up to.  Short version, for those not interested in clicking, is that I’m building a network of websites to cover cheerleading in Georgia.  What can I say, it’s my niche and I do it well.

I’ve also got a few other projects, some in my head, some in progress.  So I’ve been away from the blogging here primarily because I’m writing so much content elsewhere.  I’m hoping any writing is good writing.  Ideally I’ll improve with each character I type.

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This shouldn’t be quite as funny as it is. There are moments where the use of some terminology is, I think, unintentionally ironic, or jokes that are a bit too base.  I’m going to assume that they were modeling it on Spinal Tap and choice of the word “flamers” is meant to be internally inconsistent to be satirical.  Otherwise there were some some really bad choices that lose the message under the weight of the very problem the video was trying to address.

As satire, I think it’s great.  In case you’re not sure, satire is designed to offend, push buttons, make you uncomfortable or flat out offend (ever seen South Park?).  In that regard this video succeeds on tons of levels.  It’s also a caricature that I think I tread dangerously close to becoming –seriously, PLEASE tell me I don’t come off this way on GotSpirit!!!– so it’s also a bit of a wake-up call.

Judge for yourself:

Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

*btw “ignat” = ignorant

This was over at XXXChurch about the reactions of people, Christians and non, when see see the “Porn Mobile.” Sadly it seems they run into more “Christian” resistance than they do secular:

Today I found the following passages** and thought they were rather appropriate for the scene; [youversion]2 Corinthians 3:1-15[/youversion] discusses the concept of legalism and cautions against legislating spirituality and morality; [youversion]Romans 7:5-7[/youversion] talks about how such legislation usually results in rebellion more often than purity.  Short version: if you want to make sure someone does something you don’t want them to do, make it illegal.

My version?  I’ve run into a LOT of  “Christians” in my life that sound like the older gentleman in the parking lot.  To be perfectly honest, it made being an atheist the easiest decision in the world.  Nothing supported my stilted worldview than a legalistic, close-minded, loud-talking religious person practicing Quotation Christianity (aka “Christianity”).  Christ spent time with lepers, whores and tax collectors.  He was surrounded by sinners CONSTANTLY.  A common theme I’ve discovered as I’ve begun reading various Bible passages is that God often chooses the LEAST.LIKELY.CANDIDATES.  He takes those from the very bottom and after setting their eyes upon Him they rise to the top.  Abraham to David to Paul, practically all of Judges.  Seriously, from bottom to the top. Not because they followed the laws but because they fixed their gaze on the Lord and walked in the light through acceptance of God’s grace.

Since converting I can rightly be called a Jesus Freak.  I’m all in.  Done. Dedicated 150%.   I’m sure the gentleman in that video had the best of intentions.  However, his actions are not embracing the disenfranchised and bringing others into the love of Christ.  I pray daily that I don’t become a Quotation Christian.  I also pray for those Quotation Christians that I let lead me away from faith.

To truly have the Spirit inside of you then you must be willing to embrace those that will spit in your face, challenge your beliefs and continue to love them. If you can’t do that then you are trapped in your own quotation marks.  Your laws will make you a prisoner.

*note: I’ve begun using The Message Translation of the Bible.  I really like this translation particularly for my blog posts. The strucuture lends itself to my rambling style more effectively without losing the message.

**edit: I just want to clarify that the passages were part of a recent batch of devotionals. I  don’t want to give any misrepresentation with regards to my Biblical scholarship.  These are being put in front of me more than I am able to just pluck them out.