Book Openers: Want to Shock Your Atheist Family? Convert to Christianity
By Barbara Falconer Newhall
When Samir Selmanovic converted to Christianity as a young soldier in the Yugoslav army, his Croatian family – especially his father – was heartbroken. “They hired top psychiatrists to talk to me,” Selmanovic said.
A Case of the Human Condition: I’ve Got One — And So Does My Mom
My mother is in the hospital. That means I’ll be doing a lot driving — and not so much writing.
Do Books Have Rights? This One Didn’t. I Threw It in the Trash.
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Into the trash with this adorable mousey book! Photo by BF. Newhall[/caption]
It was a book, a children’s book. But I dumped it in the garbage anyway. I threw it out the way I would toss out a dead flashlight battery or a slab of moldy cheddar. Read more.
John Shelby Spong: Christianity (Some of It) Is Bunk
Former Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong minces no words: It’s time to ditch the two principle beliefs of Western religion. First,
that God is other. And second, that we are alienated from God, guilty as hell, and in dire need of atonement. Read more.
GodsBigBlog: I’m Off to a Religion Newswriters Conference
I’m off to a Religion Newswriters Association conference in Minneapolis. Religion and the Obama administration, religion and immigration, and The Case of the Disappearing Hymnal will be among the topics. See you when I get back!
Scrubbing the Floor With My Daughter Cinderella
There was no getting around it. Christina, who is 51/2, intended to wash our kitchen floor. She had been studying her “Cinderella” videotape for weeks, and now she wanted nothing more than to scrub. Read more
GodsBigBlog: Does a Teacher Have the Right to Wear a Muslim Headscarf? A Nun’s Habit? A Sikh’s Turban? Not in Every State
Three states still have laws on the books prohibiting public school teachers from wearing religious garments in the classroom.
GodsBigBlog: Hunger in America — It’s Real
My writer colleague Laura Willis reports from Sewannee, Tennessee, that the economic crisis is hitting people pretty hard in the Southern Cumberland Plateau. Hundreds of people stood in line for hours to receive food . . . .
A Case of the Human Condition: Flowers Bursting From the Dirt — How Do They Do It?
They emerge from mud, manure, leaf rot, earthworms, sow bugs. And they are beautiful. How do they do it? Read more.
A Generation of Preschoolers Trapped in Their Yards
Jon and I loved our new house in the hills with the curving, no-sidewalks streets. But all that privacy and rural ambiance weren’t so great for raising kids. Read more.