Unemployed Theologian

Good grief. What a week. While I'm nearing the end of my Advent-time reflections on the season, I'm afraid a pressing issue necessitates that I shelve that project to address something which has so captured the public attention. I'm talking, of course, about the scandal surrounding Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson, who was quoted in GQ magazine making controversial claims about homosexuality (and race, lest we forget). There are several troubling issues at play here which I feel warrant addressing. One is this bizarre discussion surrounding "rights" and "freedoms" which has popped up since the scandal arose. Some claim Robertson ought not be punished for exercising his freedom of speech, for voicing his personal, religiously-founded beliefs and opinions. I have no qualm here. From a democratic, political standpoint, Robertson certainly had the right to say what he did. No one is arguing he had no right to make disparaging comme...

At Christmastime it's hard to avoid religious iconography. It seems just about everywhere you look is a baby Jesus or the Christmas star, while everyone's singing or blasting old hymns about the Child, the Virgin, the curse of sin or the Angelic Host. From a cultural standpoint it's actually pretty fascinating we Americans allow ourselves to get so blatantly religious for one month a year (or longer, depending on the state of the economy), when the balance of the year we pride ourselves on our tolerance and inclusivity (real or imagined). But December belongs to the Christmas spectacle, to the trappings and traditions of the Christian holiday. Granted, what we celebrate now is often more commercial than it is Christian, more Santa than Christ, but the observation stands. I always forget the part where the baby Jesus is visited by Santa. It's actually a little surreal, a bit disorienting to see the Christian story, the story in which I find my life's meaning,...

I don't mean to be petty or argumentative, but something has really gotten under my skin lately. Every year as Christmas approaches I start to hear the same squabbles popping up left and right, causing a bizarre tension between groups of people I love very much. The Grand Poobah of these conflicts centers on the "secularization of the holiday" or more provocatively put, the "war on Christmas." The war. On Christmas. Apparently somebody's waging a war on Christmas. They better stop it, huh? Cut it out! I love Christmas! See, that's the trouble with words. "War on Christmas" is a phrase carefully engineered to draw ire from holly, jolly American Christians, and all those who enjoy Christmas (not limited to Christians). The idea is supposedly that Christmas is being cast out from the public sphere by those vicious, sneaky Communists (or whatever), or else sanitized to become a generic holiday for all people of all religions (God forbid). Ind...