Wednesday, July 25, 2012 12:17:01 AM
Science, Religion With Buddhist Monk Dr. Matthieu Ricard (VIDEO)
By Cara Santa Maria
Posted: 07/16/2012 7:54 am Updated: 07/16/2012 12:27 pm
As an atheist, I do not believe in god. Neither does Dr. Matthieu Ricard [ http://www.matthieuricard.org/ ], a Buddhist monk who earned his PhD in cellular genetics and currently lives in the Himalayan region, where he leads humanitarian efforts [ http://karuna-shechen.org/ ] in India, Nepal, and Tibet.
I sat down with Dr. Ricard at the 2012 World Science Festival [ http://worldsciencefestival.com/ ] in New York City to talk about science and religion. His comments surprised my skeptical ears. I'm interested to see if they do the same for you.
Click the link below and watch the video above [embedded] to learn more. And don't forget to sound off by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page. Talk nerdy to me!
*
Transcript:
CARA SANTA MARIA: Hi everyone. Cara Santa Maria here. When Dr. Matthieu Ricard [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthieu-ricard ] was 26 years old, he earned his doctorate degree in cellular genetics from the Pasteur Institute [ http://www.pasteur.fr/ip/easysite/pasteur/en ] in Paris. Instead of pursuing a traditional post-doc, he left his worldly possessions behind and moved to the Himalayas to become a Buddhist monk. Today, he's the founding director of Karuna-Shechen [ http://www.karuna-shechen.org/ ], a humanitarian charity, and he works as the French translator for the Dalai Lama [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/dalai-lama ]. I sat down with him to discuss Buddhism from a scientific perspective.
DR. MATTHIEU RICARD: It’s not about a religious practice, and as the Dalai Lama often says religion can be a choice and we may not make that choice, but we need, from the moment we are born, we need affection, we need love, we need interconnection, we need emotional balance. From the moment we are born to the moment we die, we need to receive and give those affections, love and kindness, and other qualities. So that’s not an issue of religion, or religion can help each person in their own part if they choose to do so, it can help techniques to enhance that, but the main thing is for all human beings and their techniques to become a better human being.
CSM: I told Dr. Ricard that as a scientist, skeptic, and atheist, I was wary of the language often used in the context of Buddhism. Like the word "spirituality," it just doesn't compute. So when I asked him what that term meant to him, well, he surprised me.
MR: When we say "spirituality," again we must be careful. I actually don’t use that word usually. I prefer to speak, let’s say, if I speak of a spiritual path, for me in Buddhism, it is a path of transformation. Each and every one of us has the potential for transformation, that’s the fundamental aspect of Buddhism. We don’t speak of original sin, but original goodness, and again original goodness is not some kind of weird, sort of dogmatic thing, it’s just a fact that there’s the potential for change in every human being. If you look deep within the mind, of course there’s a lot of emotion, some positive emotion, negative emotion, sometime anger, sometime love and kindness, but basically the fundamental nature of mind, you know it’s like light. Cognitive faculty, the basic cognitive faculty of mind is like a beam of light. It’s not modified by what it lights up. Like, if light shines on a heap of garbage it doesn’t become dirty. If light shines on a piece of gold it doesn’t become expensive. We don’t want to fall prey to the chain reaction that goes from, you know, feeling a bit upset to animosity to anger and to full-fledged hate. You don’t want to cause that, the spark gives birth to that forest fire. You want to just let it vanish before, that’s all the science of mind that applies to every human being. So a part of transformation to inner means, that’s what I would call spirituality. But I would happily dispense of the word spirituality to say that it is a science of mind. A contemplative science.
CSM: This got me thinking about the eternal debate between science and religion [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/religion-science/ ]. I know where I stand, and you may know where you stand. But what does this man, who is so enlightened in the ways of the scientific method and Buddhism, have to say?
MR: I think what the Dalai Lama often says about that, the relation between religion and one’s life, not only with science, is that it is a fact that possibly more than half of humanity, even the minimally religious, they don’t really live every moment according to their religion. And of course there are many completely nonbelievers, whether they are agnostic or atheist or whatever, those are human beings, and of course I’m not saying that like a sort of, “OK, you are also human beings." No, they are full human beings with a full potential for being extraordinarily good human beings. So you can’t associate the potential that we have to express those human qualities with religion. So that’s why the Dalai Lama says, you know, let’s keep religion aside. But not being against religion, but it is not intrinsically linked with religion. So when you speak of secular ethics and secular spirituality or meditation, he does that. He says, always as it happens in India, India is a secular state but the notion is secularism means, respecting all religion including nonbelievers in a very open society without choosing a particular one and even less without wanting to impose it on others saying "no, no, because it is best for me it is best for you," that doesn’t make sense. As he says often, "if there was only one dish served in all the worlds’ restaurants nobody would go to the restaurant, it’s boring." And also we all have different mental dispositions. So some people would feel comfortable with the notion of God, some people it just doesn’t make sense and they prefer the idea of interdependence and law and cause and effect. And Buddhism, some people don’t care about Buddhism either, but they still can and want to be a good human being. So it’s just an option, but it’s definitely not a necessity.
CSM: Hear hear, Dr. Ricard. What role do you think religion should play in our modern, scientific society? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, or by leaving a comment right here on the Huffington Post. Come on, talk nerdy to me!
*
To learn more about Dr. Ricard's humanitarian work and how you can get involved, visit karuna-shechen.org.
[ http://karuna-shechen.org/ ].
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/science-religion_n_1654264.html [with embedded video, additional embedded videos of Arianna speaking with the Dalai Lama about science and spirituality, and comments]
===
'Christian Parenting' Ideas to Let Go Of
By Christian Piatt
Posted: 07/23/2012 8:08 am
I've been thinking about Christian parenting lately, and more specifically, how that looks different today than maybe in the past. When I started thinking back to scripture, my mind first wandered to several "what not to do" stories, which abound in the Bible. For example:
• Don't pass out drunk before securing your loincloth first (See: Noah)
• Don't hand over your virgin daughters to an angry mob to be gang-raped (See: Lot)
• Don't lay your son out on top of a big rock and attempt to sacrifice him to God (See: Abraham)
I could go on, but you get the idea. There's plenty of fodder for sub-par parenting in the Good Book if we want to find it. But based on the examples of Christian parenting I see in more contemporary culture, the things we'd be best to move beyond are a little subtler (sometimes anyway) than the examples above.
Consider James Dobson's (former head of Focus on the Family) writing on raising children. He advocates corporal punishment, placing the male as the "head of the household," and other advice that makes a guy like me cringe. And interestingly, a lot of the differences I have with traditional (some might say "evangelical") Christian parenting parallel my differences in how to approach Christian community all together.
In that light, here are five habits, often attributed to "Christian parenting" values, that I'd just as soon replace with something new:
Beatings will continue until morale improves. Though physical violence is a shortcut to compliance, it sends the wrong message to our kids. We say as Christians that our core values center on mercy, love, grace and compassion, so where exactly does corporal punishment fit in this? Some will contend that sparing the rod spoils the child, but the Hebrew word (shebet) often translated as "rod" can also be translated as "authority." In this sense, we can interpret that the author of Proverbs (from which this 12th century phrase seems to come from) may have meant that if we don't use our wisdom, authority and influence to guide our children's lives, they will likely be lost.
Because I said so. This style of parenting is a bit like being in the middle of a theological debate and throwing down the "The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it" trump card. True respect doesn't come from browbeating or intimidating someone into compliance or silence. It comes from living the example you preach, and in doing so, illuminating a path your children -- and perhaps even others -- desire to follow.
Father is King. This certainly isn't limited to Christian households (my dad was an atheist and ascribed to this ethos), but it's certainly prevalent within lots Christian families. From Promise Keepers to the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, there are many faith-based groups that base their family values on the establishment and maintenance of a clear, hierarchic order. Everyone knows their role, their place, and that the dad is ultimately in charge. Yet in Galatians, Paul says that as Christians such labels and hierarchies should fall away. If, instead, the principles of the Greatest Commandment (Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; Love your neighbor as yourself) are placed at the head of any family, the rest falls into its proper place.
Sex is dirty; save it for marriage. We Christians have such a screwed up relationship with sex and sexuality, it's a wonder we keep finding a way to reproduce at all! From Eve to Bathsheba and Delilah, we delight in paining the woman as the sexual temptress who leads men astray, as if we have no control over ourselves. And from this, any number efforts to oppress the rights and identities of women emerge. But guess what? We're still clueless when it comes to sex. We tell our kids about how scary, dirty, dangerous and evil even thinking about sex is, but then we tell them it's precious gift to save for the one person you love and plan to live with forever. This is a setup for sexual confusion, guilt and even sexual addiction or abuse later in life.
Think like me when you grow up. Many Christians say that their faith is all about a personal relationship with Christ, trumpet the primacy of free will and love to quote scriptures about "seek and you shall find." But not when it comes to our kids. We feel the need to force-feed our notion of the faith on them far too often, rather than trusting that, given the chance, they will find God on their own terms as they come to understand it. More often than not, it seems at least within my generation, the didactic forcible approach to raising kids in the Christian faith causes them to run the other direction as soon as they're able. How many millions more will it take walking away from Christianity forever before we finally wake up and realize that maybe we're part of the problem?
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christian-piatt/five-christian-parenting-_b_1672520.html [with comments]
===
Bryan Fischer Blames 'Liberals' Way' For Aurora Mass Shooting (VIDEO)
By Meredith Bennett-Smith
Posted: 07/24/2012 2:51 pm Updated: 07/24/2012 9:12 pm
Pundits across the political spectrum have been quick to use the weekend's tragic mass shooting at an Aurora, Colo. [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/aurora-shooting/ ], movie theater as a means of pushing various threads of partisan rhetoric.
Bryan Fischer, the oft-quoted mouthpiece of the American Family Association [ http://www.afa.net/ ], was quick to jump on the bandwagon, tying the mass shooting first to a general breakdown in Judeo-Christian values, and most recently to the public school system's teaching of evolution.
The Raw Story published comments [ http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/24/evangelical-radio-host-blames-colorado-shooting-on-the-liberals-way/ ] made Monday by Fischer, the director of issues analysis for the fundamentalist Christian organization, during his daily radio show, "Focal Point." In an impressive feat of extrapolation, Fischer linked the massacre to “the liberals’ way” of teaching the theory of evolution and preventing prayer in schools.
Fischer wondered aloud if bestselling author and California magachurch evangelical Reverend Rick Warren was referring to the alleged shooter, James Holmes, when he tweeted [ http://jamellebouie.net/2012/7/21/stay-classy-rick-warren ], “When students are taught they are no different from animals, they act like it."
"If this tweet was connected to the shooting, to this James Holmes, to the one that killed the 12 and wounded the 58 in this theater, it would be appropriate,” Fischer said.
Fischer went on to blame Holmes' murderous tendencies on Charles' Darwin's principle of survival of the fittest.
"[Holmes] sees himself as evolutionarily advanced just like he was taught in school about Darwin, that this is how natural selection works," Fischer said.
Fischer then moved on to also blame the killings on the end of organized prayer in schools. The Supreme Court prohibited state-sponsored prayer in schools in two landmark cases in the early 1960s: Engel v. Vitale [ http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0370_0421_ZS.html ] in 1962 and Abington School District v. Schempp [ http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0374_0203_ZO.html ] one year later.
"We have spent 60 years telling God to get lost,” Fischer said. "What if every single day in [James Holmes'] educational process, there had been readings from the word of God ... Who knows if things could have been different. But we’ve tried it the other way. The point of my column, we’ve tried it the liberals’ way for 60 years now. What do we got? We have massacres in Aurora.”
Fischer did not mention the fact that James Holmes' family belonged to the Penasquitos Lutheran Church for about ten years, as originally reported by the Associated Press [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/pastor-in-calif-recalls-colorado-shooting-suspect-as-shy-boy-driven-to-succeed-academically/2012/07/22/gJQAKDas2W_story.html ]. Holmes' mother still attends services there regularly.
The American Family Association is no stranger to controversy. In comments made during a segment of the AFA Journal program [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/afa-news-director-says-liberal-churches-media-share-responsibility-colorado-shooting ] on Friday and reported by Right Wing Watch, AFA news director Fred Jackson, co-host Teddy James and guest Jerry Newcombe of the Truth in Action Ministries suggested that violent incidents in America, including in Aurora, were evidence of God's judgement.
"The AFA Journal has been dealing with denominations that no longer believe in the God of the Bible," Jackson said [id.]. "They no longer believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, they teach that God is OK with homosexuality, this is just increasing more and more. It is mankind shaking its fist at the authority of God."
"And God will not be silent when he’s mocked, and we need to remember that," James said, to which Jackson replied [id.], "We are seeing his judgment. You know, some people talk about ‘God’s judgment must be just around the corner,’ we are seeing it."
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/bryan-fischer-blames-liberals-aurora-tragedy_n_1698970.html [with embedded video, and comments]
===
Mike Huckabee Calls For National 'Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day'
Posted: 07/24/2012 10:09 am Updated: 07/24/2012 6:02 pm
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Fox News host, has had enough of what he called the "vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/dan-cathy-chick-fil-a-president-anti-gay_n_1680984.html ]" aimed at Chick-fil-A.
On his Facebook page, Huckabee announced that Aug. 1 will be "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," a day on which he is encouraging people to patronize the fast food chain.
The former presidential candidate is upset that the fast food chicken chain has been the target of criticism in the wake of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's saying last week [ ] that his company supports "the biblical definition of the family unit."
The National Organization for Marriage, a group organized to oppose same-sex marriage, called him a "corporate hero for marriage [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/-gay-marriage-chick-fil-a_n_1687743.html ]," while others were quick to condemn his comments.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino even went so far as to tell the Boston Herald that "Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston."
"You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population," he said, according to the Herald [ http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061147182&position=0 ]. "We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion."
And on Friday, the Jim Henson Company, the group behind "The Muppets" and "Fraggle Rock," released a statement saying it [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/jim-henson-company-chick-fil-a-anti-gay_n_1694809.html ] has "notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors." Jim Henson's "Creature Shop" toys are currently available in the company's kid's meals.
Huckabee further explained the purpose of his pro-Chick-fil-A campaign on his Facebook Page [ https://www.facebook.com/events/266281243473841/ ]:
The goal is simple: Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1. Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same sex marriage, abortion, or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we're considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate-mongers, and intolerant.
State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Texas) [ https://www.facebook.com/dan.patrick.texas ] and the group Concerned Women for America [ https://www.facebook.com/ConcernedWomenforAmerica ] have promoted the event, which is not affiliated with Chick-fil-A.
So far, more than 80,000 people have signed up to participate in the event.
UPDATE: 5:55 p.m. EST:
The Facebook event is no longer available, and Gov. Huckabee has written the following on his Facebook page [ https://www.facebook.com/mikehuckabee ]:
A number of you are asking questions about the Chick Fil-A event. The event disappeared from my page this morning and we have asked Facebook to look into this. I will update you as soon as I know more. The event is still on and the info should be back up soon.
Huckabee's full statement about "Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day" is on his website [ http://www.mikehuckabee.com/mike-huckabee-news?ContentRecord_id=3ee26004-f520-4f45-b327-9bd7e37e2cdc ].
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/mike-huckabee-chick-fil-a-appreciation-day_n_1696648.html [with comments]
===
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By Cara Santa Maria
Posted: 07/16/2012 7:54 am Updated: 07/16/2012 12:27 pm
As an atheist, I do not believe in god. Neither does Dr. Matthieu Ricard [ http://www.matthieuricard.org/ ], a Buddhist monk who earned his PhD in cellular genetics and currently lives in the Himalayan region, where he leads humanitarian efforts [ http://karuna-shechen.org/ ] in India, Nepal, and Tibet.
I sat down with Dr. Ricard at the 2012 World Science Festival [ http://worldsciencefestival.com/ ] in New York City to talk about science and religion. His comments surprised my skeptical ears. I'm interested to see if they do the same for you.
Click the link below and watch the video above [embedded] to learn more. And don't forget to sound off by leaving a comment at the bottom of the page. Talk nerdy to me!
*
Transcript:
CARA SANTA MARIA: Hi everyone. Cara Santa Maria here. When Dr. Matthieu Ricard [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthieu-ricard ] was 26 years old, he earned his doctorate degree in cellular genetics from the Pasteur Institute [ http://www.pasteur.fr/ip/easysite/pasteur/en ] in Paris. Instead of pursuing a traditional post-doc, he left his worldly possessions behind and moved to the Himalayas to become a Buddhist monk. Today, he's the founding director of Karuna-Shechen [ http://www.karuna-shechen.org/ ], a humanitarian charity, and he works as the French translator for the Dalai Lama [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/dalai-lama ]. I sat down with him to discuss Buddhism from a scientific perspective.
DR. MATTHIEU RICARD: It’s not about a religious practice, and as the Dalai Lama often says religion can be a choice and we may not make that choice, but we need, from the moment we are born, we need affection, we need love, we need interconnection, we need emotional balance. From the moment we are born to the moment we die, we need to receive and give those affections, love and kindness, and other qualities. So that’s not an issue of religion, or religion can help each person in their own part if they choose to do so, it can help techniques to enhance that, but the main thing is for all human beings and their techniques to become a better human being.
CSM: I told Dr. Ricard that as a scientist, skeptic, and atheist, I was wary of the language often used in the context of Buddhism. Like the word "spirituality," it just doesn't compute. So when I asked him what that term meant to him, well, he surprised me.
MR: When we say "spirituality," again we must be careful. I actually don’t use that word usually. I prefer to speak, let’s say, if I speak of a spiritual path, for me in Buddhism, it is a path of transformation. Each and every one of us has the potential for transformation, that’s the fundamental aspect of Buddhism. We don’t speak of original sin, but original goodness, and again original goodness is not some kind of weird, sort of dogmatic thing, it’s just a fact that there’s the potential for change in every human being. If you look deep within the mind, of course there’s a lot of emotion, some positive emotion, negative emotion, sometime anger, sometime love and kindness, but basically the fundamental nature of mind, you know it’s like light. Cognitive faculty, the basic cognitive faculty of mind is like a beam of light. It’s not modified by what it lights up. Like, if light shines on a heap of garbage it doesn’t become dirty. If light shines on a piece of gold it doesn’t become expensive. We don’t want to fall prey to the chain reaction that goes from, you know, feeling a bit upset to animosity to anger and to full-fledged hate. You don’t want to cause that, the spark gives birth to that forest fire. You want to just let it vanish before, that’s all the science of mind that applies to every human being. So a part of transformation to inner means, that’s what I would call spirituality. But I would happily dispense of the word spirituality to say that it is a science of mind. A contemplative science.
CSM: This got me thinking about the eternal debate between science and religion [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/religion-science/ ]. I know where I stand, and you may know where you stand. But what does this man, who is so enlightened in the ways of the scientific method and Buddhism, have to say?
MR: I think what the Dalai Lama often says about that, the relation between religion and one’s life, not only with science, is that it is a fact that possibly more than half of humanity, even the minimally religious, they don’t really live every moment according to their religion. And of course there are many completely nonbelievers, whether they are agnostic or atheist or whatever, those are human beings, and of course I’m not saying that like a sort of, “OK, you are also human beings." No, they are full human beings with a full potential for being extraordinarily good human beings. So you can’t associate the potential that we have to express those human qualities with religion. So that’s why the Dalai Lama says, you know, let’s keep religion aside. But not being against religion, but it is not intrinsically linked with religion. So when you speak of secular ethics and secular spirituality or meditation, he does that. He says, always as it happens in India, India is a secular state but the notion is secularism means, respecting all religion including nonbelievers in a very open society without choosing a particular one and even less without wanting to impose it on others saying "no, no, because it is best for me it is best for you," that doesn’t make sense. As he says often, "if there was only one dish served in all the worlds’ restaurants nobody would go to the restaurant, it’s boring." And also we all have different mental dispositions. So some people would feel comfortable with the notion of God, some people it just doesn’t make sense and they prefer the idea of interdependence and law and cause and effect. And Buddhism, some people don’t care about Buddhism either, but they still can and want to be a good human being. So it’s just an option, but it’s definitely not a necessity.
CSM: Hear hear, Dr. Ricard. What role do you think religion should play in our modern, scientific society? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter, Facebook, or by leaving a comment right here on the Huffington Post. Come on, talk nerdy to me!
*
To learn more about Dr. Ricard's humanitarian work and how you can get involved, visit karuna-shechen.org.
[ http://karuna-shechen.org/ ].
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/16/science-religion_n_1654264.html [with embedded video, additional embedded videos of Arianna speaking with the Dalai Lama about science and spirituality, and comments]
===
'Christian Parenting' Ideas to Let Go Of
By Christian Piatt
Posted: 07/23/2012 8:08 am
I've been thinking about Christian parenting lately, and more specifically, how that looks different today than maybe in the past. When I started thinking back to scripture, my mind first wandered to several "what not to do" stories, which abound in the Bible. For example:
• Don't pass out drunk before securing your loincloth first (See: Noah)
• Don't hand over your virgin daughters to an angry mob to be gang-raped (See: Lot)
• Don't lay your son out on top of a big rock and attempt to sacrifice him to God (See: Abraham)
I could go on, but you get the idea. There's plenty of fodder for sub-par parenting in the Good Book if we want to find it. But based on the examples of Christian parenting I see in more contemporary culture, the things we'd be best to move beyond are a little subtler (sometimes anyway) than the examples above.
Consider James Dobson's (former head of Focus on the Family) writing on raising children. He advocates corporal punishment, placing the male as the "head of the household," and other advice that makes a guy like me cringe. And interestingly, a lot of the differences I have with traditional (some might say "evangelical") Christian parenting parallel my differences in how to approach Christian community all together.
In that light, here are five habits, often attributed to "Christian parenting" values, that I'd just as soon replace with something new:
Beatings will continue until morale improves. Though physical violence is a shortcut to compliance, it sends the wrong message to our kids. We say as Christians that our core values center on mercy, love, grace and compassion, so where exactly does corporal punishment fit in this? Some will contend that sparing the rod spoils the child, but the Hebrew word (shebet) often translated as "rod" can also be translated as "authority." In this sense, we can interpret that the author of Proverbs (from which this 12th century phrase seems to come from) may have meant that if we don't use our wisdom, authority and influence to guide our children's lives, they will likely be lost.
Because I said so. This style of parenting is a bit like being in the middle of a theological debate and throwing down the "The Bible says it; I believe it; that settles it" trump card. True respect doesn't come from browbeating or intimidating someone into compliance or silence. It comes from living the example you preach, and in doing so, illuminating a path your children -- and perhaps even others -- desire to follow.
Father is King. This certainly isn't limited to Christian households (my dad was an atheist and ascribed to this ethos), but it's certainly prevalent within lots Christian families. From Promise Keepers to the Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, there are many faith-based groups that base their family values on the establishment and maintenance of a clear, hierarchic order. Everyone knows their role, their place, and that the dad is ultimately in charge. Yet in Galatians, Paul says that as Christians such labels and hierarchies should fall away. If, instead, the principles of the Greatest Commandment (Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind; Love your neighbor as yourself) are placed at the head of any family, the rest falls into its proper place.
Sex is dirty; save it for marriage. We Christians have such a screwed up relationship with sex and sexuality, it's a wonder we keep finding a way to reproduce at all! From Eve to Bathsheba and Delilah, we delight in paining the woman as the sexual temptress who leads men astray, as if we have no control over ourselves. And from this, any number efforts to oppress the rights and identities of women emerge. But guess what? We're still clueless when it comes to sex. We tell our kids about how scary, dirty, dangerous and evil even thinking about sex is, but then we tell them it's precious gift to save for the one person you love and plan to live with forever. This is a setup for sexual confusion, guilt and even sexual addiction or abuse later in life.
Think like me when you grow up. Many Christians say that their faith is all about a personal relationship with Christ, trumpet the primacy of free will and love to quote scriptures about "seek and you shall find." But not when it comes to our kids. We feel the need to force-feed our notion of the faith on them far too often, rather than trusting that, given the chance, they will find God on their own terms as they come to understand it. More often than not, it seems at least within my generation, the didactic forcible approach to raising kids in the Christian faith causes them to run the other direction as soon as they're able. How many millions more will it take walking away from Christianity forever before we finally wake up and realize that maybe we're part of the problem?
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christian-piatt/five-christian-parenting-_b_1672520.html [with comments]
===
Bryan Fischer Blames 'Liberals' Way' For Aurora Mass Shooting (VIDEO)
By Meredith Bennett-Smith
Posted: 07/24/2012 2:51 pm Updated: 07/24/2012 9:12 pm
Pundits across the political spectrum have been quick to use the weekend's tragic mass shooting at an Aurora, Colo. [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/aurora-shooting/ ], movie theater as a means of pushing various threads of partisan rhetoric.
Bryan Fischer, the oft-quoted mouthpiece of the American Family Association [ http://www.afa.net/ ], was quick to jump on the bandwagon, tying the mass shooting first to a general breakdown in Judeo-Christian values, and most recently to the public school system's teaching of evolution.
The Raw Story published comments [ http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/24/evangelical-radio-host-blames-colorado-shooting-on-the-liberals-way/ ] made Monday by Fischer, the director of issues analysis for the fundamentalist Christian organization, during his daily radio show, "Focal Point." In an impressive feat of extrapolation, Fischer linked the massacre to “the liberals’ way” of teaching the theory of evolution and preventing prayer in schools.
Fischer wondered aloud if bestselling author and California magachurch evangelical Reverend Rick Warren was referring to the alleged shooter, James Holmes, when he tweeted [ http://jamellebouie.net/2012/7/21/stay-classy-rick-warren ], “When students are taught they are no different from animals, they act like it."
"If this tweet was connected to the shooting, to this James Holmes, to the one that killed the 12 and wounded the 58 in this theater, it would be appropriate,” Fischer said.
Fischer went on to blame Holmes' murderous tendencies on Charles' Darwin's principle of survival of the fittest.
"[Holmes] sees himself as evolutionarily advanced just like he was taught in school about Darwin, that this is how natural selection works," Fischer said.
Fischer then moved on to also blame the killings on the end of organized prayer in schools. The Supreme Court prohibited state-sponsored prayer in schools in two landmark cases in the early 1960s: Engel v. Vitale [ http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0370_0421_ZS.html ] in 1962 and Abington School District v. Schempp [ http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0374_0203_ZO.html ] one year later.
"We have spent 60 years telling God to get lost,” Fischer said. "What if every single day in [James Holmes'] educational process, there had been readings from the word of God ... Who knows if things could have been different. But we’ve tried it the other way. The point of my column, we’ve tried it the liberals’ way for 60 years now. What do we got? We have massacres in Aurora.”
Fischer did not mention the fact that James Holmes' family belonged to the Penasquitos Lutheran Church for about ten years, as originally reported by the Associated Press [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/pastor-in-calif-recalls-colorado-shooting-suspect-as-shy-boy-driven-to-succeed-academically/2012/07/22/gJQAKDas2W_story.html ]. Holmes' mother still attends services there regularly.
The American Family Association is no stranger to controversy. In comments made during a segment of the AFA Journal program [ http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/afa-news-director-says-liberal-churches-media-share-responsibility-colorado-shooting ] on Friday and reported by Right Wing Watch, AFA news director Fred Jackson, co-host Teddy James and guest Jerry Newcombe of the Truth in Action Ministries suggested that violent incidents in America, including in Aurora, were evidence of God's judgement.
"The AFA Journal has been dealing with denominations that no longer believe in the God of the Bible," Jackson said [id.]. "They no longer believe that Jesus is the only way of salvation, they teach that God is OK with homosexuality, this is just increasing more and more. It is mankind shaking its fist at the authority of God."
"And God will not be silent when he’s mocked, and we need to remember that," James said, to which Jackson replied [id.], "We are seeing his judgment. You know, some people talk about ‘God’s judgment must be just around the corner,’ we are seeing it."
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/bryan-fischer-blames-liberals-aurora-tragedy_n_1698970.html [with embedded video, and comments]
===
Mike Huckabee Calls For National 'Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day'
Posted: 07/24/2012 10:09 am Updated: 07/24/2012 6:02 pm
Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and Fox News host, has had enough of what he called the "vicious hate speech and intolerant bigotry [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/17/dan-cathy-chick-fil-a-president-anti-gay_n_1680984.html ]" aimed at Chick-fil-A.
On his Facebook page, Huckabee announced that Aug. 1 will be "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," a day on which he is encouraging people to patronize the fast food chain.
The former presidential candidate is upset that the fast food chicken chain has been the target of criticism in the wake of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's saying last week [ ] that his company supports "the biblical definition of the family unit."
The National Organization for Marriage, a group organized to oppose same-sex marriage, called him a "corporate hero for marriage [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/-gay-marriage-chick-fil-a_n_1687743.html ]," while others were quick to condemn his comments.
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino even went so far as to tell the Boston Herald that "Chick-fil-A doesn’t belong in Boston."
"You can’t have a business in the city of Boston that discriminates against a population," he said, according to the Herald [ http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1061147182&position=0 ]. "We’re an open city, we’re a city that’s at the forefront of inclusion."
And on Friday, the Jim Henson Company, the group behind "The Muppets" and "Fraggle Rock," released a statement saying it [ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/jim-henson-company-chick-fil-a-anti-gay_n_1694809.html ] has "notified Chick-fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors." Jim Henson's "Creature Shop" toys are currently available in the company's kid's meals.
Huckabee further explained the purpose of his pro-Chick-fil-A campaign on his Facebook Page [ https://www.facebook.com/events/266281243473841/ ]:
The goal is simple: Let's affirm a business that operates on Christian principles and whose executives are willing to take a stand for the Godly values we espouse by simply showing up and eating at Chick Fil-A on Wednesday, August 1. Too often, those on the left make corporate statements to show support for same sex marriage, abortion, or profanity, but if Christians affirm traditional values, we're considered homophobic, fundamentalists, hate-mongers, and intolerant.
State Sen. Dan Patrick (R-Texas) [ https://www.facebook.com/dan.patrick.texas ] and the group Concerned Women for America [ https://www.facebook.com/ConcernedWomenforAmerica ] have promoted the event, which is not affiliated with Chick-fil-A.
So far, more than 80,000 people have signed up to participate in the event.
UPDATE: 5:55 p.m. EST:
The Facebook event is no longer available, and Gov. Huckabee has written the following on his Facebook page [ https://www.facebook.com/mikehuckabee ]:
A number of you are asking questions about the Chick Fil-A event. The event disappeared from my page this morning and we have asked Facebook to look into this. I will update you as soon as I know more. The event is still on and the info should be back up soon.
Huckabee's full statement about "Chick Fil-A Appreciation Day" is on his website [ http://www.mikehuckabee.com/mike-huckabee-news?ContentRecord_id=3ee26004-f520-4f45-b327-9bd7e37e2cdc ].
Copyright © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/mike-huckabee-chick-fil-a-appreciation-day_n_1696648.html [with comments]
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"Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty."
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upon the Right of Election, 1790
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