Pope John Paul II gestures in a still from the PBS frontline show, “John Paul II: The Millennial Pope.” The pontiff, who has always attracted media attention is the subject a new book as well the PBS television show airing Sept. 28. Religion News Service file photo
Want to know how baseball is like liturgy? (Though not like a Nationals game, thank goodness.) What “parrhesia” means? Who Kelsey Grammar is playing in “Killing Jesus”? And why Karl Marx and John Paul sound alike?
Anyone remember that whole gay marriage battle thing?
That was so yesterday, as in, literally yesterday. When the Supreme Court declined to hear a series of state challenges to gay marriage, it seemed to signal a quiet turning point — that the debate won’t go back the way the religious right wanted, at all. So what now for religious conservatives? Mark Kellner writes that they are dazed and confused, and may need to focus on gaining what religious freedom protections they can.
The United Methodist Church, meanwhile, seems to be finding ways around their internal conflicts over pastors who officiate at gay weddings.
Tweet of the Day
From the afternoon briefing at the Vatican synod on the family, quoting English Cardinal Vincent Nichols:
+Nichols says centrality of sexual intercourse to marriage “is not what we bishops talk about mostly"
— Francis X. Rocca (@FrancisXRocca) October 7, 2014
Word of the Day
From Pope Francis, opening the synod. It’s “parrhesia,” and don’t worry, it’s not contagious. Paul Elie explains it better than I can, frankly. I’m still getting my head around parousia.
Bonus feature:
“10 Celebrities Who Look Suspiciously Similar to Pope Francis” via ChurchPOP
PS: I’m not one of them.
Quiz of the Day
Who said it: Karl Marx or Saint Pope John Paul II?
“The church is aware that the bourgeois mentality and capitalism as a whole, with its materialist spirit, acutely contradict the Gospel.”
Marx or Pope? Click here for answer
“Class struggle should gain strength in proportion to the resistance it faces from economically privileged classes.”
Marx or Pope? Click here for answer
“In a well-organized society, oriented to the common good, class conflicts are solved peacefully through reforms. But states that base their order on individualistic liberalism are not such societies. So when an exploited class fails to receive in a peaceful way the share of the common good it has a right to, it has to follow a different path.”
Marx or Pope? Click here for answer
If you answered all three correctly … you can read on.
“To whom much is given, much will be required…”
Unless you’re the well-to-do in the U.S., in which case you gave less to charity during the economic lean years of 2006-2012, the Chronicle of Philanthropy finds. Working-class and middle-class Americans, on the other hand, gave more. What was that other story, about the widow’s mite? Then again, the rich got richer, so even giving less, they gave more overall. So there’s that.
“Frasier” is King Herod
They’re casting the miniseries of “Killing Jesus,” Bill O’Reilly’s best-selling account of the life of Jesus (a.k.a. the Gospel according to Bill) and Kelsey Grammar will play King Herod. So I guess those two seasons of “Boss” will come in handy after all. But what role for Niles?
And Jesus? They’ve gone with a Lebanese-born actor, Haaz Sleiman, who may actually, finally, look like a guy who comes from the Middle East which is — shocker — where Jesus was born.
Speaking of Christian crossover flicks…
This looks like the best Jesus vs. zombies film anyone has ever made. And, you know, the worst. https://t.co/aRtNV3JHma
— Matt Miller (@MattMillerMLive) October 6, 2014
Will “Exodus” bring them to the theaters?
So “Noah” was a bit controversial, and not a blockbuster. (I liked the trailer, actually, but never saw the film.) But now the trailer for the new “Exodus” movie starring Christian Bale as Moses is out, and he ain’t no Charlton Heston. And that’s a good thing. I’m giving it a provisional thumbs up. Check it out:
Mike Huckabee pulls a Ted Cruz
Speaking of the chosen people, I missed this news: at a Capitol Hill rally organized by GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, the crowd of largely evangelical Christian supporters of Israel cheered Huck’s embrace of the idea that ISIS and Hamas are the same species — and what Americans need to do:
“If America doesn’t stand with Israel, God will remove his love from us,” Huckabee said.
How do you “gird up your loins”?
Speaking of the Bible, it seems like it is always telling people to gird up their loins. Yet we don’t worry about following that scriptural injunction. Maybe that’s because we don’t know what the heck it means. The HuffPo, thankfully, points us to an awesome graphic (SFW) explaining what it is an how to do it. It only comes in handy if you are dressing like Moses for Halloween.
Will to believe?
Notre Dame philosopher Gary Gutting is wrapping up his fascinating series of interviews with other distinguished philosophers about religion and science. This last one is titled, “Can Wanting to Believe Make Us Believers?” I like this stuff. But that’s me.
Pagans and Christians
While you’re at the NYT site, also check out Ross Douthat’s blog post on the perils of comparisons by today’s Christians between the contemporary world and the pagan world. Self-Promo Alert: I wrote about the revamping of the term “pagan” last year, here.
Is coming out gay like coming out about an abortion?
Interesting thesis here, by Bloomberg’s Sasha Issenberg, that sharing news that you have had an abortion can change people’s minds on the issue much the way coming out as gay does. I’m not convinced, as ultrasounds seem to have an analogous effect to coming out gay — it makes a fetus real, as coming out makes a gay person “real.” And polls show American support abortion rights but still don’t like abortion. They do like gay people. But counter-arguments welcome. I’ve been known to be wrong…
Finally, is baseball like church?
Yes, with the playoffs on, the religion analogies to our pastoral pastime begin again. But I like them. Susanna Spencer argues that baseball is like liturgy. My quibble: which liturgy? I mean, the Nationals’ games are like a Southern tent revival that goes on for days. How about a game that is like one of those drive-by Masses, ya know?
Thanks for reading, and check us out throughout the day for updates.
