I believe in microbes. Microbes are like God. You can’t hear them, taste them, smell them or see them with the naked eye. But you know they’re there. Closer to you than your jugular vein. Lately, I’ve had more experiences with microbes than with God . . . .
There are no photos in my my writing room. No kids, no parents, no family. Pictures of my parents have the worst effect on me when I’m trying to write. “When are you going to get a real job, Barb?” they shout from their frames as I enter the workroom. Peering over my shoulder as I write, they pass judgment on me and my thoughts, “You’re writing about that? Shame on you.”
I’d like to recommend Harvey Cox’s newest book to all my non-believer friends. So many of the sophisticated, highly educated people I know labor under the assumption that they have to believe – to assent intellectually to – the factuality of traditional Christian teaching. They don’t. And here’s why: The idea of a fixed creed to which a true Christian must subscribe dates back, not to the life of Jesus, but to the emperor Constantine.
Catholic? Lutheran? Evangelical? Buddhist? New Age? Americans aren’t as brand-loyal as they used to be when it comes to church attendance and ideas about the spiritual realm. Americans religious beliefs and practices simply don’t fit into traditional categories any more, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that freelancers now make up nearly 45 percent journalists jailed around the world, an increase that probably reflects changes in global news reporting.
