Religion

On being a Contemplative

I've spent a lot of time in my life trying to fit myself into varied spiritual boxes. I was a Presbyterian, then I was a Nazarne, then I was a humanist, then I was a Pagan, then a Buddhist, then a UU, and lastly a progressive Christian. Lately, I have come to realize that there are aspects of all of these identities in my spiritual and religious life at the moment,  but none of them can singularly hold me.

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The "New" New Monasticism

 If you google "New Monasticism" you'll come up with a few useful links, and this wikipedia entry. New Monasticism is one of the more recent movements, largely from the evangelical realm, that tries to get back to the roots of what's important in Christianity. Like the "Emergent Church", it is a criticism of the status quo in Christendom - suggesting more of a focus on the teachings of Jesus, and of community. 
I'm mostly a fan of both of those movements. Moreso of the new monastics, since I know at heart I am somewhat of a monastic. 

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How to respond?

Two things have come across my desk recently, that I find disturbing. First, something called the "Manhattan Declaration" (Subtitled, A Call of Christian Conscience). It affirms three truths, and I'm sure you already know what two are: "sanctity of human life" and "dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife". The third is, well, strange, to say the least, given the first two: "the rights of conscience and religious liberty." I guess they must not mean the rights of conscience for women, or the rights of religious liberty for people (like me) who think that God dignifies the marriage of two men, or two women.

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What would Jesus do?

Dr. George Tiller from Wichita Kansas, a physician who performed legal late-term abortions, often when a woman's life or health was at risk, was shot and killed in church this morning. This is the most recent in a very long history of attacks and murders of physicians who perform abortions. I have read varied comments on varied blogs today where people have been suggesting that this was a good thing.

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Evolution, Science, and God

I've been a fan of Darwin's ever since I read On the Origin of Species when I was a kid. I've even read parts of Steven J Gould's The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. I think there aren't really a whole lot more interesting scientific theories around (well, OK, I've become a recent fan of non-locality.) A while back, a couple of articles piqued my interest.

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Counting the Omer: Christian Orthodoxy vs. Orthopraxy

I came upon a stray tweet from someone I follow, which lead me on a search that led to an interesting blog entry asking "Why don't Christians count the Omer?" Counting the Omer, if you don't know, is a Jewish tradition of counting the 50 days between Passover (the liberation from slavery) and the holiday, Shavu'ot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah to the people of Israel.

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