Recession hits Galilee

With the absurd sales numbers of Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life you might believe that God was at work. It might seem that only divine genius could promote Warren's manifesto to being the single best-selling book of all time besides the Bible. Or perhaps Warren really is a good writer and has a top-notch marketing team.

Last month, however, Warren's cultural fortress took a hit when Reader's Digest pulled out of a deal that would distribute Warren's Purpose Driven Ideas in the form of a monthly magazine. Times are tough at the Digest, whose circulation is down considerably in the last couple years.

This news might be a sign that Warren's operation is not entirely run by Divine decree: the market might play a vital role in his relatively new ministry.

We might even begin to wonder if there is a coincidence between the 2002-2007 market boom and his book's initial success.

Whatever the case, it looks like even Jesus might not be immune from Recession.

Just a hiccup

Social change doesn't usually come without a fight.

Maybe there are no guns blazing and bombs blasting, but social upheaval is not always met with open arms. The story remains the same when it comes to Gay Marriage.

But the proponents of the revised holy matrimony did not expect to have such a battle in Northeastern, liberal Maine. Looks like the Gay Marriage battle is far from over.

Perhaps this will give some much needed encouragement to the advocates against Gay Marriage, proving that even liberal states are not lost to the homosexual agenda.

Then again, a losing vote in one state does not indicate the absence of a growing national acceptance of Gay marriage.

As understood, however, social movements do not occur overnight.

Help me by not helping

It used to be that in American Politics Clergymen had easy access to politicians. Maybe to give advice or voice a concern, Clergymen would be welcomed by officials of all levels.

Not so anymore.

The Washington Post recounts a story about D.C. Reverend having trouble meeting with local politicians. Apparently, this used to not be the case in the D.C. area. Times have changed.

There was no such thing as putting a pastor on hold

Now Pastors don't even get an answer.

Why the shift in Politicians' view towards the spiritual leaders?

Whereas it used to be that pastors could offer needed advice, now they are a liability. Church wisdom seems old and superstitious. Plus, four years with a hyper-religious commander-in-chief did not help the matter.

Now, instead of a help Clergymen are a liability.

Don't mix medications

I am not convinced that religion and science are completely independent subjects. According to one reporter at the Guardian, however, they are entirely separate issues and should not be combined.

Her case is simple: religion is subjective, it involves personal belief; science is objective, it involves fact.

First off, I don't buy this. Scientists will be quick to explain that even scientific fact is somewhat of a faith-work. The whole issue of the philosophy of science is deciding at what point we should accept anything as fact? In other words, how many observations of the sun going up and down makes it a fact that the sun goes up and down?

But that's not my real problem.

The bigger issue is that religion and science are in some ways incompatible (perhaps not in all). If brain chemistry causes certain behavior in humans, it is hard to say they are sinners when science can give us a completely material explanation. Though this tension might be murky at best, religion and science are still not completely different departments.

Go figure

If I'm not mistaken, both Jesus, Paul, and Peter made it very clear to the young believers that they would be persecuted. And up until the legalizaiton of Christianity in ROme, Christians were persecuted relentlessly. It is somewhat of a surprise, then, that Christians are so upset at the recent ban on Nativity Scenes in the Washington State Capitol BUilding.

In some ways, we might have sympathy for the offended Christians. They have, after all, enjoyed a relatively nice time throughout the history of the United States. They have been, and still are, an overwhelming majority under the red, white, and blue.

Perhaps this is a perfect time for them to get back to their roots.

How's my new look?

CNN has not usually made it a priority to liberate Christians from negative stereotypes, but it's never too late to start. Anderson Cooper's report on the changing "breed" of Evangelicals mentions that Christians are beginning to focus on more salient issues than the old-time Evangelical concerns of gay-marriage and abortion. Now, Anderson reports, Christians focus on issues like AIDS, global warming, and hunger---far less controversial than their old favorites.



The shift is not a small event. It marks a fundamental transformation of the way Evangelicals look at the world. Their new focus is devoid of the murky morality surrounding abortion and gay-marriage. Hunger, aids, and global warming are surprisingly environmental: their old squabbles were surprisingly spiritual.

Hats off to 'em

The pro-lifers probably did win with the successful no-abortion addition to the new healthcare bill. And the event does not come without some insight to American politics.

While Conservative pro-lifers can be annoying, they must be dealt with in the American representation. Though the Country leans left, the conservative right cannot be entirely ignored.

And although many Senators would have it that abortions would be publicly funded, they must admit that this is a triumph in the American experiment. Minority views were not crushed at the hands of a single-party government.

Who knows, maybe this will give the religious right its much needed steam?