service

The Census and right wing(nuts)

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R) of North Carolina is one of the more conservative members of Congress. He has even proposed replacing the image of U.S. Grant on the $50 bill with the image of Ronald Reagan. But, Rep. McHenry is in favor of the Census and is encouraging people to fully respond to the Census and/or to Census takers who show up at your door. In part he says: What worries me is blatant misinformation... [Read more]

A real life example of our current healthcare system and our “Christian” response

In the discussion of healthcare changes, one of the most often made arguments is that somehow God “hates” forced charity–despite the fact that the Old Testament Law specified quite a few taxes and Jesus said that we need to pay Caesar’s taxes without complaint–and that the Church is the one who ought to handle works of mercy. Well, let me give you a real-life example... [Read more]

Tony Campolo, Glenn Beck, and heresy

Over the last couple of days Father Orthoduck and I have been discussing short-term missions, theology, and social justice.  Let me now return to short-term missions with a quote from the article by Tony Campolo that was cited earlier. In this quote, Tony Campolo provides the link between Glenn Beck’s disdain for government and private donations to organizations that serve the poor. And, if... [Read more]

support

Short-term missions, social support, and Tony Campolo

I am a supporter of short-term missions. However, my blog post of the day before yesterday did not make that clear. I have seen at least two people called to long-term missions because they served on a short-term mission team. My problem is not with short-term missions per se. My problem is with under-trained teams who come over and cause multiple problems to the missionaries in residence and who expect... [Read more]

podcast

Learning about whom we visit in short-term mission

In January of 2009, I posted a blog on what we can learn from the poor. I talked about Fr. Alejandro Mesco and what he had taught me about sharing the good things that the Lord gives us. Just today, I read an article in Mission Frontiers which is a magazine of the US Center for World Missions. It is found in the column titled Further Reflections and the particular article is called, Learning the Lay... [Read more]

content

MacArthur, Marshall, and the Middle East

What can we learn from the experiences of General MacArthur and Secretary of State Marshall on handling the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan? After all, both history and statistics show that both men were fully successful in turning former enemies into stable and reliable allies. Mind you, this does not mean that they never disagree with us, but, when all is said and done, they stand with us. What... [Read more]

Some unpolished thoughts on the Middle East

Yesterday Father Orthoduck talked about the Marshall Plan and suggested that it may have some things to say to us about Iraq and Afghanistan. Father Orthoduck also suggested that some knowledge of history might be helpful in order to be able to understand why citizens of the Middle East might be less than excited about our presence in Iraq, even though they agree with our invasion of Afghanistan. Let’s... [Read more]

Hearing ourselves through the ears of others

Yesterday Father Orthoduck posted on the fatwa that was announced against the jihadists by a prominent Islamic scholar. Sometimes we ask ourselves why did this not happen sooner. But, since Americans have very little tendency to listen, despite all the Oprah-like shows that emphasize learning to listen, and since Americans know very little history or geography, they then have a tendency to be somewhat... [Read more]

Fatwa pronounced against terrorists

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) — A fatwa, or religious ruling, issued this week is roiling theological waters after it took aim at those notorious for targeting others: terrorists. The anti-terrorism fatwa by renowned Muslim scholar Muhammad Tahir ul-Qadri pulled no punches, declaring that terrorism was “haraam,” or forbidden by the Quran, and that suicide bombers would be rewarded not... [Read more]

mail

Virginia nudist church – ABC news report

Father Orthoduck wishes to urge a little caution before watching this ABC News Video. Some visible nudity is present. Nevertheless, this, uhm, ah, group of people–Father Orthoduck is wary of calling them a church–claim that it is perfectly within the Gospel to worship au naturale. Please listen to their Biblical reasons for being able to do this and not contradict any Scripture. Father... [Read more]

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