Clarifying the Clutter

There has not been, to my best recollection, a more polarizing topic in our society than the current issue of same-sex marriage. Now, before we get further along here, I’d like to point out something about this issue. That is…it is not “gay” marriage.

This is an important distinction, even if only for rhetorical purposes. And by that, I mean that referring to it as “gay” marriage is often used as a rhetorical bludgeoning device that is not as easily employed as the term “same-sex” marriage.

When we use the term “gay” marriage, it can be made to sound as though a specific group of people are being actively discriminated against. Whereas the idea of “same-sex” marriage rightly implies that this is not some sort of active repression which specifically targets a particular sub-culture, but rather an ideology about the concept of a fundamental societal institution.

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Religion in America

In our land of religious freedom, which religion do most Americans choose? Which denominations are most popular? Which regions gravitate to one religion? The following infographic, published by Online-Theology-Degree.com, provides the details of religion in America.

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Let My People, Passover!

Most of us know the story of The Passover from the epic film, The Ten Commandments. This Jewish holiday is a remembrance of the Exodus from slavery in Ancient Egypt. Jewish families eat a special meal called a Seder that is full of symbolic foods. This infographic from Mike Wirth Art provides visual data on this Seder as well as some info related to the original Passover itself.

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19 Different Types of Christians

People wear their “religion” in different ways. Some may be deeply devout daily while others only pray in times of great desperation. Some seek to eliminate humanity’s wrongs while others seek to prove humanity itself wrong. Look at these 19 types of Christians from Online Christian Colleges and see if you fit or break the mold.

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Do You Seriously Think God Can’t Use You? Think Again!

I came across the following image on Facebook. I’m not sure who originally created it but I just love it.  The image entitled “Do You Seriously Think God Can’t Use You?” is a simple reminder that God can use anybody… including you and me. Never let the enemy tell you otherwise!

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The Mobile Bible

I have one on my Android phone as do many Christians I know. How about you? This infographic provides some amazing statistics on how many people are using the YouVersion mobile Bible.

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The Paradox of Karma

I wonder if many people have really ever thought about the idea of Karma. The way that I have always understood it, when you did something selfish, insensitive, rude, cruel, mean, or otherwise unkind you will accumulate “bad Karma.” On the other hand, when you do things that are kind, considerate, selfless, caring, loving or otherwise “good” you will earn “good Karma.”

My guess is that this is the understanding that most people have with regards to Karma. As I have learned, however, this is not actually an entirely accurate way to understand Karma. You see, according to the Hindu belief, Karma is intrinsically associated with reincarnation. Reincarnation is the belief that one will continue to be “reborn” over and over again into a different type of living organism. The type of organism you are reborn into is dependent upon something referred to as your “Karmic debt.”

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Emotions vs. Reason

For Easter this year, my family and I were out of town. We ended up attending Easter services at Central Christian Church in Henderson, NV. After the opening worship band left the stage, there was a young man who came out and presented a monologue/poem/rap that highlighted a good deal of what Christianity is about. I was impressed at the broad spectrum of doctrine, challenges and truths that were professed during this brief presentation.

While following along with it, however, I began to start thinking about how this young man might appear to non-Christians. He was very energetic and passionate. Which got me thinking about how often we tend to view emotions and reason as being so very opposite from one another. As I wondered how the non-Christian would perceive this young man, it occurred to me that he would likely be labeled as a religious fanatic, to pick one of the less derogatory things people might think.

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The God-Man

If you’ve been around Christianity long enough, you’ve probably heard someone say that Jesus was “fully man and fully God.” Perhaps you’ve heard some other variation. Perhaps you’ve wondered how that is possible. Hopefully, at the very least, you took it on faith. Better than that, hopefully you’ve wrestled with it a bit in order to get an understanding that you feel comfortable with intellectually.

One way that I have seen this characterized is that Jesus was “100% man and 100% God.” This, of course, invites a number of criticisms as some will point out that this is a simple error of mathematics. You cannot have 200% of a single thing. How can Jesus be 100% + 100%. Some, more sophisticated skeptics, might argue that this violates the Law of Non-Contradiction.

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Picking and Choosing

If you were to ask most apologists, Christian philosophers or theologians what the most difficult objection was to Christianity, they would mostly give you the same answer. The Problem of Evil. Some might refer to this as the “Problem of Evil and Suffering” or some such thing, but it usually involves the same idea.

Briefly, the Problem of Evil is the argument that says that if God is all loving and all good and all powerful, why is there so much pain and suffering and evil in the world? That is a very over-simplified explanation, but it should be enough to at least get us on the same page for now.

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