September 2010

The Archives

evil, nazis
Evil and Nazis
09.23.10 | Permalink | 6 Comments

September’s UU Blog Salon topic is the nature of evil. In full awareness that I’m in danger of violating Godwin’s Law, here’s my response: After December 1941 (if not before) it was a good thing to kill Nazis. If it was December 1941 again, it would be good to kill Nazis again. Picketing and petitions would […]
facebook
Facebook Won’t “Like” Your Church
09.23.10 | Permalink | 5 Comments

I’ve written about Facebook before, but this time I have a bit of a cautionary tale. We consolidated our congregation’s Facebook Page and Group into a new Page not too long ago. A volunteer stepped up to make it happen and reinvited everyone to come over to the new Page, and we now have more […]
Quick Takes
09.21.10 | Permalink | Comments Off on Quick Takes

Thinking of taking this online course on media ethics called “Program or Be Programmed” with Douglas Rushkoff. Looks like some good reading and good discussion. Neato graphic summarizing his approach here. Thank god for the honesty of “Broken Buddha.” No need for “Love. Every. Minute.” pietism, no matter what god-talk you dress it up in. […]
volunteerism
White Collarist Volunteerism
09.16.10 | Permalink | 6 Comments

I came across a PDF put out by the Corporation for National & Community Service called “The New Volunteer Workforce.” It’s a good, quick take on the current conventional wisdom on nonprofit volunteer management. It’s worth the read. But it seems to make several assumptions that I question, some of which I’m running into elsewhere […]
experience, john wesley, scripture
Wesleyan Quadrilateral Fixed: Part Two
09.08.10 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Last week I talked about my problems with the Wesleyan Quadrilateral. This week I propose a revision that I hope Unitarian Universalists (and others) will find more helpful. Super cool graphic toward the end (I promise). To review, the main problem with the Wesleyan Quadrilateral is that experience is always primary—there is no direct access […]
john wesley, methodist, scripture
Wesleyan Quadrilateral Fixed: Part One
09.01.10 | Permalink | 5 Comments

One of my first moves away from orthodox Christianity as a Methodist seminary student was when I realized I disagreed with John Wesley about the primacy of scripture. Wesley taught that religious understanding comes to us in four ways: Revealed in Scripture Illimined by Tradition Vivified in Experience, and Confirmed by Reason Scripture, though, is […]