mmm. . .
In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that animal sacrifices, as practiced by the Santeria cult, are protected behavior under the
First Amendment. The decision outraged animal rights organizations such as the ASPCA and PETA. In gratitude, a Santeria high priest slit the
throats of nineteen animals on Miami Beach.
But don't try this in the public schools.
Where No Minister Has Gone Before
A national news report brings cheery news of significant liturgical progress in Lutheran circles. An enterprising minister translated a good
portion of the liturgy into Klingon -- the language of
Star Trek's bad guys -- and then conducted the service accordingly.
To those under the law, I became as one under the law, and to the Trekkies I became a ding-dong.
Oooh, Conservative Radicals
In Chronicles, Betsy Clarke describes her conservative victory over local public school propaganda. Outraged that the school sent her son home
with an environmental oath for the entire family (". . . United with my friends, I will save the earth"), she fought back. She threatened to bring in the ACLU.
Her son, who sided with the school, found his mother's actions rather embarrassing. Finally, the school scrapped the program, and Clarke
gained the victory: "In some small way we had beaten back the forces of tyranny."
Now that's exciting social change. She then sent her son back to the Priests of Baal for more training.
Painful Language
Writer's magazine lists some recently published writing gaffs:
• "We have turned cans into cash to use towards programs for our children, rather than burying them in a landfill."
• "It is my hope in the near future to show additional films on the hazards of cigarette smoking, nutrition, and dental care."
• "Princess Anne is the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and a noted equestrian performer."
• "Mrs. McAllister watched as the giant airplane taxied out of the gate. Like some wild beast she pointed her nose down the runway and screamed terrifically into the sky."
The Sky is Falling!
Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, is convinced that the world is going to end in September of 1994 and has written a book to this effect entitled 1994. The folks at Family Radio aren't too happy, fearing that when events prove him wrong, their credibility will suffer, leading to
the demise of Family Radio.
And of course if he is right and the sky does fall, some worry that there will be nothing left to carry the radio waves.
Westminster Fog Machine East
Harvie Conn, professor of missions at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, comments that given the challenges of relativism
in interpretation, "Does not the normativity of Scripture disappear in placing undue emphasis on the meaning the text has for the people who read it?
Are cultural universals dislocated in our study of the culturally specific? The. . . questions we have cited, and there are more, raise legitimate
questions about relativism. And they cannot be ignored."
Cannot be ignored? Cannot? Cannot? Why is the challenge of relativism and subjectivism always so much more clear and understandable than God's word?
A Finger in Alabama's Eye
The county-by-county breakdown into precise percentages created an uproar. Many were incensed, denouncing the Southern Baptists
as presumptuous. In response, a Southern Baptist spokesman explained that Baptists don't claim to be passing judgment: "It has a good motive
behind it, and that is not one of judging. . . . "
As long as they are concerned with not being judgmental, perhaps the survey would have been more publicly appeasing and more accurate for missions
planning if they had simply divided Alabama into the intolerant and the tolerant and then sent missionaries to the tolerant.
Good Ol' Mary
In Jesus Called Her
Mother by Dee Jepsen (Bethany House Publ.), we learn: "Gabriel's visit caught Mary by surprise, but did not catch
her unprepared. God, who knew Mary's heart, also knew He had given her a free will. I wonder if the hosts of heaven waited, listening intently, as
Mary made her decision. It is the same for each of us; God prepares us, but we hold the power to say yes or no to Him -- to control our own lives or to
give control over to Him. It was Mary's willing heart that changed everything. Eternity waited. Heaven listened. Our salvation hung in the balance.
And then this one woman said, `Yes! I want what you want, God.'"
Yippee!
