Looking Ahead

I hope to finish the GLBT series tomorrow, although I know it will leave conversations hanging. One can only do so much.

After that, I will resume blogging on the Creation and Evolution series and the Baptist Peace and Justice Churches series.  Again, my purpose is not to put down other denominations, but to counter the stereotype about Baptists by highlighting the kind of Baptists who don’t make the headlines.

I have decided (with permission) to post an article that Glen Stassen and I co-wrote on defining violence and nonviolence (originally as a chapter of a book on teaching peace in which we were the only non-Mennonite contributors).

I have been learning fascinating things lately about the relationship (pro and con) of Christianity to Western higher education and may decide to blog some about that since I have long had a fascination with the love-hate relationship between my own Baptist tradition and higher education.

I will return to my series on theological mentors soon, too.

Except where events compel otherwise, I am trying to avoid commenting on U.S. politics in the near future, not because of lack of interest (to the contrary), but because that threatened to take over this blog for awhile.  As a citizen, I have a horse in this race.  As one whose faith informs my politics (but who is well aware of the limits of current political realities), I know that success for “my side” will only open some doors for justice and peace (and close others?) and certainly will not inaugurate the Kingdom of God. God is not a Democrat (or a Republican) and I have to resist the temptation to think God is at least closer to the Democratic platform than that of the GOP.  As a Christian, I know that the work of the church goes on regardless of who wins–but it is hard to be calm and trust in God’s providence no matter what this time because the last 8 years have been so horrible and John McCain wants to make the next ones even more disastrous. (See, even a brief mention tends to get me obsessing.) So, I am going to focus on other things in these pages as much as possible.