Category: culture
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acts of faith
I have tended to be unimpressed with anything bearing the “interfaith” label. My limited experience with dialogues and meetings between those of different religious traditions hasn’t been real impressive. Remaining unoffensive often seems to be the unstated point of these conversations. Additionally, the ecumenical tone is often condescending, as if those who affirm their religion’s…
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this weekend: christianity and consumerism
I’ve mentioned The Gospel and Culture Conference here a few times, but it’s worth pointing out again. The conference begins this Friday evening, includes a picnic and session on Saturday evening, and wraps up on Sunday morning. This is New Community’s first attempt at something like this, and I’m glad that Skye Jethani will be…
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chicago’s most dangerous neighborhoods
On Monday a friend emailed me an article with the subject, “Bronzeville Dubbed 2nd Most Dangerous Neighborhood.” A few minutes later a similarly ominous article was waiting in my Google News headlines. Given the increasing amount of time I’ve spent in Bronzeville working on the New Community church plant, both of these articles were hard…
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gay marriage, bad. lingerie modeling, good.
I don’t keep up with beauty pageant news (Does anyone still watch these pageants?) so I’m late in coming to the story of Miss California’s comments about gay marriage. At the Miss USA competition in late April Carrie Prejean was asked whether she believed in gay marriage. Though she didn’t win the competition, her answer…
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why “left behind” complicates my life
One of the interesting things about being a Christian in America is the incongruity between public perception of the faith and my own understanding of Christianity. The varieties of Christianity most often displayed in the media and public square often seem light years away from personal convictions and experiences. Can anyone relate to this? On…
David W. Swanson 