As a father with three boys in the Rockwood School District, it was with great interest that I read Tim Townsend’s recent STLtoday.com article on the issue of the school district’s stance of using B.C.E. and C.E. instead of the more traditional B.C. and A.D. when referencing the dates of historical events.

For those new to the controversy, a quick refresher:

B.C. is the abbreviation for Before Christ while A.D. is the abbreviation for Anno Domini (Latin, “in the year of the Lord”). The new designations allegedly remove the Christian implications and stand for Common Era and Before Common Era.

Does it matter whether we use B.C. or B.C.E?

Some comments from Rockwood Superintendent Craig Larson, from Townsend’s article:

“There’s no agenda here,” he said. “We’re just teaching kids how to understand dates.”

Last week, Larson reacted to the debate on his blog.

“Within the last 10-15 years, CE/BCE has started to appear in student textbooks, usually along with AD/BC and…

The Bible is a storybook.  Basically, it is a love story between God and humanity; a story of a covenant made, broken, and renewed, again and again. [...] We need to enlarge our grasp of this love story–to learn it more completely, to understand it more deeply, to possess it more personally, and to live it more fully.  This is a lifelong task.

This is one of my favorite passages from the book Living Faithfully as a Prayer Book People by Episcopal priest and Christian educator John H. Westerhoff.  It gets at both how I read the Bible and how I approach Christian formation and education.  I think that the stories of the Bible as stories are more important than any propositional statements we can make about them, and are both more compelling and more necessary than any lesson or  “moral” we can draw from them.

Image courtesy of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, Menlo…

Institution Mixte Saint Pierre, Gonaives, Haiti, photo courtesy Nazarene Communications Network

Scandals and controversies are fascinating, I understand that.  They certainly get my attention.  But it’s nice to find examples of people of faith getting it right, such as in this story from the Nazarene Communications network.   Hospitality has been seen as a both a spiritual gift and a Christian virtue throughout church history, and I can think of no better example than a school of 350 students opening its door to 800 more students in need.

Update: Upon further investigation, it turns out that the story purported in this video most likely never happened. According to a Snopes.com article, there is no evidence that Albert Einstein ever made this statement, or that this confrontation between an atheist teacher and a Christian student ever even took place.

With that being the case - does it matter to you? Do you think the theory is any less true because it was maybe put forth by someone less of an authority on physics than Einstein?

I can’t help but think of the parables of Jesus - are the truths they contain any less valid because they were illustrative stories as opposed to literal accountings?

Perhaps you’ve seen this video, by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia, making its way around the Internet:

Do you agree or disagree? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!

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As much as the exclusive, masculine language above rubs me the wrong way, it really does get across the point of this post.  I’ve recently been in dialogue with a number of young adults (particularly college students) who struggle with decisions about the development of their lives of faith.  The most difficult for those who live in the city in which they grew up is whether they will continue to worship in the same congregation of their families. 

While this may sound odd, it is a difficult decision because for many of them joining those congregations was never a decision.  The choice of sanctuary, synagogue or mosque for people like me who grew up nurtured by religious traditions is really not our own.  My mom made sure I was at Union Missionary Baptist Church for worship, Sunday School, choir rehearsal, mid-week prayer service and youth activities on Saturday every week.  When mom decided our family membership would change…

credit: planetgreen

The New York Times reported last week that young mother/history teacher Anne Marie Eakins is suing Bayer, charging that she developed blood clots in her lungs after taking their product, Yaz, the highest-selling birth control pill in the United States and by far Bayer’s highest margin and fastest-growing brand.

I was reminded, reading this, of a young couple living upstairs from me in one of the 1904 Central West End townhouses converted into apartments in the ’sixties. The young marrieds had been to windy Chicago and sure enough the bride had come down with pleurisy — or so they thought.

What she actually had were blood clots on her lungs. Her doctor immediately took her off the new, progressive, no-more-problems birth control pill. It was 1969.

There were so many similar problems with that high-dosage pill back then that soon manufacturers started fiddling with the ingredients, lowering some dosages and/or substituting new ingredients —…

Young women at Imam Academy Morocco

Someone once said “For God’s sake if you have something to say begin at the end”. Well that is what the title does but now I need to backfill why this is a solution to improving present day Muslim society. When asked about women rights Muslim’s proudly point to the emancipation of women under Islam. In 700 AD the Islamic system of government, as mandated by the Qur’an, gave women rights unheard of in other societies for 800 years or more. Women had property rights and rights of inheritance and they had freedoms not known before (and some not known today). Some women took it upon themselves to travel alone over vast distances to visit Makkah (something no woman would consider today). Many women took the opportunity to become scholars and women were heavily represented among early Muslim scholars. So that is great but what…

Women for Faith & Family’s sister organization, Adoremus, just published a preview of the upcoming English-language Roman Missal that will soon replace the vernacular we Catholics have been accustomed to since soon after the end of  Vatican II.

Do click on the link above to read this fascinating, well organized article. You will find samples of the word changes and the reasons for those changes, and if you are like me, you will find yourself nodding your head.

Why a new Missal?

Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, chairman of the US Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, explains in the June/July Adoremus Bulletin:

In May 2002, the publication of the Missale Romanum marked an historic moment in the life of the Church in our day. It gave an impetus to the great liturgical renewal set in motion when Vatican II issued Sacrosanctum Concilium as its first document. With Vatican II,

began … the great work of renewal of the liturgical books…

Utror Valley near Kalam http://laf.ee/wp

As a young child I remember going to Swat on summer vacation twice. It was an enchanting place with beautiful landscapes so unfamiliar to one who lived in the plains.

Swat Valley http://3.bp.blogspot.com

Saidu Sharif, Kalam, the names of the town’s were like from fairy tales. I still have those wonderful images of my childhood whenever I hear the name Swat.

Kalam www.swatvalley.com

Swat used to be different from the other regions in the north frontier of Pakistan. They used to not have the rigid view of life and religion.

Bahrain Swat racismandnationalconsciousnessnews

My wife tells me of her visit to Swat long ago (before we had met), with her family, and how they met the family of the Wali-e-Swat (the then ruler of Swat) and the love she saw among the people. She especially remembers at mealtime how all the women of the Wali’s household, servants and ladies, sat together to…

This item was written for Civil Religion by Liz Stoever, a Post-Dispatch intern from Northern Illinois University:

Harold “Russell” Ewell II

When Harold “Russell” Ewell II, a blind student, began his classes at Eden Theological Seminary graduate school in 2004, he knew the odds were against him. Ewell said at times he doubted himself.

“I just at one point asked myself why I was here and could I actually do the work to be able to graduate,” he said. Because of his disability, Ewell said it takes him three times longer to do homework assignments. He also has to scan his books into a computer to turn them into speech.

“I really received one-third of the information everyone else does,” he said.

Professors also had to teach lectures differently by making sure that they say everything they write on the board.

Despite his struggles in the classroom, Ewell, a United Methodist, recently completed his graduate degree and…

Photo courtesy of the Episcopal School for Ministry

A group of students and friends of the Episcopal School for Ministry gathered at Eden Seminary on April 18 for a lecture entitled “Living the Resurrection” and given by the Rev. Dr. Ralph N. McMichael, Jr., Canon for Ministry Formation in the Diocese and Dean of the School.  I’m including an account of the lecture below, but first a few words about the the Episcopal School for Ministry are in order.  ESM meets monthly on the campus of Eden Seminary in Webster Groves and is still accepting registrations for the summer term, which gets underway properly on May 15 & 16.

This is a school for anyone who understands ministry to be an integral part of life, rather than being exclusively aimed at those whose ministries play themselves out in a professional or institutional capacity.  My experience of the place is that it’s about ministry as discipleship, not ministry as…

www.northernsun.com

There was a time when we called a spade a spade. There were people who had (and still do) strong feelings that abortions are wrong and they were called ‘Anti-Abortion’. And there were people who felt that it is a woman’s choice, at least in the first trimester, and they were called ‘Pro-Choice’. Enter someone from marketing saying that ‘anti’ is not good, we need to become ‘pro’ something. We need to re-label to become ‘Pro-Life’, which has the added benefit of implying those who oppose us are anti life.

And so Pro Life and Anti Abortion are most often used as synonyms. But I wonder, judging by the actions of people, if they aren’t closer to being antonyms. Consider the following question: Does a child that is born become less precious than the unborn fetus? One would think that to be Pro-Life means that a child that is born is…

Oh, my.

President Bill Clinton was interviewed this week by CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

In the interview Mr. Clinton repeatedly referred to human embryos as “unfertilized,” adding that, if they were fertilized, they would “become human beings.”

For those of you who aren’t chuckling yet, here’s what Gray’s Anatomy says about the embryo:

First Week.-During this period the ovum is in the uterine tube. Having been fertilized in the upper part of the tube, it slowly passes down, undergoing segmentation, and reaches the uterus. Peters 1 described a specimen, the age of which he reckoned as from three to four days. It was imbedded in the decidua on the posterior wall of the uterus and enveloped by a decidua capsularis…..

I could swear I heard last week that President Obama was going to ‘restore science to its rightful place.’

Some days ago when The pope, the Holocaust & the Lefebvrists appeared on these pages, fellow blogger Khalid Shah, a Muslim, commented:”It is always good to find out when we are wrong and this story helped correct one of my opinions. I have always thought that though the Jews suffered a lot during WW2 that they play the Holocaust sympathy card a bit too much and are a bit paranoid on this issue. Thank you for correcting this wrong opinion of mine…..”

Mr. Shah’s comment stunned me — he is a highly educated man –  much as Lefebvrist Bishop Richard Williamson’s downplaying of the Holocaust had astonished me days earlier.

How could anyone not know the full extent of what happened to the Jews in WWII?

Bishop Williamson has been booted from Argentina back to England – shoving a reporter along the way — and he has issued a cheap apology — a typical 2009-style…

chinese women imams http://www.daylife.com

This question caused some debate a few years ago. Generally there was a big NO from the Muslim clergy who weighed in on this issue. Interesting one person did say it is permissible. Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Guma, declared that woman-led prayer of mixed-gender congregations is permissible, so long as the congregation agrees to it. According to a report by the satellite news channel Al-Arabiyya, Sheikh Guma declared in an interview on Egyptian television that there is no consensus among religious scholars on the issue of female imamat of mixed gender congregations, pointing out that respected scholars like Imam Tabari and Imam Ibn Arabi found the practice permissible. “The Mufti added that, in such issues where there are disagreements, then the situation rests with the specific people concerned. If (the congregation) accepts a woman as imam, then that’s their business, and there is nothing wrong with that…

Rev. Dr. Ronald L. Bobo, Sr. - Candidate for NBCUSA, Inc. President

The Rev. Dr. Ronald Bobo, Sr., pastor of West Side Missionary Baptist Church of North St. Louis and Florissant, recently declared his candidacy and began a campaign to become President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Incorporated.  This religious organization has the distinction of being the largest body of African American Christians in the world.  As a matter of fact, with an estimated 7.5 million members, it is the largest collection of African Americans on the globe.  The group has been led by The Rev. Dr. William Shaw of Philadelphia, PA since 1999.

“Change” for Bobo is a call to return to the Convention’s 1886 founding purpose, focusing on collective Missions and Education.  This fits well into his own ministry focus and service, which includes terms as Chair of the Foreign Mission Board for the Missionary Baptist Convention of Missouri and the Evangelism and Education…

So now that I have your attention….

Over the summer, the director of the religious school at my temple approached me about teaching a four week class at Sunday school. Sure, I told her. I always say yes first and ask questions later. What kind of class? Well, it was described to me as “a sort of Jewish sexual ethics, for seventh graders”. Oh, and it’s called “Sacred Choices”. Hmm. Sexual ethics for 12 year olds. Sounded interesting to say the least.

As I anxiously awaited the “Sacred Choices” curriculum for to arrive in the mail (I was really curious what the material would be like), I realized my nephew was in 7^th grade and currently attending our temple’s Sunday school. I couldn’t help but think about how humiliating it was going to be for him to have his aunt standing before him and his friends talking about SEX. Ewwww.

So as usual,…

The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement Thursday afternoon that it would meet with Parkway West Middle School officials”to discuss a broad, structured program of anti-bias education and response.”

The response in question comes after news Wednesday that Parkway would discipline a handful of sixth-graders who had organized “Hit a Jew Day” at the school.

From Post-Dispatch education reporter David Hunn on the newspapers “The Grade” blog:

According to a Parkway School District representative, the students started with “Hug A Friend Day,” moved to “High Five Day,” “Hit A Tall Person Day,” and then, finally, this Monday, to “Hit A Jew Day.”

The ADL said the family of a Jewish student who had been hit contacted the organization, which in turn contacted school officials. The news “comes at a time when the regional office is seeing increased reports of anti-Semitic bias incidents against the Jewish community,” according to the ADL statement.

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