Tag: God

America, Bill of Rights, Christianity, Citizenship, Constitution, Culture, Ethics, Evangelicalism, Faith, fear, First Amendment, Fundamentalism, Institutions, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Politics, Politics, spirituality, Story, Theology and Life, worldview

No Religious Test Doesn’t Mean No Religion

Gary Furr

We are entering in full the campaign season, where quackery and hyperbolic fear-mongering fills our ears and screens. Communists, fascists, atheists, Nazis, terrorists abound. Apparently they have crawled forth to seize our poor nation and kill it off at last unless we elect old Joe, who at 96 years old is the last hope if we’ll just give him that twelfth term in a row. Sure, he’s barely breathing, but otherwise it’s the Fall of the Roman Empire and the Alamo rolled into one. At the same time, there are profoundly serious questions rumbling the foundations that should indeed rouse … Continue reading No Religious Test Doesn’t Mean No Religion

America, Calling, Christianity, Ethics, First Amendment, humanity, Interfaith Dialogue, Jesus, Love, reconciliation, spirituality, Story3 Comments

This One Thing

Gary Furr

I seek to love my neighbor as myself. That would seem obvious for a preacher of the teachings of Jesus, but maybe we need to say it again. Love one another. And I don’t remember any additions to the command. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s hard enough without trying to add a lot of fine print. Love your child, your grandchildren, your neighbor you don’t agree with. Love them, gay, straight, trans, prisoner, judge, immigrant and the DAR lady. Love them, Trumper, Liberal, and none of the above. Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Rotarians, Knights of Columbus, or atheists. … Continue reading This One Thing

Family, Justice, Love, Parenting, Politics, Reinhold Niebuhr, Story

Love, Justice, and Perseverance

Gary Furr

I read an excellent post this morning from Rich Havard, who was in our congregation as a student and now works in community building and social change in his adult life. It is an excellent piece about the struggles of being a person who is intentional in his spiritual journey working in a real world where sometimes there is puzzlement or antipathy toward the notion. He asked, “What place do spirituality and love have in the quest for a just world?” He spurred me to think about it. It’s an excellent piece I commend for your thinking. In his book, … Continue reading Love, Justice, and Perseverance

Disabled, Disease, Institutions, Jesus

In His Right Mind  

Gary Furr

Reading the Bible Amid the Culture Wars  A lot of questions could preoccupy us as we think about reading scripture. The whole idea of demons and devils is unsettling, disturbing.  But we can get sidetracked onto a lot of other questions.  We could ask the scientific question, “Are demons real and how would they go into pigs?  Or were the pigs disturbed by the commotion?”  We could ask a psychological question, “Is this just a description of mental illness?” which is our own modern preoccupation.  Or the moral question, “Hey, what about the destruction of that property?  Someone owned those … Continue reading In His Right Mind