September 05, 2004

Rise of the Godbloggers?


Evangelical Outpost has an interesting article on the State of the Blogosphere after the elections in November. He's looking for a change in the whole structure of blogging, including Godblogging.

Religion can rise -- The two topics verboten in polite conversation are the two topics everyone most wants to talk about – politics and religion. With the relative decline of the political discourse, there is the chance that discussions of religion will become more popular. Religion blogging, though, needs its breakout star. The fact that there is no Catholic equivalent of Instapundit or an evangelical Andrew Sullivan prevents religious discussions from reaching a broader audience. While I can’t predict that this will in fact be a result of the coming changes, I think it provides a unique opportunity and renewed hope for religious bloggers.

I wasn't sure I agreed with him on the lack of a "big" Godblogger. Then I checked TTLB, and in the top 100, I could find no Godblogger. Many Christians who blog politics, but nobody who blogs religion on a consistant basis.

Of course, GetReligion isn't listed there at all, that I could see. It's easy to see TTLB as the ultimate index of the blogosphere, but we need to remember to look beyond. GetReligion is an outstanding blog, written by believers who comment on the reporting of religion in the popular press. Maybe that isn't the strict definition of a Godblogger, though.

Checking out blogs4God, we have He Lives, who is getting a LOT of hits. Dealing mainly with evolution/creation issues will do that for you, though I've seen great posts there that weren't on that subject. Jollyblogger and Parableman also come to mind as having great potential to rise to the top. Of course, the Evangelical Outpost itself gets a lot of attention, and shouldn't be ignored.

I think the point of the article at EO, and the point I'm trying to make, is that there is going to be a shift in focus in the blogosphere. We need to be ready to take advantage of it. We can make a difference, if we try.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:59 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 358 words, total size 3 kb.

Turnabout is Fair Play

We've been hearing a little about conservative churches being monitored by liberal 'separation of church and state' advocates, to make sure that there's no political activity going on in the services, with threats to have tax-exemption revoked. Now a Catholic group is asking the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of a church in Florida:

The Catholic League said the bishop of Miami's New Birth Baptist Church, Bishop Victor T. Curry, "welcomed" former Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe.
"Rev. Sharpton, speaking from the pulpit, added to the politicized atmosphere by shouting, 'We're not people who are going to be beat twice,'" Catholic League President William Donohue said.
"But no one was more partisan than McAuliffe: 'Bush has misled us for four years and will not mislead us for the next four years. Get out to vote and we'll send Bush back to Texas.' Consequently, the Catholic League will ask the IRS to revoke the tax-exempt status of this church," he added.
Interesting. And yet, when Rev. George Rutter stated from the pulpit that "No one has a right to take communion", it was seen as an unconstitutional act in violation of the wall of separation and should result in the loss of tax exemption. Terry McAuliffe has crossed the line, and if the church/state separationists are at all consistant in their policies and advocacy, they'll go after the tax exempt status of New Birth Baptist Church in Miami.

I'm not holding my breath. You can read the whole story here.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:33 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 268 words, total size 2 kb.

September 04, 2004

View from the Blogroll

I'm feeling a bit of writers block coming on, so I'm using this old cop out. It isn't really a cop out, though, because there are some good blogs out there with some good things to say. And I've added a few new ones lately. I'm not putting links to the actual articles, mainly because I started doing this, got almost all the way through, and realized I'd forgot, but also because I want you to check out the whole blog, not just one article. In most cases, the article is the newest one -- it should be close to the top, anyway.

Dr. R. Albert Mohler has a great article about engaging culture and the role of faith in politics. And I'd put his article first even if he wasn't my Systematic I teacher!

Back of the Envelope is still on semi-haiatus, so he's running Sluggy Freelance recaps. You really need to check this comic out. It's one that I read every day, without fail. It's Nifty!!


Bene Diction and Beyond the Rim both have outstanding viewpoints of the Russian hostage situation and the loss of life there.

Rebecca from Rebecca Writes is blogging on behalf of David Brainard -- who would have blogged if they'd had computers, electricity, and the Internet back then. I love this idea -- it's fascinating to read excerpts from Brainard's diary and see how God was working through him among the Native Americans.

Get Religion has a piece on Christian comedian Brad Stine, and his gig at the GOP "after party" with the Bush twins. I commented over there that it was a shame Mark Lowry and Isaac Air Freight were ahead of their time. (Got to see Isaac Air Freight at Liberty my freshman year. Laughed my head off -- that's why my grades were so bad; no head.)

Ian's Messy Desk has a very funny list of caddy retorts. I'm just glad I don't play on courses that are nice enough to have caddys. I'm sure I'd hear most of these during my round.


Imago Dei has a new address and a new look. Check out http://www.imago-dei.net/

Jollyblogger has a really neat piece on Superman and Christ, and the comparisons made between the two. I'd often thought about it, but it's interesting to read other people's take on the subject.

Jared at Mysterium Tremendum has a neat list of "Things I Like". I may do something similar tomorrow night after church.

Bryan at Spare Change is looking for a few good blogmates (is that a word?). He wants people who want to become a part of the "Spare Change Team". This sounds like an opportunity to me for someone who thinks they might like to blog, but can't (or won't) take the time to set one up of their own. Head over there, and email Bryan for details.

Think that's it for this trip. I have to prepare a Bible study Powerpoint for tomorrow evening (and as usual, I'm waiting until the last minute to do it -- I know what I'm going to do, it's just the actual doing that I haven't started yet), so you won't hear from me until after about 8:30 Eastern (US) time. Maybe I'll figure out something to write about by then ...

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 556 words, total size 4 kb.

September 03, 2004

They're really reaching .....

Do you see two crosses here? I don't see standard, t-shaped crosses. I DO see two T-shapes, which many scholars think is the actual shape of the cross that Christ was crucified on. I see a cross on the small lectern, but not on the big one. And I had to have my wife show me that one.

Maybe it's because there was very little 'religion' at the GOP convention -- less, in fact, than at the Democratic National Convention. I've said before (though I'm not sure I did it here -- I know I've said it over at the PCCBoard Forums) that I thought that the Republicans were taking the evangelical vote for granted, and I think this convention proves it.

I'm not saying that that is a bad thing. After all, who are we going to vote for? I've ranted enough about the Constitution Party that everyone should know that isn't an option that I'll entertain. Libertarian? I've had too many encounters with Libertarians who are dismissive of Christian conservatives -- in very loud, rude, and unmistakable ways. I can't bring myself to go there, either.

So why should we expect the GOP to pay so much attention to us, when they need to attract the "undecided" voters? They need to make an impact on people who are a little more moderate that we are. They need to "broaden the base" so that a win in November is assured. We all want that, right?

But at the same time, it would have been nice if we'd have gotten a hat tip. A "Thanks for bringing us to the dance" before they went off to hit on the wallflower in the corner. An opening prayer by James Dobson would have been nice. The President mentioned our "pet issues" briefly, and then moved on to talk about the war some more. That was all we got.

It won't affect the party much right now, but in another four years, it could be a problem. Evangelicals as a block are realizing their political power. Give us four years to get our collective act together, and we'll be able to do more than sit by and watch "our party" flirt with everyone else.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 379 words, total size 2 kb.

September 01, 2004

Theologian or Cheese

Head over to Naked Church and take this test. It's funny, yet sad at the same time.

And I don't have a funny last name. Do historians have odd last names? Hmmmm ... Catton, Noll, ..... nope! I'm safe.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 45 words, total size 1 kb.

More on "Tolerance"

Maybe that should say "moron tolerance."

Just read this little piece about a terrible hate crime. Unfortunately, you won't hear an uproar about it. The ACLU probably will ignore it. The Washington Post and the Atlanta Constitution probably won't say a word about it. And if there WERE hate-crime legislation on the books, I doubt that this particular crime would apply. Because it's against us.

I'm a proponent of free speech. I'm a fairly peaceful man. But if MY kid was at that daycare, and I found out who'd been threatening them, I might have to be reminded of the whole "love your enemy" thing, because some non-lethal violence might start sounding awfully good to me. And I have an oversized driver I don't use anymore .... Titanium hurts when applied forcefully to the head.

The sad thing is -- nothing will be done. They'll get the people on a trespassing charge -- maybe. If they find them at all. If it had happened at an abortion clinic, or at a gay bar, or a porn shop, they'd be all over those 'intolerant Christians'.

So let's raise a fuss about those intolerant atheists who run around threatening kids. Bunch of cowards.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 02:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 207 words, total size 1 kb.

<< Page 3 of 3 >>
29kb generated in CPU 0.0105, elapsed 0.2449 seconds.
58 queries taking 0.2377 seconds, 172 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.