Monthly Archives: August 2009

In Remembrance: Molly Ivins

(If you do not subscribe to the Writer’s Almanac, you should. It comes each day and includes a poem for the day and various biographical tidbits about writers. Today’s Writer’s Almanac brings this entry for August 30:)
Continue reading

Posted in Writing and the Arts | Leave a comment

Brothers and Sisters: Teddy Kennedy’s Religion

(“Brothers and Sisters” is the weekly prayer-and-share diary on Daily Kos where community members share their burdens and needs, and support one another. I am the host for tonight’s edition, and have posted it here first. If you want to read the comments in the Daily Kos version, check it out here. Enjoy! — Bruce)

I have found myself quite moved this week, as I have read and listened to the news coverage of Senator Kennedy. His accomplishments in the Senate are, of course, legendary, in terms of both longevity and productivity. His connection to Camelot and the Kennedy dynasty have been much discussed. But, while I am grateful for all of that, and for his unwavering devotion to liberal causes and ideals, those are not the details that move me.

No, it is his religion and religious actions that have, more than once, moved me to tears this week. What’s that? You don’t recall reading very much about Teddy Kennedy’s religion? Make the jump, and let us consider together the religious practice of Edward M. Kennedy.

Continue reading

Posted in Values, Faith, and Church | Leave a comment

Brothers and Sisters: The Vertical and the Horizontal

(“Brothers and Sisters” is the weekly prayer-and-share diary on Daily Kos where community members share their burdens and needs, and support one another. I was the host for tonight’s edition, and worked for some hours on it once I got home from church. Unfortunately, somehow my draft version got lost just as I posted it on Daily Kos. I later found it, and since it was too late to post there — and since it is time-specific to today’s lections — I decided to just post it here. If you want to read the comments in the Daily Kos version, it is here. Enjoy! — Bruce)

Tonight’s “Brothers and Sisters” is going to go off in all directions. Well, actually, just two: the vertical and the horizontal. Come on in, pull up a chair, and let’s think about both vertices as we gather together. All are welcome to enter, speak, and share, as little or as much as you wish or need.

Continue reading

Posted in Life in General, Values, Faith, and Church | Leave a comment

Baptist Group Stands AGAINST Theocrats and their Lying Billboards

From an op-ed in the Tampa Tribune:

For the next six months, people on the roads of Pinellas and Hillsborough counties will rumble past billboard ads making false claims and misleading assertions about our country’s history and commitment to religious freedom. One ad even fabricates a comment from the first president of the United States.

::

Those behind the billboards refer to the separation of church and state as a “lie” and say our country’s Judeo-Christian foundation is “the reason that this country has prospered for 200-plus years.”

The only lies being told are featured on the billboards themselves.

Make the jump to learn more.

Continue reading

Posted in Values, Faith, and Church | Leave a comment