Mere musings on culture, life, and theology by Samuel James
Samuel James on June 24, 2017 Short story short: The New York Times released a list of the best movies of the 21st century. The list is wrong, but it's fun and interesting and, more to the point, inspired some friends of mine to come up with their own lists. You can guess where this post is going. So here's my…
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Samuel James on June 23, 2017 Here are three things that I believe are true and that are important for honest people to admit: It is a moral travesty when religious people or organizations use their beliefs, influence, or infrastructure to hurt, control, or manipulate other people. Theologically conservative organizations have been guilty of doing this, many times, often with disastrous,…
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Samuel James on June 19, 2017 One of the responses I keep seeing to the Southern Baptist Convention's statement about alt-right and white supremacy goes like this: "I agree that racism is bad, but this just feels like political correctness. It seems like the SBC just wants liberals to think they're good people. Why aren't we condemning all forms of racism,…
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Samuel James on June 17, 2017 My father's best gift to me was his obscurity. In the 20+ years in which he pastored churches and his children grew up, he never published anything other than a newsletter article, spoke anywhere other than a church pulpit, or was known by anyone other than those who had met him or us. Whatever the…
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Samuel James on June 14, 2017 I'm grateful that my denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, overwhelmingly passed a resolution at their annual meeting today condemning the white supremacy of the so-called "alt-right" movement. This was the right resolution at the right time for the right reasons, and it was the right decision to pass it. The resolutions committee's decision not to…
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Samuel James on June 9, 2017 Question: Would you, Christian, ever be so disappointed in the political views of your pastor or fellow church members, that you found yourself unable to even bear going to church anymore? To be totally honest, before today, I would have dismissed this theoretical as too ridiculous for serious contemplation. It seems to me self-evident that…
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Samuel James on June 7, 2017 Read this David French write-up of an appalling episode today between senator Bernie Sanders and Russell Vought (seeking to be confirmed as Deputy Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget). Sanders' grilling of Vought's theology is distasteful, yes, but it is also borderline unconstitutional, since the clear implication of Sanders' conclusion is that…
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Samuel James on June 1, 2017 Recently a few friends of mine have asked me about writing, and for some perspective and/or advice on how to get started doing it seriously. I've given the same advice enough times that I figured it might be helpful to put what I most frequently say here as a kind of reference. As always, none…
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