AZ | Mockingbird

Another Week Ends: False Danger, Stress Vaccines, Alien Baptism, Michael Vick, King of Kong, Online Dating, Get Low, Pixar

by David Zahl on Sep 24, 2010 • 2 Comments

1. Another in a series of great articles from Lisa Belkin of the NY Times, this one entitled “Keeping Kids Safe From the Wrong Dangers,” in which the author continues in what appears to be her (and Jonah Lehrer’s) quest to unveil the irrationality at the base of human decision-making. There’s also a great line in there about measurement being an instrument of discontent rather than, say, greater happiness and health:

If history is any guide, we seem to veer between overreaction and underreaction — all while defining our own response as “moderate.” There is an inherent hypocrisy in our attempts…

Children / Grace in Practice / Law / News / Religion / Sermons / Suffering / TV

Another Week Ends: The (Non-)Commercialization of Easter, Realism vs. Despair, Childhood Favorites, LOST, Fat Albert

by David Zahl on Apr 2, 2010 • 4 Comments

1. A truly remarkable piece by James Martin over at Slate entitled, “How Easter Stubbornly Resists Commercialization”. A few notable excerpts (ht AZ):

“What enables Easter to maintain its religious purity and not devolve into the consumerist nightmare that is Christmas? Well, for one thing, it’s hard to make a palatable consumerist holiday out of Easter when its back story is, at least in part, so gruesome.

The Christmas story, with its friendly resonances of marriage, family, babies, animals, angels, and—thanks to the wise men—gifts, is eminently marketable to popular culture. It’s a Thomas Kinkade painting…

Film / Music / News / Sports / Testimony / TV / Week In Review

Another Weeks Ends: Unemployed Conversion, Galli on Love, Westerberg on Chilton, Tiger, LOST, Elvis’ "Life"

by David Zahl on Mar 26, 2010 • 5 Comments

1. “What I Lost When I Lost My Job” by Dominique Browning is the sort of subtle conversion story that will leave you in tears. Published in this past weekend’s NY Times Magazine (of all places), she touches on pretty much every major theme of this website: justification by work(s), achievement-based identity, the death/resurrection paradigm of personal change, etc – and she does so eloquently, with deep feeling and hard-won insight. But don’t take my word for it – just be sure to read to the end. Here’s an excerpt from the beginning (ht SZ):

My nightmare had finally come…

Books / Church / Forgiveness / Religion

Gayle Haggard on Compassion and Forgiveness

by David Zahl on Feb 3, 2010 • 5 Comments

From the Christianity Today interview with the wife of disgraced former mega-church pastor/Evangelical leader Ted Haggard. Gayle has just published a book titled “Why I Stayed”. Two relevant soundbytes from the interview (ht AZ):

What do you want individuals and churches to take away from this?

I really want our story to offer hope to people who find themselves in a crisis of any kind. The teachings of Jesus really will guide us through. I also want to challenge the church that what we exist to do is to bring forgiveness and healing to the lives of people, not increase their burden…

Books / Children / Grace in Practice

Shel Silverstein narrates The Giving Tree

by David Zahl on Dec 1, 2009 • 6 Comments

ht AZ

Church / Film / Religion

This American Christianity – "Bait and Switch"

by Joshua Corrigan on Nov 12, 2009 • 8 Comments

“Our goal is to save souls and make money for the church”

Ira Glass’ much-acclaimed NPR radio show This American Life continues to be an unparalleled source of great sermon illustrations. Episode #213 “Devil On My Shoulder”, which was re-aired just before Halloween this year, provides a devastating look at the human heart and our attempt to deal with evil. The episode references C.S. Lewis, the Amish, the psychology of a convicted murderer, and Hell House – a film by George Ratliff documenting Trinity Assembly of God Church’s annual production. Hell House is an attempt to scare teens into the arms…