The Religion Re-Cap

I’ll admit, going into this all, I hadn’t intended to write more than that first post on the exodus we’re currently seeing in Western Christian churches. That done, I guess I felt that there were some more questions to be asked and issues to be pointed to with Western Christianity as a whole, notably the treatment of theology and “pietism”, which shapes so much of Western Christian culture, as well as the question of biblical inerrancy, which I wrote today.

It strikes me that we really ever only take one of two routes when dealing with religion- we’re either unquestioning or we’re dismissive. I don’t think Christianity is so unimpeachable that it can’t be indicted and I don’t think it’s so unimportant that it can be ignored. Whatever your stance on it, these beliefs, traditions, and values have shaped and continue to shape culture and history in this nation and around the world. It deserves the courtesy of us grappling with it on its own turf- no matter where you’re coming from, I’m hopeful this will have at least offer a venue for some more sincere discussion than we typically enjoy. This series may have ended, the conversation, I’m hoping, is just about to begin.

The three posts in this series are listed below:

I. The End Of The Church As We Know It

II. The Problem With Pietism

III. Biblical Inerrancy

Biblical Inerrancy

As you’ve already heard from Evan, the post I had initially created was taken down. Quite honestly, it was pretty dang sub-par, and really just a sad attempt on my part to push off the inevitable day when I’d have to conclude my little series on Western Christianity (i.e., Protestantism) with some pretty hefty accusations.

This is going to be a big one.

My past couple of posts on religion (well, general Western Christianity) have dealt largely with complaints regarding the nature of “organized” religion, and can be generally dismissed with a statement like “Well, those people are clearly just distorting the message.” We’re going to be heading a bit deeper today, with some questions about the message itself.

Let’s talk about the idea of “Biblical Inerrancy.”

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CWR Monday News

No, this doesn’t have anything to do with actual news, but it does relate to what is happening on this blog this Monday. Oh, happy Canadian Thanksgiving, people who celebrate it!

I apologize on Gordon’s behalf for the late post today. There was one up this morning, but we’ve since taken that down, and all in all he’s admitted that this is entirely his fault. It’s a surprise to me, too.

Later today Gordon will be concluding what he is calling a series on Western Christianity [which really started, I suppose, in mid-September] with a post on biblical inerrancy. There will also be a following wrap-up post which gathers the many thoughts he’s presented about the way we view religion in North America. Some of them have been pretty controversial, to say the least, so I’m looking forward to how he chooses to conclude the topic [for now].

On the right is a gif of the devilishly handsome James Franco, playing Harry Osborne in the very poorly received Spider-Man 3. That movie aside, it’s going to be hard to see how Dane Dehaan’s performance is going to compare in the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man 2. He is the apex predator, though. He’s definitely got that going for him.

2 Things Boys Need To Know About Their Sexuality

1. Don’t Rape

Without wasting any time here, the first is obvious, and I’ve written about it a lot. Whether it’s about the way we use the word daily or what has said about it in rap music, I’ve scrutinized the act because of how incredibly damaging it can be, how frequently it happens, and the attitude many have towards it.

I was linked to the following video via a gifset on imgur, and while I’m not a person who knows a great deal about slam poetry, this is well-worth the watch:

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Fame Day: Dead Kevin Sketch

goodjobdeadkevinIt’s been quite a while since I’ve done this, but I’ve actually dedicated three past Fame Days to YouTube channels/shows: StarCraftsGeek Love, and Munchies. Thinking hard on what to write about for today, I almost slapped myself when I realized that I’ve never blogged about my three favourite YouTube comedians.

Late in December 2011 “Bathroom Blues” came online, heralding the first of dozens of videos to come-

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Evan and Gordon Talk: About Whatever, Because You’re Not Helping Us Out Topics-Wise

EVAN: Dearest audience, I don’t know what happened. There used to be a time when you offered us E&GT topics like it was nothing, and now it feels like something has come between us. Is it Gordon’s divisive posts about Christianity? Just let us know, we can’t take the silence any longer!

That being said, we’re basically just going to talk for 45 minutes about whatever we feel like.

So, Gordon, the two of us have been known to play D&D from time to time, and I’m going to pose it to you to come up with an original class idea. Keep in mind that I already have one and it is pretty good.

He’s a drow, or dark elf, so it’s not technically blackface. . . I think . . .

And I’m expecting something a little bit different from your usual high-damage through bladed weapons or dark magic with low health.

GORDON: Ah, we’re going right for the nerd crowd, eh? Okay, how about this: Continue reading