Just a Guy Who Reads the Papers » Religious News

Revisiting Christmas past — Is there really a ‘war’ on Christmas?

Just a Guy — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 19:23:47 +0000

It’s time for me to revisit “Christmas Past,” to borrow or misuse a phrase from Charles Dickens, and update some comments I made about the Christmas holiday season.

When I wrote that original post, I was trying to point out some of the absurdities overly zealous Christians were making about the simple choice of wishing people “Happy Holiday(s)” instead of “Merry Christmas.” I pointed out (go ahead, click and read the original post; I’ll wait for you to come back here) that the original meaning and nature of the word “holiday” came from “holy day” and could be a perfectly harmless, legitimate greeting along with “Merry Christmas.” I also pointed out that our Puritan “founding fathers,” so often pseudo-worshipped by many fundamentalist Christians and conservatives these days, actually had some pretty severe anti-Christmas laws.

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Revisiting Christmas past — Is there really a ‘war’ on Christmas?

Is America a Christian nation? What should textbooks say?

Just a Guy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:24:14 +0000

Is America a “Christian” nation? In what way can any nation be Christian? How should Christianity be treated in public school textbooks?

These are questions educators and parents have battled over and struggled with for decades. I have a strong opinion about whether America is a Christian nation, and I have strong feelings about how Christianity should be treated in public school textbooks.

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Is America a Christian nation? What should textbooks say?

Only bad Bible exegesis says U.S. must ALWAYS back Israeli actions

Just a Guy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:39:07 +0000

Really bad Bible exegesis says the U.S. must ALWAYS back Israeli actions, no matter what Israel decides to do, no matter how the react to opposition, no matter how they treat the Palestinians or any of their Arab neighbors.

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Only bad Bible exegesis says U.S. must ALWAYS back Israeli actions

To me at least, pomposity seems off the mark for Christian leaders

Just a Guy — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:02:20 +0000

I wonder — do they make a diet pill designed to trim down “fatheads”? Oh, of course I know they don’t. But the last post I made has me thinking about various pompous people I’ve had the misfortune of trying to deal with within an evangelical Christian setting over the years.

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To me at least, pomposity seems off the mark for Christian leaders

Evangelical acquaintance of mine loses job for leaning toward ‘liberal’

Just a Guy — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:46:00 +0000

I just found out one of the finest Christians and all-around finest, nicest people I’ve had the privilege of meeting in my checkered past is out of a job for expressing somewhat “liberal” views regarding homosexuality and regarding his support for Barack Obama.

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Evangelical acquaintance of mine loses job for leaning toward ‘liberal’

Somewhere between religious extremes lies the real Candidate Palin

Just a Guy — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 19:52:57 +0000

I’ve been a “religious” person all my life, and that ranges from the fundamentalist evangelicalism and Pentecostalism of my teen and early adult years all the way over to the more “mainstream” and even “liberal” beliefs of my current Episcopalian/ECLA Lutheran spiritual journey.

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Somewhere between religious extremes lies the real Candidate Palin

Easter Sunday — musings on a special day and what it meant to me and my family

Just a Guy — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 00:08:44 +0000

I’m not trying to get preachy or sermonize here, but this is a special day for my family, Easter Sunday, and this particular Easter has been very “up and down” for me.

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Easter Sunday — musings on a special day and what it meant to me and my family

Archbishop of Canterbury raises tempers in Britain over Islamic law

Just a Guy — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:26:13 +0000

Let’s see, as close as I can figure, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams was giving a lecture and got into the subject of “sharia law,” or Islamic law based on the Koran, and British civil law or secular law. Something he said in the course of the lecture suggested finding ways to accommodate matters of “religious conscience” for Muslims by including or at least recognizing elements of sharia law in Britain.

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Archbishop of Canterbury raises tempers in Britain over Islamic law

Ah-HAH — here’s proof (?) that America is forsaking God, just look at the new dollar coins

Just a Guy — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:20:00 +0000

Oh, my Lord, will the good religious folks out there never cease in their passion for persecution? A column in our local newspaper decries the way the newest U.S. dollar coins will have “In God We Trust” on the edge — exactly where it will wear off the fastest, and in a position that indicated the way America is trying to forsake the Christian God Who founded her. More or less.

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Ah-HAH — here’s proof (?) that America is forsaking God, just look at the new dollar coins

Nice place, good people — I visited church to tell pastor who wrote column thanks

Just a Guy — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:18:59 +0000

I visited a local church yesterday to tell the pastor thank you. Awhile ago, I made reference to a column the pastor, the Rev. Phil Snider of Brentwood Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Springfield, Missouri, wrote in the local newspaper. (You can read that earlier post here.)

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Nice place, good people — I visited church to tell pastor who wrote column thanks