OK, thanks Darren. I think you are suggesting that the directory is simply populated by end users and that there is no central database repository of directory information??
So I've downloaded the app (Android OS) and I've had my "account verified." However, it would seem that all the local churches that are available to associate with are in Ontario, save one in Bellevue, Washington CRC churches (my local CRC is in Salem Oregon). For that reason, I can't really explore what this app would do that would benefit local CRC churches.
How would my church (Sunnyslope CRC, in Salem, Oregon) go about "being one of the local churches" listed in the app's local church listings?
Kyle: Again you have to explain the statement for lack of the statement saying what you claim. The Nashville makes no claim to comprehensively opine as to all questions about human sexuality. Are you supposing they approve of heterosexual adultery because this statement doesn't cover it. Granted, embezzlement is not sexual but this argument remains silly notwithstanding, and for the same reason.
What I would recommend you do is to put together your own Denver type of statement. Get together with others, like the Nashville and Denver folk have done, and say what you think. You can even comprehensively cover all sex related questions if you like, so that no one would accuse you have having a "litmus test" (although I would defend you if you didn't :-) ). Seriously, do a Denver style response. Or align with Denver. Its easy to tear down, not as easy to build up. Make your affirmative case so folks can evaluate your position.
Jonathan: I'd be interested in reading your own Denver like response to the Nashville. Denver fundamentally disagrees with Nashville as well, and their statement makes clear how. I appreciate the authors of Denver for doing that.
I think Art 10 is a bit ambiguous, but if and to the extent it declares that one cannot be Christian if one believes gay sex is good, I disagree with the Nashville Statement.
I think all who so declare are simply wrong, but that some who so declare sin in so declaring.
I would agree that pornography is a "global injustice," as this article suggests. On the other hand, it is a bit rich for OSJ (which operates Do Justice) to be taking this position.
Let me explain.
Not long ago, and still now but to a lesser extent, there was a great differential in the US political world as to the subject of pornography. Political liberals (Democrats) considered it a civil liberty, conservatives (Republicans, sans Libertarians) a plague on society that both state and federal governments should restrict by law for the sake of the "common good" as well as for the sake of the good of individuals.
I know because my personal history includes working for and with (Christian) public interest legal groups as to this very issue.
By 2017, the legal battle against pornography has been largely lost by the political conservatives that fought it. Again, I know because I was there as it happened. Liberals have won on this issue (on the issue of abortion too, and those issue were legally and politically intertwined).
In the meantime, while this battle was going on, the CRCNA decided to get politically active, and in so doing, to largely align with the "political side" that had regarded pornography as a civil right, not to be regulated by government, and against the political/legal side that fought against pornography.
So here we are. Complaining that pornography is a "global injustice" (I would add the well worn descriptor, "structural injustice"), but only after the battles are over and the war is lost.
Thanks for the article, Christopher. You are correct I think about how destructive divorce is. Having practiced law in this area for many years, I had concluded that, generally, a spouse dying was almost always less destructive than divorce.
Were I to add a thought, it would be this. Often, perhaps almost always, the "divorce" happens long before the legal documents are signed and filed. But even then, that does not mean there is no hope for a couple that is "in the process." And so thanks too for the work you are doing.
Thanks for this post, Mark. I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but I have lived in a state that has chosen to glorify "death with dignity," and in the process diminished the value of human life, especially when it is "less than perfect."
I appreciate your admission that this is a very complex issue, Bill. My irritation with the issue as it relates to the CRCNA is that the CRCNA (via OSJ and otherwise) rather consistently takes a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli position. Its not that I want the CRCNA to be pro-Israeli but rather to stay out of political side-taking and lobbying its members to take sides.
Great post Mark. Thanks for not going down a political rabbit hole rant.
Indeed, I think it is clear, at least for those us us who are "older" (and have seen societal changes) that "social bonds" are generally much thinner than they used to be. I perhaps don't think that "America emphasizes individualism" (as if there is a government ad campaign for it), but indeed, the political freedom we have, coupled with our wealth, allows anyone who may be so inclined (by personality disposition or otherwise) to become socially isolated. Today, neighbors not knowing neighbors but "minding their own business" is normal, even if decades ago, not so much.
And this isolation can be deadly, in many ways, this LV shooting being perhaps only one particularly dreadful manifestation of that.
I don't know whose worldly point of view the author is talking about, but I certainly don't consider African-Americans and Anglos to be the only true Americans. Never have. In fact, properly defined, that kicks me out of being a true American and I don't think that is so either.
Posted in: Helping Your Church Bridge the Gap Between Sundays: A Look at the CRCNA’s New Mobile App
OK, thanks Darren. I think you are suggesting that the directory is simply populated by end users and that there is no central database repository of directory information??
So I've downloaded the app (Android OS) and I've had my "account verified." However, it would seem that all the local churches that are available to associate with are in Ontario, save one in Bellevue, Washington CRC churches (my local CRC is in Salem Oregon). For that reason, I can't really explore what this app would do that would benefit local CRC churches.
How would my church (Sunnyslope CRC, in Salem, Oregon) go about "being one of the local churches" listed in the app's local church listings?
Posted in: Fear and the Nashville Statement
Kyle: Again you have to explain the statement for lack of the statement saying what you claim. The Nashville makes no claim to comprehensively opine as to all questions about human sexuality. Are you supposing they approve of heterosexual adultery because this statement doesn't cover it. Granted, embezzlement is not sexual but this argument remains silly notwithstanding, and for the same reason.
What I would recommend you do is to put together your own Denver type of statement. Get together with others, like the Nashville and Denver folk have done, and say what you think. You can even comprehensively cover all sex related questions if you like, so that no one would accuse you have having a "litmus test" (although I would defend you if you didn't :-) ). Seriously, do a Denver style response. Or align with Denver. Its easy to tear down, not as easy to build up. Make your affirmative case so folks can evaluate your position.
Posted in: Fear and the Nashville Statement
Jonathan: I'd be interested in reading your own Denver like response to the Nashville. Denver fundamentally disagrees with Nashville as well, and their statement makes clear how. I appreciate the authors of Denver for doing that.
Posted in: Celebrating Beautiful Things
Thanks Mark, and Rod. :-)
Posted in: Fear and the Nashville Statement
I think Art 10 is a bit ambiguous, but if and to the extent it declares that one cannot be Christian if one believes gay sex is good, I disagree with the Nashville Statement.
I think all who so declare are simply wrong, but that some who so declare sin in so declaring.
Posted in: Social Justice ... With a Side of Salt
Amen! Yes, I could disagree with some nuances of this post, but Amen!
Posted in: Porn Use: It's About More Than Personal Sin
I would agree that pornography is a "global injustice," as this article suggests. On the other hand, it is a bit rich for OSJ (which operates Do Justice) to be taking this position.
Let me explain.
Not long ago, and still now but to a lesser extent, there was a great differential in the US political world as to the subject of pornography. Political liberals (Democrats) considered it a civil liberty, conservatives (Republicans, sans Libertarians) a plague on society that both state and federal governments should restrict by law for the sake of the "common good" as well as for the sake of the good of individuals.
I know because my personal history includes working for and with (Christian) public interest legal groups as to this very issue.
By 2017, the legal battle against pornography has been largely lost by the political conservatives that fought it. Again, I know because I was there as it happened. Liberals have won on this issue (on the issue of abortion too, and those issue were legally and politically intertwined).
In the meantime, while this battle was going on, the CRCNA decided to get politically active, and in so doing, to largely align with the "political side" that had regarded pornography as a civil right, not to be regulated by government, and against the political/legal side that fought against pornography.
So here we are. Complaining that pornography is a "global injustice" (I would add the well worn descriptor, "structural injustice"), but only after the battles are over and the war is lost.
Posted in: There’s Help for Marriages on the Edge of Divorce
Thanks for the article, Christopher. You are correct I think about how destructive divorce is. Having practiced law in this area for many years, I had concluded that, generally, a spouse dying was almost always less destructive than divorce.
Were I to add a thought, it would be this. Often, perhaps almost always, the "divorce" happens long before the legal documents are signed and filed. But even then, that does not mean there is no hope for a couple that is "in the process." And so thanks too for the work you are doing.
Posted in: A Spoiled Brat Gets His Way and Dies
Thanks for this post, Mark. I haven't read the book or seen the movie, but I have lived in a state that has chosen to glorify "death with dignity," and in the process diminished the value of human life, especially when it is "less than perfect."
Posted in: Raise Hell for Justice in Palestine
I appreciate your admission that this is a very complex issue, Bill. My irritation with the issue as it relates to the CRCNA is that the CRCNA (via OSJ and otherwise) rather consistently takes a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli position. Its not that I want the CRCNA to be pro-Israeli but rather to stay out of political side-taking and lobbying its members to take sides.
Posted in: Something We Can Do About Rampage Killings
Great post Mark. Thanks for not going down a political rabbit hole rant.
Indeed, I think it is clear, at least for those us us who are "older" (and have seen societal changes) that "social bonds" are generally much thinner than they used to be. I perhaps don't think that "America emphasizes individualism" (as if there is a government ad campaign for it), but indeed, the political freedom we have, coupled with our wealth, allows anyone who may be so inclined (by personality disposition or otherwise) to become socially isolated. Today, neighbors not knowing neighbors but "minding their own business" is normal, even if decades ago, not so much.
And this isolation can be deadly, in many ways, this LV shooting being perhaps only one particularly dreadful manifestation of that.
Posted in: One In Christ (Race Relations US-West Newsletter)
I don't know whose worldly point of view the author is talking about, but I certainly don't consider African-Americans and Anglos to be the only true Americans. Never have. In fact, properly defined, that kicks me out of being a true American and I don't think that is so either.