In 1999's The Matrix Agent Smith menacingly comments, "A revelation... came to me when I tried to classify your species. I've realized that you are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Accepts Genesis’ Imperative for Creation Care
Nonviolence
Beatnik Christianity Leans Into the Contemplative Tradition for Prayer
Many people in the deconstruction crowd have religious trauma around prayer. The sources are many. It seemed pointless when God already knew everything. Militaristic "prayer warrior" language didn't sit well with latent nonviolent tendencies. A prayer service where people screamed, "Boughta-Honda-shoulda-boughta-Hyundai!" gibberish at the top of their lungs was freaky. Dead … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Leans Into the Contemplative Tradition for Prayer
Beatnik Christianity Decries the Love + Violence That Is Patriotism
Love me a good patriotism quote. The Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, suggested, "Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it." The Spanish cellist, Pablo Casals, asked, "The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?" The French Renaissance man, Blaise Pascal, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Decries the Love + Violence That Is Patriotism
Beatnik Christianity Minimizes the Use of “Ism”s As Pre-Packaged Ideologies
It's perturbing when people demand unconditional loyalty to their ideological "ism"s. I affirm traditional creedal orthodoxy, but distance myself from conservatism. I'm fond of the Anglican tradition, but want no part of the bureaucracy that is Anglicanism. I support nonviolence, but am leery of pacifism. I believe in gender equality, but am tentative about latching onto … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Minimizes the Use of “Ism”s As Pre-Packaged Ideologies
Beatnik Christianity Embraces Nonviolence
The process of discipleship is supposed to be about being remade in the likeness of our rabbi, but that's a tall order. Instead Christians tend to recast Jesus in their own image and declare Him good. That's exactly what happened with the Christianization of the Roman Empire in the 4th century, and even more so as the empire's western half disintegrated in Augustine's lifetime. … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Embraces Nonviolence
