Opinion
He Really Is Pro-Choice
By Mark Silk — January 23, 2009
The line on Obama’s Roe v. Wade Day statement is that, in line with various “third way” approaches, it reveals a noteworthy commitment to abortion reduction. See Paulson here, for example. I confess I don’t see it. Here’s the relevant part of the statement: On the 36th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, we are reminded […]
COMMENTARY: We are the hope we’ve been waiting for
By Tracy Gordon — January 22, 2009
PARK CITY, Utah-I’m sitting at the Sundance Film Festival with young filmmakers and theologians watching the memorable and historic inauguration of Barack Obama. Here, film and politics-two influential and powerful shaping forces in American life-are juxtaposed with my own personal third reality. I live on a small island well within the reach of politics and […]
The Last Word on the Inauguration
By Mark Silk — January 22, 2009
“As I sat there at my ease, cross-legged on the deck; after the bitter exertion at the windlass; under a blue tranquil sky; the ship under indolent sail, and gliding so serenely along; as I bathed my hands among those soft, gentle globules of infiltrated tissues, wove almost within the hour; as they richly broke […]
American Icon
By Mark Silk — January 22, 2009
Barack Obama’s passage to the presidency has been marked by unprecedented graphics virtuosity, but that was not what was on display in the Carnival of Obama that took place in Washington over the last few days. In front of Union Station and along many other downtown thoroughfares, a vast array of peddlers hawked their wares–buttons […]
COMMENTARY: Alright, kids. Time to grow up.
By Cathleen Falsani — January 21, 2009
(UNDATED) President Obama’s inaugural address might not have been one for the ages. But it certainly was the right one for the moment. Somber, sober and almost stern, our new president placed a mantle before the nation and gave us a gentle, but clear, kick in the collective pants. “Starting today, we must pick ourselves […]
Warrenology
By Mark Silk — January 21, 2009
It looks like Dan Gilgoff has more or less come around to my position on Warren’s inauguration invocation. I think he’s quite right to suggest that Warren wanted to have it both ways–gesturing at inclusivity while sacrificing nothing to exclusivity. I do not presume to see into Warren’s true intentions–his heart, so to say–but it […]
Full Service
By Mark Silk — January 21, 2009
You’ve got to give the Episcopalians credit. When they want to put on a major display of establishmentarian power and glory, they sure can do it. With all the stops out for an anthem like Holy Holy Holy, you really felt that the National Prayer Service was, well, a national prayer service–conducted by a self-appointed […]
Not so simple
By Mark Silk — January 21, 2009
I liked John Williams’ version of “Simple Gifts” that Yo-Yo Ma and company performed at the Inauguration–lighter and subtler than Aaron Copeland’s famous Appalachian Spring version, where the old Shaker hymn reaches a level of fortissimo bombast that has always seemed to me at odds with that religious tradition. Even so, you wonder what the […]
Inauguration Day #4
By Mark Silk — January 20, 2009
I’d like to believe that Jeremiah Wright learned something from Joseph Lowery today. But I don’t.
COMMENTARY: Let’s start with Step No. 1
By Tom Ehrich — January 20, 2009
(UNDATED) Like a drunk starting his evening toot, a Chase Bank manager on Park Avenue saw me filling out a deposit slip, offered to help, and whisked me into his office. There, he handed me over to a “business banker” who launched into a practiced pitch for taking out yet another credit card. On the […]
Inauguration Day #3
By Mark Silk — January 20, 2009
When Rick Warren was introduced to give the invocation today, I heard a couple of discernible uh-ohs. Pretty soon, though, the African-Americans around me were responding as in church, and when he got around to saying the Lord’s Prayer, there was no shortage of people saying it with him. So, cool with them. For me, […]
Inauguration Day #2
By Mark Silk — January 20, 2009
The folks who showed up without tickets just to be there were, as you might expect, a pretty Democrat crowd–about half black and half white where I was. They happily cheered all Democrats, with the exception of Joe Lieberman, who got a good round of boos. Ted Kennedy got a good round of applause; Jimmy […]
Inauguration Day #1
By Mark Silk — January 20, 2009
Making my way to the mall this morning I happened to come across a small clutch of protesters, cordoned off on the north side of Constitution. They proved to be 14 members of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church, the congregation that has managed to irritate just about everybody they come in contact with, most of […]
Homiletics
By Mark Silk — January 20, 2009
Once upon a time, New England ministers turned their attention to public affairs with election day sermons. Michael Paulson has compiled an archive of Massachusetts sermons given to mark the inauguration of the nation’s first black president. Story here. And here’s an excerpt from one given by Rev. Vicki Kemper of Amherst UCC: Do you […]
CT
By Mark Silk — January 19, 2009
Kudos to Christianity Today‘s Sarah Pulliam for recording and <a href="uploading to the CT website the video of Bishop Robinson’s prayer below–viewed upwards of 60,000 times with many appreciative comments from liberals. Some snarky types have been known to refer to the venerable evangelical magazine as Christianity Yesterday, but at this rate it may soon […]
