The good news: hate crimes were down by 6%. The interesting news: “The majority of those incidents—46.9 percent—were racially motivated, followed by 20.8 percent motivated by sexual orientation and 19.8 percent motivated by religion. Incidents of religious bias had previously outnumbered incidents of sexual-orientation bias since at least 1995…” Things that surprised me: how few hate crimes there are overall, how much greater anti-Jewish animus is than anti-any other religion, and how much more prevalent racial hostility is than any other category.
At Christianity Today, we’re constantly tracking important developments in the church and the world. Often we use our network of reporters around the world (and for that, visit our main site). But we …
Asides
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Rich Mullins has long been one of my favorite practical theologians. Here he is in classic form.
Sometimes we become hyperfocused and obsessed over the little things and lose track of the big picture. In those moments, the sharp contrast of a new perspective can be a great way to refocus. For tho…
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Sane thinking on a issue that often seems to be a wellspring of crazy.
Ed Stetzer — Thursday Is for Thinkers with Katie Persinger: Above Reproach, Not Unapproachable
Ed Stetzer writes and speaks on theology, missiology, church planting, church revitalization, and church innovation.
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Clearly, Lord Vader has been busy. See Vader Chokes Officer — I find your lack of faith disturbing for details.
Census reveals more people identify as Jedi Knights than atheists
The number of Jedi Knights appears to have nearly halved in the last decade, but still beats the amount of people who positively identify as atheists in England and Wales, according to results of the …
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I find this argument plausible.
Roger Ebert on the media’s coverage of school shootings
From his review of Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, a fictionalized account of a Columbine-like school shooting, here’s Roger Ebert on the
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This is one of the most marvelous examples of people responding to incentives that I can think of. Surprising and yet obvious in retrospect.
Snitching markets in everything
The prisoners in Atlanta’s hulking downtown jail had a problem. They wanted to snitch for federal agents, but they didn’t know anything worth telling. Fellow prisoner Marcus Watkins, a…
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Basic Instructions delivers again.
Basic Instructions — Basic Instructions — How to Graciously Receive an Honor
As I told the subscribers when they saw this comic, someone I know asked me to be the executor …
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I must confess that the truth behind the first myth was a surprise to me, and I consider myself very well informed on these issues.
Found in Leviticus 25, the biblical practice of Jubilee is becoming ever more prominent in discussions about justice, poverty, and debt relief. Many evangelical authors mention Jubilee as a biblical example of debt forgiveness and redistribution of land. It has also gained popular attention in the news media.
Jubilee has been offered by several sources as a solution to our current economic crisis. At Forbes, Erik Kain asked, “Could a debt jubile…
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He makes a very good point in the final panel.
Basic Instructions — Basic Instructions — How to Talk Someone out of Making a Wretched Mistake
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There are some helpful thoughts here about the challenge of making historical films. Leaving aside the specifics about the movie Lincoln (which I have not seen), I agree with Douthat’s broader points.
Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and Its Critics
Is this fall’s big historical film unfair to radicalism?